Month: March 2011

03/2/11

The Peace Settlement: The Fourteen Points

How easy it for a President to avoid war? Under the circumstances the world was in during the years prior to World War one, not easy. However, wartime President, Woodrow Wilson, did whatever he could to refrain from war for two whole years. His eventual decision to go to war in 1912, was only to be the world a “safe place for a democracy.” Most people would agree that Wilson was a pacifist in nature and did whatever he could to create a peaceful situation both at home and abroad. His attempts finally established the fourteen points, which served as a peace settlement. The text does not provide the terms and explain the language of these fourteen points in as much debt or clarity as I would like. In fact, this attempt on behalf of the U.S. to stress the reason of war and post-war planning should be understood in more depth with a better analysis, which was perhaps lacking from the side of Foner. It is important to understand that the fourteen points confirmed that the war was being fought for a reason, a moral one. These fourteen points pushed for the freedom of the seas, negotiations between territories and nations, redrawn borders and probably most important, the formation of the League of Nations.

03/2/11

Assignment due 3/7

Based on your reading of Foner or outside sources, identify one cause of World War I.  This can be a direct, short-term cause, or a more indirect, longer-term change that caused the war.  Do your best to identify a cause that has not yet been covered on the blog.  In 1-2 paragraphs, describe the importance of the cause and explain how things may have played out differently regarding that cause. Assuming you are the first to describe a particular cause, put your text in a post.  I encourage you to include an image representing the cause.  If you cannot find a new cause, write a 2 paragraph comment in response to another post further discussing the importance of that cause.

03/2/11

Many Reasons to go to War

During the early stage of world war I, America was in a tight tension with Germany because of the Zimmerman Telegram that Germany sent to Mexico which got intercepted by US and decoded. The telegram asked Mexico to be allies with Germany so that when they win the war, Germany promise to give back the land that US took from Mexico such as Texas and arizona, back to Mexico. US were already in favor of the Great British and France so Germany had reason to go against USA. The sinking of the Lusitania was the on of the major sparks that gave American the reason to declare war on Germany because the ship was meant to carry passengers from New York to Britain, but Germany’s U boat nevertheless decided to sunk the ship down that gave the US determination to get involved in this overseas war.

03/2/11

Peace Treaty Gone Wrong

World War I ended with the peace treaty signing called the Treaty of Versailles. Within this treaty, the victors asked for unreasonable demands. Some of these demands include putting all the blame of this war on Germany, dividing the land up, occupying the lands rich of iron and coal, restriction on Germany’s future army size and even ask for astronomical reparations reaching between $33 billion to $56 billion. Wilson initially wanted to this to be a peace treaty that ended future wars, but with such demands, anger and frustration was bound to lead into another war. The only thing good that came out of this treaty in Wilson’s eyes was the League of Nations.

Foner’s description of the Treaty of Versailles was well made but seemed a bit vague. It didn’t seem like it completely covered all aspects of this treaty. Foner confirmed my knowledge of this history in that this treaty was unjust and over demanding.

03/2/11

The Test of Mental Strength

During the beginning of World War I, there brought many controversies in the United States to whether to join the war or not. There were groups such as the Industrial Workers of the World and the Socialist Party whom were completely against entering in this war. They deemed this war as “a crime against the people of the United States.” With so much negativity towards this, the Wilson administration created the Committee of Public (CPI) on April 1917 to counter these groups. The job of the CPI were to create propaganda to promote people to join the war efforts in order to fight for their liberties. Edward Barnard considered this as a “intelligent manipulation” to the masses.

Foner did a good job explaining how the Wilson Administration went about to counter the negative feelings about war and ultimately convincing people into joining the war. This confirms what I’ve thought about propaganda being used and added in a way on how propaganda was distributed

03/2/11

Gender Equality In America


The Nineteenth Amendment was passed by Congress June 4, 1919, but it was not ratified  until August 18, 1920. Although women helped during the Civil War, but the 14th Amendment that guaranteed all American men in the nation to vote excluded women.Through many struggles and hardships, women  finally granted their right to vote during WWI. While men were fighting the war overseas, women at home provided tremendous support to help the nation.  From then the society’s gender norm started to shift. Section 1 of the 19th Amendment: The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex. Section 2: Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.

03/2/11

Who has the bigger stick?

Gas masks and Machine guns used in World War I

World War I brought about major changes in the advancement of weapons and technology. The arms race called for modernized and advanced weapons that could give any nation a huge advantage over others on the battle field. The latest technology such as armored cars, tanks, aircrafts and machine guns plowed the battle field killing hundreds of people with only a few blows. With quicker communication abilities such as wireless communicators and telephones, orders and commands could be sent across the country in just a few minutes. As if these advancements weren’t enough, dangerous gases were called into play. Soldiers used gas masks to protect themselves from gases such as chlorine, mustard gas and phosgene that burned enemies. U-boats (submarines), blimps and hydrophones were also used in the war.

Foner barely mentions the arms race in chapter 19. However, he does explain how such advancements led to hundreds of thousands of deaths in various countries.

03/2/11

The Standard of Living

An image of John A. Ryan

In 1906 John A. Ryan published an influential book A Living Wage,  based on economic and moral argument of minimum wage legislation. He believed that in the consumer economy it’s a “natural and absolute” right of citizenship to making a standard living wage. John A. Ryan also criticized the inequality of the wealth and power in the Progressive America. The lower class is being taking advantages of whereas the upper class were controling the economy wealth. Based on his political thoughts in moral theology; he translated the Rerum Novarum of Pope Leo XIII in 1894 in English stated that the  endorement of  the right to labor union is necessary.

03/1/11

Racial Violence

During War World I, there were still racial violence going on in the United States. Foner gives examples of several racial violence in his book. Black people got killed or lynched unfairly not only in the North, but also in the South. According to Foner said, for example,  in Chicago in 1919, a black teenager got drowned by white bathers just because he accidentally crossed the unofficial dividing line between black and white beaches on Lake Michigan. During the year of 1919 in Chicago, “more than 250 persons died in riots in the urban North”.

03/1/11

“The World Must Be Made Safe For Democracy”

This quote was from the speech he gave to congress to declare War against Germany and bring peace to the world in March, 1917. Woodrow Wilson was neutral at the time when the Great War broke out in 1914, he even won the election in 1912 by promising not to send American Soldiers to Europe according to Foner. But as the situation in Europe worsened, the straw that broke America’s stance against joining the war was the sinking of Lusitania by German Submarines where 1,198 people were killed including 124 Americans, eliciting public outrage in America. Woodrow Wilson’s decision to join the Great War was a landmark decision since America was a military superpower and had the power to quickly end the war, which was already going on for 3 years and had claimed the lives of millions. I think Foner was pretty clear and succinct in discussion of this issue where he noted America’s earlier stance of neutrality and then the later shift to joining the war.

03/1/11

Preparedness

When the first world war began, America initially declared itself as a neutral country while the fighting was going on in Europe. America was made up of people who immigrated from many different nations, some of which were involved in the war. Therefore during the time of neutrality, many different Americans had ranging opinions on which side the United States should back up. Although America was neutral, there were instances in which Americans were involved in altercations during the war. This pushed Wilson toward a policy of preparedness, expanding the American army and navy in case of war. This allowed American ships to travel freely without becoming involved in battles.

Foner covers the topic of Wilson’s policy of preparedness briefly. I feel as though he should have expanded on it more, such as the actual practices enforced to expand America’s navy and army. However I feel that it the brevity of the topic was somewhat appropriate considering there are other important parts of the war for him to have covered.

03/1/11

Prohibition

Foner’s explanation of  how prohibition came in to effect was informative. He gave reason’s for why the public supported the ban of alcoholic beverages such as the adverse changes to family life and the fact that many breweries were german-american run and by purchasing liquor during war time with Germany, it bring’s upon a sense of treason. The political cartoon accompanied support’s the prohibition of alcohol by reinforcing the explanations given by foner. Although Foner’s coverage on how prohibition came into effect, he could have went into detail about the ramifications that followed after alcohol became contraband such as the bootlegger’s who would secretly sell their home made liquor from speakeasies and the criminal gangs that deveoped as a result of this ban

03/1/11

The Fourteen points

One important change that occurred during WWI was The Fourteen Points. Foner’s mentions the Wilson view of the war, and reasoning why he wants the fourteen points, but I think he should go more in details about The Fourteen points, not just summary what is it about, so people can understand better. However the main point about The Fourteen Points is demanded that each nationality should have its own nation and government. It called for freedom of seas, free trade, reduced armaments and open diplomacy (an end to secret treaties), Wilson felt the most important points in his plan was the creation of a League of Nations. Wilson hoped to create a world of peaceful, democratic nations in which future was would be avoided.

03/1/11

women suffrage


Women suffrage movement had fought for a long time. However, after World War I, the U.S. government had ratified the 19th amendment which gives women right to vote at 1920. The reason why the government passed the 19th amendment on the time is women be educated and involved patriotic service. During the World War I women served in the army as war nurses in Europe, and they also went to work in war production jobs. In addition, many educated women adopted strategies of British suffrage movement and started denounce the male political system and struck. However, this power was increasing. Finally, they gained their right to vote.

03/1/11

Support Crime! Support the 18th Amendment!

One important change that occurred during World War I (The Great War) was the 18th Amendment, or better known as prohibition. As one reads Foner’s recollection of the Prohibition, you notice that Foner mentions the reasoning and support behind the 18th amendment. Even though he seems to mention every reason sarcastically, he doesn’t mention the outcome of prohibition in regard to ethical fathers/husbands, calm workers, etc. And he most certainly doesn’t mention the development of bootleggers and speakeasies that lead to the huge expansion of crime. On another note, neither did Foner mention, nor was I privy to the knowledge that during the prohibition many officers were trigger happy and caused the lives of hundreds upon hundreds of innocents as depicted by the picture below.

03/1/11

The Short-lived Amendment: Prohibition

Lips that Touch Liquor Shall not Touch Ours

Prohibition is one of the drastic changes that happened during the course of World War I. Looking through the course of American history, it is perhaps unbelievable that alcohol, one of the foundations of pleasure for many citizens, would be banned. On top of that, the banned was even written in an amendment, which is ridiculously difficult to be passed. Although Eric Foner only spent a little more than half page on the topic, he was able to inform us about many details of the topic. In three paragraphs, he had informed me things that I didn’t know, such as 1) how the Anti-German attitude generated hatred toward German breweries, 2) labor reformers wanted prohibition to have a more disciplined work force, and 3) the Baptists and Methodist were opposing drinking in a political way. Foner may not have given us a full picture of prohibition, but he did well to inform us by squeezing in as much information as possible in three paragraphs.

03/1/11

Red Scare!

The Red Scare as described by Foner was a changing point in America in 1919-1920. During this time there was a period of political intolerance inspired by the postwar strike wave and social tensions and fears brought up by the Russian Revolution.  General A.Palmer dispatched federal agents to raid the offices of radical and labor organizations throughout the country. During these raids, over 5,000 people were arrested and the government deported hundreds of immigrant radicals. Hoover also developed files on thousands of Americans suspected of holding radical political ideas. In early 1920 the Red Scare collapsed and imprisoned immigrants were released.

The reading and the political cartoon shown above bear striking resemblance. Foner did not leave out any details that are not portrayed in the image. The cartoon illustrates Uncle Sam spanking labor unions and strikes. This appears as though these organizations were disobedient children and had to be reprimanded which was what Foner describes in the chapter reading.

03/1/11

Steel strike of 1919

The Steel Strike of 1919 was an attempt by the weakened Amalgamated Association of Iron, Steel and Tin Workers to organize the United States steel industry in the wake of World War I. The strike began on September 22, 1919, and collapsed on January 8, 1920.
The steel strike of 1919 was in Chicago and united about 365,000 mostly immigrant workers who demanded for union recognition, higher wages, and an eight hour workday. Before 1917, the managers of steel mills would just make up their own wages and working conditions. During the war, workers were in the Amalgamated Association, the union that was nearly destroyed at its defeat at Homestead. Employers responded to the strike by associating the strikers with communism and disloyalty and so the strike would eventually collapse in 1920. Foner portrays the steel strike as the bringing of the war and how workers fought for their rights. It was complete in the way of how it depicts who the workers were mostly, whether they got what they striked for, and how the strike would come to an end.

03/1/11

Ketchup for my Liberty Sandwich, Please?

In World War I, Germany was considered the main culprit and provacateur of the war. Therefore, it stirred the movement against Germans in United States. Prior to the war, German-Americans were able to express and promote their ethnic culture through the fine arts and language. Once the war began, German-Americans came under public scrutiny and ostracism. To raise support for the war, German culture was belittled to establish the notion of superiority of America. Any traces of German culture was erased in America. For example, instead of saying “hamburger,” which has German roots, it was called “liberty sandwich.”

I thought Foner did a good job in presenting the Anti-German Crusade.  He stated several statistics to demonstrate how the war negatively affected German-Americans and their culture.  However, Foner could have developed and expanded the topic more to illustrate the hardships of German-Americans during the war. The three images above adds depth to the portrayal of how German-Americans were singled out and excluded from mainstream America.

03/1/11

The Espionage Act

Eugene V. Debs, convicted in 1918 under the Espionage Act for delivering an antiwar speech. His sentence was 10 years. Surprisingly, Debs RAN FOR PRESIDENT WHILE STILL IN PRISON in 1920 and received 900,000 votes.

According to Foner, the espionage Act of 1917 prohibited not only spying and interfering with the draft, but also “false statements” that might impede military success. It basically made it illegal to say anything against the government—anything which criticized the government, which brought the government into disrepute, as the law said. Foner also mentions the Sedition Act of 1918 that made it a crime to make spoken or printed statements that intended to cast “contempt, scorn, or disrepute” on the “form of government”, or that advocated interference with war effort. Many people were arrested under these acts. I did more research and found that citizens convicted of these crimes were subject to a fine of up to $10,000 or to imprisonment for not more than 20 years or both. I also found that other groups use these acts as the opportunity to fight old battles against old enemies (employers used these acts to get labor leaders and IWW radical laborites arrested not because of what they said about the war, but because they wanted them out of their factories).