Glossary
Anti-German Sentiment
Widespread suspicion and hostility towards German immigrants and German culture in the U.S. during World War I, fueled by wartime xenophobia.
Example:
During WWI, many Americans stopped eating sauerkraut and instead called it 'liberty cabbage' due to widespread anti-German sentiment.
Clear and Present Danger
A legal doctrine established by *Schenck v. United States* that allows the government to limit free speech if it poses an immediate and substantial threat to public order or national security.
Example:
Under the clear and present danger test, distributing leaflets encouraging draft resistance during wartime was deemed unprotected speech.
Committee on Public Information (CPI)
A government agency created during WWI to influence U.S. public opinion regarding American participation in the war, primarily through the use of propaganda.
Example:
The Committee on Public Information employed 'Four-Minute Men' to deliver patriotic speeches across the country, rallying support for the war effort.
Espionage Act of 1917
A federal law passed during WWI that made it a crime to interfere with military operations, obstruct recruitment, or promote insubordination in the armed forces.
Example:
Socialist leader Eugene V. Debs was imprisoned under the Espionage Act of 1917 for giving an anti-war speech.
Food Administration
A U.S. government agency created during WWI to oversee the production and distribution of food, encouraging conservation and increased agricultural output to support the war effort.
Example:
The Food Administration promoted 'Meatless Mondays' and 'Wheatless Wednesdays' to encourage Americans to conserve food for soldiers overseas.
Great Migration
The mass movement of approximately six million African Americans from the rural Southern United States to the urban Northeast, Midwest, and West between 1916 and 1970, driven by economic opportunities and escape from racial discrimination.
Example:
During WWI, the demand for industrial labor in northern cities led to the first wave of the Great Migration, as African Americans sought better jobs and living conditions.
National War Labor Board
A U.S. government agency established during WWI to mediate labor disputes and prevent strikes that could disrupt war production, often by improving working conditions and wages.
Example:
The National War Labor Board intervened in disputes between factory owners and workers to ensure continuous production of vital war materials.
Nativism
The policy of protecting the interests of native-born or established inhabitants against those of immigrants, often characterized by anti-immigrant sentiment and policies.
Example:
The post-WWI nativism contributed to the passage of restrictive immigration quotas in the 1920s, limiting the entry of people from Southern and Eastern Europe.
Palmer Raids
A series of raids conducted by the U.S. Department of Justice and Immigration and Naturalization Service in 1919 and 1920, led by Attorney General A. Mitchell Palmer, targeting suspected anarchists, communists, and radical leftists, often without warrants.
Example:
During the Palmer Raids, thousands of suspected radicals, many of whom were immigrants, were arrested and some were deported without due process.
Propaganda
Information, especially of a biased or misleading nature, used to promote or publicize a particular political cause or point of view.
Example:
During WWI, the government used posters depicting Uncle Sam pointing at viewers with the slogan 'I Want You for U.S. Army' as a form of propaganda to encourage enlistment.
Red Scare (1919)
A period of intense anti-communist hysteria and fear of radicalism in the United States following WWI, fueled by the Bolshevik Revolution and a series of anarchist bombings.
Example:
The Red Scare of 1919 led to widespread suspicion of labor unions and immigrants, with many accused of being communist sympathizers.
Schenck v. United States (1919)
A landmark Supreme Court case that upheld the conviction of a socialist for distributing anti-draft leaflets, establishing limits on free speech during wartime.
Example:
The ruling in Schenck v. United States famously stated that free speech does not protect someone from falsely shouting 'fire' in a crowded theater.
Sedition Act of 1918
An amendment to the Espionage Act that further restricted free speech by making it illegal to utter, print, write, or publish any disloyal, profane, scurrilous, or abusive language about the U.S. government or its war effort.
Example:
Critics of the war who publicly denounced the government could be prosecuted under the Sedition Act of 1918, leading to many arrests.
War Industries Board
A U.S. government agency established during WWI to coordinate the purchase of war supplies and encourage mass production, setting production priorities and controlling raw materials.
Example:
The War Industries Board directed factories to shift from producing consumer goods to manufacturing military equipment, ensuring the army had necessary supplies.