WWI in "Voices of Freedom"

Paper Summary:

This paper discusses the period covered in the primary documentation associated with Chapter 19 of Eric Foner's "Voices of Freedom", as a period of transition. It states that the era surrounding World War I demonstrates a time when the definitions of intrinsic values were being challenged and reassessed almost on a constant basis. From 1916-1920 America was involved in reformulating what values it was said to hold dear and the official take on what those values mean was often one that did not meet with everyone's approval. From President Wilson's speech admonishing American business for being too isolationist and short sited in international dealings to the final work in which Fitch expresses the context of regional labor strikes, there is a sense of a collective demand for change as well as a reassertion of the cries for freedom and even a reevaluation of the very definitions of freedom and democracy. Furthermore, the author asserts that each of these messages, from texts and transcripts that were written and felt between 1916 and 1920, is a timely message about the modern world.

From the Paper:

"Realizing with new zest and fear of democracy not being the underpinning of this peaceful conquest that Wilson speaks of a law is passed that bans free speech, when such speech could be seen as contrary to the cause of WWI and democracy, Congress and Wilson pass the Espionage act of 1917, creating yet another reason for protest, of the forgetting of the derisive nature of the past. Debs, in his speech could be talking about the Patriot Act, allowing government to overstep its constitutional boundaries, once again, some would say. Debs admonishes congress and the officials overseeing his trial, again naming names. (94-98) Bourne discusses disenfranchisement, as it is associated with old versus new immigrants and rightfully asks the do-gooders trying to Americanize immigrants to remember that they were also once immigrants who were given credit for establishing freedom and now taking it away by forcing their own brand of Americanism on the new comers."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Foner, Eric Voices of Freedom, Chapter 19, pgs 90-112, New York: W.W. Norton. 2004.

More papers on WWI in "Voices of Freedom":

• Analytical Essay # 2599 : "The Definition of Freedom in America"
• Essay # 138108 : "An Internal Critique of Friedmans Concept of Freedom"
• Book Review # 118250 : "Imperialism and Freedom in "Heart of Darkness"

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