This paper presents two opposing points of view about America's entry into WWI. One, by President Woodrow Wilson, was heralded and the other, by labor agitator Eugene Debs, who was imprisoned because of the speech.
Abstract This paper discusses that both President Woodrow Wilson and labor agitator Eugene Debs made important speeches as WWI began. However, the law was not as tolerant of free speech then as it is today. The paper reports that Wilson, in his speech to Congress, emphasized that he was not seeking revenge even though Germany was attacking American ships, but rather saw America's entry into the war as a means of defense; armed neutrality was no longer possible. The author explains that Eugene Debs, Socialist Party candidate for president, made his speech to a group of working people, opposing the war and claimed it was just one more example of the way the working class is exploited by the capitalist. He was imprisoned for this speech.
From the Paper "Wilson is also clear about what this move will involve--the need for funding, the need to gather large numbers of troops, the need to organize the resources of the country, the need to get the people to support the war, and so on. He is taking the first step by gaining the support of Congress, after which he and members of Congress will have to garner support from the public. Wilson goes into other aspects of his decision that he believes are important, such as indicating that the war is with the leaders of Germany and not the German people, that the primary concern is for peace, and that this is the beginning of a new age. Interestingly, he also points to the Russian Revolution, then only a few weeks old, as evidence of a new democratic spirit, showing either that the Russian Revolution changed directions after this or that Wilson misperceived what was taking place there."
Abstract This paper discusses how the United States government had very few regulatory controllers on corporate greed, which ultimately resulted in the stock market crash of 1929 and the Great Depression. Debs' opposition to the First World War is valid, since America was quickly imploding due to the massive unemployment and labor disputes that were tearing the country apart. The paper further discusses how socialism offers a balanced government that would help stave off corporate greed through regulation, much as President Roosevelt was forced to do through the New Deal in later times.
From the Paper "Eugene Debs was a socialist political activist in the Socialist Party of America during the first quarter of the twentieth century. Debs ran for president on the Socialist Party ticket, which had been caused by corporate monopoly and war profiteering witnessed in the before and after the First World War. The cause for labor rights and other socialist themes were part of his personality, as he sought to find governmental regulation against corporations and private enterprise. This was brought about by unfair wages, governmental support of private corporate monopoly, and the social upheaval cause by excessive greed. Eugene Debs often wrote speeches that characterize his approach to socialist issued in America. In his "Canton, Ohio Speech of 1918", one can see the post war attitude toward corporations that Debs chose to fight against."
Abstract Based on Woodrow Wilson's speech to gain a declaration of War in 1917 and Eugene V. Debs renunciation of the war, this paper presents an argument favoring Debs' point of view that America is sending working class Americans to fight a capitalists' war.
From the Paper "There have been many arguments against President Wilson's summoning of Congress to declare war against the Central powers in Europe thousands of miles from our shores. It was not just an isolationist view that ..."
Abstract This paper compares the themes of realism and art in Rebecca Harding Davis's "Life in the Iron Mills" by arguing that Deb and Hugh are symbolic characters. The author believes that Davis's work breaks down the traditional boundaries between art and realism by suggesting that realism has supplanted the more traditional understanding of art as a way of seeing the world.
Abstract This paper points out the influence Karl Marx has had, not only on the study of politics, but on the study of philosophy, sociology, history, and science as well. The paper continues with a discussion of subsequent Marxist activists and philosophers and their interpretations of the Marxist doctrine. Contentions arising from the different interpretations and disagreements with the doctrine itself are also discussed.
From the Paper "The influence of Karl Marx's thought on the events transpiring subsequent to his writings is so immense that it perhaps towers over any other theorist of his time or era. Perhaps the only 19th century thinkers whose ideas can be said to have had a similar wide-based appeal and dissemination might be Sigmund Freud and Charles Darwin?but although those great thinkers have established much in their given fields, certainly Marx has more deeply affected the world community and global politics on a massive scale. Without Marx there would not be any idea of socialism or communism as we know it, and the revolutions of 1848, the Russian revolution, the ascendancy of Mao Tse Tung in China, and the Cold War, might all have never occurred or have been significantly differently. Part of the pervasiveness of Marx's idea is that it is applicable to several widely different arenas of study and crosses the gaps between many of these disciplines."
Abstract This paper makes a persuasive case to vote for one of the four candidates for President in 1912 namely, Roosevelt, Taft, Wilson and Debs. The paper not only focuses on the reasons for a particular candidate, but also provides a brief argument on why each of the other candidates is not the preferred choice.
From the Paper "In the upcoming General Election for President of the United States we are given a choice of four candidates. They are Wilson, Taft, Roosevelt and Debs. Of the four the obvious and clear choice for President is William Howard Taft. As we know from the popular ..."
