The Great War and America's Women

Unlike U.S. entrance into World War II after the Japanese attack at Pearl Harbor, American entrance into World War I sparked impassioned debate and controversy. There were several reasons why some Americans opposed the war. We will discuss those views in class.  As a consequence of divided pubic opinion, the Woodrow Wilson Administration implemented censorship policies and other tactics designed to quiet resistance to the war. War-time hysteria led many Americans to question the loyalty of immigrants, especially German Americans.  After the war progressed and eventually ended, anti-German sentiment and anti-left sentiments focused on people with left-wing political viewpoints, thereby creating the country's first "red scare."  Socialists like Emma Goldman were very public targets.  Jeanette Rankin, America's first female member of Congress, also attracted criticism. What do  you think were the short- and long- term consequences of such attitudes toward the anti-war activists?

Jeanette Rankin   
http://www.greatwomen.org/women.php?action=viewone&id=121

Frederick C. Howe on wartime hysteria

Emma Goldman's plea before her deportation in 1917 
http://sunsite.berkeley.edu/Goldman/Exhibition/plea.html