German American Identity and Dissent during
World War I
Central issue, problem, or question: During World War I, how did the
Espionage Act of 1917 restrict American civil liberties, especially the rights of
German American citizens?
Significance: This lesson asks students to analyze the tension between national
security concerns on the one hand and civil liberties on the other during periods
of national crisis. It focuses on the arrest of German American newspaper
editors Benedict and Edwin Prieth for violating the Espionage Act in 1917.
New Jersey Core Curriculum Standards for Social Studies: Standard 6.4
(United States and New Jersey History). High School: I-4 (Describe the major
events, personalities, and decisions of World War I).
Objectives: After reading and analyzing primary source documents, students will
be able to:
• Identify civil liberties protected by the First Amendment to the United
States Constitution.
• Describe the provisions of the Espionage Act of 1917 and how it was used
to suppress dissent.
• Debate the extent to which national security concerns during war might
justify government restrictions on speech and action.
Abstract: Middle school students will read the First Amendment to the United
States Constitution and the Espionage Act of 1917 and then debate whether the
Prieth brothers’ arrest was justified. For homework they will write a letter to the
editor of the New York Times about the Prieth arrest and restrictions on civil
liberties during times of war. High school students will study the Prieth case and
write a short essay on the question of whether national security concerns or antiGerman hysteria was more responsible for the arrest.
Duration: Two 45-minute class periods.
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Sources
Secondary Sources
Mark Lender online lecture: “The Home Front and Civil Liberties: The
World War I Experience in New Jersey,” July 2005; available in the “World
War I” section of the New Jersey History Partnership Project website,
http://nj-history.org.
Mark Lender, One State in Arms: A Short Military History of New Jersey
(Trenton, 1991), 75-82.
Howard Green, “The ‘Red Scare’ and the Palmer Raids: Repression of
Immigrants and Radicals in New Jersey, 1918-1920,” New Jersey
Heritage 1 (Fall 2002): 32-9.
Primary Sources
Section Three of the Espionage Act, 15 June 1917.
http://nj-history.org/proRef/worldWarI/pdf/worldWarIDoc1.pdf
Reports on the Federal Raid on the New Jersey Freie Zeitung, New York
Times, 5 and 6 October 1917.
http://nj-history.org/proRef/worldWarI/pdf/worldWarIDoc2.pdf
Benedict and Edwin Prieth Answer the Charges against Them, New
Jersey Freie Zeitung, 5 October 1917.
http://nj-history.org/proRef/worldWarI/pdf/worldWarIDoc3.pdf
Articles on Wartime Rumors, New Jersey Freie Zeitung, 20 August 1917.
http://nj-history.org/proRef/worldWarI/pdf/worldWarIDoc4.pdf
Materials: Teachers will need copies of the primary source documents listed
above.
Background: Although President Woodrow Wilson (a former governor of New
Jersey) campaigned in 1916 on the slogan, “He Kept Us Out of War,” he asked
Congress for a declaration of war soon after his second inauguration. By the
time the United States entered the war in April 1917, the fighting was almost
three years old, and Wilson’s policy of neutrality had worn thin. American public
opinion favored the Allies (led by Great Britain, France, Russia, and Italy) over
the Central Powers (led by Germany and Austria-Hungary). Yet not all
Americans sympathized with the Allied cause, and German and Irish Americans
were most likely to question friendly ties with Great Britain. New Jersey was
particularly divided by this conflict, because many of its residents were recent
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immigrants; in large sections of the north, two out of three persons had been
born in Europe.
Once the United States declared war on Germany, the national government, with
help from the states, mobilized a massive publicity machine designed to build
support for the war and to vilify the nation’s enemies. The government organized
Liberty bond rallies featuring popular movie stars, sponsored “four minute men”
talks at motion picture theaters, designed and distributed propaganda posters,
and published advertisements in popular magazines. Such propaganda helped
produce a popular aversion to all things German. Patriotic citizens did not listen
to Wagner, and those who owned German shepherds referred to the dogs as
“Alsatians.” Americans consumed “hot dogs” with “liberty cabbage,” rather than
frankfurters with sauerkraut. And German Valley in western Morris County was
officially renamed Long Valley.
In addition to producing propaganda, government officials sought to suppress
dissent. A main tool in the government’s arsenal was the 1917 Espionage Act
and the 1918 Sedition Amendment, which outlawed antiwar utterances and
activities. Those who publicly criticized the war or the military draft could be
subject to heavy fines and stiff jail sentences. In Newark, Benedict and Edwin
Prieth, publishers of the German-language daily newspaper New Jersey Freie
Zeitung, were arrested for violating the Espionage Act in October 1917. Despite
his arrest, Benedict received around 2,000 or 3,000 votes for city commissioner
later that fall. On the basis of articles published in the Freie Zeitung, the Prieths
were charged with attempting to hinder and prevent Army recruitment. The case
went to trial in September 1918 and ended with a hung jury.
Keywords:
Dissent
Disloyalty
Enlistment
Recruitment
Civil Liberties
Espionage Act of 1917
Sedition Amendment
Middle School Procedures
For homework, the night before this lesson, students should read the section of
their textbook on Woodrow Wilson’s domestic policies during World War I,
especially policies designed to promote the war and to suppress dissent.
The teacher should begin the lesson by asking students to read the First
Amendment to the Constitution; most U.S. history textbooks include a copy of the
Constitution as an appendix. Afterwards, the teacher should pose the following
questions:
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•
•
What freedoms are we entitled to under the First Amendment to the
Constitution?
Are there any circumstances under which citizens might be justly deprived
of these civil liberties? If so, which circumstances?
Are there cases in which saying what you think could be a crime?
Explain.
The teacher should then hand out a copy Section Three of the Espionage Act.
http://nj-history.org/proRef/worldWarI/pdf/worldWarIDoc1.pdf
The teacher should explain that the law was passed by Congress soon after the
United States declared war on Germany; the federal government used it to
suppress dissent by German Americans, Irish Americans, pacifists, and
socialists. The teacher should tell students that anti-German sentiment was
widespread, leading Americans to rename frankfurters, sauerkraut, German
Shepherds, etc.; to learn more about this topic, listen to Mark Lender’s online
lecture, available in the “World War I” section of the New Jersey History
Partnership Project website, http://nj-history.org. After students have read the
Espionage Act, the teacher should ask them to assess it:
• What did the Espionage Act outlaw?
• How do you think it should have been applied?
• Are there times when it is necessary to limit free speech in the interest of
national security?
Then the teacher should distribute copies of the New York Times articles about
the raid on the New Jersey Freie Zeitung.
http://nj-history.org/proRef/worldWarI/pdf/worldWarIDoc2.pdf
Students should read the articles aloud as a class. Afterwards the teacher
should lead a discussion of the facts of the case and ask students whether they
believe that the war justified such restrictions on free speech.
For homework, students will write a letter to the editor of the New York Times in
response to the arrest of Benedict and Edwin Prieth. Student letters should
describe the provisions of Section Three of the Espionage Act and take a stand
on the question of limiting civil liberties during times of war. The teacher should
offer students the opportunity to share their editorials with the class on the
following day. The teacher might conclude the lesson by asking students to
compare the provisions of the Espionage Act to those of the USA PATRIOT Act.
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High School Procedures
For homework the night before this lesson, students should read the sections of
their textbook on British propaganda and pre-war attitudes toward the Allies vs.
the Central Powers and on Woodrow Wilson’s domestic policies during World
War I, especially policies designed to promote the war and to suppress dissent.
The teacher should begin the lesson by handing out Articles on Wartime Rumors
from the New Jersey Freie Zeitung.
http://nj-history.org/proRef/worldWarI/pdf/worldWarIDoc4.pdf
(Note: Northcliffe Press was a British company that published several mass
circulation newspapers; the company’s owner, Alfred Harmsworth, was
appointed Director of Propaganda in Enemy Countries in 1918.) After the
students have read the articles, the teacher should ask them:
• How were Germans and German Americans portrayed in the popular
press?
• Why do you think these rumors started?
• What role do you think the British press might have played in starting and
spreading rumors such as these?
The teacher should tell students a little about the New Jersey Freie Zeitung,
which published the above articles. It was one of oldest German-language
newspapers in the state and had begun publishing in 1858. In 1917, Benedict
and Edwin Prieth, the paper’s proprietors, were arrested by the U.S. government
and charged with violating the Espionage Act.
The teacher should then organize students into cooperative groups of 3-4 and
hand out two primary source documents:
• Section Three of the Espionage Act.
http://nj-history.org/proRef/worldWarI/pdf/worldWarIDoc1.pdf
• Reports on the Federal Raid on the New Jersey Freie Zeitung, New York
Times.
http://nj-history.org/proRef/worldWarI/pdf/worldWarIDoc2.pdf
• Benedict and Edwin Prieth Answer the Charges against Them, New
Jersey Freie Zeitung.
http://nj-history.org/proRef/worldWarI/pdf/worldWarIDoc3.pdf
The student groups will read the documents and fill out a worksheet.
http://nj-history.org/proRef/worldWarI/pdf/worldWarIWS.pdf
Once students have completed the worksheet, the teacher should ask the groups
to share their answers with the class and open a debate, based on the Prieth
case, on the question of whether freedom of speech (or other civil liberties) can
be justly restricted during times of war.
After the discussion, the teacher should tell students that the Prieth brothers
were tried but were not convicted of violating the Espionage Act. The trial ended
in a hung jury, and the case was not retried.
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For homework, students will write a short essay on the question of whether they
think national security concerns or anti-German hysteria was more responsible
for the Prieth brothers’ arrest. Student essays should be based on both their
textbooks and the primary source documents. The teacher should offer students
the opportunity to share their essays with the class on the following day. The
teacher might conclude the lesson by asking students to compare the provisions
of the Espionage Act to those of the USA PATRIOT Act.
Connections: Teachers might use this lesson as part of a larger unit on the
tension between national security concerns and civil liberties during times of
war. The Civil War, World War I, and the current war on terror are good
cases for this exploration.
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