CHAPTER 24
AMERICA GOES
TO W4R
1914—1918
24A / Why America Foughz
Excerpts from Wilson’s war message to
Congress, April 2, 1917
Germany resumed unrestricted submarine warfare
early in 1917. The resulting loss of American ships, plus
the Zimmermann note, brought the United States to
war. In one of his most notable speeches, President
Wilson addressed Congress, asking for a declaration of
war against Germany. Here are excerpts from that
address, a portion of which also appears in “From the
Archives” for Chapter 24 of Land of Promise.
• The new [German submarine] policy has
swept every restriction aside. Vessels of every
kind, whatever their flag, their character, their
cargo, their destination, their errand, have been
ruthlessly sent to the bottom without warning and
without thought of help or mercy for those on
board, the vessels of friendly neutrals along with
those of belligerents. Even hospital ships and
ships carrying relief to the sorely bereaved and
stricken people of Belgium.
have been sunk
with the same reckless lack of compassion or of
principle.
The present German submarine warfare
against commerce is a warfare against mankind.
It is a war against all nations. American ships
have been sunk, American lives taken in ways
which it has stirred us very deeply to learn of; but
the ships and people of other neutral and friendly
nations have been sunk and overwhelmed in the
waters in the same way. There has been no dis.
crimination. The challenge is to all mankind.
Armed neutrality is ineffectual enough at best
it is practically certain to draw us into the war
without either the rights or the effectiveness of
belligerents. There is one choice we cannot make,
we are incapable of making; we will not choose
.
.
the path of submission and suffer the most sacred
rights of our nation and our people to be ignored
or violated. The wrongs against which we now
array ourselves are no common wrongs; they cut
to the very roots of human life.
We have no quarrel with the German people.
We have no feeling toward them but one of sympa
thy and friendship. It was not upon their impulse
that their government acted in entering this war.
It was not with their previous knowledge or ap
proval. It was a war determined upon as wars
used to be determined upon in the old, unhappy
days when peoples were nowhere consulted by
their rulers and wars were provoked and waged in
the interest of dynasties or of little groups of
ambitious men who were accustomed to use their
fellowmen as pawns anti tools.
The world must be made safe for democracy. Its
peace must be planted upon the tested founda
tions of political liberty. We have no selfish ends
to serve. We desire no conquest, no dominion. We
seek no indemnities for ourselves, no material
compensation for the sacrifices we shall freely
make. We are but one of the champions of the
rights of mankind. We shall be satisfied when
those rights have been made as secure as the
faith and the freedom of nations can make
them.
It is a distressing and oppressive duty, gentle
men of the Congress, which I have performed in
thus addressing you. There are, it may be, many
months of fiery trial and sacrifice ahead of us. It
is a fearful thing to lead this great peaceful people
into war, into the most terrible and disastrous of
all wars, civilization itself seeming to be in the
balance. But the right is more precious than
peace, and we shall fight for the things which we
have always carried nearest our hearts—for de
mocracy, for the right of those who submit to
authority to have a voice in their own govern
ments, for the rights and liberties of small na
tions, for a universal dominion of right by such a
concert of free peoples as shall bring peace and
safety to all nations and make the world itself at
last free.
From U.S. 65th Congress, 1st Session, Senate Document No. 5.
Address given before Joint Session of Congress, April 2, 1917.
Questions
1. Why did Wilson think that unrestricted submarine
warfare was a cause for war?
145
2. Why did Wilson make a distinction between Ameri
ca’s attitudes toward the German people and those
toward the German government?
3. What did Wilson say that America’s entry into World
War I would achieve?
This nut loaf with its accompanying sauce is a
highly nutritious dish and is excellent for lunch or
supper. Serve no meat or potatoes with it.
From The Farmer’s Wife, September 1917 (St. Paul, Minn.:
Webb Publishing Company).
Questions
1. Do you think that the recipe given here would pro
duce a “highly nutritious dish
excellent for lunch
.
24B / Being Patriotic at Mealtime
A wartime recipe, The Farmer’s Wife,
.
.
or supper”? Why or why not?
2. How do you think the above dish would taste?
3. Can you suggest another main-dish recipe that would
avoid or use sparingly the foods that were needed for
shipment abroad during World War I?
September 1917
Food shortages and soaring prices are part of the burden
of war. During World War I, Food Administration bulle
tins urged Americans to save foods that were needed for
shipment abroad—wheat, meat, potatoes, sugar, and
fats in particular. Slogans urged, “Food is fuel for
fighters,” and “Do not buy a pound of meat until you
have bought three quarts of milk.” Homemakers were
told to substitute rice and hominy (hulled corn) for
potatoes and to use cornmeal, oatmeal, and other whole
grains in place of wheat. Margarine and butterine—
butter substitutes that had been developed by Ameri
cans in the 1870s and generally spurned—now became
more widely accepted. To cope with the food shortages,
resourceful home economists came up with recipes
such as the following. The peanut loaf with its tangy
sauce is somewhat more nutritious and filling than a
peanut-butter sandwich.
• Peanut Loaf
Chopped [raw, unsalted] peanuts, 1 cup
Bread crumbs, 2 cups
Egg, 1
Milk, 1 cup
Salt, 1½ teaspoons
Paprika, ¼ teaspoon
Melted fat, 1 tablespoon
Mix dry ingredients, add beaten egg and milk. Put
into a greased [3x7-inch loaf pan], pour the melt
ed fat on top, bake [at 3500, 45 minutes]. Turn on a
hot platter and serve with sauce.
Sauce for Loaf
Hot water, 1 cup
Beef cube, 1
Juice 1 lemon
Fat, 2 tablespoons
Flour, 2 tablespoons
Salt, ½ teaspoon
Paprika, 1
/s teaspoon
Few grains nutmeg
Melt fat, add flour with seasoning, add hot water
in which beef cube has been dissolved. Just be
fore serving add lemon juice.
146
24C I Selling the War: The Four-Minute Men
A description by George Creel
The Committee on Public Information was basically a
propaganda agency to create support for the war. In the
following reading the chairman of the Committee,
George Creel, describes the Four-Minute Men, an orga
nization of volunteers devoted to stirring patriotism by
means of four-minute speeches delivered in movie
houses.
• There was nothing more time-wasting than the
flood of people that poured into Washington dur
ing the war, each burdened with some wonderful
suggestion that could be imparted only to an
executive head. Even so, all of them had to be
seen, for not only was it their right as citizens, but
it was equally the case that the idea might have
real value. Many of our best suggestions came
from the most unlikely sources.
In the very first hours of the Committee.
a
.
.
handsome, rosy-cheeked youth burst through the
crowd and caught my lapel in a death-grip. His
name was Donald Ryerson. He confessed to Chi
cago as his home, and the plan that he presented
was the organization of volunteer speakers for the
purpose of making patriotic talks in motionpicture theaters. He had tried out the scheme in
Chicago, and the success of the venture had
catapulted him on the train to Washington and to
me.
Being driven to the breaking-point has certain
compensations, after all. It forced one to think
quickly and confines thought largely to the posi
tive values of a suggestion rather than future
difficulties. Had I had the time to weigh the
proposition from every angle, it may be that I
would have decided against it, for it was delicate
and dangerous business to turn loose on the coun
try an army of speakers impossible of exact con
trol and yet vested in large degree with the au
thority of the government. In ten minutes we had
decided upon a national organization to be called
the “Four-Minute Men,” and Mr. Ryerson rushed
out with my appointment as its director.
When the armistice brought activities to a conelusion the Four-Minute Men numbered 75,000
speakers, more than 7,555,190 speeches had been
made, and a fair estimate of audiences makes it
certain that a total of 134,454,514 people had
been addressed. Notwithstanding the nature of
the work, the infinite chances for blunder and
bungle, this unique and effective agency func
tioned from first to last with only one voice ever
raised to attack its faith and efficiency.
A more difficult decision was as to the prepara
tion of the matter to be sent out to speakers. We
did not want stereotyped oratory, and yet it was
imperative to guard against the dangers of unre
straint. It was finally agreed that regular bulle
tins should be issued, each containing a budget of
material covering every phase of the question to
be discussed, and also including two or three
illustrative four-minute speeches.
The idea, from the very first, had the sweep of a
prairie fire. Speakers volunteered by the thousand
in every state, the owners of the motion-picture
houses, after a first natural hesitancy, gave ex
clusive privileges to the organization, and the
various government departments fairly clamored
for the services of the Four-Minute Men. The
following list of bulletins will show the wide
range of topics: Universal Service by Selective
Draft, First Liberty Loan, Red Cross, Organiza
tion, Food Conservation, Why We Are Fighting,
The Nation in Arms, The Importance of Speed,
What Our Enemy Really Is, Unmasking German
Propaganda, Onward to Victory, Second Liberty
Loan, Food Pledge, Maintaining Morals and Mor
ale, Carrying the Message, War Savings
Stamps.
Almost from the first the organization had the
projectile force of a French “75” [a heavy artillery
piece], and it was increasingly the case that gov
ernment department heads turned to the FourMinute Men when they wished to arouse the
nation swiftly and effectively. At a time when the
Third Liberty Loan was lagging, President Wilson
U.S. government posters to promote patriotism
bought a $50 bond and challenged the men and
women of the nation to “match” it. The Treasury
Department asked the Committee to broadcast
the message, and paid for the telegrams that
went out to the state and county chairmen. With
in a few days 50,000 Four-Minute Men were
delivering the challenge to the people of every
community in the United States, and the loan
took a leap that carried it over the top.
Adapted from pp. 84—88 in How We Advertised America by
George Creel. Copyright ca 1920 by Harper & Row, Publishers,
Inc.; renewed 1948 by George Creel. By permission of Harper &
Row, Publishers, Inc.
147
Questions
1. Explain how the Four-Minute Men got started. What
was the purpose of the organization?
2. What was one project the Four-Minute Men aided?
3. Do you think such an organization would be success
ful today? Why or why not?
November 8th
More and more Americans in the death ward [a
ward where dying cases are quartered]. Gas cases
are terrible. They cannot breathe lying down or
sitting up. They just struggle for breath, but
nothing can be done.. their lungs are gone....
[Some are] covered with first degree burns. We try
to relieve them by pouring oil on them. They
cannot be bandaged or even touched. We cover
them with a tent of propped-up sheets. Gas burns
must be agonizing because usually the other
cases do not complain even with the worst of
wounds. But gas cases invariably are beyond
endurance and they cannot help crying out.
.
24D / Behind the Lines
Entries from the diary of an American
nurse, 1918
Throughout most of 1918, Shirley Millard served as a
nurse at a French army hospital near the front lines.
Because she spoke French, she also acted as an inter
preter for the English-speaking wounded. The hospital
was a makeshift affair in a beautiful old chateau. It held
3,500 cots, which at times were completely ifiled with
wounded men. Sometimes after heavy fighting, men
might wait outside on stretchers for as long as three
days before attendants could make room for them in
side. While most of the patients were French or British,
there were Arabs, Zouaves (members of some regi
ments in the French army usually stationed in North
Africa), Senegalese, a number of Americans, and many
Germans. The first diary entry was written shortly after
Shirley Millard joined the hospital staff. The last entries
were written just before the war ended.
• April 1st
The big drive is over and the terrific rush has
stopped, at least temporarily, but the hospital is
still filled.
Most of the men are too badly wounded to be
moved, although we need the space, for we are
swamped with influenza cases. I thought influen
za was a bad cold, something like the grippe, but
this is much worse than that. These men run a
high temperature, so high that we can’t believe
it’s true, and often take it again to be sure. It is
accompanied by vomiting and dysentery. When
they die, as about half of them do, they turn a
ghastly dark gray and are taken out at once and
cremated.
We are better organized now, and able to keep
track of pulses and temperatures, and we have
some system. There are special wards for the
influenza, one for gangrene cases, another one for
major gas burns, one for meningitis, one for
fractures, one for spinal injuries, and so on. I
have worked in all of them and cannot make up
my mind which is the worst.
148
November 10th
Charley [an American sergeant who was almost
completely paralyzed] died this morning. I held
his hand as he went and could not keep back the
tears. Near the end he saw me crying and patted
my hand with his two living fingers to comfort
me. I cannot describe that boy’s sweetness. He
took part of my heart with him. Everybody around
the place was in tears.
Just after he went someone came into the ward
and said: “Armistice! The staff cars have just
passed by the gate on their way to Senlis to sign
an Armistice!”
What a time and place to come in shouting
about an Armistice! I said: “Sh! Sh!”
There is no armistice for Charley or for any of
the others in that ward. One of the boys began to
sob. I went and talked soothingly to him, but what
could I say, knowing he would die before night?
Well, it’s over. I have to keep telling myself, it’s
over, it’s over, it’s over.
But there is still that letter to write to Charley’s
mother. I can hear commotion and shouting
through the hospital as I write this. The chapel
bell is ringing wildly.
I am glad it is over, but my heart is heavy as
lead. Must write that letter.
One of the girls came looking for me. They have
opened champagne for the staff in the dining hall.
I told her to get out.
Can’t seem to pull myself together.
I Saza Them Die: Diary and Recollections of Shirley Millard,
edited by Adele Comandini. New York: Harcourt, Brace &
Company, 1936, pp. 18—19, 108-110.
Questions
1. Name the various wards that Shirley Millard worked
in. In addition to treating wounds, what other kinds
of cases did the hospital treat?
2. Why were the gas cases so terrible? Do you think the
use of gas is any worse than using conventional
weapons? Why or why not?
Unit Eight
Prosperity and
Depression
24E / “The Hearse Son
CHAPTER 25
The origins of a children’s song
The incredible number of deaths during World War I
inspired “The Hearse Song,” which soon became a
favorite in all branches of the service. As you recall
from the text, at least 10 million troops and 5 million
civilians were killed in the war. These figures included
some 112,000 Americans, more than half of whom died
in the influenza epidemic described in the previous
selection. “The Hearse Song” is still sung today by
American schoolchildren, who have little idea of where
this macabre ditty originated. The first version printed
here was recorded by the poet Carl Sandburg. The
verses that follow are some variations sung by children.
THE
POLITICS OF
PROSPERITY
1919—1928
• The Hearse Song
-
The
.‘
old Grey lionene g000 coll-ing by, You don’t koow wheth-er to laugh a, cry, Foe you
25A I The Palmer Raid
An account from a biography of
A. Mitchell Palmer
know some day
it
‘II get you too, And the hearses clout load may con sist
-
of-—you.
Some Children’s Variations
Did you ever think as the hearse rolls by,
That you will be the next to die?
The men with shovels will stand around,
And they’ll bury you in the cold, cold ground.
Oh, the worms crawl in, the worms crawl out,
The worms play pinochle on your snout.
They’ll bring their friends and their friends’
friends too.
And there’s nothing much left when they’re
through with you.
‘The Hearse Song” from The American Songbag by Carl Sand
burg. New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1927, p. 444.
Questions
1. Why do you think “The Hearse Song” is still sung?
2. Did you sing it when you were a child? If so, where
did you learn it?
3. If you know other verses that are suitable for the
classroom, suggest them to your teacher.
In November 1919 and again on January 2, 1920,
federal and local law enforcement officials raided of
fices and homes of alleged radicals in many cities. Some
people were held for several hours, others for several
months. Here Stanley Coben, a historian, describes the
1920 Palmer raids.
• All the worst features of the November raids
reoccurred, but on a much larger scale. There
was the knock on the door, the rush of police. In
meeting houses, all wre.iined up to be searched;
those who iesisted often suffered brutal treat
ment. Except for a few who carried documentary
proof of citizenship all were taken to police head
quarters for intensive questioning; usually they
received a confession to sign, and often were
threatened or beaten if they refused to comply.
Prisoners were put in overcrowded jails or deten
tion centers where they remained, frequently
under the most abominable conditions, until
called for deportation hearings, or until their cap
tors decided their evidence was insufficient.
149