World War I and American society, 1917–1920

“The world must be made safe for democracy. Its peace must be planted upon the trusted foundations of political liberty. . . .

“[Of German Americans:] They are, most of them, as true and loyal Americans as if they had never known any other fealty or allegiance. . . . If there should be disloyalty it will be dealt with with a firm hand of stern repression . . . .”

[Fealty: loyalty.]

“[The war] was the fight for the minds of men, for the ‘conquest of their convictions,’ and the battle-line ran through every home in every country. . . .

“What we had to have was no mere surface unity, but a passionate belief in the justice of America's cause that should weld the people of the United States into one white-hot mass instinct with fraternity, devotion, courage, and deathless determination.”

[Instinct with: filled with. Fraternity: brotherhood.]

“That which the German power represents today spells death to the aspirations of Negroes and all darker races for equality, freedom and democracy. Let us not hesitate. Let us, while this war lasts, forget our special grievances and close our ranks shoulder to shoulder with our own white fellow citizens and the allied nations that are fighting for democracy. We make no ordinary sacrifice, but we make it gladly and willingly with our eyes lifted to the hills.”

“Among the immediate economic causes of the migration were the labor depression in the South in 1914 and 1915 and the large decrease in foreign immigration resulting from the World War. . . . The negroes, moreover, were generally dissatisfied because of the continued low wages which obtained in the South in spite of the increasing cost of living. . . . The result was a great demand in the North for the labor of the negro at wages such as he had never received.”

A letter to the editor of the Chicago Defender, a Black newspaper, quoted by Scott:

“April 24, 1917. . . . My husband is in the North already working, and he wants us to come up in May, so I want to know if it is true about the excursion. I am getting ready and, oh, so many others also . . . .”

[Excursion: a cheap group train trip north.]

“And what shall we say of the women,—of their instant intelligence, quickening every task that they touched; their capacity for organization and cooperation, which gave their action discipline and enhanced the effectiveness of everything they attempted; their aptitude at tasks to which they had never before set their hands; their utter self-sacrifice alike in what they did and in what they gave? Their contribution to the great result is beyond appraisal. . . . The least tribute we can pay them is to make them the equals of men in political rights as they have proved themselves their equals in every field of practical work they have entered, whether for themselves or for their country.”

“We admit that in many places and in ordinary times the defendants in saying all that was said in the circular would have been within their constitutional rights. But the character of every act depends upon the circumstances in which it is done. . . . The question in every case is whether the words used are used in such circumstances and are of such a nature as to create a clear and present danger that they will bring about the substantive evils that Congress has a right to prevent. . . . When a nation is at war many things that might be said in time of peace are such a hindrance to its effort that their utterance will not be endured so long as men fight and that no Court could regard them as protected by any constitutional right.”

[Circular: a leaflet. Substantive evils: here, actual harm such as obstructing the draft.]

“This is the country to which we Soldiers of Democracy return. This is the fatherland for which we fought! But it is our fatherland. It was right for us to fight. . . . But by the God of Heaven, we are cowards and jackasses if now that that war is over, we do not marshal every ounce of our brain and brawn to fight a sterner, longer, more unbending battle against the forces of hell in our own land.

“We return.

“We return from fighting.

“We return fighting.

“Make way for Democracy! We saved it in France, and by the Great Jehovah, we will save it in the United States of America, or know the reason why.”