Customer Reviews

Democracy's Prisoner: Eugene V. Debs, the Great War, and the Right to Dissent

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This book is a somewhat detailed look at the conviction in 1918 of Eugene Debs, labor leader and socialist, on trumped-up sedition charges under the Espionage Act of 1917, his subsequent incarceration, the three-year effort to free him, and the commutation of his sentence on Christmas Day, 1921. More broadly, the overall climate for and general reactions from various quarters to political dissent both during WWI and in subsequent years is covered. Though not emphasized by the author, this entire scenario was played out while the US was supposedly making the world safe for democracy.

The book is not a treatise on the history of the First Amendment, but it is clear that rights under that amendment had not been well articulated by the time of WWI. The US government helped to create a climate, with the creation of the Committee on Public Information in 1917, just after declaring war on Germany, where any perceived disloyalty to the American cause would not be tolerated. The Postmaster General did not allow so-called radical publications to be mailed. The nation's press did its part by casting those speaking against the war as traitors. Convictions of disloyalty were obtained usually only on a vague sense that a speaker might be disloyal. Such was the case with Debs; the climate of hysteria was such that his anti-capitalism and anti-war beliefs were viewed as having the potential to incite others to refuse military service, though not one example could be pointed to.

Many, at the time, felt, with WWI ending on Nov 11, 1918, that convicted dissenters, such as Debs, would be granted amnesty. The author repeatedly looks at the rationalizations of Pres. Woodrow Wilson and Attorney General Mitchell Palmer in their refusals to do so. The Supreme Court demonstrated a most limited view of the First Amendment by upholding Debs' conviction in March, 1919, allowing his imprisonment. The unconscionable roundup of 6000 so-called radicals in Jan, 1920, by Palmer may have been the low point of the assault on the political rights of Americans. Virtually all were released - falsely accused in a temper branded as the "Red Scare." The rise of vigilante groups after the war, including the formation of the American Legion, and their repeated physical assaults of socialists, communists, amnesty advocates, etc are also described.

There is a certain amount of busyness and repetitiveness about the book as any number of relevant developments outside of the trial are covered, such as the breakup of the Socialist Party into pro- and anti-war factions, including Bolshevik versus reformist wings, and numerous marches, petitions, meetings, letter writing campaigns, etc, and the efforts of numerous individuals to free Debs and to grant general amnesty for all political prisoners jailed for their opposition to the war. The work of anarchist Lucy Robins in orchestrating support for Debs from ordinary persons to AFL head Samuel Gompers to high-ranking gov officials was quite remarkable.

While the book is not intended to be a biography, much is learned about Debs' character, beliefs, associations, and his standing among working- and middle-class supporters. By the time Debs was freed from prison, the socialists and the radical labor movement had been irrevocably broken. Yet, ironically, the American public had come to accept a broader interpretation of free speech. It was the Harding administration that granted amnesty to all political prisoners and rescinded all restrictions on the mailing of radical publications. This was also the time that the ACLU was established.

It seems like the free speech/dissent lesson has to be relearned again and again in this nation: witness the McCarthy hearings in the early 1950s, which was another Red Scare. Nonetheless, it is clear that the suffering that Debs and other dissenters/radicals endured during the aftermath of WWI did help in furthering the cause of free speech.

This is a superb book about an extraordinary figure--labor organizer, Socialist Party leader, and five-time presidential candidate Eugene V. Debs--during an intensely controversial period of his life. At age 63 and in poor health, Debs was convicted under the new and deeply flawed Espionage Act for criticizing the U.S. entry into World War I. University of Tennessee historian Ernest Freeberg shows how a fascinating cross-section of Americans pushed for or resisted amnesty for the charismatic radical. The historical parallels with the present are uncanny, and the differences are instructive, too. If you like American history or just well crafted general nonfiction, give this one a look.

A good account of the Socialist career of Eugene Debs, the beloved leader who was jailed under the Woodrow Wilson Administration because of his opposition to the US entry in World War I, as well as his outspoken opposition to capitalist abuse. The corporate malfeasance he railed against sounds very much like what's going on today; how discouraging.
It's interesting to read about other famous contemporary progressives--Upton Sinclair, Samuel Gompers (not so progressive), Helen Keller, Max Eastman, and the founder of the Nation magazine, Oswald Garrison Villard.
The book does a good job of describing how the rallying for Debs's release from prison caused more division than unity among Progressives; some felt that it was counterproductive to push too hard against the Wilson Administration and subsequently the Harding Administration, and back them into a corner; while others felt that Debs's case had to be kept front and center. Communists, labor leaders, socialists, and other activists differed on what direction to take. Just like liberals today!
The dilemma was whether to try to free the ailing socialist leader on humanitarian grounds, since he was nearing the end of his life and was much respected by the wardens, fellow prisoners, and even his political opponents in power, all of whom acknowledged his gentlemanly manners and virtue--or keep him imprisoned in light of his principled refusal to apologize or admit wrongdoing, and his insistence on the release of all political prisoners.
The book is an in-depth treatise on the history of the First Amendment in the early part of the twentieth century, and the formation of the modern-day ACLU. In this regard, at least, the United States has made some progress.
The one fault I found with this book is it gets a bit monotonous toward the end: Debs is about to be released, then somebody stalls; then it happens again, over and over. A briefer summary of the final contest would have made it more readable and no less informative.

A second book from U of Tenn. History professor Ernest Freeberg takes us back to a turbulent period in our history, the early 20th century.

Eugene Debs was a shadowy name to me before I read this book as were the details of the U.S. involvement in the "war to end all wars" WW1.

Freedom of speech is the issue and all sides of the issue were thoroughly explored by Prof. Freeberg.

A thoroughly enjoyable and enlightening read.