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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Opponents of War, 1917-1918, October 23, 2003
By A Customer
Opponents of War, 1917-1918. H.C. Peterson and Gilbert C. Fite. Seattle and London: University of Washington Press. 1957. Pp. vii, 399. One of the main thesis covered in this book evolved around the first amendment on the United States' Constitution; which states that Congress have no right to create laws that would disallow citizens the freedom of speech, freedom of press, and the freedom to assemble. Peterson and Fite's intention was to show that there are various ways that the United States government justified their taking away citizens' constitutional rights during the First World War. Also to show why so many people opposed to the war, and what happened to those individuals.
Shortly after the declaration of war in 1917, the United States passed the Espionage Act and the Sedition Act. These were laws that prohibit citizens and non-citizens of the United States to speak or write about anything that would obstruct the war effort. Anyone who violated these laws was subjects to be fined and put into jail. In the years of 1917 and 1918, there were thousands of people that were fined and put into the penitentiaries for violating the Espionage Act, Sedition Act, and considered disloyal or unpatriotic to the United States government. These people were socialists, Industrial Workers of the World, teachers, professors, lawyers, conscientious objectors, and many other anti-war citizens. In addition to jailing, many of these individuals were murdered, cruelly harassed, and tortured by mobs because of their opposition to the war and belonging to anti-war groups.
Although this book was published in the late 1950s, it is still consider a very important book because its topic covers many fields of studies, such as history, sociology, political science, law, and journalistic studies. The book covers an important aspect of the First World War. Whereas many other text books talked about the war at the front, Professor Peterson and Professor Fite focused on their work on the war at home, where the majority of the public still do not know much about. Furthermore, the topic is important because it is among the few events in the American history that freedom of speech and press were suppressed and taken away from law-abiding citizens by the government.
Peterson and Fite portrayed numerous stories of why so many people had opposed to the war. Many opponents of war believed that the war was fought only for the benefit of the rich individuals such as J.P. Morgan, and the war was based only on "capitalist plot," (p. 43) not for democracy. These individuals who spoke out against the government was sent to jail, many of them were fined then sent to Leavenworth Penitentiary. Among these individuals were socialists such as Rose Pastor Stokes and Eugene V. Debs. During the war, the authors showed that the level of hysteria were so high that "...A mere accusation of disloyalty was sometimes nearly enough to send a man to prison" (p. 181). Thus, Peterson and Fite proved their intention very well.
The authors used about a quarter of the book for citations and sources. The long lists of Universities libraries and archives that they have consulted showed that they have done a well research project. Because World War One is still considered more of a contemporary history, the authors were able to consult many primary sources such as court papers, letters, newspapers, interviews, and transcriptions of court cases. These were the majority sources that they used throughout the book.
Although Professor Peterson and Fite had told many stories about anti-war individuals that were fined and arrested, they did not mention about the Sacco and Venzetti's case, which was another famous case that involved in the period of red scare and anti-immigrants feelings that resulted from the First World War. Since Sacco and Venzetti's case was very controversial, the book would be more powerful if this case was included; especially toward the end of the chapters when they discussed about the post-war conditions during President Harding's Administration.
Opponents of War, 1917-1918 is an effective account on public's opinion during the First World War, particularly with the aspect of freedom of speech and freedom of press. It presented a different view about the war from a different angle, specifically, the government's response to war critics. The book is well organized and easy to read. Students or anyone who have an interest on public opinion and World War One are strongly encouraged to read this book.
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