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Introduction Introduction Each decade of the twentieth century is closely iden- tant works of literature, films and other cultural indi- tified with at least one landmark or major turning cators that were part of the 1910s. point. In the 1910s, two major things stand out— Controversy is sure to abound in any work that dis- World War I (1914-1918) and the Progressive Era cusses American history and the 1910s is no excep- (approximately 1895-1921). tion. The Jim Crow system, now called racial segrega- Coverage in this work of World War I focuses on tion, is a good example. Today, most Americans American involvement, how and why the U.S. de- understand this social system as unjust, and sympa- clared war on Germany in 1917, the sinking of the thize with the National Association for the Advance- Lusitania, U.S. bias against Germany, the Zimmer- ment of Colored People in opposing that system. mann telegram, Germany’s declaration of unre- The articles in this work that deal with Jim Crow at- stricted submarine warfare and so much more. No tempt to present the facts of what the system was like, study of the war could ignore the major U.S. battles, not to condemn or condone. such as the Meuse-Argonne offensive, individuals A controversial movie of the decade was The Birth such as Woodrow Wilson, General John J. Pershing, of a Nation, directed by David W. Griffith in 1915. The and Sergeants Alvin York, events such as govern- movie takes place in the South following the Civil mental regulations of the economy at the home War, portraying African Americans generally as igno- front, the Paris Peace Conference and the Treaty of rant and violent, and showed members of the Ku Versailles. All these, and more, are discussed in de- Klux Klan to be the “good guys.” Although controver- tail. sial even in 1915, many southerners accepted the The Progressive Era was a period of widespread so- film as historically accurate, revealing an important cial activism and political reform in the United States piece of early twentieth century culture. It is inter- that spanned nearly 30 years. The movement tar- esting to compare Griffith’s movie with a second film, geted issues of industrialization, urbanization, immi- also called The Birth of a Nation, directed by Nate gration and political corruption, and informed most Parker in 2016, which celebrates the life of Nat things that happened during the 1910s. President Turner, the slave who led a rebellion in Virginia in Woodrow Wilson was one of the major leaders of the 1831. Described as intelligent and literate, Nat Turn- progressive movement. President William Howard er’s story, when compared to the earlier film, demon- Taft, who is best described as semi-progressive, pur- strates how history can be interpreted to appeal to sued some progressive policies, although several different audiences. were quite conservative, particularly as they related to conservation. President Theodore Roosevelt True Stories played an important part in the politics of the 1910s, The 1910s in America contains stories about people, especially in the presidential election of 1912—one events, movements, and developments. Don Hewitt of the most important elections in U.S. history. Other (1922-2009), producer of T.V.’s 60 Minutes, writes in progressive leaders included Senators Robert La Fol- his memoirs, Tell Me a Story: Fifty Years and 60 Minutes lette and George Norris, in addition to Alice Paul, in Television (2001): “The formula [for the show’s suc- Upton Sinclair, Herbert Croly, W.E.B. Du Bois, John cess] is simple, and is reduced to four words every kid R. Commons, among many others. The adoption of in the world knows: Tell me a story. It’s that easy.” the 16th, 17th, 18th, and 19th Amendments were all Certainly, Hewitt is correct about the appeal of sto- important accomplishments of the progressive move- ries, but it is not always easy to tell a true story with ment during the 1910s. factual accuracy in a way that is understandable and Also significant to the decade were major events compelling to the general reader. That, however, is and developments such as interventions into Mexico the goal of these volumes. and Russia, completion of the Panama Canal, the rise Consider, for example, the reasons why the Con- of socialism and labor unions, advancements in auto- gress and President Wilson enacted the Espionage mobiles and aircraft industries, as well as the impor- and Sedition Acts, which punished people for making ix The 1910s in America statements about the war. Reasons for the Espionage • Contingency: Every story includes unexpected and Sedition Acts included: traditional interpreta- events and coincidences. For example, if the tions of the First Amendment; fear of radical oppo- German submarine had failed to destroy the Lu- nents of the war; and concern that opposition to the sitania, the history of World War I might have war might encourage young men to disobey draft turned out differently than it did. laws. Other interesting questions include why the Su- • Change: Stories are affected by laws, technologies, preme Court approved the laws, and why did their scientific knowledge, and dominant cultures, interpretations of the First Amendment gradually which are constantly changing. For example, in change in subsequent years? Is there a right way and 1919, LGBT behavior was often criminalized be- wrong way to interpret the First Amendment? Should cause it was assumed—based on religious beliefs the Constitution be interpreted according to “orig- and traditions—that such behavior was immoral inal intent” or according to philosophical theories of and pathological. In 2019, the majority of Ameri- justice as fairness? The answers to these questions will cans think that the 1919 anti-LGBT legislation vio- help in understanding the articles presented in this lated basic human rights. work. Truth in History Components of a Story If historians and journalists are competent and In addition to answering six questions (who, what, honest, their goal is to tell a story as it actually hap- when, where, why and how) to help journalists and pened, attempting to describe the objectively true historians arrive as reasonable ways to interpret a causes and outcomes of an event at a particular time story, historians also think in terms of five C’s: in the past. Because of human bias, however, there is • Context: Every story has a background, which in- the universal tendency to tell a story in a way that cor- cludes events and long-term movements that oc- responds to one’s pre-existing expectations. Histo- curred before the event being written about. For rians who consider their implicit biases and recog- example, why did the Allies, including the U.S., nize that their knowledge of a past event is relative, intervene in the Russian civil war? To analyze this often offer the most honest accounts. Although there complex event, one has to understand the war, are not “alternative facts,” there are “alternative in- Marxist-Leninist ideology, and how Western terpretations.” To arrive at the objective truth about leaders reacted to that ideology. is often difficult. • Complexity: Every story is based on a multitude of This reference work on the 1910s does not at- decisions based on individual ideas, moral values, tempt to give definitive conclusions about difficult and perceived interests. For example, there were interpretative questions, but attempts to tell what literally millions of decisions that caused the final happened on the basis of widely accepted facts that outcome of World War I. If German officials had have been documented by competent historians. not declared unrestricted submarine warfare in From there, researchers can do additional research early 1917, the U.S. probably would not have en- to learn more. tered the war on the side of the Allies. —Thomas Tandy Lewis • Causation: Every story is a result of causes, in- cluding: impersonal forces; social movements; in- dividual motivations and decisions. For example, why did President Wilson believe in racial segrega- tion? It is true that he was socialized in the South during the age of Jim Crow, but not all white south- erners supported racial segregation. x A Abbott, Robert S. courtroom defeats for partners or clients. In 1904, nevertheless, a political friend found him work inside ,GHQWL¿FDWLRQ African American journalist, business a Chicago printing house. executive, lawyer, and activist Abbott, an ambitious entrepreneur, was deter- %RUQ November 24, 1868; Frederica, St. Simons Is- mined to create a newspaper of his own. At this time, land, Georgia about forty thousand African Americans were living 'LHG February 29, 1940; Chicago, Illinois in Chicago. Even though three black-oriented news- papers circulated in that community, Abbott sur- Robert S. Abbott established The Chicago Defender, a veyed the competition and was sure that he could nationally distributed newspaper covering and catering to produce a better product. He quit a printing job and African Americans, during the first half of the twentieth cen- rented a room on State Street. With a borrowed card tury. Swedish economist Gunnar Myrdal called Abbott the table and chair and $0.25 he needed for paper and founder of the modern black press. His newspaper encour- pencils, Abbott sat down and composed The Chicago aged the Great Migration of African Americans out of the Defender, a four-page circular. The newspaper’s name rural South to Chicago and other northern industrial cities. was inspired by Abbott’s commitment to defend Af- rican Americans. Less than a decade earlier, Jim Robert Sengstacke Abbott was born in the town of Frederica on St. Simons Island in Georgia, a barrier island where black residents retained African-ori- ented Gullah traditions.
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