Ernest Freeman’s book Democracy’s Prisoner Eugene V. Debs, The Great War, and The Right to Dissent explains that role that Eugene V. Debs plays in the socialist Party and the say he had in WW1. In this book the main focus was on how Eugene V. Debs and his party spoke out against the government once the Espionage Act was in place. Democracy’s Prisoner Eugene V. Debs, The Great War, and The Right to Dissent is separated into 16 chapters which are: Dangerous Man; Never be a Soldier; War Declarations; Canton Picnic; Cleveland; Appeal; Long Trolley to Prison; Moundsville; Atlanta Penitentiary; An Amnesty Business on Every Block; Candidate 9653; The Trials of A. Mitchell Palmer; The Last Campaign; Lonely Obstinacy; Free Speech and Normalcy; and finally Last Flicker of the dying Candle. Democracy’s Prisoner also includes a prologue and ends with an epilogue, notes to pages, and index. Lastly, the book also includes pictures throughout the book. Eugene V. Debs a socialist candidate is in New York City getting ready to give his third speech for running for president. The streets are crowded and ready to pay whatever necessary to here the famous …show more content…
They were trying to find someone they could all agree on to serve as their candidate for president. There was only one person that they could really think of to run for them, Eugene V. Debs. Debs had already said that he would he honored if he was asked to run for president again for the Socialist Party. So, when the Socialist party asked him to run for their party, he accepted. This would be his 5th presidential election to run in. Surprisingly, Debs did very well on getting votes for running for president from a Prison in Atlanta. In his election he hot almost a million votes. This impressed everyone in the nation. All though he didn’t win, he would still always be remembered by getting that many votes, and to be running for president from
Foner, Eric. Give Me Liberty!: An American History. Fourth ed. Vol. 1. New York: W.W. Norton, 2012. 247-316. Print.
When the United States entered WWI in 1917, Congress passed a law called the Espionage Act. The law stated that during wartime obstructing the draft and trying to make soldiers disloyal or disobedient were crimes against the United States (Schenck v. United States). Almost 2,000 people broke this law; they were accused of violating this law and were put on trial. Charles Schenck was one of them; he was against the war, and was the general secretary of the Socialist Party of America. He believed that the war had been caused by and would benefit only the rich, while causing suffering and death for the thousands of poor and working-class soldiers who would do the actual fighting in Europe. He mailed thousands of pamphlets to men who had been drafted into the armed forces. The government looked at this as a threat to the country and also to the people. These pa...
In Eric Foner’s book, The Story of American Freedom, he writes a historical monograph about how liberty came to be. In the book, his argument does not focus on one fixed definition of freedom like others are tempted to do. Unlike others, Foner describes liberty as an ever changing entity; its definition is fluid and does not change in a linear progress. While others portray liberty as a pre-determined concept and gradually getting better, Foner argues the very history of liberty is constantly reshaping the definition of liberty, itself. Essentially, the multiple and conflicting views on liberty has always been a “terrain of conflict” and has changed in time (Foner xv).
Democracy in America has been a guiding principle since the foundation of the country. Many over the years have commented on the structure and formation of democracy but more importantly the implementation and daily function within the democratic parameters that have been set. Alexis de Tocqueville was a French political thinker and historian born July 29, 1805. He is most famously known for his work Democracy in America. Democracy in America has been an evolving social and economic reform, and has continually changed since it’s founding.
In Frank Capra’s 1939 people’s fable “Mr. Smith goes to Washington “Jefferson Smith, a young, idealistic, and naïve hero from a Midwestern state is thrust into public notoriety through a chance course of events. His journey will compel him to contemplate the veracity of the political foundation which supports American democracy and confront the corruption which seeks to erode it.
One of the most obvious examples of democracy’s endurance is the resistance displayed by the townspeople against their invaders. The oppression and invasion of the conquerors arouse, instead of crush, the desire in the defeated for freedom. These people, who have lived with the idea of a free rule of democracy, refuse to be chained down under the oppressive rule of the conquerors. It is for this reason that they strike back at their invaders. As said by Mayor Orden to Colonel Lanser of the aggressors, “ ‘The people don’t like to be conquered, sir, and so they will not be. Free men cannot start a war, but once it is started, they can fight on in defeat. Herd men, followers of a leader, cannot do that, and so it is always the herd men who win battles and the free men who win wars.’ ” [pp. 185-186] Thus, it is because of their freedom that people believing in the free rule of democracy do not let down and die when conquered, do not accept their being robbed of their rights, and fight against what is unjustly done to them.
Foner, Eric. "Chapter 9." Give Me Liberty!: An American History. Brief Third ed. Vol. One. New York: W.W. Norton, 2012. N. pag. Print.
Eric Foner, The Story of American Freedom, (New York: W.W. Norton & Company Ltd., 1998), 82.
Foner, Eric. Give Me Liberty. Third Edition. 2. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, Inc.,
Martin Luther King Jr. once said, “The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.” George Schuyler was a journalist who didn’t fear writing about controversy; he was a man who embraced it. Schuyler was known to give a fresh and sincere view on topics during a time when freedom of speech was most vulnerable. Although many embraced his conservative outlook on topics, his peers often scrutinized him for this very same trait. On March 18 1944, Schuyler wrote an article in the Pittsburgh Courier condemning the government for pressing charges on Lawrence Dennis and others for violating the Smith Act of 1940. This page long editorial helped arouse a nationwide debate as to whether or not the government was acting within its rights when indicting individuals who expressed their ideas and opinions about Communism and/or Fascism. Articles from the New York Times, the Washington Post, and a plethora of renowned journals continued this debate for decades to come.
Edgar Hoover eludes to these same themes in his 26 March 1947 testimony before the House Un-American Activities Committee. “The Communists have developed one of the greatest propaganda machines the world has ever known. The… propaganda technique is designed to promote emotional response with the hope that the victim will be attracted by what he is told the Communist way of life holds in store for him.” Linking these channels of propaganda are the themes of psychological, physical, technological and social dangers of political establishments more similar to Communism than
John Demos’s “the Unredeemed Captive” is a story about a man named John Williams, and his five children who were captured by Indians during a war in 1704. John Williams and his children are eventually released, but much to his disappointment, his youngest daughter Eunice remained with her captors, and married an Indian man. This story has a captivating storyline, and makes for a very compelling narrative. In this paper I will attempt to make a critical analysis of John Demos’s work. The major areas I am looking at are the evolution or the piece, from beginning to end, what the major sections of the book are and how they flow together, and how this work is and isn’t a conventional narrative.
“The stereotype of democracy controlled the visible government; the corrections, the exceptions and adaptations of the American people
Berlau, Abraham Joseph. The German Social Democratic Party, 1914-1921. Vol. no. 557. New York: Octagon, 1970.
Ironically, in the land of the free, one’s rights can be compromised if Congress feels there is any “clear and present danger.” In his essay, “The Trial of Arthur Miller”, John Steinbeck defends Arthur Miller, while criticizing the actions of Congress and the House of Un-American Activities Committee using various historical comparisons. In the 1950’s, when the threat of communism was spreading throughout the U.S., Congress charged Arthur Miller for refusing to state the names of people associated with communism, as they claimed he was hindering their investigation. Steinbeck, a famous writer in his own right, praised Miller for protecting the lives of innocent individuals under the unjust pressure of the government: “I do not know what I would