Election of 1916
-Charles Evans Hughes (Republican Candidate) Vs. Woodrow Wilson (Democratic Candidate, Current Presidant)
-Campaign slogan for Wilson, "He kept us our of war!"  Wilson appears to take a neutral stand on the war.
-During the election, Theodore Roosevelt travels arround speaking in support of the United States entering the war.  This takes vote away from Hughes
-N.E. & Middle Industrial America supported Hughes,  Mid-West &West supported Wilson.
-Wilson narrowly won
-**SIG: Wilson did not receive a clear mandate from the people to to stay out of the war.
 

Sussex Pledge
-March 24, 1916.  The French ship Sussex is sunk by German U-Boat in the English Channel which violated the Arabic Pledge( would not sink unarmed merchant ships not carrying war related items)
-United States demands another pledge.
-Germany makes this pledge but also requests that  England  obay the International Law.
-United States accepts Germany's pledge, but ignores the request.
-!!US. states that if Germany violates this pledge, then diplomatic ties will be cut off.( Like a dare, "they would not want to do that")
-**Sig: Puts American foriegn policy in German Hands
-Germany violates the pledge, resumes unrestricted submarine warfare.  Relations broken off Feb 3, 1917
 

Zimmerman Telegram- Alfred Zimmerman   Jan 19, 1917
-German Foriegn Secretary to Von Eckhardt (German Mexican Ambassador)
- Telegram is to convice Mexico to join the German cause, they will recieve all land lost in the Mexican/American war when Germany wins.  Von Eckhardt was also supposed to convice Japan to join Germany.
-England intercepts it on Jan 19, 1917, but waits untill March 1st before giving it to the United States( poor relations)
-**SIG: Stimulates war support in the Far and SW United States.  America would now be unified in a Declaration of War.

Wilson's 14 Points, League of Nations
-President Wilson's proposed plan for the post W.W.I reconstruction of Europe
-Wilson called for a "Peace with out victory, " that seeking reparations should not be a goal, rather the goal of all nations should be to establishing post war order and keeping it.  The League of Nations, one of the 14 points, was to be the forum used to maintain post war order.
-**SIG: Wilson's inability to compromise with his idea's at the Versailles conference, especially for the League, allowed men like Clemenceau to place serious reparations on to Germany.  Wilson's inability to compromise at home also lead to the United States not joining the League of Nations, and not signing the Treaty of Versailles.

Espionage Act (1917)
-Law passed providing the legal jurisdiction for the suppression of war opponents
-Up to $10,000 fine and 20 years in prison
-Applied in a very broad way.
Sedition Act (1918)-an amendment to the Espionage Act
-says that creating disaffection during wartime is not protected in the 1st Amendment.
**SIG: Allows for some of the most flagrant violations of civil liberties in US history.
            Schenk Vs. United States
 

Schenck Vs. United States 1919
-Allows both wartime laws(Espionage and Sedition Acts) to be upheld and applied after the war was over.
-Justice Holmes  establishes the "Clear and Present Danger' test for determining when the government can curtail free speech.
    "..are the words are used in such circumstances and are os such a nature as to create a Clear and Present Danger that they will bring about the substantive evils that Congress has the right to prevent."
***SIG: Sets the precedent for the wartime laws to be used in post-war America
              Basis for racial suppression for not conforming to the national norms in the 1920's
              Defines the political limitations of free speech (i.e. shouting fire in a theater not on fire)
 

Boston Police Strike
-Boston's police were poorly paid and over worked.  $1,600/yr.  6, 12hr days/week.
-Other police depts. had belonged to the AFL (American Federation of Labor), but when Boston joins it is seen a Radical Labor, the "Red Scare," because of the timing.
-Sept 8, 1919.  Police commissioner Edwin Curtis fires 19 officers for Union Membership.  The Police vote to strike, leaving Boston unprotected and creating poor public relations.
-Samuel Gompers, leader of AFL, pleads for the two sides to negotiate.  Curtis will not, says he would rather fire all of the police.
-Massachusetts Governor Calvin Coolidge refused to arbitrate the situation
**SIG: Coolidge is now seen as a national hero, having defied Bolshevism and won.
            Shows how organized labor loses the sympathy of the middle class, felling that there is no right to strike against the will  of the people.