How Did Woodrow Wilson Use Propaganda During Ww1

405 Words2 Pages
During World War I there was a massive government propaganda campaign aimed at silencing dissent. Woodrow Wilson and his administration took unprecedented steps to gain public support for the war. Newspapers were censored, there were mob attacks on those suspected of disloyalty, and politicians were jailed. Some Americans organized and protested the loss of democratic freedoms guaranteed by the constitution. Many Americans were horrified by the loss of democratic freedoms in order to stop public criticism of an unpopular war. After Woodrow Wilson called on congress to declare war on Germany millions of young men had to be drafted, trained and shipped overseas. Wilson demanded powers to mobilize American society. The worse thing that…show more content…
Later the Sedition Act was passed which outlawed “disloyal, profane, scurrilous or abusive language” against the flag, the constitution, and even the uniform of the armed forces. Those who spoke against the war risked heavy fines and jail sentences of up to twenty years. By wars end many of the nation’s radical newspapers and magazines had been driven into bankruptcy. Those that survived agreed to go along with the government’s view of the war. Federal agents arrested hundreds for making war speeches, and sometimes for informal and private remarks. During the war more than 2,000 men and women were arrested and sent to jail for disloyal speech. Encouraged by the government s propaganda teachers were fired, and even innocent German Americans were killed. World War I serves as a warning that the stresses of modern warfare pose a threat to America’s tradition of civil liberties. The ACLU and other rights groups have since won landmark cases to help establish greater protections for free and dissenting speech especially in time of
Open Document