Episode 101: America First - Part 1

Call it selfishness of nationality, if you will.
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I think an inspiration to patriotic devotion,

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to safeguard America first, to stabilize America

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first, to prosper America first, to think America

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first, to exalt America first, to live for and

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revere America first. That is a quote from Warren

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Harding, and Warren Harding is totally interested

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in placing America first. So, Marshall, there's

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a lot of very aspirational political blather

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there, but what is President Harding really trying

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to say? Well, President Harding specialized in

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political blather, and it means what you think

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it means. And we'll get into some of that. Welcome

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to the United States of Amnesia. You found us.

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Thank you. We are the podcast that reminds us

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of what we have forgotten. It is often said that

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history repeats itself. Mark Twain allegedly

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said that history doesn't repeat itself, but

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it rhymes. Ecclesiastes probably said it best

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in chapter one, verse nine, quote, everything

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that has been will be again. everything that

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has been done will be done again. There is nothing

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new under the sun." But over time many topics

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have become clouded by biases and oversimplifications

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or have become mythologized and now are misunderstood.

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Misunderstanding means learning the wrong lessons

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from history, perhaps, or even learning nothing

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at all. and that can leave us poorly prepared

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for history's next rhyme. Your hosts are Marshall

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Newman, Mike Mendenhall, and myself, Blake Henke.

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In this podcast, we will cover topics of history,

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politics, and religion, and how they interact,

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and also how they relate. to modern -day events

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and themes. We will try to cut through the biases

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over simplifications and myths, to learn better

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lessons from the past, and to see what they can

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tell us about the present and maybe even the

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future. Our first episode will cover America

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First ideology dating back to the 1880s. The

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first episode of this podcast is going to follow

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the evolution of the term America First from

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its beginnings in the 1880s down to effectively

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World War I, which was known at the time as the

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Great War because there hadn't been World War

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II yet. The second episode will pick up from

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there. America First is a phrase that very much

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in the news since 2016. However, this is by no

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means the first time that this phrase has appeared

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in U .S. history. While the sentiment of U .S.

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exceptionalism runs through our history, the

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phrase first appeared in the 1880s and went through

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many different definitions and stakeholders down

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to the present day. I think that we can safely

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say that it is never a good sign when this phrase

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manifests itself in the public sphere. It actually

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only serves to highlight the political anxieties

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of a particular era. While nationalist sentiments

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have existed in the United States in the 18th

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and 19th century, the actual phrase, America

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First, appeared for the first time in a California

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journal in the 1880s. It was a time in which

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there was concern about US exports, and it referred

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only to sustaining high tariffs to protect US

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industry. Ever since the panic of 1873, there

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was considerable concern regarding the ability

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of the US economy to sustain itself. And Marshall,

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what were people panicking about in 1873? Essentially,

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this was the first and worst uh depression of

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its kind that was nationwide and ruined people

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throughout the entire country it threw millions

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of people out of work and and uh businesses and

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banks uh went under so the entire financial um

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network was disrupted during this period how

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long did it take to recover from six years all

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right so late end of the and and essentially

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this was all done laissez faire There was no

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mood to help people out of their difficulties

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and it was basically seen that they had led rather

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sinful lives to result in this. Right, the government's

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job wasn't viewed as helping people economically

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in those days. In a sense it was all about making

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their lives worse in some cases because this

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was this was precipitated by government action

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and paying off the debt from the Civil War. But

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tariffs became like the norm for industry at

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this point. And this became an important component

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of the Republican Party. I mean, this was the

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first business downturn since the Great Depression.

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And it's ironic. When you think about the Gilded

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Age, people like to think about the Gilded Age,

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which is the period after the Civil War up until

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the 20th century. They think of it as a period

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of free markets and capitalism allowed to practice

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and operate without much ado from the government.

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And actually, the government is sponsoring Capitalism

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there is there is considerable interference in

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the in the in the government by the government

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in the economy and Terrace were were meant to

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represent a sort of sustained intervention in

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the US economy that only benefited members of

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the highest levels But it also in fairness though.

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We also have to acknowledge that until the I

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think until the income tax was Authorized under

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the Wilson 16th amendment, right? I think until

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then tariffs were the main source of revenue

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for the US government I was just gonna say that

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yes. Yes. Yes. They were I mean, I'm just saying

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you can't just say that it was about the business

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interests of anybody because it also they had

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to fund the government somehow and that was the

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that was the main means or maybe the Yes primary

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means of doing it. It's not the only means well

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You can have you can approach protectionism and

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you can approach tariffs in different ways and

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one is the lower the tariff that means that you're

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generally just generating income there. But if

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you're doing protectionism, the tariffs are high

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and they're actually meant to discourage, you

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know, collecting the money from the tariff that

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comes in. So we were actually doing the latter

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at this point. We were going in and attempting

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to safeguard U .S. industry, safeguard U .S.

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manufactured goods, prevent competition rather

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than encourage competition. And American goods

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were not as good as some of the things that we

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we could buy over in Britain Sounds a little

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bit like what's going on today. Well what goes

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around comes around So so there's this I mean

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there's there's some legitimacy to to having

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tariffs Regulate what comes into the country

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in order to spur your own industries, right?

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That's not necessarily by any means a bad idea

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It needs to be applied properly Right. Yes, if

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you are keeping foreign products out and you

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don't have a capacity to make them here, then

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you're not really accomplishing anything other

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than creating scarcity, right? But if you actually

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are able to stimulate an industry here so that

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people start making something here that you want

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to make, then tariffs can be a legitimate way

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of guiding the economy in that direction. Again,

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we do need to acknowledge that aspect of tariffs.

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Yes, but at the time, they were actually attempting

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to support existing industries. I would argue

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that given the mentality, the idea that you would,

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say, create an industry for coffee pots, for

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example, that didn't exist, that would strike

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people as being strange because these tariffs

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are meant to be protecting U .S. industry and

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promoting U .S. industry. If there's no U .S.

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industry to protect or promote, there's no point

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in actually doing it. So the philosophy was about

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protecting existing companies, existing industries.

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If no one here makes coffee pots and no one here

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wants to make coffee pots, then by having a tariff,

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all you're doing is preventing people from getting

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coffee pots. Exactly. And again, that would be

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seen as strange by... I mean, some of these guys

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that are... administering the tariff or legislating

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the tariff, they would wonder why would you want

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to do this? What would be the point? It's like

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cutting off your nose to spite your face. To

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turn it, to look at what's going on also in conjunction

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with this protectionist policy, we're also seeing

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a lot of demographic and economic changes that

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are coming into play that are going to impact

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the future of the government, the future of the

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country, and future meanings of America first.

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Immigration was occurring at a rate that is almost

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unimaginable by today's hysterical standards.

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Between 1880 and 1920, 14 million immigrants

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entered the country. Now think about this. People

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are complaining about thousands of people coming

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into the country and thinking that we cannot

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incorporate them. We're talking 14 million people,

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largely coming into the cities, and this is going

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to be significant too in the future, because

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it marks the kind of growth of the urban culture

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that's going to be going on. I've heard it said

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that there was an effect in the late 19th century,

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an open border, at least for Europeans coming

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in. Yes. Chinese were excluded and there was

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actually, in terms of people coming from within

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this hemisphere, meaning Hispanics or Latin Americans,

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there was no idea about trying to prevent them

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from coming into the country. There was no attempt

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to do this, and we'll see this later on in this

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episode about how this group of people were not

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necessarily identified as any sort of problematic

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element. by people who were seeking to restrict

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immigration. We'll come back to that. Yeah, we'll

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come back to that. But famously, when you look

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at Ellis Island and all those people coming in

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on the ships, it's an interesting way to think

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about it in modern terms to say that, well, that

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was kind of an open border, at least for Europeans

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coming in. It was an open border from the inception.

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I mean, you know, when people came to America,

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when people landed at Plymouth Rock, they did

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not go through processing. And that was kind

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of how things worked. Except for health. Except

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for health health health came an issue in the

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19th century, but you you had people coming during

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the Chinese during the during the Irish potato

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famine that You know, we're not in the best of

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health They didn't necessarily have communicable

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diseases, but you had people who were starving

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and so forth you had people who had Had been

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kind of roughed up by the by the sea voyage particularly

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during the age of sail that might not have come

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across as as as blooming with vitality there,

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so Yes, immigration is is by Today's standards

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it is an open border with really they would do

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like a brief health inspection over Dallas Island

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or wherever else you would come in And enter

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the country and that was it and as long as you

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didn't have anything that was considered Catching

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or they would check you out to see if you were

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in the language of the time a moron If they had

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somebody that they felt would definitely be a

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charge on public health mentally unfit mentally

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unfit Okay, you know that would be that would

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be also a restriction here, but the where the

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immigrants are coming is significant particularly

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in terms of some of the legendary statements

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that were made. Immigrants are coming not only

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from Northern Europe, a lot of them were coming

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from places like Southern Europe and Eastern

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Europe. And this included Catholics and Jews

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as part of the contingent. Now, in the mentality

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of the time, there was very much a notion about

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eugenics. And of course, most eugenicists were

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represented at the peak of human development.

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They were either British Isles or Northern Europe.

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And people coming from, and they were definitely

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Protestant. What happened with this situation

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is that these immigrants are coming in, they

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represent foreign culture, foreign interests,

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foreign religions. And they're not necessarily

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accepted or considered to be part of the actual

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fabric of America. They're not considered to

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be white people, as I've seen it described in

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certain texts. But kind of like an inferior,

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they represent inferior races, races that are

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decadent, you know, not as decadent as, say,

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the Chinese, which are considered kind of low,

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anybody who is Asian, Asiatic, or of African

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descent. These were considered like the absolute

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lowest ebb of human development people who were

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who were from say Norway or Germany or Scotland

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or Britain that was considered to be like the

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peak of human development But Yes, very much

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not all that different and a lot of the a lot

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of the eugenics thinking that starts off in Britain

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actually spurs these notions of racial inferiority

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and it's taken up by by Germans there. At the

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time none of this had this was sort of like it

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was accepted but it was sort of like accepted

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by what we would consider to be cranks. people

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who have dubious scientific backgrounds and are

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just spouting things that kind of reinforce their

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own prejudices there. You're talking about eugenics.

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Eugenicists. People actually were supposedly

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engaging in this pseudoscience. Yeah, it was

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taken seriously though. One of the things that

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we did see with this immigration upsweep is a

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tendency towards greater urbanization and urbanization

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by this we're talking large and small towns which

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are attracting also native -born people to move

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out. So this is kind of having an impact on this

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whole myth of the yeoman farmer that was kind

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of a cornerstone of American ideology and appreciation

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of self. At the time even the most provincial

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town is going to be able to offer a greater array

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of comforts and entertainments and conveniences

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than what life was like isolated in rural areas

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here. Farming, subsistence farming or even self

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-sufficient farming offered really few joys other

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than religious observance. And you see this in

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memoirs that people wrote. People came from this.

00:16:48.590 --> 00:16:52.909
Um, it would not be until the 1930s For people

00:16:52.909 --> 00:16:55.049
who were living in rural areas that they would

00:16:55.049 --> 00:16:57.450
be able to enjoy modern conveniences such as

00:16:57.450 --> 00:17:02.370
electric lights stoves heaters Farm equipment,

00:17:02.690 --> 00:17:09.549
etc radio radio definitely definitely and and

00:17:09.549 --> 00:17:12.730
and I mean Think about this. You're kind of like

00:17:12.730 --> 00:17:16.740
off on your own. You have your neighbors You're

00:17:16.740 --> 00:17:20.619
basically, work is a series of back -breaking

00:17:20.619 --> 00:17:23.480
efforts. You're having to, like, constantly keep,

00:17:23.579 --> 00:17:25.460
if you're a housewife, you've got to keep the

00:17:25.460 --> 00:17:28.500
stove going, you've got to keep the fire going.

00:17:29.440 --> 00:17:32.779
Everything is done by hand and by hand tools.

00:17:33.299 --> 00:17:36.759
There's no short, easy way of this. And life

00:17:36.759 --> 00:17:40.680
is unimaginably dull and dark. My grandfather's

00:17:40.680 --> 00:17:44.299
memoir said exactly that. Yes. He grew up on

00:17:44.299 --> 00:17:46.740
a farm, and the only entertainment was going

00:17:46.740 --> 00:17:49.759
to church. Very occasionally, there was something

00:17:49.759 --> 00:17:54.099
that happened at his school. Yeah. It was bleak.

00:17:54.240 --> 00:17:57.960
Yeah, it was bleak. And so, you know, people

00:17:57.960 --> 00:18:02.460
who could experience the joys of what I'm calling

00:18:02.460 --> 00:18:04.819
urban life, but I'm not necessarily talking about,

00:18:05.259 --> 00:18:09.759
say, the big city, but a small town, there's

00:18:09.759 --> 00:18:14.000
a... a story by Willa Cather where somebody goes

00:18:14.000 --> 00:18:17.700
into town and experiences the circus for the

00:18:17.700 --> 00:18:19.799
first time, and this is like a life -altering

00:18:19.799 --> 00:18:26.660
experience, for example. Tent revivals. Tent

00:18:26.660 --> 00:18:30.299
revivals are probably like a highlight in people's

00:18:30.299 --> 00:18:34.380
lives, you know. Sounds awful now. But to get

00:18:34.380 --> 00:18:39.220
back to this idea of immigration here, we basically

00:18:39.450 --> 00:18:43.849
see this influx of people from other places,

00:18:44.130 --> 00:18:46.730
people from countries that traditionally had

00:18:46.730 --> 00:18:51.869
not had much of a presence in America. They were

00:18:51.869 --> 00:18:54.430
basically coming in and they were bringing in

00:18:54.430 --> 00:19:00.470
their own cultural values. And this is kind of

00:19:00.470 --> 00:19:02.750
undermining people's sense of themselves here.

00:19:03.490 --> 00:19:07.890
This is creating rising tensions. between, say,

00:19:08.230 --> 00:19:10.569
rural America, which is kind of becoming aware

00:19:10.569 --> 00:19:14.849
of what's going on here, and increasingly the

00:19:14.849 --> 00:19:18.509
America of the towns and cities and industrialization.

00:19:19.750 --> 00:19:22.130
Some of these tensions are going to come to a

00:19:22.130 --> 00:19:27.410
head, if we can skip ahead a bit, in time, in

00:19:27.410 --> 00:19:30.670
1916, when America first assumed a different

00:19:30.670 --> 00:19:33.130
character than just a reflection of American

00:19:33.130 --> 00:19:37.170
economic policy and protectionism. And before

00:19:37.170 --> 00:19:39.430
we push on into World War I era, I just want

00:19:39.430 --> 00:19:45.309
to circle back on one point there, which is understanding

00:19:45.309 --> 00:19:48.329
the appeal of the yeoman farmer and then these

00:19:48.329 --> 00:19:52.589
immigrants coming into urban areas. New England

00:19:52.589 --> 00:19:55.369
was always more New England than the New York

00:19:55.369 --> 00:19:57.029
area and such. They were always more industrialized

00:19:57.029 --> 00:19:59.650
than, say, the Midwest or the South were, right?

00:19:59.710 --> 00:20:05.970
Yeah. Was the impact there of these people coming

00:20:05.970 --> 00:20:07.789
in was that different because people there were

00:20:07.789 --> 00:20:09.190
in New England and New York and that we were

00:20:09.190 --> 00:20:11.150
more accustomed to a more industrialized and

00:20:11.150 --> 00:20:16.109
urbanized life than yeoman farmer or Or was it

00:20:16.109 --> 00:20:19.170
the same? Social issue in those parts of the

00:20:19.170 --> 00:20:21.670
country as it was in the Midwest well immigration

00:20:21.670 --> 00:20:24.930
is going to vary depending upon the region first

00:20:24.930 --> 00:20:28.589
of all and The people that are coming in are

00:20:28.589 --> 00:20:31.069
going to be you know, some people are going to

00:20:31.069 --> 00:20:32.869
be staying in the urban areas and be working

00:20:32.869 --> 00:20:36.430
in factories and things. And so this is a positive

00:20:36.430 --> 00:20:39.509
boom for the factory owners. They would actually

00:20:39.509 --> 00:20:42.410
play these guys off against each other in labor

00:20:42.410 --> 00:20:47.250
disputes and things such as that. Out West, the

00:20:47.250 --> 00:20:50.789
impact is going to be less because there will

00:20:50.789 --> 00:20:54.700
be people who will go out and seek to establish

00:20:54.700 --> 00:20:58.759
themselves as farmers out in the plains, in areas

00:20:58.759 --> 00:21:01.240
that are, you know, have some relationships with

00:21:01.240 --> 00:21:05.519
railroads and so forth. And you don't really

00:21:05.519 --> 00:21:06.960
get to choose your neighbors when you're out

00:21:06.960 --> 00:21:09.940
in the rural part of the country. And so people

00:21:09.940 --> 00:21:12.960
might have gotten along a lot better. I hate

00:21:12.960 --> 00:21:14.900
to bring up Willa Cather again, but, you know,

00:21:15.019 --> 00:21:17.859
her books, when we look at life in the prairie

00:21:17.859 --> 00:21:21.779
there, you have people from Bohemia. who are

00:21:21.779 --> 00:21:25.500
running around with established English settlers,

00:21:26.279 --> 00:21:28.799
English, White Anglo -Saxon Protestant settlers,

00:21:30.200 --> 00:21:33.640
you don't really find a lot of people who are

00:21:33.640 --> 00:21:39.339
moving from, say, Jewish area in Imperial Russia,

00:21:39.500 --> 00:21:44.839
the Pale of Settlement, going out that far and

00:21:44.839 --> 00:21:48.359
kind of attempting to establish a Jewish community

00:21:48.359 --> 00:21:51.349
out there. Well, in fact, in the upper Midwest,

00:21:51.609 --> 00:21:53.190
I believe a lot of the immigration in the mid

00:21:53.190 --> 00:21:56.650
-19th century was Germans and Scandinavians who

00:21:56.650 --> 00:21:59.450
met that Nordic ideal. Yes, they did. And also,

00:21:59.529 --> 00:22:03.109
they came in to be yeoman farmers, largely, too,

00:22:03.130 --> 00:22:04.690
didn't they? So, I mean, they met the ideal.

00:22:05.029 --> 00:22:09.309
They met the ideal. That wasn't a racial, cultural

00:22:09.309 --> 00:22:11.589
problem as much for people. I mean, the Irish

00:22:11.589 --> 00:22:13.410
and the Germans did encounter their own problems

00:22:13.410 --> 00:22:15.029
when they came into the country in large numbers.

00:22:15.089 --> 00:22:17.670
They weren't necessarily entirely popular either.

00:22:17.980 --> 00:22:21.160
But this big wave that came in later was somewhat

00:22:21.160 --> 00:22:34.460
was a different phenomenon. So, Marshall, we

00:22:34.460 --> 00:22:37.900
were covering the term America first from the

00:22:37.900 --> 00:22:41.099
1880s up until effectively the beginning of World

00:22:41.099 --> 00:22:43.960
War one. And it was largely a protectionist.

00:22:44.329 --> 00:22:49.890
theme for protecting American businesses. And

00:22:49.890 --> 00:22:55.029
at the same time, a huge influx of immigrants

00:22:55.029 --> 00:22:59.230
were coming into our country from Europe. The

00:22:59.230 --> 00:23:04.170
Germans were problematic and the Irish for one

00:23:04.170 --> 00:23:08.250
big issue and that was drinking. And this was

00:23:08.250 --> 00:23:13.650
very much a cultural thing. In the German beer

00:23:13.650 --> 00:23:16.049
hall, you had Irish people who go down to the

00:23:16.049 --> 00:23:22.890
saloon here. At the same time, the Protestants,

00:23:23.150 --> 00:23:25.809
the White Anglo -Saxon Protestants, they're becoming

00:23:25.809 --> 00:23:31.150
enamored with the idea of prohibition and banning

00:23:31.150 --> 00:23:34.430
drinking. And this issue, we'll get into this

00:23:34.430 --> 00:23:39.809
in the next episode, but this issue over prohibition

00:23:39.869 --> 00:23:42.109
It might have had its moral element, but it's

00:23:42.109 --> 00:23:46.029
also about controlling these new people and basically

00:23:46.029 --> 00:23:51.849
not letting them run amok with their alcoholic

00:23:51.849 --> 00:23:54.710
practices. We were quite a drunk country before

00:23:54.710 --> 00:23:56.769
Prohibition. Oh, yes. Even Dee Tocqueville wrote

00:23:56.769 --> 00:23:59.589
about it apparently, but that's another issue

00:23:59.589 --> 00:24:00.990
for another time. That's another issue for another

00:24:00.990 --> 00:24:04.710
time, most definitely. So this brings us to 1916,

00:24:05.609 --> 00:24:07.109
and I believe there was a presidential election

00:24:07.109 --> 00:24:09.640
that year. And I believe you're going to tell

00:24:09.640 --> 00:24:13.319
us about that. Yes I am going to tell you about

00:24:13.319 --> 00:24:15.519
that. But first we're going to talk about world

00:24:15.519 --> 00:24:18.079
war one. Okay world war one first because world

00:24:18.079 --> 00:24:22.279
war one is kind of a catalyst That is not only

00:24:22.279 --> 00:24:28.140
going to affect the election as it would As there

00:24:28.140 --> 00:24:30.299
was no getting around that it was a rather important

00:24:30.299 --> 00:24:34.660
event in the industry. Yeah but it it also kind

00:24:34.660 --> 00:24:38.059
of creates a lot of tension and it all depends

00:24:38.059 --> 00:24:42.079
on And it revolves around what sort of effort

00:24:42.079 --> 00:24:45.640
we're going to devote to taking part in World

00:24:45.640 --> 00:24:49.599
War I. So many of the new immigrants that have

00:24:49.599 --> 00:24:54.599
come in since the Civil War wanted very little

00:24:54.599 --> 00:24:59.619
to do with Europe. You're going to see this particularly

00:24:59.619 --> 00:25:03.359
with those immigrants that settled in the Midwest.

00:25:04.549 --> 00:25:07.970
as farmers and in small towns. But the Irish,

00:25:08.109 --> 00:25:10.210
they're particularly opposed to any assistance

00:25:10.210 --> 00:25:15.029
to the British. Poles and Russian Jews from the

00:25:15.029 --> 00:25:17.250
Pale of Settlement are against any assistance

00:25:17.250 --> 00:25:21.269
to Russia. We actually had a fairly good relationship

00:25:21.269 --> 00:25:26.849
with Russia up until the late 19th century. This

00:25:26.849 --> 00:25:29.890
changing demographics haven't actually impacted

00:25:29.890 --> 00:25:34.099
that overall relationship. The isolation in the

00:25:34.099 --> 00:25:36.519
Midwest want nothing to do with European affairs

00:25:36.519 --> 00:25:40.400
Just because there's a perceived corruption and

00:25:40.400 --> 00:25:43.980
decadence that are going on there and this is

00:25:43.980 --> 00:25:48.000
One of the big motivating factors of Americans

00:25:48.000 --> 00:25:50.619
in the 18th and 19th century was this this really

00:25:50.619 --> 00:25:53.880
sincere Belief that the United States had been

00:25:53.880 --> 00:25:57.380
founded as a new and separate Civilization almost

00:25:57.380 --> 00:25:59.859
almost a restart of the world and in the new

00:25:59.859 --> 00:26:03.700
world, right and The old european ways like you

00:26:03.700 --> 00:26:05.619
were saying is corrupt, you know, they were corrupt

00:26:05.619 --> 00:26:07.880
And and we were going to move away from all of

00:26:07.880 --> 00:26:10.819
that, right? Exactly and this led to an isolationist

00:26:10.819 --> 00:26:12.859
mentality that we're better than europe and separate

00:26:12.859 --> 00:26:14.819
and apart from them And don't need to get involved

00:26:14.819 --> 00:26:17.539
in all their dirty affairs anymore, right? Yes

00:26:17.539 --> 00:26:23.559
But we also have trade and trade is In my opinion

00:26:23.559 --> 00:26:26.339
one of one of the things I I really believe is

00:26:26.339 --> 00:26:30.180
that Trade is is something that's understudied

00:26:30.269 --> 00:26:34.109
and is actually provides a lot of connectivity

00:26:34.109 --> 00:26:37.710
amongst various groups around the world. So what's

00:26:37.710 --> 00:26:40.789
going on? A lot of farmland over in Europe is

00:26:40.789 --> 00:26:44.230
not available for cultivation. So the farmers

00:26:44.230 --> 00:26:46.849
in this period, they are making record profits

00:26:46.849 --> 00:26:53.549
exporting material to Europe on products and

00:26:53.549 --> 00:26:56.329
agricultural products to belligerents, particularly

00:26:56.329 --> 00:26:59.390
the British who had kind of lost the knack of

00:26:59.390 --> 00:27:03.099
being able to self -sustain on the islands there.

00:27:03.940 --> 00:27:07.559
They were having to import food. So profits,

00:27:07.559 --> 00:27:10.839
they were tied to reproduction, and this is going

00:27:10.839 --> 00:27:14.779
to negatively impact rural America after the

00:27:14.779 --> 00:27:18.839
war. In 1916, the Republicans, to talk about

00:27:18.839 --> 00:27:21.700
the election, expected to oust Woodrow Wilson,

00:27:21.759 --> 00:27:24.940
who was kind of like he had come in in a kind

00:27:24.940 --> 00:27:31.519
of freakish situation in which in 1912, Democrats

00:27:31.519 --> 00:27:33.500
had gotten into power because there was a split

00:27:33.500 --> 00:27:37.759
between the Republican President Taft and Theodore

00:27:37.759 --> 00:27:42.880
Roosevelt. The Democrats had in 1913 significantly

00:27:42.880 --> 00:27:46.579
reduced the tariff, which horrified the Republicans,

00:27:47.920 --> 00:27:51.740
on imported goods, and this led to all sorts

00:27:51.740 --> 00:27:56.880
of attempts to denounce Wilson. Wilson was going

00:27:56.880 --> 00:28:00.240
to be brought out on the issue of the tariff

00:28:00.240 --> 00:28:04.220
according to many in the know in Republican Party

00:28:04.220 --> 00:28:10.740
circles at the time. Now, this attention to the

00:28:10.740 --> 00:28:17.920
tariff was almost like being tone deaf to what

00:28:17.920 --> 00:28:21.980
the big issue was to most of America, and this

00:28:21.980 --> 00:28:24.460
was whether or not the U .S. would be a belligerent

00:28:24.460 --> 00:28:29.440
in the ongoing European war. the Republicans

00:28:29.440 --> 00:28:32.579
really lacked a consistent approach. And if you

00:28:32.579 --> 00:28:37.539
can say that one section of it was preaching

00:28:37.539 --> 00:28:41.079
peace, the other side was preaching war here.

00:28:41.980 --> 00:28:44.880
So take Theodore Roosevelt, who was a prominent

00:28:44.880 --> 00:28:48.519
figure in the Republican Party. He and his former

00:28:48.519 --> 00:28:52.700
secretary of war, Elihu Root, they were going

00:28:52.700 --> 00:28:56.160
on about the need to avenge Belgium. Now, for

00:28:56.160 --> 00:28:59.369
a lot of Americans, Then as now, they probably

00:28:59.369 --> 00:29:01.890
couldn't find Belgium on the map, much less going

00:29:01.890 --> 00:29:05.109
in and avenging the assault on Belgium, but this

00:29:05.109 --> 00:29:08.869
was a theme of theirs. Roosevelt felt the U .S.

00:29:09.009 --> 00:29:12.049
ought to have intervened in World War I as belligerent

00:29:12.049 --> 00:29:17.269
and on the side of the Allies prior to 1916 and

00:29:17.269 --> 00:29:23.730
ascribed our inability to do so to moral cowardice

00:29:23.730 --> 00:29:31.180
on the part of Woodrow Wilson. This idea of avenging

00:29:31.180 --> 00:29:34.680
Belgium, right? A lot of this was rooted in British

00:29:34.680 --> 00:29:36.900
propaganda about how terrible the Germans were

00:29:36.900 --> 00:29:39.079
and the terrible things they did to the Belgians

00:29:39.079 --> 00:29:42.900
as they occupied the country, right? Which may

00:29:42.900 --> 00:29:45.180
have had some truth to it and probably was overblown

00:29:45.180 --> 00:29:47.460
as a propaganda effort. I don't really know there

00:29:47.460 --> 00:29:50.900
There is some truth the Germans did go in and

00:29:50.900 --> 00:29:54.940
did harsh took undertook harsh measures Destroying

00:29:54.940 --> 00:29:59.000
cultural landmarks and so forth But there were

00:29:59.000 --> 00:30:02.400
also tales of like German officers coming in

00:30:02.400 --> 00:30:04.680
and tossing babies up in the air and Bayonetting

00:30:04.680 --> 00:30:06.519
them as they fell to earth and what that was

00:30:06.519 --> 00:30:08.880
not true, right? You know, there were there were

00:30:08.880 --> 00:30:14.539
a number of things like that uh there The british

00:30:14.539 --> 00:30:16.740
were conscious of the fact there were a lot of

00:30:16.740 --> 00:30:19.460
germans that lived in the united states They

00:30:19.460 --> 00:30:23.900
were as eager to keep them On britain's side

00:30:23.900 --> 00:30:26.779
as away from the germans as well to this day.

00:30:26.839 --> 00:30:29.579
German is the most claimed ethnicity among america

00:30:29.579 --> 00:30:32.359
Yes They claim to be part part german at least

00:30:32.359 --> 00:30:34.319
right? That's the most claimed ethnicity. I forget

00:30:34.319 --> 00:30:37.880
the percentage, but it's the largest. Yes um

00:30:37.880 --> 00:30:42.069
and actually german There was talk at the Continental

00:30:42.069 --> 00:30:45.609
Congress the Constitution convention rather of

00:30:45.609 --> 00:30:48.250
making German our official language, right? Right,

00:30:48.410 --> 00:30:51.529
you know as to to kind of underscore that complete

00:30:51.529 --> 00:30:54.950
break, right and German wasn't Germany wasn't

00:30:54.950 --> 00:30:59.390
was a geographic Entity it wasn't a country until

00:30:59.390 --> 00:31:04.730
1871. Yes with Bismarck, but we digress Meanwhile,

00:31:04.730 --> 00:31:07.109
even though Roosevelt saying we ought to go and

00:31:07.109 --> 00:31:11.359
and avenge brave little Belgium, other members

00:31:11.359 --> 00:31:14.400
of the Republican Party favored a less confrontational

00:31:14.400 --> 00:31:20.019
position, even to the extent of a sustained neutrality.

00:31:21.400 --> 00:31:25.079
This inconsistent approach, the prospect of war,

00:31:25.200 --> 00:31:28.380
as events proved, was more of a concern than

00:31:28.380 --> 00:31:32.400
tariff rates. Issues that involve math generally

00:31:32.400 --> 00:31:35.759
don't resonate with the people as a whole. The

00:31:35.759 --> 00:31:39.210
Democrats also had their share extremists to

00:31:39.210 --> 00:31:42.250
include Secretary of State William Jennings Bryan.

00:31:43.650 --> 00:31:46.589
Bryan was opposed to any and all engagement with

00:31:46.589 --> 00:31:49.049
the world if there was a chance, even a slight

00:31:49.049 --> 00:31:51.450
chance, that it could provoke an involvement

00:31:51.450 --> 00:31:55.809
in the conflict. Bryan resigned due to Wilson's

00:31:55.809 --> 00:32:00.710
strongly worded protest. This was kind of the

00:32:00.710 --> 00:32:03.490
minimal response that one could do to the sinking

00:32:03.490 --> 00:32:07.859
of the Lusitania. It is because of this career

00:32:07.859 --> 00:32:10.640
that involved a reluctance to engage in behavior

00:32:10.640 --> 00:32:14.079
that might provoke conflict that L. Frank Baum

00:32:14.079 --> 00:32:16.440
was rumored to have used Bryan as the inspiration

00:32:16.440 --> 00:32:31.480
for the cowardly lion in The Wizard of Oz. At

00:32:31.480 --> 00:32:34.319
the time, Roosevelt, who never found a war that

00:32:34.319 --> 00:32:37.299
he didn't want to participate in, and Jennings

00:32:37.299 --> 00:32:41.779
Bryan as a pacifist. Yes, a pacifist and very

00:32:41.779 --> 00:32:45.619
unworldly. One other issue, and again this shows

00:32:45.619 --> 00:32:48.079
you just how tone -deaf the Republicans were,

00:32:48.859 --> 00:32:51.940
that they kept going on and on about was Bryan.

00:32:52.039 --> 00:32:55.960
Bryan brought in all these hayseeds to diplomatic

00:32:55.960 --> 00:33:00.819
positions. Throughout the world. I mean, I'm

00:33:00.819 --> 00:33:03.519
very familiar with his choice for ambassador

00:33:03.519 --> 00:33:05.579
Russia. He didn't know what the hell he was doing

00:33:05.579 --> 00:33:12.059
there Brian memorably sent an invitation to the

00:33:12.059 --> 00:33:15.480
Swiss to send a ship to celebrate the opening

00:33:15.480 --> 00:33:19.059
of the Panama Canal Let's just think about where

00:33:19.059 --> 00:33:21.859
Switzerland is and how difficult it would be

00:33:21.859 --> 00:33:24.819
to get a ship from Switzerland over to the Panama

00:33:24.819 --> 00:33:30.859
Canal But Brian was kind of they they they hoped

00:33:30.859 --> 00:33:34.940
Republicans hoped to run the election as one

00:33:34.940 --> 00:33:39.880
of the issues that would concern people of of

00:33:39.880 --> 00:33:44.819
United States as to Brian's choices for ambassadors

00:33:44.819 --> 00:33:49.220
and how incompetent they were and they were but

00:33:49.220 --> 00:33:51.579
I It's not something that resonates with the

00:33:51.579 --> 00:33:54.630
people then and it certainly wouldn't now I mean,

00:33:54.630 --> 00:33:56.750
I can just imagine people like going is this

00:33:56.750 --> 00:33:59.170
the best you've got it's worth noting though

00:33:59.170 --> 00:34:02.569
that the The sinking of the lucentania, right

00:34:02.569 --> 00:34:04.650
which we kind of just accept as well a terrible

00:34:04.650 --> 00:34:08.789
thing happened But in 1915 was a shocking event.

00:34:09.030 --> 00:34:11.610
Yes, the death toll was enormous. It was a u

00:34:11.610 --> 00:34:13.250
-boat. I'm looking it up Yeah, a u -boat got

00:34:13.250 --> 00:34:16.070
her and I'm looking at 1193 people died and there

00:34:16.070 --> 00:34:18.250
were 128 Americans on board and she was sunk

00:34:18.250 --> 00:34:20.750
without warning Right and without any chance

00:34:20.750 --> 00:34:22.210
of rescuing of people and such and there were

00:34:22.210 --> 00:34:23.989
all these rules of the sea about how you were

00:34:23.989 --> 00:34:26.429
supposed to Behave in a civilized manner when

00:34:26.429 --> 00:34:27.869
you sank a ship and you weren't really supposed

00:34:27.869 --> 00:34:29.789
to attack passenger ships and so on and so forth

00:34:29.789 --> 00:34:33.929
The germans did and this was considered a a barbaric

00:34:33.929 --> 00:34:37.550
act Yeah, so the idea of responding with a harshly

00:34:37.550 --> 00:34:39.489
worded letter and that's that's too extreme in

00:34:39.489 --> 00:34:41.230
the face such a barbaric act you can see why

00:34:41.230 --> 00:34:45.389
a lot of people would be Unsupportive of such

00:34:45.389 --> 00:34:47.190
a pacifist position in those days because it

00:34:47.190 --> 00:34:50.019
was such Such barbarism at the time. Well, it's

00:34:50.019 --> 00:34:52.300
important to keep that that context in mind It's

00:34:52.300 --> 00:34:55.699
kind of it's an unrealistic approach to basically

00:34:55.699 --> 00:34:57.800
think that you know, you're going to have the

00:34:57.800 --> 00:35:03.960
agency to go in and and simply by adopting this

00:35:03.960 --> 00:35:08.400
sort of pacifist View by sheer force of moral

00:35:08.400 --> 00:35:11.500
argument that you will somehow make a difference

00:35:11.500 --> 00:35:13.880
people I mean over in Europe people are gonna

00:35:13.880 --> 00:35:17.469
laugh at this You can't even send a note What

00:35:17.469 --> 00:35:21.690
the hell does that mean? Brian is not considered,

00:35:21.730 --> 00:35:24.989
I should just say, even though this is probably

00:35:24.989 --> 00:35:27.710
an obvious point, one of our better secretaries

00:35:27.710 --> 00:35:30.210
of state and is usually rated down at the bottom.

00:35:31.030 --> 00:35:34.829
So the Republicans do have a point, but Wilson

00:35:34.829 --> 00:35:36.829
is going to be the one who is going to be running

00:35:36.829 --> 00:35:40.329
foreign affairs here, particularly after Brian

00:35:40.329 --> 00:35:44.050
leaves. Brian was much a power, was a very powerful

00:35:44.050 --> 00:35:46.429
influence among certain segments in the Democratic

00:35:46.429 --> 00:35:49.650
Party, his departure kind of is a blessing to

00:35:49.650 --> 00:35:53.789
Wilson in many respects. Wilson kind of comes

00:35:53.789 --> 00:35:57.269
up with an evolving strategy that culminates

00:35:57.269 --> 00:36:00.909
with his own vision of America First, just in

00:36:00.909 --> 00:36:04.929
time for the 1916 election. And as a slogan,

00:36:05.389 --> 00:36:08.809
Just like the remarks that we opened with from

00:36:08.809 --> 00:36:12.670
Harding, it's somewhat ambiguous regarding what

00:36:12.670 --> 00:36:15.750
any role would be for America in the First World

00:36:15.750 --> 00:36:19.570
War. America First was used as a foreign policy

00:36:19.570 --> 00:36:23.489
aspiration, and it, along with other slogans

00:36:23.489 --> 00:36:25.789
publicized by Wilson's campaign such as he kept

00:36:25.789 --> 00:36:29.530
us out of war, suggested a more thoughtful, less

00:36:29.530 --> 00:36:33.070
aggressive response to World War I and the provocations

00:36:33.070 --> 00:36:37.820
by the Germans. So in a sense, Wilson's not going

00:36:37.820 --> 00:36:41.639
to basically be hot to trot to avenge Belgium,

00:36:42.239 --> 00:36:44.940
but he's also not going to put up with going

00:36:44.940 --> 00:36:50.219
around and sinking ships with U .S. citizens

00:36:50.219 --> 00:36:53.480
on them. He claimed that his administration was

00:36:53.480 --> 00:36:56.639
pursuing a course for peace and the only alternative

00:36:56.639 --> 00:37:01.860
to peace was war. Now, this is an argument that

00:37:01.860 --> 00:37:05.599
kind of exploits a lot of divisions within the

00:37:05.599 --> 00:37:09.519
Republican Party, and this is though, but this

00:37:09.519 --> 00:37:13.619
is Wilson's version of America First. So you

00:37:13.619 --> 00:37:15.860
have America First, we shouldn't get involved

00:37:15.860 --> 00:37:17.820
in European things because we should put ourselves

00:37:17.820 --> 00:37:19.760
first and our interests first and so on and so

00:37:19.760 --> 00:37:23.099
forth. It is, since the founding of the Republic

00:37:23.099 --> 00:37:25.039
though, the foundation of the Republic, in the

00:37:25.039 --> 00:37:27.300
18th century, there's always been the idea of

00:37:27.300 --> 00:37:29.780
freedom of the seas. Yes. So this is a conundrum,

00:37:29.860 --> 00:37:31.639
isn't it? If the Germans are going to start attacking

00:37:31.639 --> 00:37:34.119
shipping on the high seas, putting America first

00:37:34.119 --> 00:37:36.039
would require you to do something about that.

00:37:36.460 --> 00:37:39.219
But that would involve you getting involved in

00:37:39.219 --> 00:37:42.039
European affairs, which would seem to violate

00:37:42.039 --> 00:37:47.519
America first, right? There is this myth that

00:37:47.519 --> 00:37:52.480
is going to come into larger play when we look

00:37:52.480 --> 00:37:55.489
into the lead -up to World War II. And the myth

00:37:55.489 --> 00:37:58.730
is that, essentially, until the 20th century,

00:37:59.309 --> 00:38:01.809
we're living in our own little hemisphere here,

00:38:02.230 --> 00:38:05.650
and not really bothering anybody, and we're not

00:38:05.650 --> 00:38:09.489
really part of this world of European diplomacy.

00:38:09.969 --> 00:38:12.809
This is nonsense. I mean, if you look at the

00:38:12.809 --> 00:38:16.789
Civil War, there is plenty of involvement with

00:38:16.789 --> 00:38:20.469
Europe. There's plenty of involvement... With

00:38:20.469 --> 00:38:24.050
Europe after the civil war as well and we were

00:38:24.050 --> 00:38:25.849
fooling around in China We were dealing with

00:38:25.849 --> 00:38:28.469
the Japanese and European countries there and

00:38:28.469 --> 00:38:31.929
so on and so forth. We had a century theater

00:38:31.929 --> 00:38:37.309
Roosevelt had actually won a Nobel Prize You

00:38:37.309 --> 00:38:39.769
know presidents do win Nobel Prize and sometimes

00:38:39.769 --> 00:38:41.650
they actually earn them instead of just insist

00:38:41.650 --> 00:38:46.949
that they be given them the for arbitration in

00:38:46.949 --> 00:38:51.139
the war between Russia and Japan So, we are involved.

00:38:51.280 --> 00:38:54.760
I mean, we were, we had, you know, people talked

00:38:54.760 --> 00:38:57.780
about we had no entangling alliances. Some of

00:38:57.780 --> 00:38:59.860
the things that we got up to with the Russians

00:38:59.860 --> 00:39:02.679
could be considered quasi -acts of war during

00:39:02.679 --> 00:39:07.860
the Crimean War where Britain was engaged. We

00:39:07.860 --> 00:39:10.619
had this great hostility towards Britain and

00:39:10.619 --> 00:39:15.840
we sought, if not alliances, then friends. And

00:39:15.840 --> 00:39:18.079
this was something that was very much a part

00:39:18.079 --> 00:39:22.260
of U .S. diplomacy in the 19th century, which

00:39:22.260 --> 00:39:25.639
conveniently became more and more obscure where

00:39:25.639 --> 00:39:31.159
people would go and invest all sorts of effort

00:39:31.159 --> 00:39:35.260
into promoting statements taken out of context

00:39:35.260 --> 00:39:37.219
from Washington's farewell address, particularly

00:39:37.219 --> 00:39:41.960
those regarding entangling alliances. No one

00:39:41.960 --> 00:39:44.960
is trying to become a lie to anybody at this

00:39:44.960 --> 00:39:50.139
point, but the Republicans are having difficulty

00:39:50.139 --> 00:39:53.079
in this election between what might be called

00:39:53.079 --> 00:39:57.760
their stalwart and progressive wings, and Charles

00:39:57.760 --> 00:40:00.800
Evans Hughes, who was Wilson's opponent, struggled

00:40:00.800 --> 00:40:04.360
to organize a real coordinated campaign that

00:40:04.360 --> 00:40:07.519
would take into account prominent people like

00:40:07.519 --> 00:40:09.380
Elihu Root and Theodore Roosevelt who wanted

00:40:09.380 --> 00:40:13.960
Germany to be held accountable, and Midwestern

00:40:13.960 --> 00:40:16.280
pacifists who wanted nothing to do with this

00:40:16.280 --> 00:40:19.440
war at all, even though most of the people out

00:40:19.440 --> 00:40:21.860
there are making record profits from selling

00:40:21.860 --> 00:40:26.039
grain and other agricultural products to the

00:40:26.039 --> 00:40:31.920
Europeans. took up his own version of America

00:40:31.920 --> 00:40:35.440
First, which was in his acceptance speech, which

00:40:35.440 --> 00:40:37.940
he entitled America First and American Efficiency.

00:40:39.000 --> 00:40:42.619
And again, he's addressing issues related to

00:40:42.619 --> 00:40:45.599
the favorite issue of the Republicans, the tariff,

00:40:46.039 --> 00:40:49.059
also labor relations, U .S. actions in Mexico,

00:40:49.340 --> 00:40:53.480
women's suffrage. He wasted time devoting, again,

00:40:53.699 --> 00:40:56.880
a significant portion to dealing with ambassadors

00:40:56.880 --> 00:41:00.000
overseas and criticizing William Jennings Bryan.

00:41:00.159 --> 00:41:02.760
A lot of the things that he was doing in his

00:41:02.760 --> 00:41:06.900
version of America First wasn't exactly things

00:41:06.900 --> 00:41:08.739
that were putting the Republicans in a vote -winning

00:41:08.739 --> 00:41:12.260
position here. He didn't assuage concerns about

00:41:12.260 --> 00:41:15.639
future prospects of involvement of the war in

00:41:15.639 --> 00:41:20.679
Europe. And this is how Hughes' version of America

00:41:20.679 --> 00:41:24.500
First actually faltered. However, the most significant

00:41:24.500 --> 00:41:27.480
thing is he managed to alienate the governor

00:41:27.480 --> 00:41:30.860
of California which was in those days a Republican

00:41:30.860 --> 00:41:34.900
state, and Hughes was unable to carry it due

00:41:34.900 --> 00:41:39.440
to his feud with Governor Hiram Johnson. I imagine

00:41:39.440 --> 00:41:43.639
what made the issue of getting involved in the

00:41:43.639 --> 00:41:47.599
war in Europe in 1916, I mean, moot is too strong

00:41:47.599 --> 00:41:50.920
a word, but not what it might have been, was

00:41:50.920 --> 00:41:55.619
that the Germans had backed off of unrestricted

00:41:55.619 --> 00:41:58.179
submarine warfare after the Lusitania incident.

00:41:58.800 --> 00:42:01.739
And so you did not have the Germans actively

00:42:01.739 --> 00:42:05.340
attacking US ships or ships carrying US nationals

00:42:05.340 --> 00:42:08.880
on the high seas, at least not anywhere near

00:42:08.880 --> 00:42:11.239
what it could have been in 1915. And that did

00:42:11.239 --> 00:42:16.000
not come along until 1917. So I would imagine

00:42:16.000 --> 00:42:20.539
that that was our main direct interest in what

00:42:20.539 --> 00:42:25.239
went on in World War I at that time. And we were

00:42:25.239 --> 00:42:29.199
not being challenged at that time in 1916. Right

00:42:29.199 --> 00:42:31.579
we were not so that that must have had an influence

00:42:31.579 --> 00:42:35.059
as well on On the fact if the Germans had been

00:42:35.059 --> 00:42:37.559
attacking you as ships in 1916 You probably would

00:42:37.559 --> 00:42:39.619
have had a very different debate on a very different

00:42:39.619 --> 00:42:41.239
election This is the point I'm trying to make

00:42:41.239 --> 00:42:43.880
right so and America first would have had then

00:42:43.880 --> 00:42:46.239
would have had to confront more of this We have

00:42:46.239 --> 00:42:49.320
to keep the sea lanes free kind of yes And we're

00:42:49.320 --> 00:42:52.099
making record profits and I mean this is this

00:42:52.099 --> 00:42:54.579
this kind of undermines the whole tariff thing

00:42:54.989 --> 00:42:57.969
as an issue because the whole idea was that the

00:42:57.969 --> 00:43:01.550
tariff equal prosperity and stability for US

00:43:01.550 --> 00:43:04.969
industry. We're making lots of money because

00:43:04.969 --> 00:43:07.909
of this war. We're producing things for Europe.

00:43:22.880 --> 00:43:26.659
Of course, World War I was a cataclysmic event

00:43:26.659 --> 00:43:32.719
heretofore unimaginable on a global scale. In

00:43:32.719 --> 00:43:35.079
Wilson's time, his understanding that the issue

00:43:35.079 --> 00:43:37.300
of whether the U .S. would or would not fight

00:43:37.300 --> 00:43:39.920
in World War I was the critical one for U .S.

00:43:40.119 --> 00:43:43.000
voters. The Wilson campaign's insistence that

00:43:43.000 --> 00:43:45.820
he kept the U .S. out of the war only lasted

00:43:45.820 --> 00:43:49.239
for a month or so after his inauguration in 1917.

00:43:49.880 --> 00:43:52.599
The U .S. involvement in World War I would alter

00:43:52.599 --> 00:43:55.179
the perception of what it meant to be an American

00:43:55.179 --> 00:43:58.480
and would again alter the phrase America first.

00:43:59.420 --> 00:44:02.260
So there were a couple of factors that Wilson

00:44:02.260 --> 00:44:05.340
just couldn't that were beyond Wilson's control

00:44:05.340 --> 00:44:11.820
to keep a sort of avoidance of conflict. One

00:44:11.820 --> 00:44:16.599
of these was the Zimmerman Telegraph, which basically

00:44:16.599 --> 00:44:20.239
was a telegram from the German foreign ministry

00:44:20.239 --> 00:44:24.920
to Mexico. Wilson had had notoriously bad relations

00:44:24.920 --> 00:44:27.960
with Mexico, but we don't have time really to

00:44:27.960 --> 00:44:31.099
get into all of that in this particular episode.

00:44:31.719 --> 00:44:36.500
Suffice it to say... What we can say is that

00:44:36.500 --> 00:44:39.119
Mexico is having a revolution, and Pancho Villa

00:44:39.119 --> 00:44:42.559
had been attacking US citizens and property in

00:44:42.559 --> 00:44:45.119
northern Mexico, and then actually came across

00:44:45.119 --> 00:44:48.800
the border and attacked. uh us towns across the

00:44:48.800 --> 00:44:53.400
border from mexico in in 19 early 1916 and uh

00:44:53.400 --> 00:44:55.539
john blackdack pershing went into mexico after

00:44:55.539 --> 00:44:57.300
him and was roaming around mexico looking for

00:44:57.300 --> 00:45:00.179
him pretty unsuccessfully but this was the context

00:45:00.179 --> 00:45:02.199
of it right so well there's more our relations

00:45:02.199 --> 00:45:04.860
with mexico were pretty terrible yes i mean we

00:45:04.860 --> 00:45:08.260
had landed marines there and well yeah in 1914

00:45:08.260 --> 00:45:11.119
yes we landed marines in there because the united

00:45:11.119 --> 00:45:13.900
states did not receive sufficient honors when

00:45:13.900 --> 00:45:17.139
one of its one of its uh naval ships had come

00:45:17.139 --> 00:45:23.880
into port. And as Barbara Tuchman observes, it's

00:45:23.880 --> 00:45:28.900
like for the average Mexican to see Marines roaming

00:45:28.900 --> 00:45:33.079
the streets, their job was apparently to enforce

00:45:33.079 --> 00:45:35.300
democracy, which was something that was lost

00:45:35.300 --> 00:45:39.099
upon the Mexican population. But there's another

00:45:39.099 --> 00:45:42.420
issue as well, isn't there, Mike? Unrestricted

00:45:42.420 --> 00:45:45.219
submarine warfare. Yes under restricted submarine

00:45:45.219 --> 00:45:48.980
warfare. So the Germans had resumed that in 1917

00:45:48.980 --> 00:45:52.880
Seeing that probably the war was headed against

00:45:52.880 --> 00:45:55.800
the war was not going in their direction and

00:45:55.800 --> 00:45:57.719
They needed to knock Britain out of the war somehow

00:45:57.719 --> 00:45:59.559
and the way to do that was with the submarine

00:45:59.559 --> 00:46:01.400
And they actually had quite a bit of success

00:46:01.400 --> 00:46:06.369
in 1917 And in that context, as shipping losses

00:46:06.369 --> 00:46:08.510
are increasing, and so everyone understands what

00:46:08.510 --> 00:46:10.150
unrestricted submarine warfare is, it means you

00:46:10.150 --> 00:46:12.630
don't warn anyone, any ship that they're being

00:46:12.630 --> 00:46:14.789
attacked, you make no effort to rescue survivors,

00:46:15.070 --> 00:46:17.030
right? You just announce, anyone going beyond

00:46:17.030 --> 00:46:19.010
this certain line in the ocean, I'm gonna attack

00:46:19.010 --> 00:46:20.929
with my submarine without warning, and sink you,

00:46:20.989 --> 00:46:24.570
you've been warned, so don't go, right? Proceed

00:46:24.570 --> 00:46:27.369
at your own risk. And we found that intolerable.

00:46:27.610 --> 00:46:29.309
Because we wanted freedom of the seas and we

00:46:29.309 --> 00:46:31.250
didn't want anybody attacking our our ships or

00:46:31.250 --> 00:46:34.210
our commerce or our people at sea Of course the

00:46:34.210 --> 00:46:36.610
british were doing a blockade against the germans

00:46:36.610 --> 00:46:38.889
at the time which was very successful and would

00:46:38.889 --> 00:46:43.570
be more successful than even even the uh submarine

00:46:43.570 --> 00:46:46.050
war unrestricted submarine warfare in terms of

00:46:46.050 --> 00:46:49.949
supplying the civilian population So yeah, and

00:46:49.949 --> 00:46:51.429
that was and that was part of the calculus the

00:46:51.429 --> 00:46:52.969
germans were making is you know things things

00:46:52.969 --> 00:46:55.260
were not headed in their In their favor in the

00:46:55.260 --> 00:46:57.019
yeah, and they had they had to make something

00:46:57.019 --> 00:47:00.480
happen Was part to alter the odds here, right

00:47:00.480 --> 00:47:03.360
and get things going back on track for them having

00:47:03.360 --> 00:47:05.420
a chance of winning And that's where this this

00:47:05.420 --> 00:47:10.039
came from But go to getting back to the Zimmerman

00:47:10.039 --> 00:47:13.019
telegram, what what did it suggest essentially

00:47:13.019 --> 00:47:20.280
promised Mexico California and Texas Back the

00:47:20.280 --> 00:47:24.099
conquered territories that had been lost the

00:47:24.099 --> 00:47:28.460
19th century during the Mexican -American War

00:47:28.460 --> 00:47:33.320
These would be and and the war for Texas independence

00:47:33.320 --> 00:47:38.340
as well and what was Mexico supposed to do Mexico

00:47:38.340 --> 00:47:40.760
was supposed to make war on the United States

00:47:40.760 --> 00:47:49.579
to suck away resources from the And focus from

00:47:49.579 --> 00:47:56.780
the war in Europe to distract and to make sure

00:47:56.780 --> 00:48:01.420
that military is focused to the south and not

00:48:01.420 --> 00:48:06.019
being sent overseas there. I mean it's interesting

00:48:06.019 --> 00:48:09.519
when you look at this just how much both in this

00:48:09.519 --> 00:48:12.760
period we're seeing political war being waged

00:48:12.760 --> 00:48:19.079
here in a sense of using ways of deflecting,

00:48:19.119 --> 00:48:23.400
bringing military force to bear. the situation

00:48:23.400 --> 00:48:27.280
by these various diplomatic maneuvers and We'll

00:48:27.280 --> 00:48:30.639
see a little bit more of that almost to a horrifying

00:48:30.639 --> 00:48:35.559
extent in the next episode Meanwhile, right so

00:48:35.559 --> 00:48:38.400
we purely a diversional tactic. Yes. Yes, right

00:48:38.400 --> 00:48:40.179
So we've invited so the Germans have invited

00:48:40.179 --> 00:48:42.300
Mexico to join with them and fighting the United

00:48:42.300 --> 00:48:45.880
States To fight the United States to fight. Yes,

00:48:45.940 --> 00:48:48.099
because they're not fighting the United States

00:48:48.099 --> 00:48:51.320
at this point. We were still granted right but

00:48:51.469 --> 00:48:54.489
The Germans are seeing a certain bias. Yes, a

00:48:54.489 --> 00:48:57.269
bias. That's the way of putting it, yes. A bias

00:48:57.269 --> 00:49:02.409
in terms of U .S. policy. So in a sense, this

00:49:02.409 --> 00:49:07.650
is a way of trying to correct that bias and exploit

00:49:07.650 --> 00:49:11.690
long -standing American concerns. Right. Make

00:49:11.690 --> 00:49:13.329
the United States look over here and not bother

00:49:13.329 --> 00:49:15.010
us as much. That's what the Germans are trying

00:49:15.010 --> 00:49:17.769
to do, right? Exactly. Yes, because they're not

00:49:17.769 --> 00:49:22.840
at war yet with us. Anyway, so this brings us

00:49:22.840 --> 00:49:27.519
to Wilson is elected. Yeah, and Wilson is inaugurated

00:49:27.519 --> 00:49:34.900
on March 4th 1917 and Well War becomes declared

00:49:34.900 --> 00:49:38.980
in a special session of Congress in April and

00:49:38.980 --> 00:49:41.099
this was a fairly contentious move here There

00:49:41.099 --> 00:49:44.500
were certain there were certain senators and

00:49:44.500 --> 00:49:47.840
representatives that totally opposed the war

00:49:48.110 --> 00:49:51.170
and sought to use parliamentary procedures to

00:49:51.170 --> 00:49:54.130
avoid a formal declaration of war. There's even

00:49:54.130 --> 00:49:57.530
talk about, let's have a referendum about the

00:49:57.530 --> 00:50:00.050
war to see if it's actually going to take place.

00:50:01.150 --> 00:50:04.030
This, of course, was scorched. Wilson was very

00:50:04.030 --> 00:50:07.769
good about maintaining control of his party in

00:50:07.769 --> 00:50:14.539
Congress, but this created some sentiments. that

00:50:14.539 --> 00:50:17.860
we would see pop up after the war about how people

00:50:17.860 --> 00:50:21.639
were misled and forced into this against their

00:50:21.639 --> 00:50:24.199
will. So in November 1916, he kept us out of

00:50:24.199 --> 00:50:31.360
war. In March 1917, he is inaugurated and re

00:50:31.360 --> 00:50:33.239
-inaugurated, and then five weeks later, we're

00:50:33.239 --> 00:50:36.360
at war. We're at war. That's the timeline. That

00:50:36.360 --> 00:50:38.900
is the timeline. That's how fast these things

00:50:38.900 --> 00:50:43.889
move. Now, what the war does is it creates a

00:50:43.889 --> 00:50:48.650
catalyst for all sorts of anti -foreign and racist

00:50:48.650 --> 00:50:52.190
sentiments of all sorts. This includes silly

00:50:52.190 --> 00:50:54.469
things like kicking dachshunds because they were

00:50:54.469 --> 00:50:58.190
thought that even animals had this innate sense

00:50:58.190 --> 00:51:00.610
of national origin. They killed dachshunds because

00:51:00.610 --> 00:51:03.210
they were German dogs. They actually did that.

00:51:03.469 --> 00:51:08.699
Yes. The dachshund doesn't know. I mean, it's

00:51:08.699 --> 00:51:12.659
not like... It's not like... There are a few

00:51:12.659 --> 00:51:14.440
dachshunds that would have pinups... I'm a German

00:51:14.440 --> 00:51:18.880
dachshund. They would have pinups of Kaiser Wilhelm

00:51:18.880 --> 00:51:22.039
in their dog pins. They also banned the teaching

00:51:22.039 --> 00:51:25.420
of German in schools, which is the stupidest

00:51:25.420 --> 00:51:26.800
possible thing because if you want to understand

00:51:26.800 --> 00:51:28.000
the people you're fighting, you probably would

00:51:28.000 --> 00:51:30.019
be better off learning their language. Yeah.

00:51:30.099 --> 00:51:32.980
But this was lost on people at the time. You

00:51:32.980 --> 00:51:36.880
know, but this... You bring up an interesting

00:51:36.880 --> 00:51:42.320
point. There is a notion of purity that, you

00:51:42.320 --> 00:51:45.440
know, was called at the time Americanism. And

00:51:45.440 --> 00:51:47.699
the idea that you would not wish to be tainted

00:51:47.699 --> 00:51:53.159
by learning the German language plays into that.

00:51:53.400 --> 00:51:57.340
That there is this sort of innate, pure, highly

00:51:57.340 --> 00:52:01.900
moral American thought that runs counter to all

00:52:01.900 --> 00:52:05.780
these things that foreigners believe and people

00:52:05.780 --> 00:52:07.960
of inferior races believe, and people of the

00:52:07.960 --> 00:52:10.880
wrong religion believe. This is very, you know,

00:52:11.159 --> 00:52:15.559
this is one of those situations where I think

00:52:15.559 --> 00:52:18.920
that you're going to, that it's a telling anecdote.

00:52:20.360 --> 00:52:24.059
Things that were, that suddenly became very unpopular,

00:52:24.099 --> 00:52:26.159
at least among the establishment, and could result

00:52:26.159 --> 00:52:30.019
in criminal liability, included things like collective

00:52:30.019 --> 00:52:35.809
bargaining rights, which if you look at the composition

00:52:35.809 --> 00:52:38.630
of Wilson's cabinet and also their stance on

00:52:38.630 --> 00:52:43.429
labor. This was almost like the worst thing in

00:52:43.429 --> 00:52:46.489
the world that could happen would be for labor

00:52:46.489 --> 00:52:50.489
to acquire this particular ability, this leverage.

00:52:51.070 --> 00:52:54.730
And this was actually thought to be an anathema

00:52:54.730 --> 00:53:00.269
worse than even communism. Dissent within the

00:53:00.269 --> 00:53:03.650
U .S. particularly anybody who had issues with

00:53:03.650 --> 00:53:06.829
the Selective Service Act or anything, any critique

00:53:06.829 --> 00:53:09.829
about the war, that was harshly suppressed and

00:53:09.829 --> 00:53:14.250
that could result in jail terms. Constitutional

00:53:14.250 --> 00:53:17.510
rights to things like free speech and assembly

00:53:17.510 --> 00:53:20.750
were also suppressed by the government. There

00:53:20.750 --> 00:53:24.889
were even independent groups that took it upon

00:53:24.889 --> 00:53:29.050
themselves to form their own spontaneous and

00:53:29.050 --> 00:53:32.059
unaffiliated government unaffiliated with the

00:53:32.059 --> 00:53:34.739
government groups to go around and terrorize

00:53:34.739 --> 00:53:37.820
people that existed during this period. This

00:53:37.820 --> 00:53:39.860
is something to keep in mind because we're going

00:53:39.860 --> 00:53:44.659
to see some of these things come up in odd ways.

00:53:44.760 --> 00:53:46.519
Were they styled as militias or what were they?

00:53:46.519 --> 00:53:49.739
They were styled as militias and they would go

00:53:49.739 --> 00:53:53.719
in, for example, the big labor movement that

00:53:53.719 --> 00:53:57.420
people opposed was the IWW, which was the most

00:53:57.420 --> 00:54:00.820
radical of all labor unions at the time. And

00:54:00.820 --> 00:54:03.739
they would go in and they would haul people off,

00:54:04.039 --> 00:54:06.920
tar and feather them, and not be prosecuted for

00:54:06.920 --> 00:54:08.880
doing this. We're talking kidnapping here, we're

00:54:08.880 --> 00:54:11.719
talking assault, we're talking several laws being

00:54:11.719 --> 00:54:15.440
violated here, but this is tolerated in the atmosphere

00:54:15.440 --> 00:54:18.219
because you're dealing with dangerous radicals

00:54:18.219 --> 00:54:22.059
who are threatening this pure concept of Americanism.

00:54:22.199 --> 00:54:24.460
So when you say that, let's just be clear. So

00:54:24.460 --> 00:54:27.860
they're targeting trade unionists. Trade unionists

00:54:27.860 --> 00:54:30.800
and other dissenters. And other dissenters. Then

00:54:30.800 --> 00:54:33.619
are they also targeting people based on ethnicity

00:54:33.619 --> 00:54:36.300
and things like that, separately from the trade

00:54:36.300 --> 00:54:38.579
unionism? Not so much with the malicious. That's

00:54:38.579 --> 00:54:40.460
more spontaneous. All right, so theirs was a

00:54:40.460 --> 00:54:43.780
political -economic... Yes, and they would actually

00:54:43.780 --> 00:54:47.260
seek to get some sort of official sanction, which

00:54:47.260 --> 00:54:50.420
was granted. You know, like here, you guys...

00:54:50.519 --> 00:54:53.760
Go out there and beat the crap out of out of

00:54:53.760 --> 00:54:56.400
you know, people that are granted by granted

00:54:56.400 --> 00:55:00.760
by who? Governments state governments federal

00:55:00.760 --> 00:55:03.699
government as well local. Okay. All right So

00:55:03.699 --> 00:55:07.320
so these types of things were not only tolerated

00:55:07.320 --> 00:55:12.980
but encouraged racial politics Takes an interesting

00:55:12.980 --> 00:55:16.639
turn and this is Actually predates the war but

00:55:16.639 --> 00:55:20.260
in 1915 there was the film the birth of a nation

00:55:20.590 --> 00:55:24.889
This revived the Ku Klux Klan, but not strictly

00:55:24.889 --> 00:55:32.030
as an anti -black organization or an anti -equal

00:55:32.030 --> 00:55:36.550
rights organization. This Klan was basically

00:55:36.550 --> 00:55:39.329
definitely opposed to African -American civil

00:55:39.329 --> 00:55:44.130
rights, but there's also a large anti -foreign,

00:55:45.010 --> 00:55:49.449
anti -Catholic, and anti -Semitic causes that

00:55:50.010 --> 00:55:53.329
They are taking up there. I think it's important

00:55:53.329 --> 00:55:56.769
to note for those who don't realize this, that

00:55:56.769 --> 00:55:59.230
the original clan arose right after the Civil

00:55:59.230 --> 00:56:02.079
War. as essentially a guerrilla movement, as

00:56:02.079 --> 00:56:04.139
a way of carrying on the Civil War by other means

00:56:04.139 --> 00:56:06.380
in many ways, and of course it would terrorize

00:56:06.380 --> 00:56:09.219
black people and that type of thing. And that

00:56:09.219 --> 00:56:12.139
was his main focus was to do that, as far as

00:56:12.139 --> 00:56:15.139
I know about that clan. And that clan was destroyed

00:56:15.139 --> 00:56:17.679
in the 1870s during Reconstruction under the

00:56:17.679 --> 00:56:19.380
Grant administration. In fact, that's one of

00:56:19.380 --> 00:56:21.219
Grant's underrated great achievements was his

00:56:21.219 --> 00:56:23.559
destruction of that clan. The clan that you're

00:56:23.559 --> 00:56:27.260
talking about that arose at that time during

00:56:27.260 --> 00:56:30.619
the World War I era, Is a new clan a different

00:56:30.619 --> 00:56:33.340
clan a separate clan. It's the clan we have today

00:56:33.340 --> 00:56:35.380
But it's not as if there's one continuous clan

00:56:35.380 --> 00:56:37.099
that dates back to the Civil War. That's not

00:56:37.099 --> 00:56:39.639
true This one came from from different origins

00:56:39.639 --> 00:56:42.639
and in fact wasn't entirely southern at all No,

00:56:42.639 --> 00:56:47.739
it was not it was very popular in rural areas

00:56:47.739 --> 00:56:52.659
And in the Midwest and in the Midwest but it

00:56:52.659 --> 00:56:55.539
was also popular in urban areas too where it

00:56:55.539 --> 00:57:01.829
exploited kind of tensions between, say, WASP

00:57:01.829 --> 00:57:04.469
Americans, white Anglo -Saxon Protestant Americans,

00:57:05.170 --> 00:57:08.570
and, say, Catholics or different people who have

00:57:08.570 --> 00:57:10.989
immigrated from different countries. The people

00:57:10.989 --> 00:57:13.309
in the other parts of town. The other parts of

00:57:13.309 --> 00:57:17.949
town. And it was, there was actually talk that

00:57:17.949 --> 00:57:20.489
it took one generation to make an American, so

00:57:20.489 --> 00:57:22.809
you could not be an American if you had not been

00:57:22.809 --> 00:57:26.210
born here. You know putting your hand up and

00:57:26.210 --> 00:57:28.230
taking the oath didn't count didn't count. No,

00:57:28.230 --> 00:57:30.510
okay You know paying your taxes and getting a

00:57:30.510 --> 00:57:32.349
job didn't count. No, it didn't count. Okay,

00:57:32.349 --> 00:57:36.489
you know, it did not count What counted was the

00:57:36.489 --> 00:57:39.690
and this gets into this whole idea of tribalism

00:57:39.690 --> 00:57:43.050
and eugenics Yeah, that that, you know runs counter

00:57:43.050 --> 00:57:46.269
to the sort of popular myths of the of the of

00:57:46.269 --> 00:57:52.210
the of the melting pot but so birth of the nation

00:57:52.409 --> 00:57:55.010
Yeah considered as a technical matter a great

00:57:55.010 --> 00:57:57.409
piece of filmmaking as a piece of filmmaking

00:57:57.409 --> 00:58:01.829
but with a horrible uh subject matter horrible

00:58:01.829 --> 00:58:03.909
message horrible subject matter right which which

00:58:03.909 --> 00:58:09.170
was which was you know black men who were portrayed

00:58:09.170 --> 00:58:13.909
in the movie and by white men because the the

00:58:13.909 --> 00:58:18.389
depictions are so awful that no starving actor

00:58:18.389 --> 00:58:21.079
no african -american starving actor would would

00:58:21.079 --> 00:58:25.500
take part in this film are trying to promote

00:58:25.500 --> 00:58:28.539
this sort of like ignorant, exploitive, corrupt

00:58:28.539 --> 00:58:33.019
government and also rape white women. And then

00:58:33.019 --> 00:58:35.860
the Klan basically comes to the rescue at the

00:58:35.860 --> 00:58:40.659
end on horseback. Even the horses are hooded

00:58:40.659 --> 00:58:46.719
in the movie and they rescue the heroine from

00:58:46.719 --> 00:58:52.380
being raped by gangs of black men. And then they

00:58:52.380 --> 00:58:55.739
write off in triumph, having established, you

00:58:55.739 --> 00:58:59.659
know, white Anglo -Saxon hierarchy dominance

00:58:59.659 --> 00:59:04.800
dominance in the South there. So. Woodrow Wilson

00:59:04.800 --> 00:59:07.800
loved the film. He did. He called it history,

00:59:08.019 --> 00:59:12.940
history written with lightning. Yeah. He had

00:59:12.940 --> 00:59:15.480
also resegregated the government. Yes, the federal

00:59:15.480 --> 00:59:17.260
government. which had been integrated before

00:59:17.260 --> 00:59:19.139
he came into office. He actually re -segregated

00:59:19.139 --> 00:59:20.599
it, so you can see where his sentiments lay.

00:59:21.320 --> 00:59:26.380
He was a segregationist from Virginia. But anyway,

00:59:26.659 --> 00:59:31.679
so the movie comes out, and this comes out at

00:59:31.679 --> 00:59:35.420
the same time as the Klan is coming back? What's

00:59:35.420 --> 00:59:37.340
the correlation between the movie and the new

00:59:37.340 --> 00:59:40.480
Klan arising? Everybody thinks the Klan is wonderful,

00:59:40.780 --> 00:59:43.280
if you're white Anglo -Saxon Protestant. Based

00:59:43.280 --> 00:59:46.119
on the film? Based on the film. and it inspires

00:59:46.119 --> 00:59:51.320
the growth of the Klan. One year before 1916.

00:59:52.519 --> 00:59:57.380
But into this, because of the war, I would say

00:59:57.380 --> 01:00:01.119
that this sharpens some of their message because

01:00:01.119 --> 01:00:06.880
particularly the anti -foreigner, the war makes

01:00:06.880 --> 01:00:10.159
Americanism, whatever that's supposed to mean,

01:00:10.679 --> 01:00:14.139
a kind of nostalgic look back. But I would I

01:00:14.139 --> 01:00:17.420
would challenge anybody to say where is this

01:00:17.420 --> 01:00:20.079
idealized period where everything was great?

01:00:20.920 --> 01:00:23.179
You know people worked hard people went to church

01:00:23.179 --> 01:00:25.960
people you know there was no adultery there was

01:00:25.960 --> 01:00:28.539
no drunkenness there was everybody everybody

01:00:28.539 --> 01:00:32.980
led these very pure lives and The actual historical

01:00:32.980 --> 01:00:36.019
record would would would would would say that

01:00:36.019 --> 01:00:40.219
this time period never existed But this was always

01:00:40.219 --> 01:00:43.050
something that you find when people use a term

01:00:43.050 --> 01:00:45.289
like Americanism that they want to bring back.

01:00:46.150 --> 01:00:48.210
So at the time the Klan is rising, birth of a

01:00:48.210 --> 01:00:50.250
nation, we're becoming involved in World War

01:00:50.250 --> 01:00:54.030
I, there's also this sentimental, this rise of

01:00:54.030 --> 01:00:56.789
sentimentality about - America's past. Sometime

01:00:56.789 --> 01:00:59.730
in the past. Our lost past. The 19th century

01:00:59.730 --> 01:01:02.150
or something. I guess. Yes. Somewhere back there.

01:01:02.150 --> 01:01:04.210
Somewhere in the 19th century before all these

01:01:04.210 --> 01:01:05.710
immigrants came here. When things were perfect.

01:01:05.869 --> 01:01:08.010
When things were perfect. Yeah, okay. And, you

01:01:08.010 --> 01:01:12.590
know, everybody lived rich and rewarding lives

01:01:12.590 --> 01:01:14.789
filled with hard work and simple pleasures. So

01:01:14.789 --> 01:01:17.670
it's like the socio -political milieu in the

01:01:17.670 --> 01:01:19.750
United States when we get involved in World War

01:01:19.750 --> 01:01:23.550
I. And it's actually being heightened by World

01:01:23.550 --> 01:01:26.739
War I. because we're looking at what are the

01:01:26.739 --> 01:01:28.780
virtues that we are trying to protect here. Well,

01:01:28.780 --> 01:01:30.480
they're certainly not free speech and freedom

01:01:30.480 --> 01:01:33.719
of assembly. We're looking at things that are

01:01:33.719 --> 01:01:38.059
far more abstract than actual real rights here.

01:01:39.199 --> 01:01:42.360
So another thing that comes into play along with

01:01:42.360 --> 01:01:45.300
birth of a nation is the Russian Revolution.

01:01:46.079 --> 01:01:50.980
And the Russian Revolution inspires all manner

01:01:50.980 --> 01:01:55.650
of fear in the population. as a result of its

01:01:55.650 --> 01:01:58.730
radical agenda, which brings us to the Russian

01:01:58.730 --> 01:02:01.369
Revolution, which had a big effect upon America

01:02:01.369 --> 01:02:05.269
First. As Wikipedia suggests, quote, America

01:02:05.269 --> 01:02:07.849
First denotes a set of policies in the United

01:02:07.849 --> 01:02:11.250
States that emphasize taking foreign policy and

01:02:11.250 --> 01:02:14.309
domestic policy decisions which serve the interests

01:02:14.309 --> 01:02:17.030
of the United States before the interests of

01:02:17.030 --> 01:02:19.809
all other nations and peoples. This typically

01:02:19.809 --> 01:02:23.929
manifests itself in policies of non -interventionalism,

01:02:24.449 --> 01:02:26.949
American nationalism, and protectionist trade

01:02:26.949 --> 01:02:31.550
policy." The concept has of course evolved over

01:02:31.550 --> 01:02:36.510
time. America First ideology began as a protectionist

01:02:36.510 --> 01:02:39.670
theme in defense of high tariffs in the 1880s

01:02:39.670 --> 01:02:42.449
and through to the First World War. It was meant

01:02:42.449 --> 01:02:45.889
initially to protect American businesses, manufacturing,

01:02:46.489 --> 01:02:51.239
industry, and agriculture. Over this 1880 to

01:02:51.239 --> 01:02:54.519
1916 timeframe, as more immigrants arrived here

01:02:54.519 --> 01:02:57.860
from more and more far -flung places, such as

01:02:57.860 --> 01:03:00.360
southern and eastern Europe and the Pale of Settlement

01:03:00.360 --> 01:03:03.539
in Russia, and these new immigrants were settling

01:03:03.539 --> 01:03:06.780
predominantly in cities, America -first sentiments

01:03:06.780 --> 01:03:10.760
began to morph into more cultural themes. and

01:03:10.760 --> 01:03:14.280
as such they became less associated with American

01:03:14.280 --> 01:03:17.460
foreign and domestic policies per se and more

01:03:17.460 --> 01:03:21.400
associated with societal self -reflection, an

01:03:21.400 --> 01:03:23.500
apparent yearning for a time in the past when

01:03:23.500 --> 01:03:26.579
America was truly America, a better America.

01:03:27.519 --> 01:03:31.079
This was not unlike what is going on today. Depending

01:03:31.079 --> 01:03:33.639
on who was picking up these ideas and slogans,

01:03:33.840 --> 01:03:35.800
and they varied across the political spectrum,

01:03:36.659 --> 01:03:39.280
America First themes ranged in this later period

01:03:39.280 --> 01:03:43.719
from anti -immigrant, anti -Jewish, anti -Catholic,

01:03:44.320 --> 01:03:47.760
to anti -organized labor, and included opposition

01:03:47.760 --> 01:03:51.659
to America's involvement in the Great War. As

01:03:51.659 --> 01:03:54.019
we will see in the next episode, the end of World

01:03:54.019 --> 01:03:57.460
War I, the Russian Revolution, and the election

01:03:57.460 --> 01:04:01.500
of 1920 will serve to sharpen America First themes

01:04:01.500 --> 01:04:04.400
and to further define them into more of an us

01:04:04.400 --> 01:04:07.039
-versus -them mentality with the rise of the

01:04:07.039 --> 01:04:12.480
new KKK. That's it for this episode of the United

01:04:12.480 --> 01:04:16.829
States of Amnesia. Thank you for listening. We

01:04:16.829 --> 01:04:19.150
hope you learned something, and we hope you discovered

01:04:19.150 --> 01:04:21.409
new ways of looking at things you had already

01:04:21.409 --> 01:04:24.550
heard or thought about, or perhaps hadn't heard

01:04:24.550 --> 01:04:28.610
about. If you enjoyed it, that's great. If we

01:04:28.610 --> 01:04:32.170
made you mad, that's okay too. Either way, email

01:04:32.170 --> 01:04:36.489
us at usa .amnesia at gmail .com and let us know

01:04:36.489 --> 01:04:39.769
what you think. Also, let us know about anything

01:04:39.769 --> 01:04:42.110
you think we missed or got wrong. We'd like to

01:04:42.110 --> 01:04:45.769
know about that too. And of course, Please like

01:04:45.769 --> 01:04:47.829
and subscribe and let your friends and neighbors

01:04:47.829 --> 01:04:51.130
know about us. For Marshall, Mike and myself,

01:04:51.769 --> 01:04:52.550
till next time.