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The Resource Investigate everything : federal efforts to compel Black loyalty during World War I, Theodore Kornweibel, Jr, (electronic book)

Investigate everything : federal efforts to compel Black loyalty during World War I, Theodore Kornweibel, Jr, (electronic book)

Creator
Summary
Free speech for African Americans, during World War I, had to be exercised with great caution. The federal government, spurred on by a super-patriotic and often alarmed white public, determined to suppress any dissent against the war and enforce on the black population one hundred percent patriotism. These pressures were applied by America's modern political intelligence system, which emerged during the war. Its major partners included the Bureau of Investigation (renamed the FBI in 1935); the Military Intelligence Division; and the investigative arms of the Post Office and State departments. Numerous African American individuals and institutions, as well as 'enemy aliens' believed to be undermining black loyalty, became their targets. Fears that the black population was being subverted by Germans multiplied as the United States entered the war in April 1917. In fact, only a handful of alleged enemy subversives was ever identified, and none was found to have done anything more than tell blacks that they had no good reason to fight, or that German would win. Nonetheless, they were punished under wartime legislation which criminalised anti-war advocacy; in one notorious case, when federal officials were unable to prosecute an alleged spy, they concocted other charges with which to harass him for years, even after the war ended. A much greater proportion of blacks was disenchanted with the war than has been previously acknowledged. Considerable numbers were privately apathetic, while others publicly expressed dissatisfaction or opposition to the war. So serious was this disillusionment that the Military Intelligence Division initiated efforts to improve blacks' morale, but to little effect. In fact, black men evaded the draft at a much higher rate than did whites, and they were dealt with punitively when apprehended by the Bureau of Investigation. Black editors who openly criticised the government or forcefully condemned lynching faced the threat of suppression, and were forced to trim their editorial sails. Among those menaced were the editors of the "Chicago Defender", the most widely-read black newspaper, and the "Crisis", the NAACP's influential monthly magazine. Another black editor served a penitentiary sentence for protesting against the army's racist policies. And the leadership of the Church of God in Christ was repeatedly investigated and indicted for that denomination's belief that active participation in war was sinful. Although the federal intelligence establishment was not able to suppress all black disaffection during World War I, it forced black editors to censor themselves, compelled an entire church denomination to repeatedly defend its conscientious objection to war, threatened other individuals into prudent silence, and jailed hundreds of black men, without judicial proceedings, for failing to comply with the selective service system. All these efforts to silence black protest established precedents for further repression of black militancy during the post-war Red Scare, the subject of the author's book, "Seeing Red: Federal Efforts to Suppress Black Militancy, 1919-1925."
Language
eng
Work
Publication
Extent
x, 323 p.
Contents
  • Machine generated contents note: Prologue. "Patriotism and Loyalty Presuppose Protection
  • and Liberty" 1
  • 1. "It became necessary to investigate everything": The Birth of Modem
  • Political Intelligence 10
  • 2. "Very full of the anti-war spirit": Fears of Enemy Subversion during
  • World War I 37
  • 3. "Slackers, Delinquents, and Deserters": African Americans and Draft
  • Enforcement during World War I 76
  • 4. "The most dangerous of all Negro journals": Federal Efforts to Silence
  • the Chicago Defender 118
  • 5. "Every word is loaded with sedition": The Crisis and the NAACP
  • under Suspicion 132
  • 6. "I thank my God for the persecution": The Church of God in Christ
  • under Attack 149
  • 7. "Rabid and inflammatory": Further Attacks on the Pen
  • and Pulpit 164
  • 8. "Spreading enemy propaganda": Alien Enemies, Spies,
  • and Subversives 188
  • 9. "Perhaps you will be shot": Sex, Spies, Science, and the
  • Moens Case 199
  • 10. "Negro Subversion": Army Intelligence Investigations during
  • World War I 226
  • Epilogue. "The Negro is 'seeing red'": From the World War into
  • the Red Scare 270
Isbn
9780253340092
Instance
Label
Investigate everything : federal efforts to compel Black loyalty during World War I
Title
Investigate everything
Title remainder
federal efforts to compel Black loyalty during World War I
Statement of responsibility
Theodore Kornweibel, Jr
Creator
Subject
Language
eng
Summary
Free speech for African Americans, during World War I, had to be exercised with great caution. The federal government, spurred on by a super-patriotic and often alarmed white public, determined to suppress any dissent against the war and enforce on the black population one hundred percent patriotism. These pressures were applied by America's modern political intelligence system, which emerged during the war. Its major partners included the Bureau of Investigation (renamed the FBI in 1935); the Military Intelligence Division; and the investigative arms of the Post Office and State departments. Numerous African American individuals and institutions, as well as 'enemy aliens' believed to be undermining black loyalty, became their targets. Fears that the black population was being subverted by Germans multiplied as the United States entered the war in April 1917. In fact, only a handful of alleged enemy subversives was ever identified, and none was found to have done anything more than tell blacks that they had no good reason to fight, or that German would win. Nonetheless, they were punished under wartime legislation which criminalised anti-war advocacy; in one notorious case, when federal officials were unable to prosecute an alleged spy, they concocted other charges with which to harass him for years, even after the war ended. A much greater proportion of blacks was disenchanted with the war than has been previously acknowledged. Considerable numbers were privately apathetic, while others publicly expressed dissatisfaction or opposition to the war. So serious was this disillusionment that the Military Intelligence Division initiated efforts to improve blacks' morale, but to little effect. In fact, black men evaded the draft at a much higher rate than did whites, and they were dealt with punitively when apprehended by the Bureau of Investigation. Black editors who openly criticised the government or forcefully condemned lynching faced the threat of suppression, and were forced to trim their editorial sails. Among those menaced were the editors of the "Chicago Defender", the most widely-read black newspaper, and the "Crisis", the NAACP's influential monthly magazine. Another black editor served a penitentiary sentence for protesting against the army's racist policies. And the leadership of the Church of God in Christ was repeatedly investigated and indicted for that denomination's belief that active participation in war was sinful. Although the federal intelligence establishment was not able to suppress all black disaffection during World War I, it forced black editors to censor themselves, compelled an entire church denomination to repeatedly defend its conscientious objection to war, threatened other individuals into prudent silence, and jailed hundreds of black men, without judicial proceedings, for failing to comply with the selective service system. All these efforts to silence black protest established precedents for further repression of black militancy during the post-war Red Scare, the subject of the author's book, "Seeing Red: Federal Efforts to Suppress Black Militancy, 1919-1925."
Member of
Cataloging source
CaPaEBR
http://library.link/vocab/creatorName
Kornweibel, Theodore
Dewey number
940.4/03
Government publication
government publication of a state province territory dependency etc
Index
index present
LC call number
D639.N4
LC item number
K67 2002eb
Literary form
non fiction
Nature of contents
  • standards specifications
  • bibliography
http://library.link/vocab/subjectName
  • World War, 1914-1918
  • World War, 1914-1918
Label
Investigate everything : federal efforts to compel Black loyalty during World War I, Theodore Kornweibel, Jr, (electronic book)
Instantiates
Publication
Bibliography note
Includes bibliographical references and index
Carrier category
online resource
Carrier category code
  • cr
Carrier MARC source
rdacarrier
Color
multicolored
Content category
text
Content type code
  • txt
Content type MARC source
rdacontent
Contents
Machine generated contents note: Prologue. "Patriotism and Loyalty Presuppose Protection -- and Liberty" 1 -- 1. "It became necessary to investigate everything": The Birth of Modem -- Political Intelligence 10 -- 2. "Very full of the anti-war spirit": Fears of Enemy Subversion during -- World War I 37 -- 3. "Slackers, Delinquents, and Deserters": African Americans and Draft -- Enforcement during World War I 76 -- 4. "The most dangerous of all Negro journals": Federal Efforts to Silence -- the Chicago Defender 118 -- 5. "Every word is loaded with sedition": The Crisis and the NAACP -- under Suspicion 132 -- 6. "I thank my God for the persecution": The Church of God in Christ -- under Attack 149 -- 7. "Rabid and inflammatory": Further Attacks on the Pen -- and Pulpit 164 -- 8. "Spreading enemy propaganda": Alien Enemies, Spies, -- and Subversives 188 -- 9. "Perhaps you will be shot": Sex, Spies, Science, and the -- Moens Case 199 -- 10. "Negro Subversion": Army Intelligence Investigations during -- World War I 226 -- Epilogue. "The Negro is 'seeing red'": From the World War into -- the Red Scare 270
Control code
ebr10083752
Dimensions
25 cm.
Dimensions
unknown
Extent
x, 323 p.
Form of item
electronic
Isbn
9780253340092
Media category
computer
Media MARC source
rdamedia
Media type code
  • c
Original version note
Original electronic resource.
Reproduction note
Electronic resource.
Specific material designation
remote
Label
Investigate everything : federal efforts to compel Black loyalty during World War I, Theodore Kornweibel, Jr, (electronic book)
Publication
Bibliography note
Includes bibliographical references and index
Carrier category
online resource
Carrier category code
  • cr
Carrier MARC source
rdacarrier
Color
multicolored
Content category
text
Content type code
  • txt
Content type MARC source
rdacontent
Contents
Machine generated contents note: Prologue. "Patriotism and Loyalty Presuppose Protection -- and Liberty" 1 -- 1. "It became necessary to investigate everything": The Birth of Modem -- Political Intelligence 10 -- 2. "Very full of the anti-war spirit": Fears of Enemy Subversion during -- World War I 37 -- 3. "Slackers, Delinquents, and Deserters": African Americans and Draft -- Enforcement during World War I 76 -- 4. "The most dangerous of all Negro journals": Federal Efforts to Silence -- the Chicago Defender 118 -- 5. "Every word is loaded with sedition": The Crisis and the NAACP -- under Suspicion 132 -- 6. "I thank my God for the persecution": The Church of God in Christ -- under Attack 149 -- 7. "Rabid and inflammatory": Further Attacks on the Pen -- and Pulpit 164 -- 8. "Spreading enemy propaganda": Alien Enemies, Spies, -- and Subversives 188 -- 9. "Perhaps you will be shot": Sex, Spies, Science, and the -- Moens Case 199 -- 10. "Negro Subversion": Army Intelligence Investigations during -- World War I 226 -- Epilogue. "The Negro is 'seeing red'": From the World War into -- the Red Scare 270
Control code
ebr10083752
Dimensions
25 cm.
Dimensions
unknown
Extent
x, 323 p.
Form of item
electronic
Isbn
9780253340092
Media category
computer
Media MARC source
rdamedia
Media type code
  • c
Original version note
Original electronic resource.
Reproduction note
Electronic resource.
Specific material designation
remote

Subject

Member of

Library Locations

Library Links

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