Perceptions of “American War,” as viewed from the American Citizenry

The San Francisco Call, San Francisco, Ca. (25 January, 1898)

The first source of this part of the exhibition is in the form of a San Francisco newspaper article. Published in 1898, it provides a sense of what America society was like in the time leading up to the Spanish American War. As is evident by the subheading “situation in Cuba is serious,” the American public’s perception of what is occurring there (due to the Spanish) is quite clearly negative. It is interesting however in that even despite the ship’s going there being of a “friendly-nature,” as the article says, the U.S. public anticipates that trouble will come from it, as the article also says. The article presents a curious aspect of society in that the United States public understand what intervening in conflicts like these mean, as shown by the subheading “Significance of Maine of Heading to Havana Harbor.” Of course, the USS Maine’s time snd eventual destruction in Havana was one of great controversy, that ultimately led to a major war involving the United States. This demonstrates, in essence, that the public recognized the peril involved in sending an American ship to Cuba, as was proven true when the ship exploded, leading America to involve itself in a war whose significance was felt long beyond its last shot was fired. This source was published in the San Francisco Call, and the reprinted version was accessed through the Library of Congress.

George M. Cohan’s Over There. William Jerome Publishing Corp., (1917)

As the first World War reached its peak in the mid 1910s, the United States led by President Woodrow Wilson maintained neutrality through nearly two and half of its years. But in 1917, the United States entered the war on the side of the allies and began sending troops to Europe. In that same year, American singer George Cohan wrote what would come to be of the most patriotically galvanizing songs in American society, it was called “Over There.” The song was designed to inspire young men to enlist in the army and fight the “Hun”, referring to Germans. In addition to being quite catchy, the lyrics of the song are in itself very pertinent to the theme of the exhibition. When examined closely, the songs lyrics demonstrate the philosophy behind not only the US’ entry into World War I, but also its intervention into other conflicts. To name a few, the song’s lyrics include “son of liberty”, “we’ll be over”, and “do your bit”, and most famously “the yanks are coming.” In combination, these lyrics each represent the American sentiment toward its involvement in war. The US has a duty to help in the world. The song infers that due to the US’ intervening in the war, it would come to a speedy end. It promotes the idea that much of the American public had in regard to how it ought to conduct itself internationally, militaristically speaking. The song was used as a recruiting mechanism for young men, encouraging them to take up arms in “defense of liberty” in both World Wars and subsequent conflicts. The song is a substantially valuable source to look at in order to better understand the US’ public’s perception of itself as a global military entity. The United States people saw their military strength as unparalleled, evident by the song’s assumption that America’s mere presence in the war will be the deciding factor. George M. Cohan wrote the source in 1917, and it was accessed for this exhibition through youtube.

 

Oliver Wendell Holmes’ decision in Schenck v. United States, 249 U.S. 47. (1919)

( The Library of Congress does not grant reproduction of this source, this is a direct link to the source https://www.loc.gov/item/usrep249047/)

This source is the decision for the (1919) Schenck v. United States, Supreme Court Case. Charles Schenck was convicted for violation of the Espionage Act, due to his handing out pamphlets urging men to resist the newly enacted draft. The significance of this source is unparalleled, as it demonstrates how the elites dealt with dissent from below. In the case’s decision Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes famously wrote, (if words of men) “are of such a nature as to create a clear and present danger…congress has the right to prevent such.” The main argument behind this decision is that dissent in regard to war is nothing short of a threat to the US and possibly even treason, especially when the country is at war. The reason for this is because dissent, especially against military actions, undermines the government and in essence tarnishes its reputation as well as its authority. The “clear and present danger” Justice Holmes describes, is speaking out against the US military. This source directly relates to the exhibitions theme, specifically how the government accepted, or in this case discouraged public opinion of its military involvements. The purpose this source serves is to demonstrate the extreme sensitivity surrounding war in American society, in laymen’s terms it may be called a “hot-topic.”The reprinted text of this source was accessed through the Library of Congress.

Excerpts from the tri-weekly “Topaz Times,” Topaz, Utah. (12 June, 1943)

By summer 1943, the United States had been at war with the axis powers for over two years. This source is a newspaper column published on June 12 1943, in the Topaz Times, in Topaz, Utah. World War II had impacted the lives of Americans all over the country and furthermore had impacted the American way of life itself. This source demonstrates the domestic life during wartime United States, as viewed from the local paper of one of the Four Corners states. The source delves into several noticeably impacted aspects of society at the time. For instance the source makes mention of a “relocation center”, which is referring to the Japanese internment camps. It lists a schedule for when Buddhist masses are to occur, Buddhism is the dominant religion practiced among the Japanese. The source makes mention of families who have “relocated” and settled into the homes built as part of a new “housing project” in the area. As Utah is not located near a coast, it was a prime candidate for housing Japanese Americans who were suspected to be of bad intent during the wartime. The newspaper is referring to the Central Utah Relocation Center that housed nearly 10,000 Japanese Americans during the war. The source offers insight into what one may call, myself included, a terrifying aspect of American society during this period. The equanimity and the detachment with which US citizens were able to observe these atrocities of interning their fellow US citizens in what were basically prison camps, is a very disturbing black mark in American History. The importance of looking at this source is to understand the mindset of the US public during World War II, and how the war drastically impacted US society. This source was originally published in a local Utah newspaper and accessed through the Library of Congress.

Marc Riboud’s “The Ultimate Confrontation: The Flower and the Bayonet” (21 October, 1967)

Perhaps the most powerful source of the exhibition comes in the form of a photograph. On October 21, 1967, 100,000 anti-war activists marched on the Pentagon in protest to US involvement in Vietnam. This was the first time anti-war protestors had marched on Washington, and this monumental event set the stage for many more national anti-war demonstrations. The source is one of the most famous pictures in American History; the very image itself is simply stunning. The photo shows a young girl gazing into the eyes of bayonet-wielding soldiers, holding before them in her hands nothing but a chrysanthemum. The significance of the source demonstrated to all who saw it the peacefulness of the methods these anti-war activists employed. The flower symbolized the peaceful resistance the people put up, as was demonstrated later in Kent State and Jackson State, but the peaceful protests continued. In juxtaposition, the bayonet represented the government’s attempted suppression of such resistance. The photo started what is called the “flower power” movement, leading to people to recognize the humanity that is often forgotten during wartime. The source was originally published by a French photographer but accessed through a reprinted version by Time Magazine. The photo of this young girl being held at gunpoint was seen nationwide, elucidating the intensity in which America values War in its society, both from the government and the citizenry. This directly shows how the ruling class handled dissent in another conflict, demonstrating the extreme measures (holding a gun on a 17 year old girl) it took to defend the reputation of its military. Ultimately, the courage of this young girl would inspire more Americans and the country itself to look in the mirror, and evaluate how it was impacted by war.

 

Pat Oliphant, “Oo! Is it too late to go back to sanctions?” (14 February, 1991)

On February 13 1991, during the Persian Gulf War, US bombs struck a reinforced building in the Iraqi capital city of Baghdad, killing over 400 Iraqi civilians. [1]The following day, images of the near-crippled city and its many wounded and slaughtered occupants were broadcasted around the world. Pat Oliphant is an Australian-American political cartoonist who has been in prominent figure in the political spectrum for over 50 years. The day after the aforementioned bombing now infamously called the “Amiriyah shelter bombing”, Oliphant created a cartoon called “Oo! Is it too late to go back to sanctions?” The cartoon depicts an elderly American couple watching the daily news report from the comfort of their living room. However, the cartoon also depicts the couple splattered with blood, as the news report on their television shows the horrific bombing in Baghdad from the day before. The cartoon’s purpose is for the American people to recognize that bombing civilians is an inhumane and immoral method in dealing with the Iraq question. The source’s title wonders if the US can still return sanctions against Iraq, referring to the financial and trade embargo imposed on Iraq in response to their invasion of Kuwait. The source essentially brings to light the true horrors of the US military’s actions to its citizens. It is meant to demonstrate the brutality and savagery of the US military, which the US public is able to observe comfortably from their living rooms. This covers an important element of the exhibitions theme, and that is to say how American’s viewed their military’s actions when they were confirmed to be of a savage nature. This is a recurring instance in American War through things such as the dropping of the Atomic Bomb, the No Gun Ri Massacre, bombing Cambodia… to name just a few. War is ugly, and Oliphant’s intention with this source is to demonstrate that to the seemingly ignorant American people. The reprinted version of this source was accessed through the Library of Congress’s artist section.

 

Notes

1. Toaldo, Mattia. The Origins of the US War on Terror: Lebanon, Libya and American Intervention in the Middle East. London: Routledge, 2014.