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Stories of American Heroes - Brought to you from the "Home of Heroes" - Pueblo, Colorado
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Stories of American Heroes - Brought to you from the "Home of Heroes" - Pueblo, Colorado |
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America's involvement in World War I was a difficult and divisive issue for our Nation. President Wilson had struggled for three years since the outbreak of hostilities in August, 1914 to maintain a position of American neutrality towards the European conflict. This effort to distance our Nation from European affairs was disturbed on May 7, 1915 when a German U-boat sank the unarmed British liner Lusitania killing more than 1,000 people including 128 Americans. |
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By 1917 it was becoming increasingly apparent that American neutrality could no longer be maintained. President Wilson went before Congress to request a Declaration of War with these words: |
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President Wilson's view of the United States as the stalwart of world democracy wasn't shared by everyone, however. Six of the 96 U.S. Senators voted against the declaration of war. The House of Representatives passed the resolution April 6, 1917, but only after 13 hours of emotional and heated debate. Forty-nine Congressmen and the only Congresswoman (Helen Rankin of Montana), voted against the declaration. By mid-summer General John J. Pershing's American Expeditionary Force was landing in Europe. But even as Colonel Charles E. Stanton stood before the tomb of Revolutionary War hero Marquis de Lafayette's tomb in France to proclaim, "Lafayette, we are here"; trouble was brewing at home. Congress' new program of conscription under the Selective Service Act was mandating registration for military service by every American man between the ages of 21 and 30. Not since the Civil War had an issue arisen to so divide our Country. While George M. Cohan wrote patriotic songs like "Over There" (actually penned on April 6, the same day Congress finally passed the Declaration of War), other citizens began to protest American involvement in "Europe's troubles" and the forced recruitment of soldiers under the Selective Service Act. By the summer of 1918 the war in Europe had forced the Government to take control of industry, railroads, and food and fuel production. Taxes were raised to fund the war, postal rates went up, and censorship of some mail was being officially conducted. In May Congress passed the Sedition Act which allowed war and draft protesters to be jailed. More than 2,000 Americans were already behind bars for interfering with the draft, including one former United States Congressman (Victor Berger of Wisconsin). In the midst of all this domestic turmoil and dissension, a Nation-wide essay contest was held to develop an American's Creed. The winning entry was submitted by William Tyler Page of Friendship Heights, Maryland. Mr. Page was a descendent of President John Tyler and former Congressman John Page who served in the House of Representatives from 1789-1797. William Tyler Page himself had also served in Congress - - as a Congressional Page in 1881. His winning essay established the American's Creed with the following words:
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| The American's Creed defines what it means to be American, both the need for FAITH in who and what we are as a Nation, and the RESPONSIBILITY we all have to love and respect our Nation and its Flag. Its message is appropriate for each generation of Americans, but becomes even more meaningful when we understand the historical context of its origin...written during a time of conflict and turmoil at home and abroad. | ||||
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