Chimey Sonam CAP History Red Group

3 Paragraphs War abroad does not preserve freedom at home because it causes an imbalance in the world that upsets all interdependent societies. War is simply the act of two nations fighting fire with fire for a cause one party may see as noble and the other as malignant to society. WWI was a bloodbath that put the civil liberties of the Americans at stake. Wilson warned that disloyalty would be dealt with a firm handHis efforts to unite Americans against the enemy often prevailed over his promise to fight for liberty (America: Pathways to the Present, 435). President Wilson was so focused on his fight in the war that he forgot his promise to the Americans of his promised fight for liberty. His form of repression for disloyalty was the Espionage Act, later amended by the Sedition Act, which violated the First Amendment and denied Americans their civil liberties. At this point, WWI was severely diminishing civil liberties as opposed to ensuring freedom. Many Anti-Imperialists, Socialists, and a majority of African Americans rejected intervention abroad because it was not in favor of the morals that each group held. A number of Anti-Imperialistsfeared that imperialist policies would encourage people of different racial backgrounds to move to the United States (America: Pathways to the Present). The Anti-Imperialists had strong racist beliefs, and they feared that interaction with other nations abroad would invite home people of varying races. They defended their viewpoint with the fact that participating in the war would drop the US economy, which was in bad conditions, even lower. The Anti-Imperialists also argued that expansionism went in the opposite direction of the countrys motto of liberty for all. African Americans were more hesitant about their perspective on Imperialism, being tied to the US by loyalty. However, they saw the racist viewpoints with which the US

Chimey Sonam CAP History Red Group

intervened in other nations, and ultimately rejected intervention abroad. Anti-Imperialists and African Americans aside, Socialists had vastly different reasons for not supporting the wars. They were part of a peace movement during this time frame. In protest, they founded the American Union Against Militarism to voice their opposition to WWI. Fighting the Spanish American war and WWI abroad was not necessary for preserving freedom at home. Countless lives were lost in the name of freedom and peace but none of them were honored because most of the freedom and peace that resulted from the wars was only a thin illusion of the underlying chaos. Repercussions of the wars were brutal. The Ottoman forces and their genocide of Armenians is one example of a lurid result of WWI. In every war, for every victor there is a loser and at least one nation feels the dire consequences of the war. Many Armenians were killed for suspected treason, without any trial or solid evidence. War abroad does not preserve freedom at home, but instead diminishes what freedom there is in the rest of the world.