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Social Justice
The Context of Eugene Debs' Court Statemtent
When a historically-naive, contemporary American reads Eugene Debs' statement to the court, it would be hard not to assume Debs believed he was a martyr for some imaginary cause. However, if the historical context is understood, this assumption would quickly dissipate. This essay will therefore examine the historical context within which this statement was made.
Debs' court statement is intimately tied to the patriotic fervor surrounding entry of the United States into World War I (Jensen 1968). While very few Americans actually wanted to become involved in WWI, the country was roughly divided between those who felt it would be their patriotic duty to serve if called and those who believed it was their moral duty to take an anti-war stance. One of the more vocal anti-war elements was unionized labor, specifically the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW). IWW members, otherwise known as the 'Wobblies', believed the war was a product of capitalist greed (Jensen 1968, 57). In addition, many IWW leaders were socialists, a fact that helped fuel the first Red Scare in the aftermath of WWI (Finan 2007, 5, 11). Eugene Debs was the leader of the Socialist Party and an active anti-war speaker[footnoteRef:2]. [2: Christopher M. Finan, From the Palmer Raids to the Patriot Act: A History of Free Speech in America (Boston:...
Debs' conviction was upheld by the Supreme Court a year later, even though Debs was very careful not to say anything that could have been construed as opposing the draft. Public criticism of the Court's decision in the Debs case helped contribute to Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes' conversion to a defender of free speech. In this sense, Debs court statement and trial was not an act of futility.]
Standing in opposition to the Wobblies were the manufacturers who feared labor unrest or even sabotage, once America entered the war (Jensen 1968). More importantly, the Wilson Administration and many members of Congress shared these concerns (Finan 2007, 28-32). As a result of these fears, the Espionage Act was amended in May of 1918 and the Sedition Act was born. This amendment made it a crime to speak out against the U.S. government. It was within this atmosphere of war preparations and German espionage hysteria that Debs gave his statement in court, after having been convicted of sedition because he gave an anti-war speech.
References
Addams, Jane. "The subjective necessity for social settlements." In Philanthropy and Social Progress, edited by Henry C. Adams, 114-127. New York: Thomas Y. Cromwell, 1893.
Cole, William I. "Introduction." In The City Wilderness: A Settlement Study; by Residents and Associates of the South End House, edited by Robert A. Woods, 1-9. New York: Houghton, Mifflin & Company, 1898.
Finn, Janet L. And Jacobson, Maxine. Just Practice: A Social Justice Approach to Social Work, 2nd Edition. Peosta, Iowa: Eddie Bowers Publishing, 2008.
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