Source: Narrated by Zach Lamb
[MUSIC PLAYING] Avenal agreed with President Woodrow Wilson's initial efforts to keep the United States out of the First World War. Her husband and sons disagreed with her, instead interpreting the war as a direct threat to the United States. Such differences within Avenal's family were a reflection of broader divisions within American society during World War I. Although the United States was only involved militarily in World War I for a short time, it marked the culmination of the progressive movement.
After defeating progressive candidates in 1912, including Theodore Roosevelt, President Woodrow Wilson quickly implemented his new freedom reform agenda. Once the United States formally entered World War I, Americans like Avenal discovered the federal government playing an increasing role in their lives. Wartime rationing of food and grain, combined with an emergency federal measure to restrict the production and consumption of alcohol, ultimately resulted in the enactment of prohibition in 1919.
The war effort also provided the context for a final breakthrough in the women's suffrage movement with the successful ratification of the 19th Amendment. US participation in World War I also briefly suggested a bold new direction in American foreign policy. In 1917, President Wilson outlined an international vision known as the 14 points in which he proposed a league of nations that could peacefully resolve geopolitical disputes and prevent future world wars.
However, the events of 1919 dramatically revealed the limits of Wilson's international vision in American reform. The senate's refusal to ratify the Treaty of Raissi or join the League of Nations suggested that the United States sought to interact with the world on its own terms rather than join any international peacekeeping coalition. Meanwhile, widespread racial violence and labor unrest within the United States triggered the Red Scare and other forms of intolerance against radical ideas and workers organizations. And many Americans prioritized normalcy over further progressive reforms.
So look closely to see how these trends play out for Avenal and her family. Avenal supported President Wilson, but many Americans agreed with her that the federal government was becoming larger and more powerful. Avenal's own sons volunteered to fight in World War I. But many young men were drafted under the Selective Service Act.
Lastly, Avenal experienced the intolerance of the Red Scare firsthand as she feared for the life of her husband who was striking for better hours and wages. As you continue in the course, keep looking for instances where the lives of ordinary Americans are affected by national and global events. Investigating the stories of such individuals is what makes US history such a vibrant subject. They also raise the question, how is your life and the choices that you make affected by historical events? How can you situate your own individual biography within the broader arc of historical forces?
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