Forerunners The eruption of
World War I in August 1914 saw its response in the United States of America with the emergence of a national peace movement. One of the pioneer American
pacifist organizations was the
Woman's Peace Party, initiated by Chicago social worker
Jane Addams. In October 1914, the Minneapolis chapter of this organization passed a "Tentative Program for a Constructive Peace," which called for the convocation of an international conference of Neutral countries to bring an end to the European conflict. The Woman's Peace Party organized a mass meeting in Chicago early in December 1914, from which emerged a December 19 session which brought together 21 delegates from various peace, labor, political, religious, and civic organizations. The Emergency Peace Federation elected
socialist Louis P. Lochner its executive secretary, with Jane Addams continuing to play a leading role in the organization as well. Throughout 1915 and 1916, a coordinated campaign was conducted in the United States on behalf of military "Preparedness," culminating on July 22, 1916 with
Preparedness Day. This campaign for increased military spending in the shadow of the European bloodbath drove American
pacifists to action. One of the groups organized in an effort to staunch America's slide to war was the
American Union Against Militarism, founded in January 1916 from an "Anti-Preparedness Committee" established the previous year. In early 1917, the American Union Against Militarism were leading advocates for the idea of holding of a national
referendum on the question of American entry into the European war, believing that those agitating for foreign intervention were a distinct minority of the population. That day, President
Woodrow Wilson delivered a speech to
Congress calling for a declaration of war against
Germany. As pro-war fervor swept the country, a new phase was entered by activists in the American peace movement — attempting to terminate Wilson's so-called "War to Make the World Safe for Democracy." In keeping with this new task, these three main pacifist organizations of America joined forces in a new organization, ultimately known as the People's Council of America for Democracy and Peace.
Establishment On May 2, 1917, more than 40 members of the Emergency Peace Federation assembled at the
Hotel Astor in New York City to consider the course for the peace movement in America. Participants were split between radicals and pacifists who favored the peace conditions advanced by the
Bolshevik government of
Soviet Russia — including
Morris Hillquit,
Norman Thomas, and
Roger Baldwin — and those who favored a more moderate and Americanized approach. Socialist leader Morris Hillqut was named the ceremonial Chairman of the organizing committee of the new group and
Louis P. Lochner was tapped as Secretary, in charge of day-to-day activities. Radicals were more sympathetic, with a number of prominent members of the
Socialist Party of America and left-wing members of the American Union Against Militarism joining the new group's ranks, as well as key members of the Emergency Peace Federation, such as
rabbi Judah L. Magnes. New York City's
Madison Square Garden was booked for an organizational mass meeting.
Stanford University President
David Starr Jordan, a leading public figure among the American peace movement, was sought as a keynote speaker. AFL President
Samuel Gompers replied angrily in the negative, answering Lochner's cable with a terse declaration that "I prefer not to ally myself with the conscious or unconscious agents of the Kaiser in America." Despite Gompers' refusal, work on the new organization proceeded apace, with a program committee consisting of Hillquit, Lochner, Norman Thomas,
Henry W. L. Dana of
Columbia University, and peace activists
Rebecca Shelly and
Elisabeth Freeman named. The committee decided to endorse a peace proposal calling for peace without annexations or indemnities and the
self-determination of all peoples as a basis of its own demands and to cooperate closely with the staunchly
anti-militarist Socialist Party. Lochner envisioned an organization which was nationwide in scope and that would unite local peace organizations from around the United States.
First American Conference for Democracy and Terms of Peace At 10 am on May 30, 1917, the Madison Square Garden organizational meeting, called the First American Conference for Democracy and Terms of Peace, was gaveled to order by Judah Magnes. The meeting was held amidst a strong presence by New York City police, who feared violence either by revolutionary participants or
nationalist mobs intent on dispersing attendees. Policemen carrying riot guns were posted on street corners surrounding Madison Square Garden, while police vehicles cruised the streets. Lee read a statement written by Morris Hillquit detailing a concrete plan for the participation of the leading belligerents in such a gathering and the establishment of an international body to resolve future economic disagreements amongst the warring parties — proposals which met with strong approval from the assembled delegates. Maurer was followed at the rostrum by Scott Nearing, who emphasized the need of Americans to support an activist labor movement, without which American workers would be suppressed by the combined forces of big business and the government during the war. Shelly called for a national convention to be held in the
Midwest on September 1, for the establishment of a national office for the fledgling organization, and for the publication of a regular bulletin for national distribution. These proposals were approved by the assembled delegates, and the People's Council of America for Democracy and Peace was formally born.
Repression The People's Council frequently saw its gatherings banned or disbanded. On August 24, 1917, a meeting of the organization in
Philadelphia was disrupted and shut down by a mob of soldiers and sailors. That same day, city authorities in
Memphis denied the group use of a public hall for its meeting. Effort was made to hold a national conference in
Minneapolis on September 1, but the organization was denied use of a hall in the city. When the alternative of meeting in a
circus tent was advanced, The People's Council scrambled and attempted to hold its convention in Chicago, but the event was broken up by the police. When Chicago Mayor
"Big Bill" Thompson attempted to reverse this action, on the grounds that "pacifists are law-abiding citizens" and that he would not "have it spread broadcast that Chicago denies free speech to anyone," Illinois Governor
Frank Lowden responded by mobilizing the
Illinois National Guard, sending four companies of troops to Chicago the next day to make sure that the People's Council could not gather. The publication was terminated effective with the issue of January 1919. The organization also issued a plethora of
pamphlets, including material written by
Max Eastman,
Judah Magnes,
Scott Nearing, and
Alexander Trachtenberg.
Dissolution and legacy The People's Council was succeeded in the post-war period by the
People's Freedom Union, which operated from the same New York headquarters and carried forward the People's Council's publishing imprint, "The People's Print." This new incarnation of the People's Council dedicated itself to the fight to free
political prisoners, to stop the spread of militarism, and to halt military intervention in
Mexico and
Soviet Russia. An archive of papers relating to the People's Council of America may be found at
Swarthmore College in Pennsylvania. The bulk of the collection has been filmed on two reels of microfilm, both of which are available through
inter-library loan. The collection includes one folder of material and ten reels of microfilm gathering correspondence, minutes, and printed publications. ==See also==