Silencing Dissent and Eradicating Disloyalty in the Classroom: Identity, Patriotism, and Moral Restraint in Wartime America, 1917–1918

Abstract

Once Congress declared war on the Central Powers in April 1917, local, state, and federal authorities moved quickly to suppress dissent among public school teachers. Across the United States, school boards and superintendents dismissed teachers deemed disloyal and warned others about the consequences of certain forms of speech and conduct. Colleges and universities likewise dismissed faculty members for dissent, prompting widespread debate within academic circles over the limits of free speech during wartime. This article argues that coercion alone cannot explain why teachers and academics came to accept the view that obstructing the war effort was morally unacceptable. During the war, prevailing debates over education and democracy shifted in both meaning and purpose. These arguments appealed directly to the moral commitments of teachers and scholars. Many came to see criticism of the government in the classroom as an indirect reproach to students—and parents—who supported the war. Such criticism could also appear to dishonor the soldiers who had died on the Western Front. Teachers’ associations and the American Association of University Professors ultimately aligned with the government, arguing that teachers and faculty members could not assume their First Amendment rights would be fully protected during periods of national crisis.