The Effects of World War I on United States of America

Today, when the historical abstract is collected and presented to people, many imply that they are facts bearing no effect or importance on to the current world.  However everything connects across its specific timeline as the past never dies thus the effects of the World War I are still being felt by most citizen both negatively and positively.  These effects have been seen impacting the American society economically, socially and politically reshaping various institutional frameworks and the general expectations of the entire the country (Jensen & Nichols, 2017). Whereas various historically phenomena may lack imperative meaning to the current world due to the existence of the aspect of change, the World War I which occurred decades ago left various effects that are still being felt today in  the United States of America.

Discussion

Espionage and Sedition Act that were established during the World War I by President Woodrow Wilson left a significant impact into the United States of America’s judicial system.  Upon declaration of the war 1919, Wilson gave out a speech before the Congress warning Americans on disloyalty (Lynn 2014). This was due to the presence of some Americans who were seen to be undermining the efforts put in place to fight and defend the America nation. Thus Wilson as the president enacted the Espionage and Sedition Act that was to prosecute those particular individuals in the society who were considered as a threat to the national defense.  In addition to that, these Act granted the power to censor the media and jail those found guilty thus a lot of people were arrested during Wilson administration. Since amendment of this Act it has been used to punish individuals who seem to pose a threat to the national security. Recently Chelsea was imprisoned as a result of a review and sentencing based on this Act which was declared as not violating to freedom of speech (Jensen & Nichols, 2017).  In addition to that the government has promised to arrest and sentence Edward Snowden based on this Act if he was to be found due to his actions that propose a threat to United States society.

 Economically, United States of America is one of the countries that suffer from the ratified of the Versailles treaty that it has never agreed to sign until today. During the war, French regions that were absolutely and comparatively endowed in the production of wine were destroyed with chemical strikes and bombing by it enemies (Chatman, 2015). Thus France as a nation to ensure that Wine would remain an exclusive element in France not did not only become a monopoly in the sparkling wine production but also locked out any other countries that would want to produce this wine if it has signed the Treaty of Versailles until today. From this, it is clear that the World War I greatly damaged the economic relationship between some countries as seen with the existence of Champagne production in American and not sparkling wine (Jensen, & Nichols, 2017).  Today the champagne available in most of the social places enough to make individuals drunk is totally different from the sparkling wine from France making the United States of America be dependent on France for this the rare commodity. It only engages in the production of champagne.

During the end times of World War I, United States of America emerged as a world military and industrial leader. After the country experienced devastating effects of the war, there was a high demand for the country to be reestablished whereby various sectors within the economy started being established (Chatman, 2015). These events constituted to the industrial revolution where American was more advantaged than other countries in leading the process and exploiting its resource more than other countries could handle the process during the industrial revolution. As the country aimed at having massive economic growth it also ensured its borders were safe thus established of a more equipped and well developed military system. Today the United States of America has become a superpower through having one of the most equipped and developed military system hence owning the sky. In addition to that, it is among the leading countries with well-functioning industrialized markets. This traces its roots back from the effects of the World War I which made the country to adopt and leading step to rebuilding all that has been destroyed during the war (Schroeder & Pribanic-Smith, 2018).

 Today women empowerment and their position in the society just like what was felt during the World War I are evident today. This is through women being able to occupy various positions initially perceived for men, being able to vote and owning of property (Jensen, & Nichols, 2017). During the war, the position of women and their role in society was greatly felt where they took up and replaced most men who went fighting for their country in the war. Even though these particular women were then replaced by these soldiers upon their return, they had promoted massive growth of the economy through their contribution. Those that lost their husbands remained in charge of the properties left by their husbands thus they helped boost and advocate for the positions of women in the society (Hart, 2015). Today there are so many debates and programmes initiated to be able to boost the position of women and their empowerment towards achieving elements and activities perceived to be for men only in the society.  This has seen most women today rise and contest for seats and positions with men. The roots of this particular empowerment can be traced from the effects of the World War I.

Finally, immigration problem and aspects of racial profiling present today in the United States of American have its roots from the effects of the World War I. Before the commencement of the war where the American soldiers were great of the essence, there had been massive immigration levels in the United States of America from many European nations. This raised the issues of old immigrants and new immigrants which led to lots of problems associated with urbanization (Hart, 2015). This forced these immigrants to occupy northern cities for settlement. Thus, upon the completion of the wars, soldiers who were in great need for jobs greatly intolerated immigrants. This caused a lot of issues in the United States of America including the blatant propaganda used by the Creel Commission (Hart, 2015).  There existed may staked and civil wars in most cities of the United States of America that were majorly a result of discrimination and racial profiling. Until today, United States of America is one of the countries that are faced with challenges of immigration and discrimination on race.   Therefore it is evident that the problem of immigration and racial profiling has effects emerging from the World War I that still affects the growth and development of society as a whole.

Conclusion

It is clear that World War I created both short term and long term effects on America as a society. Today, there still exist numerous long-term effects that this war caused on the American society.  The applicability of Espionage and Sedition Act still exist today where the country uses it to punish its lawbreakers especially those threatening the national security.  The issue of American manufactured champagne as well as refusal to sign the Treaty of Versaille, the position of women in the society and the issues of immigration and racial profiling are among other long-lasting effects that are still being witnessed and felt today by citizens of the United States of America. This clearly is indicates that various historical phenomena greatly impacts and determine the well-being of the societies of  tomorrow as seen by the how world war I impacted on the United States of America.

References

Chatman, D. (2015). Pregnancy, Then It’s “Back To Business” Beyoncé, black femininity, and the politics of a post-feminist gender regime. Feminist Media Studies, 15(6), 926-941.

Hart, T. L. (2015). An exploratory study of the relationship between usage of civilian educational benefits and US Army retention (Doctoral dissertation, Capella University).

Jensen, K., & Nichols, C. M. (2017). The War to End War One Hundred Years Later: A First World War Roundtable. Oregon Historical Quarterly, 118(2), 234-251.

Lynn III, W. J. (2014). The end of the military-industrial complex: How the Pentagon is adapting to globalization. Foreign Aff., 93, 104.

Schroeder, J., & Pribanic-Smith, E. (2018). Emma Goldman’s No-Conscription League and the First Amendment: Manifestos, Meetings, and Mother Earth.