View source for The Masses

==Introduction==
<html>
The Masses was founded in 1911. It was an illustrated socialist monthly with 10 volumes that became short lived because in August 1917 it was barred from mail by the US government because it critiqued the US involvement in World War I. Was The Masses barred specifically because of this one article or was it barred because its conflicting views with the US government? The Masses was barred not because of its critique of the US involvement in World War I but it was barred because of its unpopular socialist opinions that proved a nightmare for the capitalist US government.  The article critiquing US involvement in World War I was used as a scapegoat to finally silence “the most dangerous magazine in America”.</html>

==Text Mining==

<html>
<!--	Exported from Voyant Tools (voyant-tools.org).
The iframe src attribute below uses a relative protocol to better function with both
http and https sites, but if you're embedding this into a local web page (file protocol)
you should add an explicit protocol (https if you're using voyant-tools.org, otherwise
it depends on this server.
Feel free to change the height and width values or other styling below: -->
<iframe style='width: 65%; height: 600px' src='//voyant-tools.org/?visible=175&corpus=1444683522613.8822&view=Cirrus'></iframe></html>


===War===
<html><!--	Exported from Voyant Tools (voyant-tools.org).
The iframe src attribute below uses a relative protocol to better function with both
http and https sites, but if you're embedding this into a local web page (file protocol)
you should add an explicit protocol (https if you're using voyant-tools.org, otherwise
it depends on this server.
Feel free to change the height and width values or other styling below: -->
<iframe style='width: 65%; height: 600px' src='//voyant-tools.org/?query=war&withDistributions=raw&bins=79&corpus=6ac6ff83656506a42dbe8cc9c0fb86b1&view=Trends'></iframe></html>

''The Masses'' held a very negative view of the United States' entrance and involvement in World War I. Peaks in the graph occur near issues in which war is discussed heavily. ''The Masses's'' views on the war were very strong and polarizing as well, which is part of the reason it was so inflammatory.

===Woman===
<html>
<!--	Exported from Voyant Tools (voyant-tools.org).
The iframe src attribute below uses a relative protocol to better function with both
http and https sites, but if you're embedding this into a local web page (file protocol)
you should add an explicit protocol (https if you're using voyant-tools.org, otherwise
it depends on this server.
Feel free to change the height and width values or other styling below: -->
<iframe style='width: 65%; height: 600px' src='//voyant-tools.org/?query=women*&withDistributions=raw&bins=79&corpus=1444683522613.8822&view=Trends'></iframe>
</html>


===Labor===
<html>
<!--	Exported from Voyant Tools (voyant-tools.org).
The iframe src attribute below uses a relative protocol to better function with both
http and https sites, but if you're embedding this into a local web page (file protocol)
you should add an explicit protocol (https if you're using voyant-tools.org, otherwise
it depends on this server.
Feel free to change the height and width values or other styling below: -->
<iframe style='width: 65%; height: 600px' src='//voyant-tools.org/?query=labor*&withDistributions=raw&bins=79&corpus=1444683522613.8822&view=Trends'></iframe></html>

<html>
Labor was analyzed because labor is a very significant issue in the socialism versus capitalism conflict. It helps address the guiding question of whether "The Masses" was barred from mail because of one article on US involvement in World War I or if it was barred because of a build up of unpopular opinions that the US government eventually silenced.
</html>

==Timeline==
<html>
<iframe src='https://cdn.knightlab.com/libs/timeline3/latest/embed/index.html?source=16Jb1O8Bb_TjNCLYQwHg34DGFZEX2R-uZ-M8QwWnkob4&font=Default&lang=en&initial_zoom=2&height=650' width='75%' height='650' frameborder='0'></iframe>
</html>

==Close Reading==


===Vol. 1 No. 12===
'''The Cheapest Commodity on the Market''' by A.O.Fischer  

''"Yet woman is the cheapest commodity on the market. You can buy ten women for the price of a good ruby."'


The Masses held a critical view on the status of women in culture.

''"What is the matter with a world that searches land and sea for a new jewel yet stands calmly by while women sell their lives to a machine and sell them for only enough to buy food and bed?"''

===Vol. 9 No. 8===

'''Advertising Democracy''' by Max Eastman

''"It is not a war for democracy. It did not originate in a dispute about democracy, and it is unlikely to terminate in a democratic settlement."''

The Masses heavily criticized the U.S's involvement in the war, and Eastman contributes to this by attacking Roosevelt's intentions, claiming that the U.S. has caught war-fever and that the war, at heart, was never about liberty to begin with.

''"If you can not raise in our population a volunteer army of one million men for this war, then the American democracy does not want this war; and to call it a democratic war, or a war for democracy, while you whip them to it, is an insult in their faces."''

Challenging the President on the true intent of the war, Eastman asks a series of questions to Roosevelt in his article that question whether the war is a war for democracy:

# Would the U.S. end the war with a democratic Germany putting aside views on submarine war and trade of arms and munitions?
# Would Roosevelt recant his statement that citizens shouldn't engage in assisting revolution in other states?
# Would he promote a German group promoting democratic ideals?
# Would he make a peace agreement with the Reichstag (parliament) where the only item absolutely required is peace?

Eastman also holds the U.S. accountable for conscription which he feels strips away the very democratic essence of U.S. involvement. He argues that it's insulting to force soldiers into a war meant to spread freedom: "Come, boys, get on your chains, we're going to fight for liberty!"

==Conclusion==