Patriotic Murder
A World War I Hate Crime for Uncle Sam
Seiten
2018
Potomac Books Inc (Verlag)
978-1-61234-984-8 (ISBN)
Potomac Books Inc (Verlag)
978-1-61234-984-8 (ISBN)
Peter Stehman resurrects the details of a World War I hate crime perpetrated on American soil against a German immigrant. Focusing on a time when Americans had been whipped into a patriotic frenzy by government propaganda and hate-mongering, this story illuminates a dark past that still bleeds into today.
Robert Prager, a lonely German immigrant searching for the American dream, was probably the most shameful U.S. casualty of World War I. From coast to coast, Americans had been whipped into a patriotic frenzy by a steady diet of government propaganda and hate-mongering. In Collinsville, Illinois, an enraged, drunken mob hung Prager from a tree just after midnight on April 5, 1918. Coal miners in the St. Louis suburb would show the nation they were doing their patriotic part-that they, too, were fighting the fight. And who would stop them anyway? Not the alderman or businessmen who watched silently. Not the four policemen who let Prager from their custody, without drawing a weapon. And who would hold the mob leaders accountable? Certainly not the jury that took just ten minutes to acquit them, all while a band played “The Star-Spangled Banner” in the courthouse lobby.
Peter Stehman sheds light on the era’s hijacking of civil liberties and a forgotten crime some might say has fallen prey to “patriotic amnesia.” Unfortunately, the lessons from Patriotic Murder on intolerance and hate still resonate today as anti-immigration rhetoric and Über-nationalism have resurfaced in American political discussion a century later.
Robert Prager, a lonely German immigrant searching for the American dream, was probably the most shameful U.S. casualty of World War I. From coast to coast, Americans had been whipped into a patriotic frenzy by a steady diet of government propaganda and hate-mongering. In Collinsville, Illinois, an enraged, drunken mob hung Prager from a tree just after midnight on April 5, 1918. Coal miners in the St. Louis suburb would show the nation they were doing their patriotic part-that they, too, were fighting the fight. And who would stop them anyway? Not the alderman or businessmen who watched silently. Not the four policemen who let Prager from their custody, without drawing a weapon. And who would hold the mob leaders accountable? Certainly not the jury that took just ten minutes to acquit them, all while a band played “The Star-Spangled Banner” in the courthouse lobby.
Peter Stehman sheds light on the era’s hijacking of civil liberties and a forgotten crime some might say has fallen prey to “patriotic amnesia.” Unfortunately, the lessons from Patriotic Murder on intolerance and hate still resonate today as anti-immigration rhetoric and Über-nationalism have resurfaced in American political discussion a century later.
Peter Stehman is a local Collinsville, Illinois, historian and writer. He is a retired City of Collinsville fire chief and has written numerous articles on public safety. He has held a lifelong interest in the Robert Prager tragedy and the environment that enabled it.
List of Illustrations
Acknowledgements
Collinsville, Illinois: April 4, 1918, 11:30 p.m.
Chapter 1: A Small Town, A Great War
Chapter 2: United We Stand: The Miners and Their Union
Chapter 3: You Are Either for Us or Against Us
Chapter 4: A Little Tar Might Help
Chapter 5: I Am Heart and Soul for the Good Old USA
Chapter 6: I Want to Tell and Get It Off My Mind
Chapter 7: A Farcical Patriotic Orgy
Chapter 8: It Seems a Nightmare
| Erscheinungsdatum | 15.09.2018 |
|---|---|
| Zusatzinfo | 26 photographs, 6 illustrations, 1 appendix, index |
| Verlagsort | Dulles |
| Sprache | englisch |
| Maße | 152 x 229 mm |
| Themenwelt | Sachbuch/Ratgeber ► Geschichte / Politik ► Allgemeines / Lexika |
| Geschichte ► Allgemeine Geschichte ► Neuzeit (bis 1918) | |
| Geisteswissenschaften ► Geschichte ► Regional- / Ländergeschichte | |
| ISBN-10 | 1-61234-984-6 / 1612349846 |
| ISBN-13 | 978-1-61234-984-8 / 9781612349848 |
| Zustand | Neuware |
| Informationen gemäß Produktsicherheitsverordnung (GPSR) | |
| Haben Sie eine Frage zum Produkt? |
Mehr entdecken
aus dem Bereich
aus dem Bereich
Geschichte einer wilden Handlung
Buch | Hardcover (2024)
C.H.Beck (Verlag)
CHF 47,60
