The People's Freedom Union was a left wing American political group which existed from 1919 to 1920. Established as a

federation A federation (also known as a federal state) is a political entity characterized by a union of partially self-governing provinces, states, or other regions under a central federal government (federalism). In a federation, the self-governin ...

liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...

and

radical Radical may refer to: Politics and ideology Politics *Radical politics, the political intent of fundamental societal change *Radicalism (historical), the Radical Movement that began in late 18th century Britain and spread to continental Europe and ...

organizations in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

, the People's Freedom Union conducted marches in support of

political prisoners A political prisoner is someone imprisoned for their political activity. The political offense is not always the official reason for the prisoner's detention. There is no internationally recognized legal definition of the concept, although nu ...

detained under the

Espionage Act The Espionage Act of 1917 is a United States federal law enacted on June 15, 1917, shortly after the United States entered World War I. It has been amended numerous times over the years. It was originally found in Title 50 of the U.S. Code (War ...

during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, campaigned for a restoration of American

civil rights Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from infringement by governments, social organizations, and private individuals. They ensure one's entitlement to participate in the civil and political life of ...

suspended under the war, and agitated against American intervention in

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

and

Soviet Russia The Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, Russian SFSR or RSFSR ( rus, Российская Советская Федеративная Социалистическая Республика, Rossíyskaya Sovétskaya Federatívnaya Soci ...

Organizational History

Establishment

The People's Freedom Union was the organizational successor of the

People's Council of America The People's Council of America for Democracy and the Terms of Peace, commonly known as the "People's Council," was an American pacifist political organization established in New York City in May 1917. Organized in opposition to the decision of the ...

, an anti-war organization established in New York City by

pacifist Pacifism is the opposition or resistance to war, militarism (including conscription and mandatory military service) or violence. Pacifists generally reject theories of Just War. The word ''pacifism'' was coined by the French peace campaign ...

and

socialist Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the e ...

political activists in an effort to end American participation in the European war.Archibald E. Stevenson (ed.), ''Revolutionary Radicalism: Its History, Purpose and Tactics with an Exposition and Discussion of the Steps Being Taken and Required to Curb It: Being the Report of the Joint Legislative Committee Investigating Seditious Activities, Filed April 24, 1920, in the Senate of the State of New York: Part 1: Revolutionary and Subversive Movements Abroad and at Home
Volume 1
'' Albany, NY: J.B. Lyon Co., 1920; pg. 1105. The group was headquartered at 138 West 13th Street, premises it shared with the

American Civil Liberties Union The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is a nonprofit organization founded in 1920 "to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed to every person in this country by the Constitution and laws of the United States". T ...

. The organization declared itself a federation of "several New York groups" which intended to practice "the One Big Union idea applied to the peace-and-freedom movement."''The People's Freedom Union: What It Is and Why It Is.'' New York: People's Freedom Union, 1919. Reprinted in Stevenson (ed.), ''Revolutionary Radicalism,'' part 1, vol. 1, pp. 1105-1110. The People's Freedom Union was organized in opposition to the expansion of

militarism Militarism is the belief or the desire of a government or a people that a state should maintain a strong military capability and to use it aggressively to expand national interests and/or values. It may also imply the glorification of the mili ...

and

imperialism Imperialism is the state policy, practice, or advocacy of extending power and dominion, especially by direct territorial acquisition or by gaining political and economic control of other areas, often through employing hard power (economic and ...

in the post-war world. It declared in its literature that "imperialism is not dead, even though the

kaiser ''Kaiser'' is the German word for "emperor" (female Kaiserin). In general, the German title in principle applies to rulers anywhere in the world above the rank of king (''König''). In English, the (untranslated) word ''Kaiser'' is mainly ap ...

and the other emperors have gone" and postulated that the

empire An empire is a "political unit" made up of several territories and peoples, "usually created by conquest, and divided between a dominant center and subordinate peripheries". The center of the empire (sometimes referred to as the metropole) ex ...

-building foreign policy of Great Britain, France, Japan, the United States, and other nations was setting the table for a new round of war. The group therefore sought to organize "liberal and radical forces of the world" in advance of the next conflagration, to "get ready now before the passions of war again sweep them aside." The group also sought the reestablishment of American

civil liberties Civil liberties are guarantees and freedoms that governments commit not to abridge, either by constitution, legislation, or judicial interpretation, without due process. Though the scope of the term differs between countries, civil liberties may ...

suspended during the World War I under the Espionage Act, declaring that "democracy without the unrestricted right to discuss public policies is the shabbiest of pretenses." It cited the recent banning and dispersal of public meetings, suppression of dissident newspapers, and the deportation and imprisonment of critical public speakers as examples of the abusive state of then-current law. The People's Freedom Union declared its intent to take on "concrete tasks not already covered" by other groups participating in the federation, with a design to "gradually absorb other groups". The group was governed by an executive committee, with permanent officers and committees organized around specific projects handling day-to-day affairs. The People's Freedom Union maintained a publication department under the imprint of "The People's Print", which issued weekly leaflets on pertinent topics in the news and was responsible for the issuance and sale of occasional

pamphlet A pamphlet is an unbound book (that is, without a hard cover or binding). Pamphlets may consist of a single sheet of paper that is printed on both sides and folded in half, in thirds, or in fourths, called a ''leaflet'' or it may consist of a ...

s. The group also established a speaker's bureau which coordinated speaking tours of "men and women of national and international note who have a message bearing upon the objects for which the organization stands."

Activities

The People's Freedom Union organized a march up

Fifth Avenue Fifth Avenue is a major and prominent thoroughfare in the borough of Manhattan in New York City. It stretches north from Washington Square Park in Greenwich Village to West 143rd Street in Harlem. It is one of the most expensive shopping stre ...

in New York on Christmas morning, 1919, in support of political prisoners."March in Manacles, Plan of Radicals,"
''New York Times,'' December 16, 1919. The march was to be followed by a dispersal in groups of 10 to picket on behalf of prisoners outside churches throughout New York City in hopes of stirring attendees in support of the cause of freeing prisoners of conscience jailed under the Espionage Act during the war. The march was ultimately broken up by the

New York Police Department The New York City Police Department (NYPD), officially the City of New York Police Department, established on May 23, 1845, is the primary municipal law enforcement agency within the City of New York, the largest and one of the oldest in ...

."To Carry Amnesty Plea to President,"
''New York Times,'' January 2, 1920. A critic of the organization later opined that this demonstration a "rather melodramatic", in which the participants paraded in single file, carrying banners in support of their cause.Stevenson (ed.), ''Revolutionary Radicalism,'' part 1, vol. 1, pg. 1111. This criticism, contained in the report of the

Lusk Committee The Joint Legislative Committee to Investigate Seditious Activities, popularly known as the Lusk Committee, was formed in 1919 by the New York State Legislature to investigate individuals and organizations in New York State suspected of sedition. ...

established in 1919 by the

New York State Senate The New York State Senate is the upper house of the New York State Legislature; the New York State Assembly is its lower house. Its members are elected to two-year terms; there are no term limits. There are 63 seats in the Senate. Partisan com ...

, declared that marchers had been "led astray with respect to the great forces at play on the public opinion of the American people" and that:

The persons who have participated in this movement, not necessarily familiar with the objects and the purposes which actuate it, are sowing the seeds of disorder and doing their part to imperil the structure of American institutions.

The organization also organized a demonstration on February 12, 1920, at the

White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., and has been the residence of every U.S. president since John Adams in 1800. ...

in Washington, DC, in an effort to move President

Woodrow Wilson Thomas Woodrow Wilson (December 28, 1856February 3, 1924) was an American politician and academic who served as the 28th president of the United States from 1913 to 1921. A member of the Democratic Party, Wilson served as the president of ...

to grant amnesty to political prisoners.

Membership

Executive Secretary of the People's Freedom Union was Frances M. Witherspoon.Stevenson (ed.), ''Revolutionary Radicalism,'' part 1, vol. 1, pg. 1110. Secretary of the Free Political Prisoners Committee of the People's Freedom Union was

Tracy Dickinson Mygatt Tracy Dickinson Mygatt (March 12, 1885 – November 22, 1973) was an American writer and pacifist, co-founder with Frances M. Witherspoon of the War Resisters League, and longtime officer of the Campaign for World Government. Early life and e ...

. Other well-known individuals involved in the organization included

Evans Clark Evans Clark (1888–1970) was an American writer strongly committed to first to Communist and Socialist causes and then liberal socio-economic issues, served for a quarter century as first executive director of the Twentieth Century Fund (renam ...

Elizabeth Gurley Flynn Elizabeth Gurley Flynn (August 7, 1890 – September 5, 1964) was a labor leader, activist, and feminist who played a leading role in the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW). Flynn was a founding member of the American Civil Liberties Union ...

Lewis Gannett Lewis Gannett is an American writer. He is the author of the books ''The Living One'', ''Magazine Beach'', ''The Siege'', and two ''Millennium A millennium (plural millennia or millenniums) is a period of one thousand years, sometimes called ...

Harry W. Laidler Harry Wellington Laidler (February 18, 1884 – July 14, 1970) was an American socialist writer, magazine editor, and politician. He is best remembered as executive director of the League for Industrial Democracy, successor to the Intercollegiate ...

, Jessica Smith, and

Norman Thomas Norman Mattoon Thomas (November 20, 1884 – December 19, 1968) was an American Presbyterian minister who achieved fame as a socialist, pacifist, and six-time presidential candidate for the Socialist Party of America. Early years Thomas was the ...

, as well as sociologist Winthrop D. Lane."Legion Protests Against Meyer Aid,"
''New York Times,'' August 5, 1921.

Footnotes

Publications

* Alice Riggs Hunt, ''Facts about Communist Hungary Previous to its Overthrow by the Supreme Council at Paris.'' New York: The People's Press, n.d. . 1919 * Louis P. Lochner, ''Mexico — Whose War?'' New York: The People's Press, n.d. . 1919 * Scott Nearing and Eugene V. Debs
''Before the Court: Nearing — Debs.''
New York: The People's Press, n.d. . 1919 * Albert Rhys Williams, ''Russian Soviets: Seventy-six Questions and Answers on the Workingman's Government of Russia.'' New York: The People's Press, n.d. . 1919 * Frances Fenwick Williams, ''The Winnipeg General Strike.'' New York: The People's Press, n.d. . 1919 * Legislative Committee of the People's Freedom Union
''The Truth About the Lusk Committee.''
New York: The Nation Press, March 1920.