Body of Essay : The United States decision to enter W.W.I. was not greatly supported by the people. To gain the support they felt was needed to send troops to war; the government began a propaganda campaign to change the minds of the American citizens. Not only did they create propaganda but also created legislation that made it illegal to question the government in the Espionage Act of 1917 and the Sedition Act of 1918. Political enemies must be created to achieve the greater good of the country. The use of propaganda by the United States government turned Germany into this enemy to strengthen the homefront. President Woodrow Wilson campaigned for reelection in 1916 on the promise to keep us out of W.W.I. Barely three months after his inauguration in 1917, the United States was sending troops to Europe. German submarines attacked our shipping to Britain. Wilson believed in freedom of the seas so he was outraged that Germany would stop a neutral country from trading on the open seas.
In April, the United States declared war on the Central powers, Germany, Hungary, and Austria. Americans, many of who were recent immigrants and had relatives in Germany or were just politically opposed did not universally approve of this war. To change the sentiment of the people, George Creel, a veteran newsman, was made director of the newly found Committee of Public Information (CPI). Its function was to whip up enthusiasm for the war. It did so by sending thousands of speakers to organized rallies, where each gave a five-minute pep talk written by the CPI. This was not the only tool of the CPI. The CPI was created to gain public support for the war. This committee used propaganda to unite the country domestically while publicizing American war aims abroad. "To...