134 - Christopher Capozzola: Uncle Sam, the Draft, and Vigilantes in World War I

Christopher Capozzola is Professor of History and MacVicar Faculty Fellow at MIT, where he works on the history of citizenship, war, and the military in modern American history. In this episode, Robinson and Chris discuss his first book, Uncle Sam Wants You: World War I and the Making of the Modern American Citizen (Oxford, 2008). More particularly, they talk about the background of the famous Uncle Sam “I Want You!” image and its status as a piece of propaganda, how it functioned in the United States during World War I, the domestic reception and consequences of the draft, and how patriotism resulted in violent vigilante justice. Chris’s latest book is Bound by War: How the United States and the Philippines Built America’s First Pacific Century. Uncle Sam Wants You: https://a.co/d/gBodfCL OUTLINE 00:00 In This Episode… 01:04 Introduction 03:50 History as Narrative 08:01 Teaching History at MIT 12:21 Chris’s Interest in American History 14:42 The Origin and Purpose of Uncle Sam 32:48 Political Obligation and the Draft in World War I 45:06 History and Unwritten Facts 50:07 Draft Dodgers, Conscientious Objectors, and Vigilantes in WWI 01:04:35 Historians, Philosophers, and Political Obligation 01:16:50 How World War I Was Caused by Bad Leaders 01:23:01 Free Speech During and After the War Robinson’s Website: http://robinsonerhardt.com Robinson Erhardt researches symbolic logic and the foundations of mathematics at Stanford University. Join him in conversations with philosophers, scientists, weightlifters, artists, and everyone in-between.