{"id":14170,"date":"2016-04-07T23:00:52","date_gmt":"2016-04-08T04:00:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hcstx.org\/?p=14170"},"modified":"2016-04-07T23:00:52","modified_gmt":"2016-04-08T04:00:52","slug":"brush-up-on-your-history-eight-classic-american-propaganda-campaigns","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/2016\/04\/07\/brush-up-on-your-history-eight-classic-american-propaganda-campaigns\/","title":{"rendered":"Brush-Up On Your History: Eight Classic American Propaganda Campaigns"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\"rosie-840x420\"<\/div>\n
Many groups have historically used propaganda to generate support for various campaigns \u2014 America is no exception.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
\n
\n

Even as far back as the Revolutionary War, the U.S. government, military, and private groups have used varying forms of propaganda to drum up support for certain political causes. Some of these methods \u2014 including posters, comics, and even video games \u2014 have become iconic symbols, creating motivation for reaching political ends, thereby framing American patriotism as we know it today.<\/p>\n

However, successful propaganda campaigns are much less prevalent now than in years past.<\/p>\n

According to Steve Alvarez, an author who writes about propaganda, \u201cThe channels to communicate to the masses were controlled by select groups, so ultimately messages were effectively communicated.\u201d<\/p>\n

Prior to the birth of mass media and the internet, it was very easy for mainstream media channels to manipulate the public\u2019s perception to a political end.<\/p>\n

\u201cThink about Rosie the Riveter or the War Bonds campaigns of the 1940s,\u201d Alvarez told Task & Purpose. \u201cDomestic propaganda worked in order to get the immediate and tacit support of the U.S. populace to support the country\u2019s industrial war effort.\u201d<\/p>\n

Now, this sort of government-media influence is simply not possible, but there are pieces of propaganda used throughout American history that are still easily recognizable today.<\/p>\n

Here are eight of America\u2019s most notable propaganda campaigns.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Join or Die<\/b><\/p>\n

\"J1\"<\/p>\n

Though technically produced before the 13 colonies were considered the United States of America, this piece of propaganda helped kick off the Revolutionary War. Created by Benjamin Franklin and published first in the Pennsylvania Gazette in 1754 to unite the colonies during the French and Indian War, the print was repurposed as the first symbol of colonial unity in our nation\u2019s history in 1765.<\/p>\n

Union Forever<\/b><\/p>\n

\"J2\"<\/p>\n

During the Civil War, both the Union and the Confederacy employed a number of tactics to entice young men to enlist. \u201cUnion Forever\u201d became a fixture on almost every poster in the North. It was often written as a call to serve under \u201cthe flag of our union forever and ever<\/a>.\u201d Many posters offered to pay volunteers $150 for their service, an equivalent of about $4,000 today.<\/p>\n

Victory Garden<\/b><\/p>\n

\"J3\"<\/p>\n

During World War I, Europe developed a food shortage as farmers joined the military, and land where crops were planted turned into battlefields. The United States became the leading producer of agricultural goods. A man named Charles Lathrop Pack organized the National War Garden Commission to encourage Americans to grow \u201cvictory gardens\u201d and eat their own crops so that more food could be exported to allied troops overseas. As a result, many encouraging posters emerged with phrases like \u201csow the seeds of victory\u201d or \u201cthe fruits of victory.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cGee!! I wish I were a man, I\u2019d join the Navy.<\/b><\/p>\n

\"J4\"<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

America entered World War I in 1917, and during that year, thousands of men volunteered to join the military. Twenty-year-old Bernice Smith<\/a> was among those that walked into a California recruiting office to see about enlisting in the Navy. Watching all of the young men there signing up, she suddenly said the words, \u201cGee I wish I were a man, I\u2019d join the Navy.\u201d One of America\u2019s most famous illustrators, Howard Chandler Christy, was present at the time, and requested that Smith pose for him. Her words were then emblazoned on a poster with Smith in uniform and a sailor\u2019s cap, and she became the unintentional first military pin-up girl. A few days later, she herself joined the Navy and rose to the rank of chief yeoman. During World War II, Smith wanted to re-enlist, but was turned down for her age. Ultimately, the piece has been deemed as propaganda<\/a> largely because it served to entice men to the military, falsely suggest that women could not join, and also suggest that women should challenge the status quo at the time. The campaign was effective as it had different meanings for different demographics, all serving the purpose of convincing the young they ought to enlist in the Navy.<\/p>\n

Read the Remainder at Task and Purpose<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Many groups have historically used propaganda to generate support for various campaigns \u2014 America is no exception. Even as far back as the Revolutionary War, the U.S. government, military, and private groups have used varying forms of propaganda to drum up support for certain political causes. Some of these methods \u2014 including posters, comics, and…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[6789,6899,2967,2098,1899,3545],"tags":[10993,763,10994,1582],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14170"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14170"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14170\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14170"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14170"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14170"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}