(hc) the text below was written in 1918: "i believe, your honor, in common with all socialists, that this nation ought to own and control its own industries. i believe, as all socialists do, that all things that are jointly needed and used ought to be jointly owned—that industry, the basis of our social life, instead of being the private property of a few and operated for their enrichment, ought to be the common property of all, democratically administered in the interest of all…" based on what you read in this statement by eugene debs, what conclusion can be drawn about the climate of american politics in 1918?

Socialism was seen as a threat to capitalism in the United States.

Explanation:

Eugene Debs (1855-1926) was an American socialist politician. A member of the Socialist Party of America, he ran for president five times between 1900 and 1920. His best result was getting 6% of the vote during the 1912 election. He was closely linked to the worker movement, and was a founding member of the International Workers of the World, one of the major trade unions of the time.

Debs was a well known socialist politician, but by 1918, this would become a major problem for him. At the time, the United States was going through what would later be known as the First Red Scare. The victory of the October Revolution in Russia and the establishment of the first socialist state in the world in November 1917 arose fears that socialism and communism would eventually spread around and trigger revolutions to overthrow capitalism around the world, including in the United States. Debs was a very vocal proponent of socialism and opposed World War I, on the grounds that it was an inter-imperialist war and that workers had nothing to gain from it. For this, he was charged under the Sedition Act of 1918. Debs defended his political views before the judge with the speech quoted above. However, he was found guilty and sent to prison in 1919. After the European socialist revolutions failed between 1918-1919, the Red Scare waned, and a couple of years later the Sedition Act was repealed and Debs was set free on 1921.