Sample Speech by a Four Minute Man

Ladies and Gentlemen:I have just received the information that there is a German spy among us—a German spy watchingus.

He is around, here somewhere, reporting upon you and me—sending reports about us to Berlin and telling the Germans just what we are doing with the Liberty Loan. From every section of the country these spies have been getting reports over to Potsdam—not general reports but details—where the loan is going well and where its success seems weak, and what people are saying in each community.

For the German Government is worried about our great loan. Those Junkers fear its effect upon the Germanmorale.They’re raising a loan this month, too.

If the American people lend their billions now, one and all with a hip-hip-hurrah, it means that America is united and strong. While, if we lend our money half-heartedly, America seems weak and autocracy remains strong.

Money means everything now; it means quicker victory and therefore less bloodshed. We areinthe war, and now Americans can have butoneopinion, onlyonewish in the Liberty Loan.

Well, I hope these spies are getting their messages straight, letting Potsdam know that America ishurling backto the autocrats these answers:

For treachery here, attempted treachery in Mexico, treachery everywhere—one billion. For murder of American women and children—one billion more.For broken faith and promise to murder more Americans—billions and billions more.

And then we will add:

In the world fight for Liberty, our share—billions and billions and billions and endless billions. Do not let the German spy hear and report thatyouare a slacker.

Committee on Public Information,Four Minute Man Bulletin,No. 17 (October 8, 1917)

Divide your speech carefully into certain divisions, say 15 seconds for final appeal; 45 seconds to describe the issue; 15 seconds for opening words, etc.,

“A cause that is worth living for is worth dying for, and a cause that is worth dying for is worth fighting for.”

“No country was ever saved by the other fellow; it must be done by you, by a hundred million yous, or it will not be done at all.”

“Earn the right to say, I helped to win the war,”

These are samples from 4-minute speeches given in 1917.

Flash Presentation WWI –

Use the textbook to access the information you will need for the presentation.

I.An Uneasy Neutrality

A. The Great War

i. Causes

ii. Fighting Erupts

B. An Industrial War

i. Trench Warfare

C. Initial American Reactions

i. Supporting the Allies

ii. Neutral Rights and Submarine Attacks

iii. Preparing for War

D. The 1916 Election

E. America Goes to War

i. The Zimmermann Telegram

ii. America Enters the War

II.Mobilizing a Nation

i. A New Labor Force

ii. A Loss of Civil Liberties

III.The American Role in the War

i. The Bolshevik Revolution

ii. Fourteen Points

iii. Russia Surrenders

iv. Americans on the Western Front

v. The German Collapse

IV.The Politics of Peace

A. Wilson’s Key Errors

B. The Paris Peace Conference

i. The Big Four

ii. The League of Nations

C. The Treaty of Versailles

i. The Treaty Debate

ii. Let the People Decide

iii. Stricken President

iv. The Treaty Under Attack

V. Stumbling from War to Peace

i. The Spanish Flu

ii. Suffrage at Last

iii. Economic Turbulence

iv. Race Riots

v. The Red Scare

A. Effects of the Great War

Your group will have a section to present (I, II, III, IV or V) by the end of class.

  1. Presentation will be shared with me.
  2. Include key events for each subsection.
  3. 5+ Slides/Facts/Images.
  4. 3 quotes from you section.
  5. Prepare oneFour Minute Man speech. See sample – This can also be a poem or rap. Use your section to create your speech. See if can make 4 minutes (we normally read at about 150 words per minute).
  6. Take notes from the other presentations.
  7. Be prepared to answer questions from other students.