While researching the topic of propaganda during WWI, I came across Carl Sandberg. He was born in 1887 to two Swedish parents, and grew up as a working-class citizen. Due to his background as a working-class citizen, this is what led him to start contributing to the war propaganda.
Sandberg was a regular contributor of news and a poet in several liberal and radical magazines, as well as working for the Chicago Daily News as a reporter who focused primarily on the working-class citizens. He appealed so greatly the public, because he considered himself a communist and he wrote in the language of the working class.
Carl Sandburg as an opposer to the war, states;
‘“I am with all the rebels everywhere. Against all those who are satisfied,’ Sandburg once wrote. As far as he was concerned, there was a straight line from the early builders of the American nation, to the 20th century radicals, socialists, and unionists with whom the poet associated” (Peoples Poet 2015)
As Sandburg’s began to create music, he expressed his stance upon the war and all of the happenings in the US. Sandberg was famous in Connecticut though, and because he was highly regarded statewide, he was invited several different occasions to Connecticut to perform. Sandburg’s “collected folk songs and performances are treasures from America’s grassroots. His poetry offers a radical critique of economic exploitation” (“The Peoples Poet” 2015).
Carl Sandburg’s multitude of pieces of work are considered a form of propaganda, because they identify the war and it is used to persuade the public to focus on the workers who were a part of the war effort.
- This article expresses Carl Sandburg’s impact on the US during the war, and tells us about his ties to Connecticut
https://connecticuthistory.org/carl-sandburg-poet-from-the-grassroots-reaches-connecticut-audiences/
- This article about Carl Sandburg tells us who Carl Sandberg is and highlights his true intentions with his work.
https://shoeleatherhistoryproject.com/2015/04/17/carl-sandburg-peoples-poet/
- This website tells us in greater detail, all of the things Carl Sandburg has done or accomplished over his lifetime. It specifically tells us who Carl Sandberg is and highlights his true intentions with his work.
http://www.english.illinois.edu/maps/poets/s_z/sandburg/sandburg_life.htm
