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How should demands for peace and opposition to war be situated among broader calls for social change in American history? Historians and the public have often concentrated on the actions and efficacy of the reactive opposition at the outset of a war and have yet to evaluate the longer-term efforts of the individuals and organizations that have proposed constructive programs intended to foster peace. This historical analysis of peace advocacy seeks to expand understanding of the significant contributions that peace activism has made to social progress despite past failures preventing armed conflict. It emphasizes what peace movements aim to accomplish in the long run while distinguishing them from the specific actions of an antiwar movement at a particular moment in history. When considered a significant social movement in American history, the promotion of peace has had a profound and positive impact on domestic reform and societal change.1

In teaching and writing about peace advocacy, some diplomatic historians have addressed the roles of activists and organizations condemning wars while also linking them to movements for social justice.2 Peace movements are composed of a constituency of constituencies, utilizing strategies and tactics aimed at incremental reform rooted in visions of social transformation. In the literature on war and peace, scholars need to differentiate between the reactive and initiative-taking types of peace activism. Reactive ad hoc antiwar coalitions emerge from a shared opposition to an immediate crisis and usually dissipate when hostilities end, while initiative-taking peace groups sustain a vision and a presence beyond emergency responses.

Issue Section:
AHR History Lab
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