CHAPTER 19 SECTION 4

Americans on the Home Front

Financing the War• Henry Ford had orders to build

16,000 tanks and 20,000 tractors• Government launched an effort to

raise money using liberty bonds – special bonds to support Allied cause

• Raised more than $20 billion and paid for ¼ of the US war effort and loan $10 billion to Allies

Enforcing Loyalty• US government imposed limitations on media – banned any

anti-Allies material• National Security League put limitations on immigration• Schools no longer taught German, and German books

disappeared• The Sedition Act of 1918 – any speech or action that

encourages rebellion, made it illegal to obstruct the sale of Liberty Bonds or speak negatively about the US

• Vigilantes – those who take the law into their own hands, lynched and whipped anyone who opposed the war

Managing the Economy• Industry switched from commercial goods to war

goods• War Industries Board regulated what, how, and when

things could be produced• August 1917, Congress passed the Lever Food and

Fuel Control Act giving the President the power to manage the production and distribution of food and fuels

• Imposed price controls – system of pricing determined by the government, on the sale of food

• Also imposed rationing – distributing goods to consumers in a fixed amount

• Created Daylight Saving Time – turning clocks ahead for summer in an effort to decrease fuel use

A Changed Home• Immigration from Europe virtually ceased during war• Many young men were who were killed were no longer in the

labor pool• Factories needed more workers for war-related manufacturing• 400,000 women joined the workforce• 500,000 African Americans moved north for jobs