Unit 6: World War I (1914 – 1920)

The Homefront!

Bell Ringer: America Joins the Fight1. The ____ system was developed by the U.S. and used to

protect troop/ supply shipments at sea?a. Rocking Chair b. Convoy c. Cradle

2. He commanded the A.E.F.?a. Alexander b. Patton c. Pershing

3. U.S. troops of the A.E.F. were called _____?a. Dough Boys b. Soulja Boys c. Home Boys

4. The armistice that ended WW I was signed on _________, 1918.a. Oct. 18th b. Nov. 11th c. Dec. 4th

The Selective Service Act (1917)

• The draft authorized men 21-30 (later 18-45) to register for military service.

• Lottery numbers were assigned and cards were issued.

• 24 million registered and 2.8 million were drafted.

Financing the War• 1915 – Total U.S. budget =

$1 Billion.• WW I cost the U.S. $32

Billion!• Liberty Bonds raised $23

Billion.; new taxes paid rest. • Ran by William Gibbs

McAdoo (Treasury Secretary)

• Most bought by banks and financial groups; a few individuals bought them. Cheapest could be bought for $1.00.

Mobilizing the Economy for War• War Industries Board (July

1917) to oversee government purchases of military supplies.

• Independent of the Council of National Defense and Railroad War Board

• Ran by Bernard Baruch who worked for $1.00/ yr.

• Determined what was made, where it went, and how much it cost.

The Food Administration

• Ran by future U.S. President Herbert Hoover.

• The U.S. and our Allies were dependent on U.S. agriculture.

• Set high prices for wheat and other food products to encourage farmers to plant more.

“Hooverizing” Household Economies

• Conserving food viewed as a patriotic gesture

• Adopted slogans like “Food Will Win the War!”

• “Wheatless Mondays, Sweetless Tuesdays, Meatless Wednesdays…”

• Smith-Lever Food & Fuel Act – Daylight Savings Time

Propaganda and Public Opinion• Committee on Public

Information (CPI)• Ran by ex-muckraker

George Creel• Its job was to “sell America”

and “sell the war”• 75 Million posters and

brochures• Hollywood stars and Four-

minute Men gave speeches and held Bond Rallies

• It also sponsored movies.

Government Cracks Down on Dissenters

• Individual Rights (Free Speech) vs. War Effort?• Espionage Act (1917) – Treasonable papers and

speech banned! Disloyalty could be punished by $10,000 fine and 20 years prison!

• Sedition Amendment (1918) – Further restricted free speech (on government, the Constitution, or the military. Used to prosecute Socialists (often labor union leaders) , Communists, radicals, and pacifists.

• Eugene V. Debs ( 1/1500 arrested) -10 year sentence in 1918 (pardoned by President Harding in 1921)

Anti-German Hysteria• Vigilante mobs

“disciplined” some who opposed the war.

• Dissenters & immigrants , especially Germans, often the targets of mail, phone taps, harassment, & worse!

• The Kaiser, the Beast of Berlin (1918 movie)

• Anything German-sounding banned (i.e. frankfurters = hotdogs)

Women and the War Effort• Wanted the vote!• Worked in munitions

factories, for railroad & telegraph companies, and as clerks.

• Red Cross & Army Corps of Nurses (1918)

• Proved they could do jobs once held by only men!

• 19th Amendment (Summer 1920) finally gave them the vote!

The Great Migration

• Nearly 400,000 African-Americans served!

• 1.2 Million moved North to the “Land of Hope”

• Chicago (meatpacking), Detroit (new auto industry), and to cities in the NE U.S.

• Push (racism & Jim Crow laws); Pull (jobs & family)