WWI on the Home Front

Mr. Chojnacki

US History II

Building the Military

• Selective Service: Required all men between 21 and 30 to register for the draft

• Lottery would determine the order men would have to appear before local draft board

–2.8 Million Americans were drafted

Volunteers for War

• 2 Million more men volunteered for Military Service–Felt there was a duty to defend

democracy–Heard stories of German

atrocities–Saw the war as and adventure

Women in the Military

• Served in Clerical Positions

–Secretaries, radio operators, pharmacists

• Army Nursing Corps: Only women sent overseas during the war

Industry Supports the War

• War Industries Board (WIB): Coordinated the production of War Materials–Told manufactures what and

how much to produce–Controlled prices of materials–Constructed new factories

Food Administration• Job was to increase food production

while reducing civilian consumption• Instead of Rationing food, govt. just

asked people to use less–Heatless & Wheatless Mondays–Meatless Tuesdays–Porkless Thursdays–No using Grains to Produce Alcohol

Victory Gardens

• Government told people to grow their own food in small gardens at home

Restrictions on Coal and Oil

• Shortened the workweek for factories that did not produce materials for the war

• Introduced Daylight Savings Time to save electricity

Paying for the War

• Congress raised the Income Tax, but it wasn’t enough

• Decided to borrow the money from the American people through Liberty Bonds and Victory Bonds

–Raised 20 Billion dollars through Bonds

Mobilizing the Workforce

• National War Labor Board (NWLB): prevented strikes during the war

–Won workers the 8 Hour Workday and the Right to Unionize

–In return, Unions would not strike

• Women filled many industrial jobs left by soldiers

The Great Migration

• War opened new doors for African Americans

• Many left the south to take vacated factory jobs in the North

• Altered the racial makeup of cities (NY, Chicago, and Detroit)–Led to Race Riots in some cities

Questionable Changes on the Home Front

Suppressing Dissent

&

Creating Violence

Ensuring Public Support

• Government felt it was necessary to shape public opinion of the war

–Without popular support, war effort would fail

–Government took many legal and illegal actions

Committee on Public Information

• “Sold” the war to the American people

• Headed by George Creel

–Hired authors, writers, entertainers, and movie companies to create propaganda

• Paid “Four Minute Men” to make short pro-war speeches in public

Lost Civil Liberties

• Espionage Act: Set prison terms for people who aided enemy or were “disloyal”

• Sedition Act: Made it illegal to publicly express opposition to the war–Could not criticize the President or

Government–Eugene Debs jailed 3 years for

speaking against war

Schenk v. U.S.

• Schenk told people to burn their draft cards and protest the war

–He was arrested and thrown in jail

• Supreme Court upheld his conviction because his actions were a “Clear and Present Danger” to the United States

–Restricting speech during war was legal

Mistreatment of German-Americans

• Fear of spies led to persecution of German-Americans

• Schools stopped teaching German

• Orchestra’s couldn’t play Beethoven

• Companies re-named German food:

–Sauerkraut = “Liberty Cabbage”

–Hamburger = “Salisbury Steak”

Violence Against Dissenters

• People beat and Lynched German born immigrants

• Mobs attacked socialists and pacifists

• Papers urged people to spy on their neighbors

• “Boy Spies of America” were created to seek out anti-war individuals