Domestic World War I (Over There: famous song)

(Hun: Germans; propaganda poster)

Joining the War Effort  Americans were urged to join the war before they were drafted (by the Selective Service Act)  Many recruiting posters were seen in public places  Most famous was James M. Flagg’s “I Want You for U.S. Army” poster

Mass Production of War Materials  U.S. factories cranked out ships and weapons

Huge increase in government involvement in the economy  Economy had to be re-focused on the war effort  Shift from producing consumer goods to war supplies was complicated, so business & the govt. collaborated (consumer goods still produced, but not as many)  In the process, the power of govt. greatly expanded  Congress gave President Wilson direct control over much of the economy, including the power to fix prices and to regulate (even nationalize) certain war-related industries  Numerous govt. war agencies created

War Industries Board (WIB)  Main regulatory body  Headed by Bernard Baruch  Directed production and controlled the economy  Allocated (distributed) raw materials  Allocated war production to existing factories and built new ones  Also regulated production of non-war goods  Encouraged companies to use mass-production techniques to increase efficiency  Industrial production increased by about 20%

War Industries Board  Picture: Bernard Baruch, head of the WIB

War Inflation  WIB applied price controls only at the wholesale level; as a result, retail prices soared  In 1918 retail prices were almost double what they had been before the war

Wages and Labor during WWI       Wages in most industries rose during WWI A household’s income, however, was weakened by rising food prices and housing costs Stockholders in large corporations made huge profits Unions boomed / membership increased Thousands of strikes broke out National War Labor Board: established by President Wilson to deal with disputes between management & labor; also established policies affecting wages, hours, and working conditions

Women and WWI  The need for wartime workers brought over a million more women into the work force

   Fuel Administration Monitored coal supplies and rationed gasoline and heating oil “Gasless Sundays” and “lightless nights” adopted by many Americans to conserve fuel Daylight-Saving Time: another conservation measure started in March 1918 (to save fuel and electricity)

Food Administration     Headed by Herbert Hoover Saw to it that food production was increased and less food was wasted Food wasn’t rationed, but Hoover asked people to voluntarily conserve food Special days of the week: “wheatless,” “meatless,” “sweetless,” “porkless”

Food Administration

Victory Gardens      Food Administration encouraged these Homeowners planted vegetables in their yards so commercially-grown food could be sent to the soldiers American food shipments to the Allies tripled Farmers put millions more acres into production Farmers’ income increased

    WWI Food Conservation and Prohibition (of alcohol) Support for prohibition grew during the war Not producing alcohol saved grain for the war effort Many beer producers were German, and there was prejudice toward anything German 18th Amendment passed shortly after the war

Financing WWI: Taxes & Bonds     U.S. spent about $35 billion Govt. raised about 1/3 of this through taxes About 2/3 of the money was raised through public borrowing by selling government bonds War bonds called “Liberty Loans” & then “Victory Loans”

Propaganda Agency: Committee on Public Information  Headed by journalist George Creel  Purpose: to publicize the American

cause and stimulate patriotism

 Produced many propaganda posters, etc.

 75,000 “Four-Minute Men” spoke at various functions about the draft, voluntary rationing, bond drives, victory gardens, and topics such as “Why We Are Fighting”

Committee on Public Information

Negative Effect of Propaganda: Attacks on Civil Liberties        Conformity became expected after war was declared Anti-immigrant hysteria (especially against people from Germany or Austria-Hungary) Some Americans with German names lost their jobs German music stopped being played and learned German language stopped being taught in schools Some German-Americans were physically attacked German measles became “liberty measles,” sauerkraut became “liberty cabbage,” and dachshunds became “liberty pups”

Anti-German comic, 1917

Espionage and Sedition Acts      Passed in 1917 and 1918 Americans could be fined up to $10,000 and sentenced to 20 years in jail for interfering with the war effort or criticizing the war effort Criticized by many for violating the First Amendment Socialists and other left-wingers like radical labor union leaders, along with newspaper editors, targeted & jailed Socialist Party leader Eugene Debs was jailed in 1919 for violating the acts

WWI’s Impact on Woman’s Suffrage  NAWSA (National American Woman Suffrage Association) pushed hard for the right to vote  Radical Alice Paul formed the National Woman’s Party  Patriotic American women headed committees, knitted socks for soldiers, sold liberty bonds, worked in factories, etc., during WWI and now claimed their overdue reward for supporting the war effort  President Wilson and other politicians now supported the right to vote for women  Congress passed the 19

th

and it was ratified in 1920 Amendment in 1919,

WWI and Woman’s Suffrage  Picture: Alice Paul

WWI and Blacks: Great Migration      Black public opinion about the war was divided W. E. B. DuBois & others said blacks should support it Other black leaders said that victims of racism should not support a racist government The greatest effect of WWI on African Americans’ lives was that it accelerated the Great Migration, the large scale movement of hundreds of thousands of Southern blacks to cities in the North Factors: blacks sought to escape the Jim Crow South; more job opportunities in the North, esp. due to the war (for example, Henry Ford opened his auto assembly line to black workers in 1914)

WWI and Blacks: Great Migration    Northern manufacturers sent recruiting agents to distribute free railroad passes throughout the South The publisher of the black-owned newspaper Chicago Defender bombarded Southern blacks with articles contrasting life in the South with life in the North Blacks migrated to such cities as Chicago, NY, & Philly