1. Unit 6: The Age of Imperialism and World War I (1890 – 191)
The War At Home

2. The Selective Service Act (1917)
The draft authorized men (later 18-45) to register for military service.
Lottery numbers were assigned and cards were issued.
1 million registered on “Draft Day” June 5, 1917!
24 million registered and 2.8 million were drafted.

3. 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)
Hollywood stars worked Bond Rallies.
Most bought by banks and financial groups; a few individuals bought them. Cheapest could be bought for $1.00.

4. 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.

5. 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.

6. “Hooverizing” Household Economies
Conserving food viewed as a patriotic gesture
Adopted slogans like “Food Will Win the War!”
“Wheatless Mondays, Meatless Tuesdays, Porkless Saturdays…”
Smith-Lever Food & Fuel Act – Daylight Savings Time

7. 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.

8. 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)

9. Anti-German Hysteria
Vigilante mobs “disciplined” some who opposed the war.
Dissenters & immigrants, especially Germans, often the targets of mail, phone taps, harassment, & worse!
Conscientious Objectors – Americans against war for moral reasons were often targeted
The Kaiser, the Beast of Berlin (1918 movie)
THe Kaiser: The Beast of Berlin
Anything German-sounding banned (i.e. frankfurters = hotdogs, dachshunds = ? )

10. Women and the War Effort
Wanted the vote!
Worked in munitions factories, for railroad & telegraph companies, mail(wo)men, 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!