The War at Home

War industries board Established in 1917. 1918: reorganized by Bernard M. Baruh. Encourage companies to: Use mass-production techniques to increase efficiency. Eliminate waste by standardizing products. Set production quotas and allocated raw materials Increased industrial production by 20% Applied price controls only at the wholesale level causing retail prices to soar. 1918: prices on products had nearly doubled. Corporate profits soared, especially in chemicals, meatpacking, oil and steel industries.

National War Labor Board Established in 1918 to settle disputes between management and laborers. Situation that made it necessary: Wages had risen by about 20% Food and housing had nearly doubled. Stockholders were making HUGE profits. To turn out the amount of product they needed, there was an increase in child labor, longer work hours, “sped up” conditions and so unions boomed. Around 6,000 strikes during wartime. NWLB established that: Workers who refused to obey board decisions would lose their draft exemption. “Work or fight!” Improved factory conditions, pushed for 8hr work day, safety inspections and ban on child labor.

Railroad & Fuel Controlled the railroads. Railroad administration Fuel Administration Controlled the railroads. Monitored coal supplies and rationed gasoline and heating oil. Many people adopted “gasless Sundays” and “lightless nights” to conserve fuel. March 1918: Fuel Administration introduced daylight saving time (which Benjamin Franklin had first suggested in the 1770s).

Food Administration Set up by Wilson, under Herber Hoover. Instead of rationing food, he called on people to follow the “gospel of the clean plate” One day a week= “metless,” another “sweetless,” two “wheatless” and two other “porkless.” Restaurants removed sugar bowls from tables and only served bread after the first course. Homeowners planted “victory gardens” in their yards School children tended gardens afterschool in public parks. Result = food shipments to troops TRIPLED. Farmers put another 40 million acres into producing wheat crops, increasing income by about 30% Hoover made wheat more expensive, so people would by less.

Selling the war Total spent: $35.5 Billion. How raised it: 1/3 through taxes (income tax, war-profits tax, higher taxes on tobacco liquor and luxury items. Selling “Liberty Loan” or “Victory Loan” bonds.

Committee on public information Nation’s first propaganda agency. Run by George Creel, a former muckraker. Muckraker= A person who intentionally seeks out and publishes the misdeeds, such as criminal acts or corruption, of a public individual for profit or gain. Persuaded artists and ad agencies to make posters, cartoons, sculptures and paintings promoting the war.

Continue.. Hired 75, 000 “Four- Minute Men” who went around speaking about the war. Ordered the printing of 25 million copies of “How the War Came to America.” While the campaign promoted patriotism, it also inflamed hatred and violations of civil liberties of certain ethnic groups and opponents of the war.

Anti-Immigrant Histeria The main targets were those who had emigrated from other nations, mainly Germany and Austria-Hungary. Many Americans with German names lost their jobs: orchestras refused to play Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, etc. Schools stopped teaching German. Violence against Germany symbols. Lynching in Illinois. “Salisbury steak” or “Liberty sandwich.” etc

Espionage and sedition acts Espionage act Sedition act The Espionage Act, passed in June 1917, provided penalties of 20 years imprisonment and fines up to $10,000 for those convicted of interfering with military recruitment. The Sedition Act of 1918 was amended by Congress the following year to not only target those who interfered with the draft, but also those individuals guilty of sedition, in other words, those who publicly criticized the government, including negative comments about the flag, military or Constitution.

AA’s and the war Black opinion on the war was very divided: WEB Du Bois believe blacks should support the war effort. Thought that it would strengthen racial justice. Wiliam Monroe Trotter believed that victims or racism should not support a racist government. Condemned Du Bois’ accommodations approach and favored protest instead. Despite these views, most AA’s backed the war.

The great migration The greatest effect on AA lives was that it accelerated the Great Migration Great Migration = large-scale movement of Southern Blacks to cities in the North. Contributing factors: Many AA’s sought to escape racial discrimination in the South. A boll weevil infestation, aided by floods and droughts, had ruined much of the South’s cotton fields. In the North, there were job opportunities in factories suck as Herny Ford’s. WWI = drop in European immigration = more jobs for AAs. North sent recruiting agents to pass out free railroad passes in the South for those who would come work in the North. Racial prejudice DID STILL EXIST in the North.

Women in the war Women moved into jobs that had only been held by men. Became RR workers, cooks, dockworkers, bricklayers, coal miners and took part in shipbuilding. Women also continued to serve traditional roles as nurses, clerks and teachers. Many worked as volunteers for the Red Cross, selling Bonds and planting victory gardens. Jane Adams founded Women’s Peace Party in 1915 to promote peace. Wilson acknowledged the women’s service, but while salaries did not become equal, it spurred the passage of the 19th Amendment in 1919, which was ratified in 1920. (Right to vote!)

The flu epidemic Fall 1917: the US suffered a flue epidemic that affected around ¼ of the population. Effect of the epidemic on the economy was devastating: mines shut down. Telephone service cut in half, factories and offices staggered work hours to avoid contagion. Cities ran short of coffins & bodies would sometimes lay around for a week. Spread by soldiers to Europe. Many Germans and allies also died. Killed around 500,000 Americans before it disappeared in 1919. Historians believe it killed around 30 million worldwide. 1918: the war ends as well!