Chapter 19: Section 3 The War at Home

One American’s Story In the summer of 1918, a group of anarchists were alerting police and officials of the printing of leaflets that were freely speaking of President Wilson’s action to send 7,000 troops into Russia. Upon being informed, the police targeted and arrested five Russian immigrant anarchists- Jacob Abrams, Hyman Lachowsky, Samuel Lipman, Mollie Steimer, and Jacob Schwartz.

One American’s Story continued… As the five anarchists sat in jail, Jacob Schwartz was the only to die there, supposedly by being beaten by an officer. The remaining four were tried and all found guilty and were sentenced to serve 15 to 20 years. However, the four didn’t serve their full terms. In fact, they were deported to Russia in 1921.

Congress Gives Power to Wilson Americans attempted to eliminate any possible internal enemies, which caused concerns over patriotism. Often, American citizens attacked immigrants who weren’t comfortable or used to the English language. Americans also attacked immigrants who they suspected had ties to their homeland.

Congress Gives Power to Wilson continued… Many immigrants, including African Americans, were lured to different regions with promises of higher wages. “War is no longer Samson with his shield and spear and sword… It is the conflict of smokestacks… of the driving wheel and the engine.”- Secretary of War, Newton Baker This means that, instead of producing consumer goods, it was necessary to mobilize the whole economy, providing weapons, ammunition, and other war supplies.

War Industries Board (WIB) War Industries Board- established in 1917 and reorganized in 1918 under the leadership of Bernard M. Baruch; encouraged companies to use mass-production techniques to increase efficiency. While under the WIB, industrial production only increased about 20%.

War Industries Board continued… The WIB applied price controls only at the wholesale level. This had a shocking result- retail prices soared, and by 1918, they were almost double what they were before the war. For example, Baruch announced that corsets used 8,000 tons of steel a year that could be used for battleships. As a result, women stopped buying steel ribbed corsets; tall leather boots disappeared and the extra leather went towards soldiers’ boots; hemlines rose, the extra fabric going into making army uniforms.

War Industries Board…(still) The WIB wasn’t the only federal agency to regulate the economy in the interests of the war effort. Gasoline became rationed, creating “Gasless Sunday” and “lightless nights” to help conserve fuel. Daylight Savings Time: March 1918; the Fuel Administration; was first proposed by Ben Franklin in the 1770’s to take advantage of the long summer days.

War Economy Wages in industries, including metal trades, meatpacking, and shipbuilding rose in the following years by as much as 20% Union membership climbed from 2.5 million- 4 million in the span of three years. (1916-1919) More than 6,000 strikes broke out during the war months against poor wages at a time of high prices.

Committee on Public Information George Creel- head of Committee on Public Information (CPI). Recruited 75,000 ‘Four Minute Men’ who would recite four minute speeches anytime, anywhere.

Espionage and Sedition Acts Espionage Act- June 1917 by Congress Sedition Act- May 1918 by Congress Espionage and Sedition Acts- a person could be fined up to $10,000 and/or sentenced to 20 years in jail for interference with the draft, obstructing the sale of government bonds, or saying anything negative about the government or the war effort.

Espionage and Sedition Acts cont… Other results: 6,000 arrests for antiwar activities 1,500 convictions Loss of mailing privileges for newspapers and magazines that opposed the war/criticized the Allies. Targeted socialists and labor leaders

Other Information… Great Migration- the large-scale movement of hundreds of thousands of Southern blacks to American cities in the North. Women were being placed in different jobs only designed for men; cab driving, delivery trucks, cooks, dockworkers, etc… The flu in the nation was a devastating epidemic. In the span of a year, approximately 50,000 Americans died because of the flu virus.