CHAPTER 11 – PART 3 THE WAR AT HOME
Objective: To describe and evaluate the social, political and economic changes brought on by the war.
To win the war, gov’t and business had to cooperate, so Wilson was given direct control over the economy.
Wages, food and housing costs rose. Businesses saw major profits, because of gov’t regulation. As a result, union membership rose.
Government War Agencies: 1. War Industries Board (Bernard Baruch) 2. Railroad Adm. 3. Fuel Adm. (intro. Daylight Savings time) 4. National Labor Board (labor disputes)
5.Food Administration – save food for soldiers. Herbert Hoover, Director “meatless days sweetless days wheatless days porkless days”
People planted “Victory gardens”… US food shipments tripled.
To pay for the war, the US used war bonds and taxes.
War propaganda was effective. Committee on Public Information: George Creel Pamphlets, posters, books, … It promoted patriotism, but also inflamed hatred and violated civil rights of certain ethnic groups.
German -Am. received the most hatred. Mozart, Bach, Beethoven and Brahms were no longer played. Violence sometimes erupted. See page 392.
Espionage and Sedition Acts: A person could be fined or jailed for opposing the war.
S. C. Case Schenck vs. United States. Read about the case Summarize the origins of Schenck vs. US on page the case, the legal reasoning of the case, why it mattered,and the historical impact.
Oliver Wendell Holmes,one of the most influential SC justices in history, wrote that law changes with history or with the times. It transformed legal thought in the US.
What social changes took place during the war?
Great Migration of Southern blacks to Northern cities resulted in racial tensions.
Why move north? 1. Loss of jobs (Boll weevil) 2. Discrimination 3. Recruiting agents 4. Better life
Women took the jobs of men. Congress passed the 19 th amendment.
1918, an international flu epidemic broke out. 500,000 Am. died, probably 30 million worldwide.
The “Great War” was supposed to be the “war to end all wars”. How did it transform the world? How did it set us on the road to another war? See diagram on page 406. Be sure you know the immediate and long-term effects.