1. The U.S. Declares War
Chapter 6.2

2. Lecture Focus Question
How did U.S. entrance into the war affect Americans on the home front?

3. Unrestricted Submarine Warfare
U-boat: German submarine
Used to prevent supplies from reaching Allied troops
Targeted British ships specifically
German U-boat sinks Lusitania, a British passenger ship
1,200 civilians killed
GB used this event to apply pressure on U.S. to join war effort

4. Weapons & Warfare First few years of war best described as stalemate
Defensive weapons more deadly than offensive weapons
Trench warfare
Machine guns
Poison gases (chlorine gas, mustard gas)
Military leaders kept giving orders to attack  not used to new weapons
First few years of war best described as stalemate

5. The Zimmerman Note Zimmerman sent telegram to Mexico Intercepted by GB
Secret offer to Mexico
If Mexico declared war on U.S., Germany would reward it with territory in the American Southwest

6. Russian Revolution Russians suffered severe casualties
1.5 million dead
2.5 million taken prisoner
1917: Russian Revolution begins
Russians forced to exit WWI
Russian Revolution put increased pressure on remaining allies
GB steps up efforts to convince U.S. to enter war

7. U.S. Declares War
German U-boats sink 3 U.S. ships (City of Memphis, Illinois, and Vigilancia)
1917: U.S. officially declares war
Wilson’s speech:“The world must be made safe for democracy.”

8. The Home Front
Selective Service Act: authorized draft of young men for military service
Conscientious objectors: people whose moral/religious beliefs forbid them to fight in war
Liberty Bonds: used to fund WWI

9. Limits on 1st Amendment Rights
Espionage Act: banned treasonous or seditious printed materials – limited freedom of speech
Schenck v. U.S.
Urged Americans to sign petition to repeal military draft
Actions presented a “clear and present danger”

10. Minorities & WWI African Americans Women
W.E.B. Du Bois: “If this is our country, this is our war”
Segregated troops, used primarily for manual labor in WWI
Great Migration: great movement from rural South to industrial North
Mexican Americans
Great movement north into the U.S. from Mexico to escape poverty
Creation of barrios in California
Women
Filled men’s jobs in factories, railroads, etc
Joined Red Cross as nurses, ambulance drivers, doctors
Wilson convinced to support demands for suffrage
19th Amendment ratified in 1920

12. Lecture Focus Question
How did U.S. entrance into the war affect Americans on the home front?