1. The Home Front
“Perhaps it will not be long before we will read each day long lists of American boys killed or wounded in the trenches of France. There will be boys in those lists that you know, boys that I know. And as our eyes film over with tears it will be at least some comfort to us to be able to say, “I am helping too. I am saving food for the boys who are fighting.”
While soldiers trained to fight in the war, Americans on the home front supported the war by working in war industries, lending money to the government, and conserving food to feed the troops abroad.
Read passage above
Why would the government want citizens to support the war effort? (a war requires citizens to make sacrifices. Without their support, conducting the war would be more difficult)

2. Why does it matter? War affects many things People:
Greatest impact-ordinary people
People:
Fight, Sacrifice, Die
Work to produce food
Work to produce guns soldiers fire

3. Building an Army To build an army Encouraged men to volunteer
Congress passed Selective Service Act-May 1917
1st day-9.6 million registered
Great National Lottery
4.8 million served

4. Constructing a War Economy
Council of National Defense:
Regulated food production
Coal and petroleum distribution
Railway use
War Industries Board
Headed by B. Baruch
Regulated ALL industries engaged in the war effort

5. Under President Hoover
Agriculture
He set prices high for wheat-encouraging farmers to produce more
Asked Americans to conserve
Wheatless Mondays
Meatless Tuesdays
Porkless Thursdays

6. Shaping Public Opinion
Committee on Public Information
George Creel-Dir.
Combined education and widespread advertising to “Sell America”
75 million pamphlets
6,000 press releases
75,000 speakers

7. Opposition and its Consequences
Conscientious Objectors
American women
Jane Addams
Jeannette Rankin
Espionage Act
Sedition Act
Prejudice against German Americans
Conscientious objectors: people who felt it was immoral or went against their religion to fight in a war
Jeannette Rankin-1st woman to serve in the house of representatives-voted against the war
Espionage Act-allowed postal workers to ban treasonable or seditious newspapers from the mail; it enacted sever penalties for any engaging in treasonable activities; punished up to a 10,000 fine and 20 years in prison
This act made it unlawful to use “disloyal, profane, scurrilous or abusive language about the American form of govt, the Constitution or the military
Racial indifference; also found in movies of the time. Americans stopped teaching German in public schools; quit playing Beethoven and Brahms. They renamed german measles “liberty measles”, “Dachscunds” became “Liberty pups”. Some were harassed, beaten or even killed.

8. Women embrace new opportunities
Suffrage movement
Women in the workplace
Jobs in occupations only open to men
Army Corp-nurses
th amendment-right to vote for women

9. The Great Migration
“If this is our country, than this is our war” W.E.B. Du Bois
367,000 African-Americans served in segregated units
Movement from rural South to the Industrial North
The war similarly presented new opportunities to African Americans.
Most African leaders supported the war “If this…”
He viewed this as an excellent opportunity for AA to show all Americans their loyalty
Migration from rural south to the industrial north. Desired better jobs and a chance for advancemnt. Still others dreamed of a better future for their children. Btwn more than 1.2 million African Americans moved to the North

10. Mexican-Americans Fleeing violence and poverty
Increased demands for food
Decrease in farmworkers
Large population stayed in California
Some of the same reasons that AA moved North caused Mexicans to cross the border into the US. Most immigrated to the American West, seeking work on large farms. Some was seasonal.

11. Quick-Write
Write a paragraph describing three effects that World War I had on the American homefront. Think about economic and social changes caused by the war. Be sure to include at least one example of each effect to support your statements.