British Warmup
• http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/
history/mwh/ir1/causes_war1act.shtml
The Home Front during
WWI
http://www.firstworldwar.com/audio/overthere.htm
1917 Selective Service
Act
Selective Service Act of 1917 required all men
between 21 and 30 to register for the draft.
A lottery randomly determined the order they were
called before a local draft board in charge of
selecting or exempting people from military
service.
Progressives believed civilians in local
communities made best decisions about which
men to draft
African Americans served in segregated units
often under the direct supervision of white officers.
24,000,000 men registered for
the draft by the end of 1918
4,800,000 men served in WWI
(2,000,000 saw active combat)
400,000 African-Americans
served in segregated units
15,000 Native-Americans served
as scouts, messengers, and
snipers in non-segregated units
Opportunities for African
Americans during WWI
“Great
Migration.”
1916 – 1919 
70,000
War industries work
Enlistment in
segregated
units
The Role of Women in WWI
Women in the military
– Army Nursing Corps 10,000 overseas
– Navy clerical duties, radio operators
Organizing the War Effort at
Home
• Congress created special boards to coordinate the mobilization of the
economy. Cooperation between big business and government.
• Fuel Administration- Manage the nation’s use of coal and oil. Conserve
energy, instituted daylight savings time and “heatless Mondays”
• National War Labor Board mediate labor disputes that might otherwise
lead to strikes. Wage increases, 8 hr. workday, and right of unions to
organize and bargain collectively. Labor leaders agreed not to disrupt
war production with strikes or other disturbances
• WIB- What industries could and could not produce. Controlled the flow
of raw materials, factories, could set prices. Production in U.S.
increased by 20%
• Food- Increasing food production while reducing civilian consumption
Organizing the War
Effort at Home
War Industries Board –
Bernard Baruch
Food Administration –
Herbert Hoover
Fuel Administration –
Railroad Administration –
William McAdoo
National War Labor Board –
W. H.Taft & Frank P. Walsh
·
Labor
The War Industries Board told factories
what to produce and the War Labor Board
settled labor disputes
From the biography of a 'Munitionette', Miss Joan Williams
'Women working
in larger munitions
factories were
known as Canaries
because they dealt
with TNT which
caused their skin to
turn yellow.
Around 400
women died from
overexposure to
TNT during World
War One. Other
hazards were more
obvious and minor
problems were
common.'
Food Administration
“Wheatless Mondays”
“Meatless Tuesdays”
“Porkless Thursdays”
“V” is for Victory (Garden that
is!)
Fuel Administration
Liberty Bonds and Victory Bonds
Committee on Public Information
The Girls They Left Behind
Do Their Bit!
Women Used In Recruitment
“Remember Belgium”
“Huns Kill Women and
Children!”
Beat Back the “Hun”
True Sons of Freedom
How far are YOU willing to go
for your country?
Espionage Act – 1917
- forbade actions that
obstructed recruitment
-forbade efforts to promote
insubordination in the military.
- ordered the Postmaster
General to remove Leftist
materials from the mail.
- fines of up to $10,000 and/or
up to 20 years in prison.
How far are YOU willing to
go for your country?
Sedition Act – 1918
- it was a crime to:
speak against the purchase of war bonds or
utter, print, write or publish any
disloyal, profane, or abusive language
about the US Gov’t, Constitution, or the
armed forces
willfully urge, incite or advocate any reduction
of production of things necessary or
essential to the prosecution of the
war…with intent of such curtailment to
cripple or hinder the US in the
prosecution of the war.
Okay…. Short video to wrap-up