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World War I:�The Home front

AIM: Should the government assume greater power during times of war?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6hS99-nIFQs

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I. Why did U.S. Enter WWI?

  • American “Neutrality”
    • Trading with Allies
      • British Blockade
  • Lusitania
  • Sussex Pledge
  • Election of 1916
    • Wilson calls for “peace without victory”
  • Unrestricted Submarine Warfare
    • Wilson arms merchant ships
  • Zimmerman Telegram
    • Background: Wilson’s “moral diplomacy” and intervention in Mexico
      • Tampico Incident
  • Asks Congress to declare war on Germany in April, 1917
    • Wilson wanted to make "the world safe for democracy."

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II. Mobilizing Troops

    • Selective Service Act (1917) – authorized a draft of all young men into the armed forces (conscription)
    • Military Draft Act of 1917 – prohibited prostitution and alcohol near training camps – promote high moral and civic purposes
      • 18th Amendment - Prohibition
    • 2 million doughboys, (American Expeditionary Force) fought in Europe; 112,000 died.

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III. Mobilizing Industry and Economy

    • War Industries Board (Baruch) – created to stimulate and direct industrial production
    • Food Administration (Hoover) – meatless Mondays, wheatless Wednesdays; victory gardens
    • Daylight Savings
    • National War Labor Policies Board – resolved labor disputes; enacted eight-hour workdays, minimum wages, collective bargaining
      • Wages rose
      • Women entered the workforce
    • Liberty Bonds

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IV. Controlling Public Opinion

    • Committee on Public Information (George Creel) – in charge of stirring up patriotic fervor
      • “Four-Minute Men” – gave brief pep talks
      • posters, pamphlets, films, cartoons – brave Americans, evil Huns
    • Anti-German sentiment
      • No German in high schools; no German music; Germans were lynched; sauerkraut🡪liberty cabbage

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Controlling Public Opinion

    • Espionage Act (1917), Trading with the Enemy Act (1917), Sedition Act (1918)
      • Gave gov’t sweeping powers to punish any activity it considered “disloyal, profane, or abusive” to the American flag or uniform
      • Could not interfere w/ draft
      • Blocked mailing privileges for disloyal publications
      • Limited civil liberties
    • Schenk v. United States (1919) – Supreme Court decided that free speech could be limited when such speech posed a “clear and present danger” to the nation.

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V. Women and African Americans

  • Women’s Rights
    • More women in the workforce
    • After nearly a century of struggle, 19th Amendment is ratified (1920)
  • African Americans
    • Great Migration from south to north to find work
      • Race riots
      • Segregation remained

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VI. The End of the War

  • Wilson’s Fourteen Points
    • Open diplomacy, freedom of seas, free trade, reduction of armaments, self-determination, and League of Nations
  • Treaty of Versailles
    • Punish Germany (War Guilt Clause); establish League of Nations (Article X)
    • US Senate does NOT ratify

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The Battle for Ratification

Wilson argues for Ratification

Republican Senators argue against ratification

  • Believes League of Nations will prevent future wars
  • Debilitated by stroke and unable to compromise w/ Senate Republicans
  • Led by Henry Cabot Lodge
  • Feared League of Nations would draw the United States into unnecessary wars.
  • Believed Article X would undercut Congress’s power to declare war.
  • Returned to G. Washington’s sentiment of avoiding entangling alliances.

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VI. Return to “Normalcy”

  • U.S. retreats to isolationism
  • Labor unrest
  • Race riots
  • Red Scare
  • Immigrant quotas; Nativism