7.2

What did the Selective Service Act do?

Instead of having the military run the draft from Washington, D.C., the Selective Service Act of 1917 required all men between 21 and 30 to register for the draft. A lottery randomly determined the order in which they were called before a local draft board in charge of selecting or exempting people from military service.

What did Mexicans face? Where did they live?

Like other immigrant groups before them, they faced hostility and discrimination. Mexican Americans tended to settle in separate neighborhoods, called barrios, where they could support one another.

What did the CPI do to get people to support the war?

The CPI distributed pamphlets and arranged for thousands of "four-minute speeches" to be delivered at movie theaters and other public places. Some 75,000 speakers, known as Four-Minute Men, urged audiences to support the war in various ways, from buying war bonds to reporting draft dodgers to the authorities.

What is espionage?

spying, especially to gain government secrets

draft

to select a person at random for mandatory military service

The war also encouraged other groups to migrate...

Between 1917 and 1920, more than 100,000 Mexicans migrated into the Southwest, providing labor for farmers and ranchers. Mexican Americans also found new opportunities in factory jobs in Chicago, St. Louis, Omaha, and other American cities.

What did congress create as a part of the war effort? Why?

Congress created new agencies staffed by business executives, managers, and government officials to coordinate mobilization and ensure the efficient use of national resources. These agencies emphasized cooperation between big business and government.

Schenck v. United States

In Schenck v. United States (1919), Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes wrote the unanimous opinion. The Court ruled that the government could restrict speech when the speech constituted a "clear and present danger." (Schenck was the guy who passed out flyers that we learned about in class)

What did the government do in addition to using propaganda?

In addition to using propaganda, the government passed legislation to limit opposition to the war and to fight espionage, or spying to acquire government information.

What did progressives believe about military service?

Many progressives believed that forced military service was a violation of democratic and republican principles. Believing a draft was necessary, however, Congress, with Wilson's support, created a new system called selective service.

What did the Food Administration do and who was it run by?

The Food Administration, run by Herbert Hoover, was responsible for increasing food production while reducing civilian consumption.

How many died? Which epidemic was spread?

Although the horrors of war soon became apparent to the American troops, their morale remained high, helping to ensure victory. More than 50,000 Americans died in combat, and over 200,000 were wounded. Another 60,000 soldiers died from disease, mostly from the influenza epidemic of 1918 and 1919. The flu epidemic was not limited to the battlefield. It spread around the world and made more than a quarter of all Americans sick. The disease killed an estimated 25 to 50 million people worldwide, including more than 500,000 Americans.

More about people who served...

An estimated 12,000 Native Americans and about 20,000 Puerto Ricans served in the armed forces. Thousands of Mexican Americans also served in the war, volunteering for service more than any other minority group in the United States. Some Asian immigrants fought on the side of the United States even before they were citizens. Though they faced discrimination, many Asians served in the U.S. Army with distinction, being granted citizenship in recognition of their contributions.

What did Henry Ford do when desperate for workers? What convinced African Americans to move?

Desperate for workers, Henry Ford sent agents to the South to recruit African Americans. Other companies quickly followed suit. Promises of high wages and plentiful work convinced between 300,000 and 500,000 African Americans to move north.

Were the acts upheld by protests?

Despite protests, the Espionage and Sedition Acts were upheld by the Supreme Court. Although the First Amendment states that "Congress shall make no law . . . abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press," the Supreme Court departed from a strict interpretation of the Constitution.

Nongovernmental groups helped raise...

Nongovernmental groups also helped raise awareness and funds for the war. For example, the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee raised $63 million in relief funds. The Jewish Welfare Board set up centers at home and abroad for Jewish servicemen.

How many men volunteered?

Not all American soldiers were drafted. Approximately 2 million men volunteered for military service. Some had heard stories of German atrocities and wanted to fight back. Others believed democracy was at stake. Many believed they had a duty to respond to their nation's call.

What did African American soldiers face?

Of the nearly 400,000 African Americans who were drafted, about 42,000 served overseas as combat troops. African American soldiers encountered discrimination and prejudice in the army, where they served in racially segregated units, almost always under the supervision of white officers. Despite these challenges, many African American soldiers fought with distinction. For example, the African American 92nd and 93rd Infantry Divisions fought in bitter battles along the Western Front. Many of the soldiers in those divisions won praise from the French commander, Marshal Henri Pétain, and the United States commander, General John Pershing.

Building the military...

Progressives did not abandon their ideas when it came to building up the military. Instead, they applied those ideas to develop a new system for recruiting a large army.

What did progressives think?

Progressives did not think that organizing the economy was enough to ensure the success of the war effort. They also believed the government needed to shape public opinion.

What did Wilson create after Congress declared war?

Soon after Congress declared war, Wilson created the Committee on Public Information (CPI) to "sell" the war to the American people. Headed by journalist George Creel, the CPI recruited advertising executives, artists, authors, songwriters, entertainers, public speakers, and motion picture companies to help sway public opinion in favor of the war.

What did the Espionage Act of 1917?

The Espionage Act of 1917 made it illegal to aid the enemy, give false reports, or interfere with the war effort. The Sedition Act of 1918 made it illegal to speak against the war publicly. In practice, it allowed officials to prosecute anyone who criticized the government. These two laws led to more than 2,000 convictions.

What did the fuel administration do?

The Fuel Administration managed use of coal and oil. To conserve energy, it introduced the first usage of daylight saving time, shortened workweeks for civilian goods factories, and encouraged Heatless Mondays.

What did the NWLB do?

The NWLB often pressured industry to improve wages, adopt an eight-hour workday, and allow unions the right to organize and bargain collectively. In exchange, labor leaders agreed not to disrupt war production. As a result, membership in unions increased by over one million between 1917 and 1919.

How much did the U.S. spend by the end of the war? How did they fund it?

The United States had spent about $32 billion. To fund the war effort, Congress raised income tax rates, placed new taxes on corporate profits, imposed an extra tax on the profits of arms factories, and borrowed over $20 billion through the sale of Liberty Bonds and Victory Bonds. Americans who bought bonds were lending money to the government to be repaid with interest in a specified number of years.

What did the WIB do?

The War Industries Board (WIB) coordinated the production of war materials. Early problems convinced President Wilson to expand the Board's powers. The WIB told manufacturers what they could produce, allocated raw materials, ordered new factory construction, and sometimes set prices.

What did the Food Administration encourage families to do?

The agency encouraged families to conserve food and grow their own vegetables in victory gardens. "Eat more corn, oats and rye products—fish and poultry—fruits, vegetables and potatoes, baked, boiled and broiled foods. . . . Eat less wheat, meat, sugar and fats to save for the army and our allies," urged Food Administration posters.

Who were the members of the draft?

The thousands of local boards were the heart of the system. The members of the draft boards were civilians from local communities. Progressives believed local people, understanding community needs, would know which men to draft and would do a far better job than a centralized government bureaucracy. Eventually, about 2.8 million Americans were drafted?

What did the massive population movement of African Americans become known as?

This massive population movement became known as the Great Migration. The racial makeup of such cities as Chicago, New York, Cleveland, and Detroit changed greatly. Eventually, so did politics in the Northern cities, where African Americans were able to vote.

What did the U.S. do to prevent strikes from disrupting the war effort?

To prevent strikes from disrupting the war effort, the government established the National War Labor Board (NWLB) in April 1918.

How many troops did the U.S. have when they entered the war?

When the United States entered the war in 1917, the army and the National Guard together had slightly more than 200,000 troops. Many men quickly volunteered, but many more were still needed.

Who controlled the federal government?

When the United States entered the war in April 1917, progressives controlled the federal government. Their ideas about planning and management shaped how the government organized the war effort.

Why were women hired?

With so many men in the military, employers were willing to hire women for jobs traditionally held by men. Some 1 million women joined the workforce for the first time, and another 8 million switched to better industrial jobs.

More about women in the navy...

Women had served as nurses in both the army and the navy since the early 1900s, but as auxiliaries. They were not assigned ranks and were not technically enlisted in the army or navy. More than 20,000 nurses served in the Army Nurse Corps during the war, including more than 10,000 overseas

What did women wear in the navy? What were their jobs?

Women serving in the navy wore a standard uniform and were assigned the rank of yeoman. By the end of the war, more than 11,000 women had served in the navy. Although most performed clerical duties, others served as radio operators, electricians, pharmacists, chemists, and photographers. Unlike the navy, the army refused to enlist women. Instead, it began hiring women as temporary employees to fill clerical jobs. The only women to actually serve in the army were in the Army Nurse Corps.

Where did women work? What did women in the workforce demonstrate?

Women worked in factories, shipyards, and railroad yards and served as police officers, mail carriers, and train engineers. When the war ended, however, most women returned to their previous jobs or stopped working. Yet the changes demonstrated that women were capable of holding jobs that many had believed only men could do.

Women only served in which positions? The war faced a shortage of what kinds of workers?

World War I was the first war in which women officially served in the armed forces, although they served only in noncombat positions. As the military prepared for war in 1917, it faced a severe shortage of clerical workers because so many men were assigned to active duty. Early in 1917, the navy authorized the enlistment of women to meet its clerical needs.

Victory Garden

a garden planted by civilians during war to raise vegetables for home use, leaving more of other foods for the troops

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