11.3: The War at HomeMain Idea: The war unleashed disruptions in American society as the government tried to meet the demands of modern warfare.

American armored troops going forward in the Argonne, France, September 26, 1918

Political Consequences: Government Power Increased

• War Industries Board regulated industries and allocated resources

• Fuel Administration rationed fuel and established daylight-saving time

• Food Administration encouraged food conservation and “victory gardens”

• National War Labor Board monitored working conditions and labor disputes

• Committee on Public Information used propaganda to increase support for the war

Political Consequences: Attacks on Civil Liberties

• Discrimination against German-Americans• Espionage and Sedition Acts, 1917 made it a

crime to criticize the government or the war effort– Violated the 1st amendment– Targeted socialists, labor leaders and pacifists,

people who believe all war is evil

• Schenck v. U.S., 1919: protesting the draft during wartime created a “clear and present danger” and is not protected by the 1st amendment

Economic Consequences• Corporate profits increased; the U.S. later

became the world’s greatest industrial power

• Wages increased but could not keep up with inflation– Membership in labor unions increased

• Business and government collaborated to shift production from consumer goods to war materials

• Taxes were raised• War bonds were sold

Shipyard workers were exempt from the draft. Workers who did not cooperate with the War Labor

Board were told to “work or fight”.

Social Consequences for African-Americans

• Leading African-Americans disagreed about supporting the war– W. E. B. DuBois supported the war and

believed it would help win equality– William Monroe Trotter said victims of racism

should not support a racist govt

• Great Migration– Thousands of African-Americans moved North

to get away from Jim Crow and work in war industries

– Racial violence moved North

Social Consequences for Women

• New jobs: railroad workers, coal miners, ship-building, etc.

• Volunteers: Red Cross, promoting war bonds• Many, like Jane Addams, became pacifists

(believed all war is evil)• Wilson gave support to the 19th Amend. but not to

equal pay for equal work• Women served in the Army Corps of Nurses

without rank or pay• 13,000 women served in non-combat positions in

the Navy and Marines (the Navy gave them rank)• Stepped up efforts for women’s suffrage and the

19th amendment

Women also had to sacrifice fashion for the war effort.

Social Consequences: The 1918-1919 Flu Epidemic

• 500,000 Americans, 30 million worldwide died

• Devastated the U.S. economy

• Spread by soldiers returning home

• Contributed to the chaos and despair caused by the war