the role of women and african americans in wwi...african americans and wwi black leaders saw the war...
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The Role of Women and
African Americans in WWI
IB 20th Century Topics
Opportunities for
African-Americans in WW1
e “Great Migration.” 1916 – 1919 500,000
e War industries work.
e Enlistment in segregated units.
WW I:
The Great Migration Demographics…Great Migration of
Blacks from South to the Northern US
(Race Riots 1917-19) The Great Migration
The war opened thousands of industrial jobs to
black laborer
500,000 migrated north
increased presence and demands for change
Dozens of blacks were killed during a 1917 riot in
East St. Louis, Illinois
African Americans and WWI
Black leaders saw the war as an opportunity for
advancement
World War I did not bring significant gains
navy barred blacks, army segregated
Also riots and lynching increased in the South
Violence led to a silent march of protest on NY
5th Ave – “Mr. President, Why Not Make
America Safe for Democracy?”
Chicago Race Riot, 1919
Because of industrial jobs available in WWI, the African-American population in Chicago increased from 44,000 to 109,000, for a total of 148 percent during 1916-1919.
The postwar period found tensions rising in numerous cities where populations were increasing rapidly
The Chicago Race Riot of 1919 was a major racial conflict that began in Chicago, Illinois on July 27, 1919 and ended on August 3.
During the riot, dozens died and hundreds were injured.
It is considered the worst of the approximately 25 riots during the Red Summer of 1919, so named because of the violence and fatalities across the nation
“Rescuing a Negro During the
Race Riots in Chicago”, 1919
WWI:
African Americans
Many were forced to work behind the lines jobs
The 369th Harlem Hellfighters fought with the French The 369th Infantry Regiment was known for being the first
African American Regiment during WWI
During the war the 369th's regimental band (under the direction of James Reese) became famous throughout Europe, being the first to introduce the until-then unknown music called jazz to British, French and other audiences, and starting a worldwide demand for it
US Troops were segregated black and white
True Sons of Freedom
Women’s Service in WWI Held Home Front jobs
RR Workers, cooks, bricklayers, dock
workers, coal miners, clerks, teachers,
and helped to sell liberty bonds
• Warfront Jobs of Women
Red Cross Nurses
Radio operators
Ambulance drivers
YWCA – The Blue Triangle
Munitions Work
Women Used In Recruitment
The Red Cross - Greatest
Mother in the World
WW I:
Suffrage-The Women’s
Movement…
National American Women Suffrage Association (NAWSA) Carrie Chapman Catt
National Women’s Party –Alice Paul
Women’s Suffrage America’s entry into the war threatened to
tear apart the suffrage movement
Jeannette Rankin opposed war first woman member of congress
women in general supported the war
The National Woman’s Party was militantly fighting for suffrage
Alice Paul compared Wilson to the Kaiser denying democracy, chained herself to white house fence, force fed in prison
Women’s Suffrage
The combined efforts of women during the war
won them suffrage –Wilson finally gave in
January 1918 Wilson withdrew his opposition
to female suffrage amendment
Took until Aug 1920 to have the
amendment ratified
72 years after goal of women’s suffrage
declared at Seneca Falls in 1848
New faces in the Workforce
Mexicans crossed the borders for industrial
jobs in southwestern cities (100,000)
Women joined workforce in record numbers
(one million)
Most people believed this would be a
temporary change
World War I
Just as women used their participation
in the war effort to fight for their rights,
African Americans also hoped to use
the war to improve their status.
Leaders like W. E. B. Du Bois and the
NAACP officials protested strongly
when initial mobilization plans did not
include African Americans.
A unit of the Women's Defense League
drills in its camp at Washington, D.C.
Although some in the women's suffrage
movement refused to support the war
effort until women were granted the right
to vote, other suffragists took a role in
mobilizing women into the war effort and
used women's support as an argument in
favor of their enfranchisement.
How did the war affect the U.S.?
Women
•Women filled factory jobs
•Women’s war effort
helped bring about
passage of the 19th
Amendment after the war
giving women the right to
vote.
•Black soldiers still served in segregated units.
African Americans
•In the “Great Migration” thousands of African
Americans moved to the North to work in factories.