US THE HOME FRONT

DO NOW  In order to go to war what preparations do you think a country needs to make?

SELECTIVE SERVICE ACT  Authorizes a draft of young men for military service  “Great National Lottery”  Secretary of War Newton D. Baker pulls number out of jar  Group of men assigned that number become draftees  Conscientious Objectors  People whose moral or religious beliefs forbade them to fight

WAR ECONOMY  Economy needed to shift from peacetime to war economy  War Industries Board  Headed by Bernard Baruch  Regulated what products were made, where they went and how much they would cost  Food Administration-Herbert Hoover  Set prices for food and encouraged conservation of food

COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC INFORMATION  Two responsibilities  educate public about the war  Convince Americans war was a just cause  George Creel-Director of CPI  “sell America”  Designed posters (propaganda)

ESPIONAGE ACT/SEDITION ACT  Espionage Act- severe penalties for anyone engaged in disloyal or treasonable activities  Obstructing army recruiters, aiding enemy, interference of war effort  Sedition Act- unlawful to use “disloyal, profane or abusive language” towards the government, the Constitution or military forces  Eugene V. Debs-leader of socialist party  Arrested under Sedition Act

WOMEN  Women were split on the U.S. joining the war  Women’s Peace Party  Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom  Women enter the workforce  Took many different jobs vacated by men  This earned them the right to vote

AFRICAN-AMERICANS  Many African-Americans enlisted in WWI  Served in segregated units  The Great Migration  Over 1 million African-Americans migrated from the south up to the north in the U.S.  Main reason was to escape from violent racism