1. The Home Front During World War I in the United States
* Today’s focus will be on the mobilization of the United States’ economy and military in preparation for entering into the Great War!

2. EQ & Standards
EQ: How was life altered for civilian Americans during WWI?
CS: 3. Evaluate the long-term impact of America’s entry into World War I on national politics, the economy, and society.
B. Analyze the experiences of the war’s homefront including the use of propaganda, women’s increased role in industry, the marshaling of industrial production, the Great Migration, the institution of a draft, and the suppression of individual liberties resulting in the First Red Scare.

3. The U.S. Government used Progressive ideas to SHAPE PUBLIC OPINNION
* April 1917, President Wilson created the Committee on Public Information to “sell” the war to the American people (George Creel) *
* The committee used newsprint, posters, radio, telegraph, cable and movies to broadcast its message – created and distributed propaganda! *
* …recruited 75,000 "Four Minute Men”– volunteers who spoke about the war at social events for an ideal length of four minutes (Why? HA!)
The purpose of the CPI was to influence American public opinion toward supporting U.S. participation in World War I via a prolonged propaganda campaign. The CPI at first used material that was based on fact, but spun it to present an upbeat picture of the American war effort. In his memoirs, Creel claimed that the CPI routinely denied false or undocumented atrocity reports, fighting the crude propaganda efforts of "patriotic organizations" like the National Security League and the American Defense Society that preferred "general thundering" and wanted the CPI to "preach a gospel of hate…
The Committee on Public Information, also known as the CPI or the Creel Committee, was an independent agency of the government of the United States created to influence U.S. public opinion regarding American participation in World War I. Over just 28 months, from April 13, 1917, to August 21, 1919, it used every medium available to create enthusiasm for the war effort and enlist public support against foreign attempts to undercut America's war aims…
The committee used newsprint, posters, radio, telegraph, cable and movies to broadcast its message. It recruited about 75,000 "Four Minute Men," volunteers who spoke about the war at social events for an ideal length of four minutes, considering that the average human attention span was judged at the time to be four minutes. They covered the draft, rationing, war bond drives, victory gardens and why America was fighting. It was estimated that by the end of the war, they had made more than 7.5 million speeches to 314 million people in 5,200 communities.[5] They were advised to keep their message positive, always use their own words and avoid "hymns of hate.“ For ten days in May 1917, the Four Minute Men were expected to promote "Universal Service by Selective Draft" in advance of national draft registration on June 5, 1917.
The CPI staged events designed for specific ethnic groups. For instance, Irish-American tenor John McCormack sang at Mount Vernon before an audience representing Irish-American organizations. The Committee also targeted the American worker and, endorsed by Samuel Gompers, filled factories and offices with posters designed to promote the critical role of American labor in the success of the war effort…
The film industry produced a wide variety of propaganda films. The most successful was The Kaiser, the Beast of Berlin, a "sensational creation" designed to rouse the audience against the German ruler. Comedies included Mutt and Jeff at the Front. The greatest artistic success, considered by many a landmark of film history, was Charlie Chaplin's Shoulder Arms, which followed the star from his induction into the military, his accidental penetration of the German lines, and his eventual return having captured the Kaiser and Crown Prince and won himself a pretty French girl…

4. The U.S. Government instituted a DRAFT
to prepare the military for the war
* May 1917, the United States Congress passed the Selective Service Act – authorized the government to raise an army for the American entry into World War *
* All males aged 21 to 30 were required to register for military service – would be selected randomly through a lottery system! (2.8 million drafted during the war)
* Effective system relied on local boards to determine draft status…
The Selective Service Act or Selective Draft Act (May 18, 1917) authorized the federal government to raise a national army for the American entry into World War I through conscription. It was envisioned in December 1916 and brought to President Woodrow Wilson's attention shortly after the break in relations with Germany in February The Act itself was drafted by then-Captain (later Brigadier General) Hugh Johnson after the United States entered World War I by declaring war on Germany. The Act was canceled with the end of the war on November, The Act was upheld by the United States Supreme Court in the Selective Draft Law Cases in 1918, a decision based partially on Vattel's The Law of Nations of 1758…
The Selective Service Act of 1917 was carefully drawn to remedy the defects in the Civil War system and—by allowing exemptions for dependency, essential occupations, and religious scruples—to place each man in his proper niche in a national war effort. The act established a "liability for military service of all male citizens"; authorized a selective draft of all those between twenty-one and thirty-one years of age (later from eighteen to forty-five); and prohibited all forms of bounties, substitutions, or purchase of exemptions. Administration was entrusted to local boards composed of leading civilians in each community…
By the guidelines set down by the Selective Service Act, all males aged 21 to 30 were required to register for military service. At the request of the War Department, Congress amended the law in August 1918 to expand the age range to include all men 18 to 45, and to bar further volunteering. By the end of World War I, some 2 million men volunteered for various branches of the armed services, and some 2.8 million had been drafted. This meant that more than half of the almost 4.8 million Americans who served in the armed forces were drafted.
Due to the effort to incite patriotic fervor, the World War I draft had a high success rate, with fewer than 350,000 men ”dodging” the draft.

5. American Women on the “Home Front”
* First time in American history that women officially served in the armed forces – “noncombatant” positions (clerical, radio operators, electricians, chemists, photographers)
* Women had always been nurses in the military – but were not really “in” the military – had no rank and were not technically enlisted in either the army or navy…
* As men left for the military, women began to take “men’s jobs” – on the assembly lines of factories, producing tanks, trucks and munitions for the war effort *
World War I saw many women taking traditionally men's jobs for the first time in American history. Many worked on the assembly lines of factories, producing tanks, trucks and munitions. For the first time, department stores employed African American women as elevator operators and cafeteria waitresses. The Food Administration helped housewives prepare more nutritious meals with less waste and with optimum use of the foods available. Most important, the morale of the women remained high, as millions join the Red Cross as volunteers to help soldiers and their families, and with rare exceptions, the women did not protest the draft

6. The U.S. Government used Progressive ideas to
manage the ECONOMY and fund the war efforts
* Congress created several key “wartime agencies” to manage the effort between the gov’t and private industries…
* July 1917, Congress created the War Industries Board to coordinate the production of war materials (Bernard Baruch) *
* Encouraged mass production, set production quotas, ordered construction of necessary factories, set prices and allocated raw materials…
* Dealt with labor management disputes arising from increased demand for products
The War Industries Board (WIB) was a United States government agency established on July 28, 1917, during World War I, to coordinate the purchase of war supplies. The organization encouraged companies to use mass-production techniques to increase efficiency and urged them to eliminate waste by standardizing products. The board set production quotas and allocated raw materials. It also conducted psychological testing to help people find the right jobs…
The board was led initially by Frank A. Scott, who had previously been head of the General Munitions Board. He was replaced in November by Baltimore and Ohio Railroad president Daniel Willard. Finally in January 1918, the board was reorganized under the leadership of Bernard M. Baruch.
The WIB dealt with labor-management disputes resulting from increased demand for products during World War I. The government could not negotiate prices and could not handle worker strikes, so the War Industries Board regulated the two to decrease tensions by stopping strikes with wage increases to prevent a shortage of supplies going to the war in Europe.
Under the War Industries Board, industrial production in the U.S. increased 20%. The War Industries Board was decommissioned by an executive order on January 1, 1919.
With the war mobilization conducted under the supervision of the War Industries Board unprecedented fortunes fell upon war producers and certain holders of raw materials and patents. Hearings in 1934 by the Nye Committee led by U.S. Senator Gerald Nye were intended to hold war profiteers to account.

7. The U.S. Government used Progressive ideas to
manage the ECONOMY and fund the war efforts
* August 1917, Woodrow Wilson created the United States Food Administration by Executive Order to coordinate food production with the war effort (Herbert Hoover) *
* Agency was responsible for increasing food production while reducing civilian consumption
* Motto was: “Food Will Win the War – Don’t Waste It” (focus was on WHEAT)
* Encouraged families to conserve food and grow their own vegetables in “victory gardens”
* “Wheatless Mondays, Meatless Tuesdays, Porkless Thursdays”
During the United States participation in World War I the U. S. Food Administration was the responsible agency for the administration of the allies' food reserves. One of its important tasks was the stabilization of the price of wheat on the U. S. market. It was established by Executive Order 2679-A of August 10, 1917 pursuant to the Food and Fuel Control Act.
Under the direction of Herbert Hoover the U. S. Food Administration employed its Grain Corporation, organized under the provisions of the Food Control Act of August 10, 1917, as an agency for the purchase and sale of foodstuff. Having done transactions in the size of $ 7 billion it was rendered obsolete by the armistice in Europe. President Woodrow Wilson promoted its transition in a new agency for the support of the reconstruction of Europe. It became the American Relief Administration, approved by an Act on February 25, 1919.
The U.S. Food Administration under Herbert Hoover launched a massive campaign to teach Americans to economize on their food budgets and grow victory gardens in their backyards. It managed the nation's food distribution and prices.
Gross farm income increased more than 230% from 1914 to Apart from 'wheatless Wednesdays' and 'meatless Tuesdays' due to poor harvests in 1916 and 1917, there were 'fuelless Mondays' and 'gasless Sundays' to preserve coal and gasoline.[

8. The U.S. Government used Progressive ideas to
manage the ECONOMY and fund the war efforts
* August 1917, Woodrow Wilson created the Federal Fuel Administration by Executive Order to address concerns about a steady supply of fuel to support military and industrial operations (Harry Garfield) *
* “Fuel committees” were organized down to the county level in each state in order to conserve coal and oil and divert those resources to the war in Europe…
* The Fuel Administration had the power to set and enforce prices of coal and energy…
* To conserve energy, the Fuel Administration introduced Daylight Savings Time (1918) and shortened the workweek for factories producing non-essential war materials…
The Federal Fuel Administration was a World War I-era agency of the Federal government of the United States established by Executive Order 2690 of August 23, 1917 pursuant to the Food and Fuel Control Act…
Even prior to a declaration of war by the United States, shortages of coal were experienced in the winter of To address concerns about a steady supply of fuel to support military and industrial operations and for use by consumers, in 1917 the Federal Fuel Administration was established and US President Woodrow Wilson appointed Harry A. Garfield to lead the agency. Garfield in turn selected local administrators for each state. Fuel committees were organized down to the county level.
The activities of the administration included setting and enforcing the prices of coal. The administration had broad powers to set the price of coal at various points (mine, dock) and the cost of transportation (by rail), and in regards to end use (home, factory, or business, etc.).
Daylight Savings Time was formally adopted in the United States in 1918 by the Fuel Administration… The Standard Time Act of 1918 established both standard time zones and set summer DST to begin on March 31, The idea was unpopular, however, and Congress abolished DST after the war, overriding President Woodrow Wilson's veto. DST became a local option and was observed in some states until World War II, when President Franklin Roosevelt instituted year-round DST, called "War Time," on February 9, It lasted until the last Sunday in September The next year, many states and localities adopted summer DST.
By mid-1922, the administration's activities were declining and some states were taking a more active role in managing coal production…

9. The U.S. Government used Progressive ideas to
MOBILIZE THE WORKFORCE in support of “The Great War”
* To keep factories running smoothly, Wilson established the National War Labor Board in 1918, which forced management to negotiate with labor unions *
* Purpose was to arbitrate disputes between workers and employers in order to ensure labor reliability and productivity during the war…
* Nearly all labor unions were strong supporters of the war effort – they minimized strikes as wages soared and full employment was reached…
Samuel Gompers, head of the American Federation of Labor, and nearly all labor unions were strong supporters of the war effort. They minimized strikes as wages soared and full employment was reached. The AFL unions strongly encouraged their young men to enlist in the military, and fiercely opposed efforts to reduce recruiting and slow war production by the anti-war IWW and left-wing Socialists. President Wilson appointed Gompers to the powerful Council of National Defense, where he set up the War Committee on Labor. The AFL membership soared to 2.4 million in In 1919, the AFL tried to make their gains permanent and called a series of major strikes in meat, steel and other industries. The strikes ultimately failed, forcing unions back to positions similar to those around Anti-war socialists controlled the IWW, which fought against the war effort and was in turn shut down by legal action by the federal government.
To keep factories running smoothly, Wilson established the National War Labor Board in 1918, which forced management to negotiate with existing unions.
The National War Labor Board (NWLB) was a federal agency created in April 1918 by President Woodrow Wilson. It was composed of twelve representatives from business and labor, and co-chaired by Former President William Howard Taft. Its purpose was to arbitrate disputes between workers and employers in order to ensure labor reliability and productivity during the war. It was disbanded after the war in May, 1919.

10. Paying For the War – LIBERTY BONDS!
* By the end of the war, the United States had spent $32 billion - $20 billion of which was raised through the issuance of Liberty Bonds *
* Bonds are pieces of paper that a government sells individuals and then pays them back at a later date with interest included *
* There were four issues of Liberty Bonds:
April 1917 – Emergency Loan Act, $5 billion in bonds (3.5%)
October 1917 – Second Liberty Loan, $3 billion in bonds (4%)
April 1918 – Third Liberty Loan, $3 billion in bonds (4.5%)
September 1918 – Fourth Liberty Loan, $6 billion in bonds (4.25%)
A Liberty Bond was a war bond that was sold in the United States to support the allied cause in World War I. Subscribing to the bonds became a symbol of patriotic duty in the United States and introduced the idea of financial securities to many citizens for the first time. The Act of Congress which authorized the Liberty Bonds is still used today as the authority under which all U.S. Treasury bonds are issued…
There were four issues of Liberty Bonds:
Apr 24, 1917 Emergency Loan Act authorizes issue of $5 billion in bonds at 3.5 percent.
Oct 1, 1917 Second Liberty Loan offers $3 billion in bonds at 4 percent.
Apr 5, 1918 Third Liberty Loan offers $3 billion in bonds at 4.5 percent.
Sep 28, 1918 Fourth Liberty Loan offers $6 billion in bonds at 4.25 percent.