1. Chapter 11 Section 3 The War Effort in the U.S.
3 Priorities of the U.S. Gov. at home
#1. Supply Allies with necessities (food, military equipment)
#2. Raise $ to pay for the war
#3. Get Am. public to maintain support for the war

2. #1. How to Supply Allies? War Industries Board (led by Bernard Baruch)
Handled purchasing for the Allies
Determined what the army needed
Converted existing factories to meet
the needs of the military
Had the power to control prices at home
set most high, but wages were high so
it evened out some
Bottom line
Good for businesses, bad for consumers
People at home asked
to use less “stuff”

3. Fuel Administration Boosted coal and oil production
Encouraged public to conserve
energy for the good of the
war effort.
Example = Daylight savings time.

4. National War Labor Board
Created to prevent labor disputes
Union membership doubled
Better pay & working conditions

5. Women supporting the war
Many men at war, so women filled their jobs
Many jobs were not available to women before
Women finally gain full suffrage
19th Amendment (1920)

6. African Americans (most support the war… some do not… explain)
Great Migration
moved from rural South to urban North for 2 main reasons
to get better paying factory jobs vacated by soldiers.
to escape discrimination in the South
Results
Better standard of living for blacks
Less discrimination at first
Some race riots, especially after war (listen)

8. Citizens were encouraged to conserve food (Food Admin.)
Eat just what you need
Plant “Victory Gardens”
Raise your own vegetables at home
Farmers paid excellent prices by gov. for their crops

9. #2. How to Raise $$$ to pay for the war?
Total amount needed = $35.5 billion
2 main sources of $$$
Taxes and Bonds

10. Taxes Paid for one-third of the war Different kinds were increased
income taxes
corporation taxes
excise taxes on a # of non essential products
Gum, movie tickets, tobacco, liquor

11. Bonds Paid for two – thirds of the war
Most bonds sold to U.S. citizens
Promised high interest rates
Gov. sold them by using
propaganda
Persuasive messages
magazines, newspapers, posters, speeches

12. #3. How to maintain public support for the war?
Committee on Public Information
led by George Creel
created all kinds of propaganda
to support the war
Songs, art, literature, posters
silent movies, public speakers, etc…

13. Espionage and Sedition Acts (targets Socialists and Union Leaders)
Established to punish people that
openly opposed the Am. Govt.
during the war.
fines (up to $10,000)
jail time (up to 20 years)
People’s 1st Amendment Rights
became limited during wartime
Schenck v. U.S. (pg )

14. Allowing and even Encouraging Anti – German sentiment
Changing names of cities with German origins
Banning German books and music
Changing names of food (Salisbury Steak?)
Violence against Germans going unpunished

16. German-Americans were asked to gather in public meetings to adopt declarations against Imperial Germany. They were expected to buy war bonds, to sing the national anthem, and to declare their allegiance to the flag. And they were to do it enthusiastically. If they did not, they could have been fined, jailed, beaten, and… in a few cases… even killed.
Literature began to directly attack German-American churches, schools, societies, and newspapers. Soon there were calls to throw out the German language and “all disloyal teachers.”
The names of German food were removed from restaurant menus; sauerkraut became liberty cabbage, hamburger became liberty steak. Even German measles was renamed liberty measles. Government officials felt the need to protect the American public from contamination via disloyal music by pushing to eliminate classic German composers such as Beethoven, Bach, and Mozart from the programs of community orchestras. Some states banned the teaching of the German language in schools. In July 1918, South Dakota prohibited the use of German over the telephone.
Many local governments and well known organizations encouraged the public to burn German-language books and campaigned to change the names of cities, streets, parks, and schools in America to the names of Belgian and French communities destroyed in the war. Germantown, Nebraska, became Garland after a local soldier who died in the war. East Germantown, Indiana, was changed to Pershing; Berlin, Iowa, became Lincoln.