1. Topic 13
World War I

2. What role did African-Americans play in World War I and how did incorporating them into the war effort prove problematic?

4. Black officers

5. Emmett J. Scott

6. Blacks training in their own camps

7. Trial of blacks after riot at Houston training camp in 1917

8. Black soldiers fought in a number of famous battles

9. German propaganda aimed at black soldiers during World War I

10. Black soldiers had to have their own entertainment sent from the states to keep morale high

12. For the most part, the French welcomed black soldiers from around the world

13. What effect did World War I have on African-Americans domestically?

14. “Great Migration”

15. National Conference on Migration, NYC, 1916

16. Pan-African Congress met at the same time as negotiations for the Treaty of Versailles

17. The Treaty of Versailles did little for the world’s blacks

18. After World War I, how and why were things worse for African-Americans?

20. Upon returning from the war, most blacks were optimistic about new treatment in America

21. But the optimism quickly evaporated as racial violence soon broke out after World War I, often requiring police and military intervention

22. There were a number of causes of this violence:
The Great Migration northward of African-Americans worried many northern whites
The expectation of African-Americans had been raised, in part by the government’s portrayal of the war effort as a fight for liberty
Having fought in the war, many African-Americans were now willing to stand up for their rights in a way they never were before. They had already been trained in fighting and had seen violence
For a number of reasons, the economy turned bad and the competition for jobs increased dramatically. In a bad economy, this competition often ended up violently
The racial violence should be understood as part of a larger period of troubles at the end of the war (for example, the Red Scare)

25. Aftermath of Knoxville race riots

26. Longview, Texas

27. Tulsa, Oklahoma