Chapter 23

1. Chapter 23 America Prepares for War Section 2

2. Raising an Army & Navy • Key ? – What social changes did the war effort help bring about? • U.S. Army not militarily prepared for war. • Selective Service Act – all males (21-30) had to sign up for military service. • American Expeditionary Forces – 2 million soldiers sent to France – Pershing. • Britain & France wanted U.S. to join their soldiers, but Wilson refused. • African American soldiers (200,000) – at first, used for labor – 2 combat divisions formed.

3. Women Volunteer • 40,000 women volunteered. • American Red Cross • Served as non-combatants. • Nurses • Interpreters, switchboard operators, • Entertained troops • Drove AEF ambulances.

4. Government Mobilizes the Population • Key ? - How did American civilians contribute to the war effort? • War Bonds – low-interest loans by civilians to the government to be repaid in a number of years. • Civilians conserved scarce resources. • Children rolled bandages,collected tin cans,paper,toothpaste tubes, and cherry pits. • Women knitted socks, sweaters, and sewed hospital gowns. • People planted “victory gardens”.

5. Controlling the Economy and Information • War Industries Board – managed the buying and distributing of war materials; controlled wages and prices. • National War Labor Board – settled disputes between workers and factory owners. • Committee on Public Information – produced propaganda – opinions to influence others; posters, pamphlets, and movies.

6. Attacks on Civil Liberties and Dissent • Propaganda also created prejudice against Germans. • Espionage Act and Sedition Act. (1917) – heavy fines and prison terms for antiwar activities; encouraging draft resisters; pacifists; socialists. • Eugene Debs – Socialist Party leader; poor working men for the profit of the rich. Sentenced to 10 years. • Schenck v. United States, upheld the Espionage Act for convicting Schenck of distributing pamphlets against the draft. SC argued free speech could be limited in time of war.