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The Home Front “Perhaps it will not be long before we will read each day long lists of American boys killed or wounded in the trenches of France. There will be boys in those lists that you know, boys that I know. And as our eyes film over with tears it will be at least some comfort to us to be able to say, “I am helping too. I am saving food for the boys who are fighting.”
War affects many things Greatest impact-ordinary people People: Fight, Sacrifice, Die Work to produce food Work to produce guns soldiers fire Why does it matter?
To build an army Encouraged men to volunteer Congress passed Selective Service Act-May 1917 1st day-9.6 million registered Great National Lottery 4.8 million served Building an Army
Council of National Defense: Regulated food production Coal and petroleum distribution Railway use War Industries Board Headed by B. Baruch Regulated ALL industries engaged in the war effort Constructing a War Economy
Agriculture He set prices high for wheat-encouraging farmers to produce more Asked Americans to conserve Wheatless Mondays Meatless Tuesdays Porkless Thursdays Under President Hoover
Committee on Public Information George Creel-Dir. Combined education and widespread advertising to “Sell America” 75 million pamphlets 6,000 press releases 75,000 speakers Shaping Public Opinion
Conscientious Objectors American women Jane Addams Jeannette Rankin Espionage Act Sedition Act Prejudice against German Americans Opposition and its Consequences
Suffrage movement Women in the workplace Jobs in occupations only open to men Army Corp-nurses 1919-19th amendment-right to vote for women Women embrace new opportunities
“If this is our country, than this is our war” W.E.B. Du Bois 367,000 African-Americans served in segregated units Movement from rural South to the Industrial North The Great Migration
Fleeing violence and poverty Increased demands for food Decrease in farmworkers Large population stayed in California Mexican-Americans
Quick-Write • Write a paragraph describing three effects that World War I had on the American homefront. Think about economic and social changes caused by the war. Be sure to include at least one example of each effect to support your statements.