Find out how the United States quickly prepared for entry into World War I

Chapter 21 Section 2

Supporting the War Effort

• Find out how the United States quickly prepared for entry into World War I.

• Learn what measures the government took to control the wartime economy.

• Discover how the need to build support for the war sometimes clashed with civil liberties.

Objectives



Terms and People

• mobilize– to prepare for war

• Jeannette Rankin– Representative of Montana and the first woman elected to Congress

• illiterate– unable to read and write

• Herbert Hoover– head of the Food Administration during World War I

• Eugene V. Debs– labor leader jailed for criticizing the war effort



What steps did the United States government take to prepare the nation for war?

In 1917, the United States had to mobilize for war. It faced enormous challenges.

Increasing the size of its

army

Managing agriculture

and industry

Shaping public

opinion of the war



The U.S. took several steps to increase the size of its army, only the 16th largest in the world.

Selective Service

All men ages 21-30 had to register for the draft.

Women

More than 30,000 women

volunteered for service.

Diversity

Native Americans and African Americans

served.

U.S. Army



Women were not drafted, but they served the U.S. military in other ways.

Many served in the U.S. Army and U.S. Navy Nurse Corps.

Others performed

clerical work.

They were the first women to hold U.S. military rank.



Leading women were divided over the war.

The Women’s Peace Party spoke out for peace.

Suffragists such as Carrie Chapman Catt hoped that women’s wartime service would win them the vote.

Jeannette Rankin voted against Wilson’s war resolution.

Against the War For the War



The military reflected the increasingly diverse makeup of the United States.

Native Americans

Mexican Americans

Children of Immigrants

Italian Americans

Filipino Americans

African Americans

Native Americans were not citizens, but many volunteered for service.



380,000 African Americans served during the war.

But African American soldiers still faced discrimination.

They were placed in all-black

units.

Most were confined to noncombat

duties.



The military served as an educator for many American men.

Recruits learned how to fight and how to read.

One in four draftees were illiterate.

Some were not used to daily meals, baths, or indoor plumbing.

The military taught them about nutrition and hygiene.



The U.S. also had to reshape its economy. Agriculture and industry mobilized for war.

Herbert Hoover headed the new Food Administration.

He provided food supplies for civilians and troops.

He urged Americans to conserve food and plant “victory gardens.”



The war greatly increased demands on American industries.

Women and African Americans took jobs that were previously

denied them.

President Wilson set up the War Industries Board to oversee war

production.

The government had to fill huge orders for

the military.

Businesses needed workers to fill the

spots left by soldiers.



Americans were able to increase production and meet the new demands of the wartime economy.



The government worked to raise support for the war.

appeals by movie stars to buy Liberty Bonds and Savings Stamps

patriotic speeches in public places

pro-war posters



The government also took stern measures to suppress criticism of the war.

The Espionage Act (1917) and the Sedition Act (1918) made it illegal to criticize the government.

People such as labor leader Eugene Debs were jailed for speaking out against the war effort.

The American Protective League opened people’s mail, tapped phones, and pried into medical records.



Many German Americans suffered as America became gripped by anti-German hysteria.

• German Americans were harassed and assaulted.

• Some schools stopped teaching German.

• People started referring to sauerkraut as “liberty cabbage” and German measles as “liberty measles.”



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Find out how the United States quickly prepared for entry into World War I