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Waging War in America

Waging War in America. WWI at Home Mrs. Huston. Quote from President Wilson. “It is not an army that we must shape and train for war, it is a nation.”. Wartime Agencies. War Industries Board Reorganized industry to maximize wartime production Railroad Administration

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Waging War in America

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  1. Waging War in America WWI at Home Mrs. Huston

  2. Quote from President Wilson “It is not an army that we must shape and train for war, it is a nation.”

  3. Wartime Agencies • War Industries Board • Reorganized industry to maximize wartime production • Railroad Administration • Modernized and operated the nation’s railroads • Food Administration • Increased agricultural production, supervised food distribution and farm labor

  4. More Agencies … • National War Labor Board • Resolved labor-management disputes • Improved labor conditions • Recognized union rights as a means to promote production and efficiency • Committee on Public Information • Managed propaganda to build public support for the war effort

  5. War Industries Board • Most important agency • Set industrial priorities • Coordinated military purchasing • Supervised business • Led by Bernard Baruch

  6. Growth of Power • The WIB had unprecedented power • Set prices • Allocated scarce materials • Standardized products & procedures • Examples: number of color of typewriter ribbon available dropped from 150 to 5 • Aimed at business-government integration

  7. The Labor Movement • In exchange for labor’s cooperation, the National War Labor Board guaranteed rights of unions to organize and bargain collectively • Membership in unions sharply increased

  8. Accomplishments • Under the NWLB • Improved working conditions • Higher wages (connected to inflation) • Shorter hours 8 hour days (48 hour week)

  9. Women & Minorities • Women urged to join the workforce “For every fighter, a woman worker.” • Took jobs formerly closed to them • Built airplanes • Produced guns and ammunition • Manufactured tents, etc.

  10. Women, cont. • 100,000 women worked in munitions plants • 40,000 in steel industry • Caused openings in domestic, clerical, & industrial employment for black women as well

  11. Black Women • Racial & gender segregation continued • Wartime improvements were temporary • Government efforts half-hearted

  12. Reforms gained • Although workplace reforms were short-lived for women, the war did help them achieve women’s suffrage and prohibition

  13. Changes for African Americans • Demand for industrial labor caused huge migration from rural South to Northern cities • Still encountered racial discrimination and violence • Some riots by whites in E. St. Louis

  14. Financing the War • Two main sources of funding • Borrowed money • Raised taxes

  15. Income Taxes • Begun in 1917 & 1918 • Graduated: increased on • Larger incomes • Corporate profits • Wealthy estates

  16. Borrowing • 2/3 of the money raised this way • Most from banks & wealthy investors • Government also sold Liberty Bonds to public • Raised by celebrities • Billed as patriotic duty

  17. Emotional Support • Loyalty • Fear • Patriotism • Obedience

  18. Conquering Minds • Established propaganda agencies • Enacted legislation • Goals • Social control • Behavior regulation • Nativism

  19. Committee on Public Information • Purpose was manipulation, not information • Used various media • Press releases • Advertisements • Cartoons • Canned editorials • Posters • Pamphlets • Poems

  20. “Live Action” • CPI made newsreels & war movies • Speakers

  21. Propaganda Themes • National Unity • The loathsome character of the enemy • The war as a grand crusade for liberty and democracy

  22. Promoted fear, hatred & prejudice • Germans portrayed as brutal, even subhuman, rapists, murderers • Any dissent was unpatriotic, possibly treasonous • Disagreement was dangerous to national survival

  23. Suppressing Disloyalty/Dissent • Tarnished the nation’s professed idealistic goals • Established unfortunate precedents for the future

  24. Espionage Act • Heavy fines • Up to 20 years in prison • For “obstructing the war effort” • Used to crush dissent and criticism

  25. Sedition Act of 1918 • Severe penalties for speaking or writing against • The draft • Bond sales • War production • Government personnel or policies

  26. Congress rejected a proposed amendment stipulating that “nothing in this act shall be construed as limiting the liberty or impairing the right of any individual to publish or speak what is true, with good motives, and for justifiable ends.”

  27. Other Measures • Postmaster banned anti-war newspapers & magazines from the mail • Imprisonment of “radicals” • Government use of private vigilantes

  28. Business Abuses • Promoted their own interests • Hurt farmers, workers and reformers • Targeted labor organizations • Particularly the Industrial Workers of the World • Accused of sabotage, etc. • Government assisted • Ugly mood persisted after the war

  29. Life in America would never be the same …

  30. NEXT, THE “ROARING TWENTIES”

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