The War at Home

I.
Congress Gives Power to Wilson
a. Because WWI was such an immense conflict, the entire economy had to be refocused on
the war effort
b. Congress gave Wilson direct control over much of the economy, including the power to
fix prices and to regulate even to nationalize certain war-related industries.
c. War Industries Board
i. The main regulatory body was the War Industries of Board (WIB) established in
1917 and reorganized in 1918 under the leadership of Bernard M. Baruch, a
prosperous business man
ii. It encouraged companies to use mass production techniques to increase
efficiency
iii. It also encouraged them to eliminate waste by standardizing products
iv. WIB applied price controls only at wholesale level therefore resulting in soaring
retail prices
v. Corporate profits soared, especially in industries such as chemicals,
meatpacking, oil, and steel
vi. The Railroad administration controlled railroads, and the Fuel administration
monitored coal supplies and rationed gasoline and heating oil
d. War Economy
i. Wages rose, however a households income was largely undercut by rising food
prices and housing costs
ii. Stock holders in large corporations such as the DuPont Company saw enormous
profits
iii. To deal with disputes between labor and management, Wilson established the
National War Labor Board in 1918
iv. Workers who refused to obey board decisions could lose their draft exemptions
v. The board worked to improve factory conditions, by pushing for and 8 hour work
day and promoting safety inspections and enforcing the ban on child labor
e. Food Administration
i. To help produce and conserve food, Wilson set up the Food Administration under
Herbert Hoover.
ii. meatless, sweetless, twice wheatless, and twice porkless
iii. children after school grew tomatoes and cucumbers in public parks, while
homeowners planted victory gardens in their backyards
II.
Selling the War
a. War Financing
i. The US spend about 35.5 billion on the war, collecting 1/3 of the money through
taxes, including a progressive income tax, a war profits tax, and higher excise
taxes on tobacco, liquor, and luxury goods
b. Committee on Public Information
i. To popularize the war, the government set up the nations first propaganda
agency, the Committee on Public Information (CPI) headed by a former
muckraking journalist named George Creel
ii. Propaganda is a kind of biased communication designed to influence peoples
thoughts and actions
iii. Creel tried to get the word out pro-war with posters and newspaper articles
iv. Creels propaganda campaign was highly effective, however, while the campaign
promoted patriotism, it also inflamed hatred and violations of the civil liberties of
certain ethnic groups and opponents of the war
III.
Attacks on Civil Liberties
a. As soon as war was declared conformity became the order of the day, with attacks on
civil liberties, both unofficial and official, erupted
b. Anti-Immigrant Hysteria
i. Those who emigrated from Austria-Hungary or Germany were mainly attacked.
ii. Many Americans with German names lost jobs,

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iii. A mob in Collinsville, Illinois, wrapped a German flag around a German-born

miner named Robert Prager and lynched him. A jury cleared the mobs leader
c. Espionage and Sedition Acts
i. In June 1917 Congress passed the Espionage act, under which a person could be
fined and sentenced for 20 years in jail for interfering with the war effort or for
saying anything disloyal, profane, or abusive about the government or the war
effort
ii. The House of Representatives refused to seat Victor Berger, a socialist
congressman from Wisconsin, because of his antiwar views
iii. Eugene V. Debs was handed a ten year prison sentence for speaking out agains
the war and the draft
iv. Emma Goldman received a two year prison sentence and a fine for organizing the
No Conscription League. When she left jail, the authorities deported her to Russia
v. Big Bill Haywood and other leaders of the IWW were accused of sabotaging the
war effort because they urged workers to strike for better conditions and higher
pay
The War Encourages Social Change
a. African Americans and the War
i. W.E.B. Du Bois, believed that blacks should support the war effort
1. He believed this would strengthen calls for racial justice
ii. William Monroe Trotter believed that victims of racism should not support a racist
government
b. The Great Migration
i. In concrete terms, the greatest war effect of the WWI on African Americans lives
was that it accelerated Great Migration, the large-scale movement of hundreds of
thousands of Southern blacks to cities in the North
ii. Several factors contributed to this
1. many blacks sought to escape racial discrimination in the South, which
made it hard to make a living and often threatened their lives
2. a boll weevil infestation, aided by floods and droughts, had ruined much of
the Souths cotton fields; the North had more job opportunities
iii. Racial prejudice against blacks existed in the North too.
c. Women in the War
i. They became railroad workers, cooks, dockworkers, and bricklayers
ii. Many women worked as volunteers serving at Red Cross facilities and
encouraging the sale of bonds and the planting of victory gardens
iii. Addams helped found the Womens Peace Party in 1915 and remained a pacifist
even after the US entered war
iv. In 1919, Congress finally passed the 19th amendment, granting women the right
to vote. In 1920 it was ratified
d. The Flu Epidemic
i. Mine shut down, telephone service was cut in half, and factories and offices
staggered working hours to avoid contagion
ii. In the army, where the living conditions allowed contagious illnesses to spread
rapidly, more than of the soldiers caught the disease
iii. WWI brought death and disease to millions, but like the flu epidemic, the war
came to a sudden end
iv. Leaders of the victorious nations gathered at Versailles outside Paris to work out
the terms of peace, and Wilson traveled to Europe to ensure it