Transcript America`s Homefront - Hinsdale Central High School

America’s Homefront
Building an Army
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Congress past the Selective Service Act
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Draft
9.6 million registered for the draft and were
assigned a number
Sec of War Baker pulled out number 258
Over course of war 24 million registered / 2.8
million were drafted
Building a War time Economy
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Bernard Baruch
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Wall Street investor
head of WIB (War Industries Board)
Main Regulatory body of war-related production
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Regulated all industries engaged in the war effort
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Doled out raw materials, what & how much to produce and fixed
prices
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Encourage use of mass-production techniques & standardization to
increase efficiency & eliminate waste
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“Gasless Sundays” & “Lightless night”
Building Agriculture Production
Herbert Hoover
Head of the Food Administration
Set prices high to encourage farmers to produce
did not rationing but encouraged people to
voluntarily to cut back
Wheatless Monday and Wed
Meatless
Sweetless
“Food will
win the war”
“gospel of the clean plate
Victory Gardens
Daylight Savings
Building Funds to Fight the War
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Raised money for war effort
Taxes
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progressive income tax
Excise tax
Luxury tax
Sold War Bonds
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“4 minute men” speeches
“Only a friend of Germany would
refuse to buy war bonds”
~William G. McAdoo, Treasury Secretary
Building Support for the War
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Committee on Public
Information
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George Creel
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former muckraker
Propaganda - biased
communication designed to
influence people’s thoughts and
actions
Paintings, cartoons, posters,
sculptures, pamphlets, booklets,
leaflets, and short movies
Building “Support” for the war
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Espionage and Sedition Acts, 1917 & 1918
Fines and jail time
Interference with war effort or saying
anything disloyal, profane, or abusive
about the gov’t or war effort
What about the 1st Amendment?
The Great Migration
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Mass movement of AfricanAmericans from the South to
North
Escape racial discrimination
Harsh conditions in South –
boll weevil, floods, droughts
Job opportunities
Overcrowding and racial
tension
Women
• Took over jobs previously
held by men
• Volunteers
• Helped to advance women’s
causes
• Women were not paid
equally
Flu Epidemic
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crisis on the home front
1/4 of U.S. population affected
Economy drops
Army poor living condition = 1/3 of troops