Transcript economic_politicl

Political & Economic WWI
Analyze the Political & Economic
ramifications of WWI on America
(11.4.5)
APK/Vocab
• Sedition
– Rebellion against one’s government – treason
• Espionage
– Spying or obtaining information about a foreign gov
• Emigrant
– Person who leaves a country to live somewhere else
• Hysteria
– Behavior exhibiting unmanageable fear
• Propaganda
– Biased communication designed to influence thoughts
• Efficiency
– Operation looking at production and costs
Content
• World War I led to an increase in the all of the
following except
– farm production and profits.
– industrial production.
– respect for African Americans.
– available factory jobs.
• “War is no longer Samson with his shield and
spear and sword, and David with his sling. It is
the conflict of smokestacks now, the combat
of the driving wheel and the engine.”
• Newton Baker (Sec of War)
Economy - Consumers
• Shift from consumer goods to war very
difficult
– Business and Government lead changes
– Pres Wilson had direct control
• Fix prices
• Regulate & nationalize war related industries
Economy- WIB
• War Industries Board (WIB)
– Established in 1917
– Encouraged mass production techniques to
increase efficiency
– Standardized production
– Production increased 20%
• Corporate profits soared
• Conserve fuel (oil and gas)
• Railroad controls
Economy - Wages
• Wages rose
– So did housing cost and food prices
• Companies saw rise in profits but didn’t pass it onto
workers
– Union membership rose
• Make working conditions better for people
• Nation War Labor Board
– Workers who disobeyed the government were drafted
• Work or Fight
– Improved working condition
• 8hr day
• Safety inspections and ban on child labor
Economy - Food
• Food Administration
– Helped produce and conserve food
• “Gospel of clean plate”
• 1 day a week “meatless”
– Victory Gardens
• Families & Schools grow food
• Farmers increased production by 30%
Selling the War - Finance
• War Finance
– US spent $35 bill
• Through taxes
– Progressive tax
– Luxury tax
» Tobacco, liquor
• Loans & Victory Bonds
Selling the War – Propaganda
• Public Information
– Propaganda
• Committee on Public Information (CPI)
– Influence people’s thoughts and beliefs
– Promoted Patriotism
– Angered non-Americans
WWI Propaganda
WWI Propaganda
Propaganda
Attacks on Civil Liberties - Immigrants
• Anti-Immigrant Hysteria
– Main targets were those who emigrated to US
• Especially German & Austro-Hungarian
– born or of descent
•
•
•
•
Lost jobs if had a German name
German Measles – “Liberty Measles”
Dachshunds – “Liberty Pups”
Sauerkraut – “Liberty Cabbage”
Attacks on Civil Liberties - Act
• Espionage & Sedition Act
– Passed in 1917 & 1918
– Person fined up to $100,000 & 20 yrs in jail
– Interfering with the war or saying anything
disloyal, profane, or abusive about the
government or war effort
– Violated 1st Amend
• 2000 prosecutions & half led to convictions
• House refused to seat Congressmen due to anti war
views
Espionage & Sedition
Today
• WASHINGTON - Capitol
Police dropped a charge of
unlawful conduct against
antiwar activist Cindy
Sheehan on Wednesday
and apologized for ejecting
her and a congressman’s
wife from President Bush’s
State of the Union address
for wearing T-shirts with
war messages.
• “The officers made a good
faith, but mistaken effort to
enforce an old unwritten
interpretation of the
prohibitions about
demonstrating in the Capitol,”
Capitol Police Chief Terrance
Gainer said in a statement late
Wednesday.
• Sheehan’s T-shirt alluded to the
number of soldiers killed in
Iraq: “2245 Dead. How many
more?” Capitol Police charged
her with a misdemeanor for
violating the District of
Columbia’s code against
unlawful or disruptive conduct
on any part of the Capitol
grounds, a law enforcement
official said.
• Young said he wouldn't be
so mad if it were just
Sheehan. "I totally disagree
with everything she stands
for," he said.
• "They said I was
protesting," she told the St.
Petersburg Times. "I said,
"Read my shirt, it is not a
protest.' They said, 'We
consider that a protest.' I
said, 'Then you are an
idiot."
Closure How the Government Controlled America
• Government took control of business to better
produce, manufacture materials and improve
work environments
• Propaganda was used to sway American’s
opinion of the war and the enemy
• Government broke civil liberties in 2 ways
– Immigrants became the focus of hysteria
– Anyone who speaks out against the war is subject
to jail and/or fines