HIST 1312 1st Edition Lecture 3 Outline of Last Lecture I America and the Great War a Neutrality and Preparedness b The Road to War c The Fourteen Points Outline of Current Lecture II The War at Home a The Progressives War b The Wartime State c The Propaganda War d The Coming of Women Suffrage e Prohibition f Liberty in Wartime g Espionage Act h Coercive Patriotism Current Lecture The War at Home The Progressives War o The war offered the possibility of reforming American society o That American power could now disseminate Progressive values around the globe heightened the war s appeal The Wartime State o WWI created a national state with unprecedented powers and a sharply increased presence in Americans everyday lives o Selective Services Act May 1917 24 million men were required to register with the draf Men between the ages of 21 30 4 million men actually served 12 of men drafed did not show up These notes represent a detailed interpretation of the professor s lecture GradeBuddy is best used as a supplement to your own notes not as a substitute 2 000 were imprisoned for not fighting o War Industries Board presided over all elements of the war production from the distribution of raw materials to the prices of manufactured goods o New federal agencies moved to regulate industry transportation labor relations and agriculture The Propaganda War o Industrial Workers of the World IWW and the bulk of the Socialist Party did not support Americans fighting in the war o April 1917 Committee on Public Information CPI is created by Wilson to explain to Americans and the world the cause that compelled America to take arms in defense of its liberties and free institutions CPI flooded America with prowar propaganda Propaganda was used to shake feelings of the war This created a positive image for the war o Liberty bonds became a demonstration of patriotism o Propaganda whipped up hatred of the wartime foe by portraying Germany as a nation of barbaric Huns All things German became taboo German descendants wanted to shed their heritage German Americans wanted to show their loyalty be enlisting The Coming of Women Suffrage o 1916 Wilson supported votes from women o During the war women sold war bonds organized patriotic rallies and went to work in war production facilities o Women were not allowed to fight in the war but their help on the home front helped to elevate their status o 1920 ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment Prohibition o Factories thought it would create better workers o Women were afraid of domestic violence o Many prominent breweries were owned by German Americans making beer seem unpatriotic o FDA insisted grain be made into food not beer o December 1917 ratification of Eighteenth Amendment Liberty in Wartime o WWI inaugurated the most intense repression of civil liberties the nation has ever known Espionage Act o Espionage Act of 1917 prohibited not only spying and interfering with the draf but also false statements that might impede military success o Sedition Act of 1918 made it a crime to make spoken or printed statements that intended to cast contempt scorn or disrepute on the form of government or that advocated interference with the war effort Used to target radical parties socialist party o 2 000 people were charged with violating these laws and over were convicted o Eugene V Debs convicted in 1918 for delivering antiwar speech Coercive Patriotism o During war 33 states outlawed the possession and display of red or black flags symbols of communism and anarchism o Patriotism came to be equaled with support for the government the war and the American economic system