Americans Prepare for War (College Board AP® US History)

Summary

Timeline

1917 – War Industries Board established

1917 – Espionage Act 

1918 – Sedition Act

1919 – Schenck v the United States 

While armies were fighting in Europe, Americans at home faced significant challenges to support the war effort. These included producing sufficient military resources, managing labor and production, and controlling public opinion. The concept of “total war” required the full commitment of the nation’s industry, workforce, and policies – reshaping American society during the conflict. 

War Production and Limitation on Free Speech

War Production

• The United States adopted a “Total War” approach

  • The entire nation, both civilians and military forces, worked together to win the war

  • This transformed industries, employment, and daily life

• Key features of war production

  • Industrial conversion

    • Factories shifted from producing their peacetime products (e.g. cars and household goods) to manufacturing military supplies such as weapons, ammunition, and uniforms

  • Workforce changes

    • Workers entering the workforce had to replace soldiers going to war

    • As men enlisted in military service, women and other previously underrepresented groups such as African Americans and immigrants joined workforces to fill labor shortages

    • This period saw significant migration, including African Americans moving from rural South to urban areas in the North (Great Migration) to take industrial jobs for war production

  • War Industries Board

    • Established in 1917, this government agency coordinated the production of war materials, ensuring efficiency and preventing resource waste

  • Food Administration

    • Led by Herbert Hoover, this government agency managed necessary food supplies needed for troops in Europe

    • Encouraged Americans to conserve food through initiatives such as  Meatless Mondays and Wheatless Wednesdays

    • Surplus food was shipped to soldiers and Allied nations in Europe

Limitation on Free Speech

• To maintain support for the war effort and prevent dissent, the US government enforced laws that restricted free speech and penalized opposition to the war

• Espionage Act (1917) and Sedition Act (1918), these acts made it illegal to:

  • criticize wartime production, military operations, or government policies

  • refuse to serve in the military

  • assist the enemy through spying, transmitting codes, or other acts of sabotage

• These laws were controversial, as they limited First Amendment rights to freedom of speech and expression

• Schenck v the United States (1919)

  • A landmark Supreme Court case that upheld the Espionage Act of 1917

  • Charles Schenck, a socialist, was convicted for handing out pamphlets urging resistance to the draft

  • Justice Oliver Wendell Homes argued that freedom of speech is not absolute

  • The court established the “clear and present danger” test, ruling that speech could be restricted if it posed a direct threat to national security or public safety

Impact of War Production and Free Speech Limitations

• War production caused economic and social shifts due to:

  • increased industrial output, which boosted the US economy

  • women and minorities experiencing new opportunities in the workforce

    • These were often temporary and limited by social norms

• Limitations of free speech led to debates over civil liberties

  • The Schenck decision set a precedent for restricting free speech during times of crisis

Immigration During World War I and the Great Migration

• During World War I, immigration was significantly influenced by the war and increasing prejudices against immigrants

• The Immigration Act of 1917 sharply decreased the number of immigrants, especially from Asia

  • It required immigrants over the age of 16 to pass an English literacy test

  • The Act was triggered by public concerns about national security 

• As a result of World War I, the Emergency Quota Act (1921) was passed

  • This law restricted the number of immigrants allowed entry into the United States, setting quotas based on nation of birth

  • The aim was to limit immigration from Southern and Eastern Europe

  • It reflected a growing xenophobia, fear, and prejudice of individuals from foreign countries

    • Particularly due to the perceived threat of foreign influences during wartime

Great Migration

• The Great Migration was a mass movement of African Americans from the rural South to urban areas in the North, Midwest, and West

  • This had lasting social, economic, and cultural effects on the United States

• The Great Migration began around 1910 and increased during and after World War I, continuing into the 1970s

• Approximately six million migrants left the South

• Reasons for migration:

  • Escape from oppression 

    • African Americans wanted to escape the oppressive conditions of the South, including segregation and Jim Crow laws that enforced racial discrimination

  • Disenfranchisement  

    • Many African Americans were denied the right to vote through poll taxes and literacy tests, making it difficult for them to participate politically

Challenges in the North during the Great Migration

• Despite the promise of better opportunities, African American migrants faced significant discrimination in the North as well

• Racial violence

  • In 1919, the “Red Summer” saw race riots in approximately 26 cities across the nation

    • Triggered by tensions between soldiers returning home after World War I who were reentering the workforce against African Americans who had filled industrial jobs during the war

  • Tulsa Race Riot (1921) (Tulsa Massacre)

    • The Tulsa Massacre occurred in a prosperous African American community in Tulsa, Oklahoma

    • Racial tensions erupted in violence after a Black man, Dick Rowland, was falsely accused of assaulting a white woman, Sarah Page, in an elevator

    • The riot caused mass burnings of the Greenwood District community and estimated deaths of 100 to 300 African Americans

    • Thousands of people were left homeless

• Housing and employment restrictions

  • African Americans often faced segregated neighborhoods

  • They were denied employment opportunities for higher-paying jobs and promotions, despite their contributions to wartime labor

Spanish Flu & Red Scare

Spanish Flu (1918–19)

• The Spanish Flu was a pandemic of influenza

  • One-third of the global population was infected, causing millions of deaths worldwide

• The United States was hit hard, with widespread illness that added strain to wartime efforts

  • Large number of soldiers returning home from World War I were in crowded military camps and transport ships, which made it easy for the virus to spread quickly

  • Urban areas were heavily populated, and people lived close together, which caused the virus to spread quickly through cities like New York and Philadelphia

  • At the time, there were no vaccines or effective treatments for influenza

  • The government was slow to react to implement public health measures such as masks and social distancing

• Public health measures, such as quarantines and restrictions on public gatherings, were enacted

  • This further disrupted daily life

  • Created a climate of fear and uncertainty

• There was significant censorship of the news in the United States during the pandemic

  • The government was worried about public panic

  • Newspapers were encouraged to downplay the number of deaths and the seriousness of the disease

  • The government wanted to keep morale high for the war effort

Red Scare (1919–20)

• Following the war, the United States experienced a wave of anti-communist and anti-radical sentiments, known as the Red Scare

• Fueled by fears of communist revolution (a result of the Bolshevik Revolution in Russia in 1917) and labor unrest, the government cracked down on suspected:

  • socialists

  • anarchists

  • radicals

• There was a fear of communists and left-leaning political views coming to the United States

• This period saw a rise in political repression, including the Palmer Raids

  • The Palmer Raids were led by US Attorney General A. Mitchell Palmer

  • They included large-scale government raids to arrest and deport suspected communists and anarchists

  • Seen by some as a violation of civil liberties

Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti, 1920−1921

• These Italian immigrants were accused of robbery and murder

• Despite the lack of evidence in the case, they were convicted

  • Many believe the conviction was due to their anarchist beliefs 

• Their case became a symbol of political repression and anti-immigrant sentiment that characterized the period

  • Highlighting the fear and suspicious directed towards political radicals during the Red Scare