Ms. HENRY
US/ Unit 6/ WWI – Class Work
Name ______
Unit 6: World War I – Class Work
Overview
In 1914, World War I began. As European nations battled each other on Europe soil and around the world, the United States remained neutral. The United States asserted its right to trade freely on the open seas with any nation. The US continued to trade with Europe via its merchant ships. By 1917, the US decided to enter the war on the side of the Allies (Great Britain, France and Italy). Joining World War I sparked many changes on the home front. US entrance into the war helped the Allies defeat Germany and the Central Powers. President Wilson was one of the major forces in the Peace Treaty that would be signed after World War I.
As we study this time period, we will answer the following questions:
· Why did the US remain neutral?
· Why did the US enter the war?
· How did the war affect the home front?:
· What is the League of Nations?
◦ Why didn't the US join the League of Nations?
Timeline
- At the start of WWI, why did the US remain neutral?
- Why did the US enter WWI?
The Lusitania
4
What happened to the Lusitania?
Why did Americans care about a British ship?
people
What differences do you see in these headlines?
· Wilson, while one says “Washington” more generally
President Woodrow Wilson's address to Congress asking for a declaration of war. April 2, 1917:
American ships have been sunk, American lives taken . . . the ships and people of other neutral and friendly nations have been sunk and overwhelmed in the waters. . . The challenge is to all mankind. . . Our motive will not be revenge or the victorious assertion of the physical might of the nation, but only the vindication of right, of human right, of which we are only a single champion.
. . . I thought that it would suffice to assert our neutral rights with arms, our right to use the seas against unlawful interference, our right to keep our people safe against unlawful violence. But armed neutrality, it now appears, is impracticable. Because submarines are in effect outlaws when used as the German submarines have been used against merchant shipping . . .
. . . I advise that the Congress declare the recent course of the Imperial German Government to be in fact nothing less than war against the Government and people of the United States.
2. Why did the US enter WWI?
What changes happened on the American home front after the US entered WWI?
What's the purpose of this poster?
In this poster, what image is being used to recruit sailors?
What is the purpose of these posters?
· To sell war bonds à raise money to pay for the war
What images are they using to sell war bonds?
· Lady Liberty, Boy scouts, shield, sword “Be prepared”
· Bomb à weapon of war
What does the US Food Administration want Americans to do?
· Conserve wheat for soldiers
· Eat less popular grains
What is the purpose of these posters?
· Liberty garden = grow your own food
· Conserve food for soldiers
What images are they using in these posters?
· Vegetables lined up like soldiers before a commander
· Lady liberty is planting seeds à doing her part for victory
Restrictions of Civil Liberties during war:
The Espionage Act (1917):
made it a crime:
To convey information with intent to interfere with the operation or success of the armed forces of the United States or to promote the success of its enemies.
To convey false reports or false statements with intent to interfere with the operation or success of the military or naval forces of the United States or to promote the success of its enemies when the United States is at war,
or to willfully obstruct the recruiting or enlistment service of the United States.
· What is the purpose of this act?
◦ Makes it a crime to
▪ Publicly challenge the war effort
▪ Make false reports that interfere with the success of the war effort
▪ or to interfere with recruiting of soldiers
The Sedition Act:
made criminal
"any disloyal, profane, scurrilous, or abusive language about the form of government of the United States ... or the flag of the United States, or the uniform of the Army or Navy"
· What is the purpose of this act?
◦ Makes it a crime to
▪ Say anything bad about the Used against communists, socialists, anarchists
Schenk v. US (1919)
“when a nation is at war, many things that might be said in time of peace are such a hindrance to its effort that their utterance will not be endured so long as men fight, and that no Court could regard them as protected by any constitutional right.”
· Does this act infringe a person's right to free speech?
◦ Yes.
· Why not? want
à you can’t say bad things about thet during war
If 2.8 million men were drafted into the armed forces, who was producing the ammunition, tanks?
· EN
The Great Migration: Paintings by Jacob Lawrence
What is the Great Migration (as seen through the paintings of Jacob Lawrence)?
The movement of African-Americans
· from the South to North
· From jobs on farms to jobs in factories
· From rural places to cities
Changed the life and experience of blacks in America.
End of World War I: The victors, the Allies, met at Versailles to negotiate a Peace Treaty. The Losers (Germany, Austria-Hungary and Ottoman Empire) were not represented at the Peace conference and had to accept the terms of the peace treaty.
Woodrow Wilson, President of the United States, suggested his 14 points for a lasting peace.
Point 14:
“A general association of nations must be formed under specific covenants for the purpose of affording mutual guarantees of political independence and territorial integrity to great and small states alike.”
What is the League of Nations?
Why didn't the US join the League of Nations?
How does the absence of the US affect the League of Nations? Why?