Lesson 3: War on the Home Front

Lesson Focus

To win WWI, America had to completely reorganize its economy, industry, and society. This lesson explores the massive efforts and sacrifices made by civilians on the home front, which were crucial for victory.

People to Know

Woodrow Wilson, Bernard Baruch, George Creel

Learning Objectives

• Explain how the U.S. government financed the war effort through taxes and the sale of Liberty Bonds to the American public.
• Describe how the government used propaganda and legislation, like the Espionage and Sedition Acts, to shape public opinion and suppress dissent.
• Discuss President Wilson's Fourteen Points, his ambitious plan for establishing a new world order and lasting peace after the war.

To supply Allied and American armies, the U.S. government needed to rapidly reorganize the national economy.
It created federal agencies like the War Industries Board, led by Bernard Baruch, to control industries, allocate materials, and manage production as if the U.S. were a single factory.
This mobilization successfully equipped the military and also opened new job opportunities for women and African Americans, though discrimination continued. Pay special attention to this widespread economic shift.

The war cost the United States an astonishing $33 billion, requiring a massive fundraising effort.
The government raised one-third of this money through increased income and corporate taxes. For the rest, it borrowed from the American people by selling Liberty Bonds through patriotic campaigns.
This strategy not only financed the war but also gave civilians a direct way to contribute. Twenty-one million Americans bought bonds, making fundraising a huge success.

Winning the war depended on unified public support, so the government launched a campaign to “sell” the war to Americans.
The Committee on Public Information, led by George Creel, used propaganda like posters, speeches, and movies to promote the war as a moral crusade.
This effort successfully united Americans behind the war but also stirred intense anti-German feelings and suspicion of disloyalty, creating a climate of intolerance across the nation.

Fearing that opposition could hurt the war effort, the government moved to silence dissent.
Congress passed the Espionage and Sedition acts, which made it illegal to criticize the war, the president, or the government. Loyalty Leagues even encouraged spying on neighbors.
These laws led to thousands of arrests. In 1919, the Supreme Court case Schenck v. United States upheld these limits on free speech, ruling it was not protected if it posed a “clear and present danger.”

President Wilson wanted to ensure that World War I would be the war to end all wars, so he developed a plan for a lasting peace.
In January 1918, he presented his Fourteen Points to Congress. They called for an end to the causes of war, self-determination for all nations, and an international peacekeeping organization.
Although the Fourteen Points offered a hopeful vision, other Allied leaders were more focused on punishing Germany, creating a challenge for Wilson.