Americans at War

Learning Target: I will be able to create a list of ways all Americans, including women and minorities, contributed to the war effort during World War I.

Illinois Social Science Standards

SS.H.1.6-8.LC: Classify series of historical events and developments as examples of change and/or continuity.

SS.H.1.6-8.MdC: Analyze connections among events and developments in broader historical contexts.

SS.H.1.6-8.MC: Use questions generated about individuals and groups to analyze why they, and the developments they shaped, are seen as historically significant.

Key Terms

Selective Service Act - This law, passed on May 18th, 1917, required that all men between the ages of 21 to 30 to register for the draft.
Draft - the term given to the requirement of people of a certain age to serve in the military.
Victory Gardens - small gardens planted in American citizen's yards during wartime in order to supplement their food supply.
American Expeditionary Force - was the name given to the United States Army during World War I fighting in France under the command of General John J. Pershing.
Harlem Hellfighters - The 369th U.S. Regiment, an all African-American regiment during World War I.
Armistice - an agreement made by opposing sides in a war to stop fighting for a certain time; a truce.

Bell Ringer (22-23)

Critical Thinking Questions:

Why did the United States pass the Selective Service Act?
How were African Americans treated differently during World War I?
Why were Americans successful during World War I?

9.5: Americans at War

Preparing for War

After the United States Congress voted to declare war on Germany on April 6th, 1917, the United States passed the Selective Service Act on May 18, 1917.
All men between the ages of 21 to 30 to register for the draft.
The United States military reversed its policy of discrimination and allowed over 400,000 African Americans to serve in the military.
Black soldiers were still not treated equally, but it represented a small step in the right direction for a nation still healing from the divisions caused by slavery less than 60 years earlier.
When the United States entered World War I, the U.S. military had fewer than 600,000 rifles for its soldiers, barely 2,000 outdated machine guns, and only about 1,000 artillery guns.
American women filled numerous roles in factories assembling weapons and ammunition in the factories.
Women served as police officers, truck drivers, railroad operators, and drove delivery vehicles.
Munition workers faced dangerous conditions at work, dealing with hazardous chemicals and deadly explosives.
As more factory jobs became available in American cities, nearly 500,000 African Americans began migrating to Northern cities.
African Americans found better-paying jobs in the North, and as a result, the migration continued long after the war.
The demand for more help on farms also encouraged many Southern farmers to pressure the United States government to allow more Latino immigrants into the United States in order to work on farms.
During the war Latinos from Central and South America took up jobs working in cotton and beet fields, copper mines, and steel mills.

The United States in World War I

The American Expeditionary Force

The American soldiers were known as the American Expeditionary Force in Europe and were led by General John J. Pershing.
At first France and Great Britain wished the American soldiers to simply replenish their supplies of soldiers, and fight in British and French units.
Pershing refused to allow this, claiming that Americans will fight as Americans, or not at all.
One unit of special recognition is the 369th Regiment.
The 369th was made up of all African Americans who had enlisted to fight in the war.
They took on the name Harlem Hellfighters.
The Harlem Hellfighters were honored for their bravery as the American unit that spent more time under fire from the enemy than any other American unit in the war.

African Americans in World War I

Women in World War I

Native Americans in World War I

Report abuse