Chapter 24, Section 2: From Neutrality to War

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Chapter 24, Section 2 From Neutrality to War

• Main Idea The United States tried to remain
  neutral, but German submarine warfare finally
  brought the country into the war.

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A. He Kept Us Out of War

• President Wilson wanted peace, but also wanted
  the U.S. to be prepared for war
• He won reelection in 1916 on the slogan, He kept
  us out of war.
• Wilson pushed for peace without victory (both
  sides stop fighting no winner), but was ignored
  by Europe

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B. Moving Toward War

• Germany resumed submarine warfare, causing Wilson
  to end diplomatic relations
• The Zimmermann Telegram- the U.S. learned of a
  secret letter sent from Germany to Mexico urging
  them to attack the U.S. if the U.S. declared war
  on Germany. In return, Germany would help Mexico
  get back the land lost in the Mexican Cession.
  This telegram caused anti-German feelings to soar
  in the U.S
• Wilson asked Congress to declare war on Germany.
  Congress voted 455 to 56 in favor of war. War is
  declared on 4/6/17.

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Over there, over there, Send the word, send the
word over there That the Yanks are coming, The
Yanks are coming,The drums rum-tumming
everywhere.So prepare, say a prayer, Send the
word, send the word to beware.We'll be over,
we're coming over, And we won't come back till
it's over Over there.
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C. Calling Up the Troops

• Selective Service Act- required all men 21 to 30
  to register for the draft
• Over 4 million join in next 18 months
• Men trained w/ broom sticks (not enough guns)
  spirit was high (adventure over there)
• Blacks were not allowed to join at first when
  they finally did, they had to fight in segregated
  units led by white officers

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1917 Selective Service Act

• 24,000,000 men registered for the draft by the
  end of 1918.
• 4,800,000 men served in WW1 (2,000,000 saw
  active combat).
• 400,000 African-Americansserved in segregated
  units.
• 15,000 Native-Americans served as scouts,
  messengers, and snipers in non-segregated units.

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D. Organizing the War Effort

• Food- victory gardens, wheatless Mondays,
  meatless Tuesdays
• Labor- War Industries Board told factories what
  to make War Labor Board prevented strikes and
  settled labor problems
• Public Support- Liberty Bonds raised for the
  war(21 billion) Four-Minute Men gave speeches
  urging Americans to make sacrifices during the
  war
• Women- took over mens jobs (factories)

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Four-Minute Men made speeches urging
Americans to make sacrifices for the goals of
freedom and democracy.
Speech by a Four Minute Man Ladies and
Gentlemen I have just received the information
that there is a German spy among us a German spy
watching us. He is around, here somewhere,
reporting upon you and mesending reports about
us to Berlin and telling the Germans just what we
are doing with the Liberty Loan. From every
section of the country these spies have been
getting reports over to Potsdamnot general
reports but detailswhere the loan is going well
and where its success seems weak, and what people
are saying in each community. For the German
Government is worried about our great loan. Those
Junkers fear its effect upon the German morale.
Theyre raising a loan this month, too.
If the American people lend their billions now,
one and all with a hip-hip-hurrah, it means that
America is united and strong. While, if we lend
our money half-heartedly, America seems weak and
autocracy remains strong. Money means everything
now it means quicker victory and therefore less
bloodshed. We are in the war, and now Americans
can have but one opinion, only one wish in the
Liberty Loan. Well, I hope these spies are
getting their messages straight, letting Potsdam
know that America is hurling back to the
autocrats these answers For treachery here,
treachery in Mexico, treachery everywhereone
billion. For murder of American women and
childrenone billion more.
For broken faith promise to murder more
Americansbillions billions more. In the world
fight for Liberty, our sharebillions and
billions and billions and endless billions. Do
not let the German spy hear and report that you
are a slacker.
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E. Tensions Protest

• Racial Violence- competition for housing jobs
  led to race riots (The Great Migration see
  map)
• German Americans- many were suspicious of them
  and questioned their loyalty many were attacked
  German words were changed (sauerkraut, hamburger,
  etc)
• Critics- pacifists were anti-war Congress made
  it illegal to criticize the govt or the war with
  the Sedition Act (1600 arrested) Is this a
  violation of the First Amendment?

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German Americans faced discrimination and their
loyalty to the U.S. was questioned.
Nobody Would Eat Kraut Lola Gamble Clyde
speaks about Anti-German Sentiment in Idaho
During World War I
Lola Gamble Clyde (audio) There were some boys
that got draft deferments for this and other
reason, and they rode 'em on a rail and they took
off their clothes and tarred and feathered some
of them. Some of them as old men dying still
resented and remembered those violent episodes. I
remember when they smashed out store windows at
Uniontown that said Kraut on it. And Kraut on the
window. Nobody would eat Kraut. Throw the Kraut
out, they were Germans. You know. And all that
was pretty vile, you know. I remember even the
great Williamson store, he went in and gathered
up everything that was made in Germany, and had a
big bonfire out in the middle of the street, you
know. Although he had many good German friends
all over the county that had helped make him
rich. And there was all that went on, you know.
And some people changed their name. And if it was
a German namewell just change our name. We
dont want anything to do with it. And there was
lots of that kind of hysteria going on.
"Where he can be kept out of mischief?
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Patriotic Murder

"Among the more regrettable and bloody episodes
of this kind of wartime hysteria took place in
the Midwest when a mob seized a German-American
man named Robert Prager. They stripped him of
his clothes, bound him with cloth made from an
American flag and lynched him in front of a crowd
of some 500 or more people all of whom cheered
the effort on. The perpetrators of the lynching
were arrested and brought to trial. A jury
acquitted them in 20 minutes saying that what
they had done was patriotic murder. Robert
Prager, in fact, was a young man who had tried to
enlist in the American navy and was then rejected
for medical reasons. He had been known to say
publicly political opinions of a socialist sort.
He was thought to be (mistakenly, I believe) some
kind of a pacifist. And his worst crime was that
he was German-American. Prof. David Kennedy,
Stanford University
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Many Progressives opposed the war. In response,
the U.S. made it illegal to criticize the
government or to interfere with the war.
- Nearly 1,600 people were arrested for breaking
these laws.
- Eugene Debs, Socialist candidate for President,
was arrested for protesting the draft.
Eugene V. Debs
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The Espionage Act of 1917 was passed shortly
after the U.S. entered World War I. It made it a
crime for a person to interfere with the
operation or success of the armed forces of the
United States or to promote the success of its
enemies. It was punishable by a maximum 10,000
fine (almost 170,000 in today's dollars) and 20
years in prison.
Debs in the Atlanta Penitentiary