Elizabeth Bohl Unit on Germans in Wisconsin in wwi and the 1920s Lesson 1
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- Espionage and Sedition Acts
| Food Administration, to help produce and conserve food. Wilson didn’t want to ration (limit) food so he called on people to observe the specific days: “meatless, sweetless, wheatless, porkless” days. People began to plant “Victory Gardens” in their yards so their families would have enough to eat and wouldn’t have to buy produce that could go to the soldiers. The food administration called on farmers to grow more grain and wheat for the soldiers, and they did becoming pretty wealthy in the process.
After the government had the economy under control it now focused it’s efforts on raising money and convincing the public to support the war. The government would raise money for the war through increasing taxes through a progressive tax (which taxed high incomes at a higher rate than low incomes), a war-profits tax, and higher taxes on tobacco, liquor, and luxury goods. The rest was raised through “Liberty Bonds” (A bond is a sheet of paper you get when you give the government money for an agreed upon period of time. When the time is up the government will give you your money back with some interest. So you could buy a $50 Liberty Bond for $30 – you would just have to wait 10-15 years to get your money back) To make the war more popular the government created a propaganda agency called the Committee on Public Information. (Propaganda is a form of biased communication designed influence people’s thoughts and 
actions.) The CPI persuaded the nation’s artists and advertising agencies to create thousands of paintings, posters, cartoons and sculptures to promote the war. The propaganda campaign was very successful in promoting support and patriotism it also caused hatred and violations of civil rights among certain ethnic groups. President Wilson was concerned about this new hatred and violence toward “different” groups and he was correct in being worried. The main targets of these hate crimes were immigrants, especially those from Germany and Austria-Hungary. People with German names lost their jobs, orchestras refused to play the music of Mozart and Bach (German composers), schools stopped teaching the German language, books were banned, violent attacks were made on Germans. This really hit Germans hard in Wisconsin, as there are many people of German descent living here. In the Milwaukee area Germans were forced to shut down their German newspapers and schools, many changed there names to sound more “American.” Other names changed – sauerkraut became “liberty cabbage,” hamburger (named after the German city of Hamburg) became “Salisbury steak” or “liberty sandwich.” In 1917 Congress passed the Espionage and Sedition Acts, this allowed the government to fine a person up to $10,000 or be sentenced to 20 years on prison for interfering in the war effort or saying anything disloyal about the government or the war effort. Many people would be fired or punished for presenting opposing views of the war effort. These acts clearly violated the First Amendment, however people really wanted to help the war effort and to stop those who would harm it, and as we have learned previously, this often leads to some hasty actions. The war also lead to a period of social change in the U.S. The black community had a divided opinion on 
the war. Some believed we needed to support the war effort, others felt that because they were discriminated by this government they shouldn’t support it. In terms of major changes for the blacks of America during WWI, there is the Download 3.31 Mb. Share with your friends:
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