World War I on the Home Front

A look at how people in America helped win the war.

Objective

• By the end of the lesson, SWBAT explain how the people on the home front in America helped the troops fighting in Europe win World War I

Vocabulary • Rations - Limits you put on

things.

• Scarcity - Not having an unlimited supply of something.

• Propaganda - Information that is used to shape people’s thinking.

Lightning Round Review•How did World War I start?

•Who were the two sides that were fighting in World War I?

•Why did the U.S. enter World War I?

America Enters the War

• It is 1917, and America is beginning to fight in the deadliest and largest war that has ever taken place, what sort of supplies do the soldiers need?

Supplies Needed• Weapons Uniforms

• Tanks Ships

• Airplanes A LOT OF THINGS!

• Food

• Gas Masks

• Helmets

Supplies• Many of the supplies that were needed for the war had to come from America.

• But because of scarcity, not having an unlimited supply, many people had ration the amount of food and metal that they used in the United States during the war so they could provide enough food and supplies for the soldiers fighting.

Rationing

Scarcity

Rationing

•Why would people in America need to ration the amount of food and metal they ate and used during the war?

Rationing• To get people to cut down on the

amount of food and metal people used, the government used propaganda to persuade or talk people into rationing and working harder for the war effort.

Propaganda

•Where do we see propaganda in our lives today?

Propaganda• The government used propaganda posters to convince people:

• eat less food

• use less money

• worker harder building equipment for the troops

• THE GOVERNMENT USED NATIONALISM

Supplies• There were a lot of supplies (guns, tanks,

helmets, uniforms, etc.) that were needed for the war effort in World War I.

• Many of the men who worked in those factories before the war, were now fighting in the war.

• Who worked in the factories while the men were fighting?

Women in the Work Force• Women had to step in and work in the

factories

• Women filled the spots that were left by the men and helped make all of the supplies needed in the war.

• World War I would not have been won if it were not for the help of women in the factories who made supplies.

Women in the Work Place

•What was a woman’s role in society before World War I?

Women’s Rights• Women did not have the right to

vote.

• Women did not work in factories.

• Women did not work anywhere but in schools or sometimes as secretaries.

Women

• Society’s view of women changed a lot after World War I.

• Women got the right to vote in 1919 with the 19 Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

Propaganda Posters

• For each propaganda poster, try to figure out what the poster is trying to convince Americans do to help in the war effort?

Poster 1

Poster 2

Poster 3

Poster 4

Poster 5

Poster 6

Poster 7

Conclusion• The U.S. needed to ration the amount of

food and supplies people used during World War I.

• The U.S. used propaganda to get people to help out with the war effort.

• Women played a major role in the war by helping in factories during the war.