Impact of WWI on African Americans

& Women

MAST HSUS HIS – Period 4Ms. Richardson

AIM: How did WWI change the lives of women and African Americans?

SWBAT analyze how World War I transformed the roles of women and African Americans socially, economically and politically.

Great Migration- 1916 – 1919 500,000 A.A moved from the South to North.

- War industries for work

- Enlistment in segregated units in the army

- Increased racial tensions

Opportunities for African Americans during WWI

Effects – African Americans• African-American soldiers played a significant role in

World War I

• Despite the numbers they faced racial discrimination:– Racially segregated forces (navy barred blacks)– Blacks were often classified as unfit for combat

and were not allowed on the front lines– Blacks were mostly given support duties (cooks,

janitors)

Chicago Race Riot (1919)

• A major racial conflict that began in Chicago, Illinois

• The African-American population in Chicago increased from 44,000 to 109,000, for a total of 148 percent during 1916-1919.

• During the riot, dozens died and hundreds were injured.

Effects - Women• Women took on many of the roles

that had traditionally belonged to men: –Factory workers–Coal miners –Military nurses*–Clerks–Teachers

How did the war affect the U.S.? Women

•Women filled factory jobs•Women’s war effort helped bring about passage of the 19th Amendment after the war giving women the right to vote.

•Black soldiers still served in segregated units.

African Americans

•In the “Great Migration” thousands of African Americans moved to the North to work in factories.

R.A.F.T

• Role of the Writer: Who are you as the writer? A movie star? The President? Student?

• Audience: To whom are you writing? A senator? Yourself? A company?

• Format: In what format are you writing? A diary entry? A newspaper?

• Topic: What are you writing about?

R.A.F.T

• Role of the Writer: African America or

Woman• Audience: ______________

• Format: Letter or Journal Entry

• Topic: How your life has changed because of WWI.

SAMPLE

November 11, 1917Dear Sam,

I hope this letter greets you with good health and fortunes. Life in war has been very difficult and my job as a cook grows worse by the day. As an all Black unit we face the harshest conditions and get little respect from our white peers. Yet I am glad for this opportunity and to have left the Mississippi because there was little for me except servitude….