Raising Support for World War I

Overview and Instructional Use

In this lesson, high school students will analyze and compare advertisements, political cartoons, and sheet music to learn about popular culture and propaganda during World War I while practicing visual literacy and writing skills.

This lesson can be used:

• To practice making a written claim using evidence from multiple sources.
• As part of a unit on World War I.
• To practice visual literacy skills.

Materials

• A link to Cream of Wheat, “Preparedness,” in The Youth’s Companion (1917).
• A link to “Colgate’s Ribbon Dental Cream,” in The Youth’s Companion (1918).
• A link to M. L. Lake and E. Paul Hamilton, All Together “We’re Out to Beat the Hun,” cover (1918).
• A link to “Mamma’s Boy,” in Life (1918).

Procedure

1. Display the images. Give students time to take notes on the document, generate questions, and attempt to answer them. Supplement with background information where appropriate.
2. Have students closely read all the documents and select two to compare.
3. Assess students by having them write a well-developed paragraph comparing the two documents and answering the lesson’s essential question.

Today you will examine a series of documents to answer the essential question: How did popular publications encourage Americans to support the war effort?

Step 1: Display the Images

Display the images. Have students examine the documents, paying particular attention to the source notes and the context of each. Give students time to take notes on the document, generate questions, and attempt to answer them. Supplement with background information where appropriate. 

Step 2: Close Read all the Documents

Have students closely read the documents on their own to determine the purpose of the advertisement or piece of art. Ask them to consider:

• What is the author’s message?
• What strategies does the author use to communicate this message?
• What evidence do you have to prove that this was the author’s purpose?

When the students are finished closely analyzing the documents, have them select two to compare during the next part of the lesson.

Step 3: Assess Students by Comparing Two Documents

Have students choose two documents to compare as their assessment for the lesson. Ask them to compare the message and strategies between the documents in detail, to answer the essential question in a well developed paragraph response:

“How did popular publications encourage Americans to support the war effort?”

Background

When the Great War (as World War I was known at the time) began in Europe in 1914, few Americans believed that the United States should get involved. President Woodrow Wilson issued a proclamation of neutrality, urged Americans to remain “impartial in thought as well as action.” Public support for neutrality, however, was challenged by the German U-Boat attacks on American ships, including the May 1915 attack on the British passenger ship the Lusitania in which 128 Americans died. As the presidential election of 1916 approached, Wilson emphasized “preparedness” in speeches and parades designed to show that he and the nation were not timid, but ready for war, if necessary. At the same time, he campaigned and won the 1916 election under the slogan “He kept us out of the war.”

By the spring of 1917, the Allies were running low on money and supplies, and Allied troops had been decimated. In March, German U-boats sunk four American merchant ships. On April 6, 1917, the United States formally declared war and, a year and a half later, secured the Allied victory. Ten million soldiers (including 50,000 Americans) and nearly seven million civilians had lost their lives.

While World War I was not fought on U.S. soil, it had an enormous social and cultural impact on the nation. President Wilson made a concerted effort to maintain public support for his policies through propaganda as well as legal prosecution. Americans participated in countless parades and commemorative events to demonstrate, first, preparedness, then support for the war. In April 1917, soon after the American declaration of war, his administration formed the Committee on Public Information (CPI) and hired writers and speakers to promote the war effort throughout the country. People who opposed the war, such as reformer Jane Addams and Senator Robert La Follette, were subject to public ridicule. With the passage of the Espionage Act (1917) and the Sedition Act (1918), critics of the war effort became subject to fines and jail sentences.

Illinois Social Science Standards

This lesson supports the following standards from the Illinois Learning Standards for Social Science:

History

• SS.9-12.H.4. Analyze how people and institutions have interacted with environmental, scientific, technological, and societal challenges.
• SS.9-12.H.4. Analyze how people and institutions have interacted with environmental, scientific, technological, and societal challenges.
• SS.9-12.H.12. Analyze the causes and effects of global conflicts and economic crises.

Common Core

This lesson supports the following Common Core Literacy in History/Social Science standards:

English Language Arts: History/Social Studies

• CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.11-12.7: Integrate and evaluate multiple sources of information presented in different media or formats (e.g., visually, quantitatively) as well as in words in order to address a question or solve a problem.
• CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.9-10.1: Write arguments to support claims in an analysis of substantive topics or texts, using valid reasoning and relevant and sufficient evidence.
• CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.11-12.1: Write arguments to support claims in an analysis of substantive topics or texts, using valid reasoning and relevant and sufficient evidence.

The College, Career, and Civic Life (C3) Framework

This lesson supports the following C3 Framework standards:

Dimension 2, History

• D2.His.1.9-12. Evaluate how historical events and developments were shaped by unique circumstances of time and place as well as broader historical contexts.
• D2.His.16.9-12. Integrate evidence from multiple relevant historical sources and interpretations into a reasoned argument about the past.

Sources Used in Text

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