Though the United States was in combat for only a year and 7 months, the reorganization of society had a great effect on life for children in the United States. William J. Breen, Uncle Sam at Home: Civilian Mobilization, Wartime Federalism, and the Council of National Defense, 1917-1919 (Greenwood, 1984) More than 116,000 members of the U.S. military died in the war, far fewer than combatants from other countries. No one has estimated how many orphans resulted.Greenwald, Women, War, and Work, 4 Additionally, as the male workforce left for battle, mothers and sisters began working in factories to take their positions, and the family dynamic began to change; this affected children as they had less time to spend with family members and were expected to grow up faster and help with the war effort. Similarly, Woodrow Wilson called on children involved in youth organizations to help collect money for war bonds and stamps in order to raise money for the war effort.McDermott, T. P "USA's Boy Scouts and World War I Liberty Loan Bonds", pg. 70 This was a way to mobilize public opinion and shame adults who did not donate. The Office of War Information and other agencies implemented programs and created posters and pamphlets to encourage war support.

Background of World War I

The United States was involved in World War I for the last 19 months of the war (April 1917 to November 1918), 4,355,000 men were conscripted into service. By summer 1918, they were trained and shipped to France at the rate of 10,000 military personnel a day.John W. Chambers, II, To Raise an Army: The Draft Comes to Modern America (1987)

Meanwhile, every farm, town and city, and every economic sector, was mobilized for the war effort. Tens of millions of parents took war jobs or joined voluntary organizations such as the Red Cross. This involvement changed the course of the war and directly affected children's daily life, education, and family structures in the United States.Adams, Eyewitness, 62 The home front saw a systematic mobilization of the entire population and the entire economy to produce the soldiers, food supplies, munitions, and money needed to win the war. Although the United States entered the war in 1917, there had been very little planning or recognition of the British and other Allies' problems on their homefronts. As a result, the level of confusion was high in the first 12 months, then efficiency took control.David M. Kennedy, Over Here: The First World War and American Society (2004), is the standard scholarly history

Home life

Over 21 million people were killed or injured in World War I; in many cases, all of the men in one family were killed, numerous cities in Europe were destroyed, and family life throughout the world was greatly affected.Adams, Eyewitness, 30 As the war draft suddenly removed many men from factory work, the factories began soliciting for women workers in traditionally male-dominated areas. Therefore, women had less time to spend at home with the children, as many of them would have before the war. Additionally, women moving into new roles in society had lasting effects on children and family life after the war. President Woodrow Wilson stated, "We have made partners of the women in this war; shall we admit them only to a partnership of suffering and sacrifice and toil and not to a partnership of privilege and right?""Wilson Makes Suffrage Appeal, But Senate Waits" The New York Times. As women began working, more of society began to realize the need for women's rights; while women had been granted suffrage (voting rights) to varying degrees in several states beginning in the late 19th century, they were now guaranteed full suffrage throughout the United States by the Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution passed in August, 1920. This also paved the way for the children of future generations by creating greater career opportunities for girls and women; as women gained a stronger voice, girls became more involved in the workforce and education and prepared for roles outside of the home.

Over the course of the war, the United States mobilized hundreds of thousands of men and endured an estimated 117,465 casualties."American Merchant Marine at War, www.usmm.org" Of the men who survived and returned home, post-traumatic stress disorder created a major impact on society. During this time, and still today, post-traumatic stress (then more likely to be known as "shell shock") was not fully understood, but because of the traumatic nature of battle, many men were negatively affected after the war. Some men were forced to leave battle, which many people considered cowardice, and there were asylums throughout Europe housing men suffering from this condition. In some extreme cases, men were even shot for showing weakness.Dowswell, True Stories, 131 There are still people living today who lost family members because of this practice, which created lasting impacts on these children. Additionally, many of these men were teenagers when they left for war, and virtually all were under the age of 30; therefore many of these soldiers were barely out of childhood themselves.Dowswell, True Stories, 132

Furthermore, because over a million young men were deployed overseas, marriage and childbearing had to be postponed.

Technology On the home front, domestic appliances were being created, alleviating the amount of time that women needed to spend on chores, so they had more time to work outside of the home. Additionally, this lessened the need for female servants, as things like laundry services and food preparation services became popular.Greenwald, Women, War, and Work, 11 Therefore, women were able to move into more traditionally male-dominated areas, as technology began to do the service jobs that women primarily were responsible for. Additionally, this showed young girls that they could eventually work outside of the home and more opportunities were available to them after they completed their education.

educatoin Even though the United States was only involved in World War I for a short period of time, the government created several programs to help support education such as the Committee of Public Information (CPI), the National Education Association (NEA), and the Cardinal Principles of Secondary Education, all of which promoted nationalist movements and changes to education. Woodrow Wilson and the United States government, through these programs, funded a series of pamphlets, posters, bulletins, and speeches, which promoted strong nationalism and anti-German sentiments.Spring, Images of American Life, 20 These pamphlets also focused on a new movement of social efficacy, which strongly favored students growing as people and becoming involved, patriotic citizens. Another main goal of these educational programs was a move away from state education systems and toward a nationalized system of education, which would keep curriculums similar and promote a unified nation among students.Spring, Images of American Life, 21 For example, the national government changed textbooks to portray the American Revolution in a way that did not make Britain appear malevolent. This was important because the United States allied with Great Britain.Spring, Images of American Life, 27 These programs also promoted things like volunteering with federal organizations such as the Reserve Officers' Training Corps (ROTC) and buying war bonds to support the government.Spring, Images of American Life, 25

Starting as early as the elementary level, patriotic and pro-war lessons were instituted in public schools. They included things such as weekly fifteen-minute periods on patriotism for the first and second grades. They stressed that teachers instruct the children so that they viewed the war in a positive manner and portrayed war in terms of celebrations and victories, not destructive realities. An elementary pamphlet stated,

Therefore, starting at a very early level, students were taught that the war was a good thing and about the importance of patriotism.

Patriotic sentiments were also carried out in secondary settings. Specific programs and in-school curricula targeted the patriotic development of children, especially teens. New history curricula introduced rewrote the story of the American past to de-emphasize the friction between the colonies and Britain, and to deconstruct historical American and German amity in order to vilify the Germans.Spring, Images of American Life, 24–25 For example, every senior in high school received their own pamphlet in January 1918 called "Study of the Great War." This attempted to encourage enmity for Germany and emphasized the importance of an Allied victory.

Things like the importance of the ROTC program were also stressed during this time. Nationalist posters and other forms of propaganda were placed in public areas throughout the country that showed the importance of patriotism.Spring, Images of American Life, 25–26 Posters, like the Boy Scout poster shown below, depicted teenagers contributing to the war effort as being courageous and admired. This form of propaganda was especially influential on teenagers because most of them were trying to figure out their roles in society and desired to fit in; therefore, posters showing their peers serving their country and receiving recognition and respect, were particularly influential in persuading teenagers to join the war effort in whatever way they could.Snowman, McCown, and Biehler, pg. 29

Post-war After the war ended, nationalist movements changed to a larger focus on international peace. There were strong government movements toward peace and anti-war sentiments and the need to avoid further wars.Wit, Internationalization of Higher Education, 10 Additionally, there was a focus on internationalization of higher education. For example, in 1920, the Belgian American Educational Foundation instituted a program with over 700 students, in which American students went to study in Belgium and vice versa in order to promote international understanding.Wit, Internationalization of Higher Education, 22

Youth organizations

Boy Due to the large nationalist movement during World War I, many youth organizations were developed or expanded, including the Boy Scouts of America. During World War I, Woodrow Wilson placed a great importance on the Boy Scouts of America, asking them to encourage war support and educate public sources about the importance of the war. They helped distribute war pamphlets, sell war bonds, and drive nationalism and support for the war. Additionally, they were involved in many activities that helped the national government, such as locating black walnuts to use in war materials and peach pits for gas masks.McDermott, T.P. "America's Boy Scouts and World War I Liberty Loan Bonds" The Boy Scouts were involved in five Liberty Bond drives in which they helped sell Liberty Bonds to benefit the U.S. government. During the first campaign, they raised a total of $23,000,000. For the third campaign, known as the "Wake Up, America" rally, beginning on April 27, 1918, 400,000 Boy Scouts embarked on a door to window program selling Liberty Bonds as well as war stamps. At the end of the five campaigns, the Boy Scouts raised $354,859,262 in bond subscriptions and $43,043,698 in war stamps.McDermott, T. P "America's Boy Scouts and World War I Liberty Loan Bonds", pg. 72 When a Boy Scout sold a bond or stamp, he would record the sale and send in a post card to his local post office, which would then forward it to the bonds and stamps. The Boy Scout would receive an "Ace Medal".McDermott, T. P "America's Boy Scouts and World War I Liberty Loan Bonds", pg. 71

Camp Fire Girl