USA history: 1910-1920

In the 1910s, urban centres across the United States are growing. Immigrants are arriving… and forming cultural neighbourhoods within cities. At the same time, many middle-class American families are moving to new neighbourhoods springing up around cities: suburbs. Automobiles, busses and streetcars transport people from their suburban homes to offices and factories in the inner cities. In rural America, families live and work on their farms as they have for decades.

In 1914, World War I breaks out in Europe and the demand for American crops soars. Many former farmers in Europe have become soldiers or war casualties; countries on both sides of the fighting increasingly rely on food from the United States. As demand keeps growing, American farmers take out huge bank loans to buy more land, confident they’ll be able to repay them with their rising profits. In 1917, the United States joins the fight against Germany and the Central Powers. Germany has sunk several American merchant ships, and recently put American territory under threat. “The world must be made safe for democracy,” declares President Wilson.

Around two million Americans are called up, drafted, to fight. Hundreds of thousands more volunteer. At home, too, the spirit of volunteerism is high. Americans willingly cut back on, ration, certain foods and other supplies to make sure everyone has enough. They create “Meatless Mondays” and “Wheatless Wednesdays”.

Many Americans feel proud to make sacrifices for the war. They believe the United States is championing democracy and liberty across the world! To some, though, America is not this shining example of freedom. Black Americans are used to facing discrimination, segregation, and racial violence in the United States. But in Europe, Black American soldiers experience much better treatment than at home.

When the American and allied troops move through France, liberating it from German occupation, black and white soldiers alike are welcomed as heroes. Many women, too, dispute the image of the United States as free and democratic. For decades they have been lobbying for the right to vote, to gain equality with men in public and political life. Lingering claims that women ‘belong in the home’ are now being challenged by the realities of wartime. Who, after all, is keeping shops, running schools, working in factories while the men are off fighting?

Members of a political organisation called the National Women’s Party gather outside the Whitehouse. They hold banners demanding President Wilson give women the vote. In November 1918, the Central Powers collapse and World War I ends. Almost immediately, demand for American crops plummets. Farmers begin to wonder how they will pay back their loans...

Black soldiers return from war with a deepened sense of their social and political rights. This makes many white people feel threatened. Racial tensions across the country intensify, and in 1919, race riots erupt in 26 cities. Hundreds of Black Americans are killed, injured, or forced to flee their homes. These bloody months become known as the Red Summer.

As the decade comes to a close, many activists know that sweeping societal change will not come easy. Nevertheless, they will keep fighting. In 1919, there is a breakthrough for women’s rights. The 19th Amendment passes, granting women the right to vote, and in 1920 it is adopted into law. Over the course of the 1910s, shifting demographics and a global catastrophe have changed the face of America.

And as the economic and social consequences of World War I continue to surface, it is clear more challenges are coming...