Lesson Plan

African-American Soldiers After World War I: Had Race Relations Changed?

24th Infantry Reg. (Negro) in Mexico, 1916: Major Charles Young and Capt. John R. Barber.
Photo caption

Major Charles Young and Captain John R. Barber, members of the African American 24th Infantry Regiment in Mexico, 1916.

Library of Congress

"The Crisis says, first your Country, then your Rights!

Certain honest thinkers among us hesitate at that last sentence. They say it is all well to be idealistic, but is it not true that while we have fought our country’s battles for one hundred fifty years, we have not gained our rights? No, we have gained them rapidly and effectively by our loyalty in time of trial."

—W.E.B. DuBois, from Buffalo Soldiers at Huachuca: Racial Awareness After the War 

W.E.B. DuBois, an African American intellectual, whose call for racial equality marked him as a radical thinker in his era, strongly supported the war effort, but the patriotism of African American soldiers was not recognized or rewarded by white military commanders as they deserved.

In this lesson, students view archival photographs, combine their efforts to comb through a database of more than 2,000 archival newspaper accounts about race relations in the United States, and read newspaper articles written from different points of view about post-war riots in Chicago. Students can also investigate our Learning Lab collection on Race, Gender, and the U.S. Military to draw connections to concepts and perspectives from before and after this period.

 

Guiding Questions

To what extent did WWI affect race relations in the United States?

Learning Objectives

Examine the political and social conditions of African Americans before and after WWI.

Analyze primary sources to determine point of view and evaluate change over time.

Use evidence from a variety of texts to construct a response to the GQ.

Lesson Plan Details

Background

The public and private remarks of General John Pershing, commander of the American Expeditionary Force (AEF) in Europe, expose the often hypocritical attitudes toward African Americans among many white Americans in the early 20th century.

"We must not eat with them, must not shake hands with them, seek to talk to them or to meet with them outside the requirements of military service. We must not commend too highly these troops, especially in front of white Americans…"

—General John J. Pershing, in a secret communiqué concerning African-American troops sent to the French military stationed with the American army, August 7, 1918, available on Stories to Tell: African Americans in the Military. 

“I cannot commend too highly the spirit shown among the colored combat troops, who exhibit fine capacity for quick training and eagerness for the most dangerous work.”

—General John J. Pershing, in Scott’s Official History of the American Negro in the World War (Preface).

Despite institutionalized prejudice, hundreds of thousands of African Americans fought in the U.S. military during World War I. Even as most African Americans did not reap the benefits of American democracy—so central to the rhetoric of World War I—many still chose to support a nation that denied them full citizenship. Why? To what extent were they considered full citizens? These and other questions are addressed in this lesson and in our Learning Lab collection on Race, Gender, and the U.S. Military. 

Content Standards

NCSS.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.

NCSS.D2.His.2.9-12. Analyze change and continuity in historical eras.

NCSS.D2.His.3.9-12. Use questions generated about individuals and groups to assess how the significance of their actions changes over time and is shaped by the historical context.

NCSS.D2.His.4.9-12. Analyze complex and interacting factors that influenced the perspectives of people during different historical eras.

NCSS.D2.His.14.9-12. Analyze multiple and complex causes and effects of events in the past.

NCSS.D2.His.15.9-12. Distinguish between long-term causes and triggering events in developing a historical argument.

NCSS.D2.His.16.9-12. Integrate evidence from multiple relevant historical sources and interpretations into a reasoned argument about the past.

Preparation
  • Review the lesson plan. Locate and bookmark suggested materials and other useful websites. Download and print out documents you will use and duplicate copies as necessary for student viewing.
  • Download the The Debate in the United States over The League of Nations.
  • If your class has completed the complementary lesson, African American Soldiers in World War I: The 92nd and 93rd Divisions, feel free to skip Part 1, below, though the second and third activities in it are not identical to those in the prequel.
  • The research activity for Part 2 can best be accomplished using a computer lab where small groups (or even individuals, with sufficient computer access) can conduct independent research. Otherwise, stagger computer use to allow time for research; this will lengthen the days necessary for completion of the lesson.
  • In this lesson, students conduct online research of newspaper accounts. The research in the complementary lesson, African American Soldiers in World War I: The 92nd and 93rd Divisions, was conducted using pre-selected documents. For this lesson, students select documents they think are pertinent from a database of more than 2,000. Consider assigning small groups or individuals responsibility for as many as 100 documents (or as few as 20—one page of links) by number (101-200, for example). Hints for screening documents are given in the lesson plan.
  • For background on and context for African Americans during World War I, consult the following links from the EDSITEment-reviewed resource Internet Public Library:
    • World War I and African Americans offers a concise but wide-ranging summary of conditions for African Americans before, during, and after World War I. The article briefly discusses such matters as:
      • The belief among African Americans that military service would lead, as W.E.B. DuBois said, to "the right to vote and the right to work and the right to live without insult."
      • The objections of some white Americans to drafting African Americans.
      • The history of African Americans in the military in the years prior to World War I.
      • The pressure exerted by the NAACP (and others) for the establishment of officer training for African Americans.
      • The increase in the migration of African Americans from the South to the North to take advantage of job opportunities in industry due to the wartime economy.
      • The history of African Americans in military service during World War I.
      • Conditions for African Americans after World War I. Some classes would benefit from reading the article as part of the lesson.
    • Historic Context for the African-American Military Experience (PDF) provides a detailed account of African Americans in the Army in World War I and a brief history of African American Naval Service, 1865–1917.
Lesson Activities

Activity 1. United States Race Relations

In preparation for this activity, show the class how to use the Subject Index of the African American Experience in Ohio, on the EDSITEment-reviewed resource American Memory, to call up all the documents in the database on “United States Race Relations.” On the Subject Index page, click on “Youth.” Next, choose “United States--Race relations.” Page one, with links to the first 20 documents, appears. Using the link to “Next Page,” students can move to particular pages.

On page one, click on “$400,000 for Two Mulattoes [from newspaper]” to go to the bibliography page for this article. Here you can learn the date and source of the document. To view a digitized copy of the document, choose “View This Item.” Students choosing documents may be able to eliminate an item on the basis of its title, date, or source. Or, they may have to skim through the text. Most of the newspaper articles are very short.

Share with the class the “Homecoming” section of Black Yankee: An Interview with Thomas Davis, First World War Veteran on World War I: Trenches on the Web, a link from the EDSITEment-reviewed website Internet Public Library. How do Mr. Davis’s remarks reflect his opinion of race relations before and after World War I? In the following activity, students will attempt to find evidence from Ohio’s African American press that supports or contradicts Mr. Davis’ perceptions.

Assign students to balanced groups (adjust the size according to computer availability) or to work individually if sufficient computers are available. Inform students that they will now have the opportunity to conduct authentic historical research to discover what attitudes about race relations were expressed in Ohio’s African-American press before, during, and after World War I. A search on “United States Race Relations” in the Subject Index of African American Experience in Ohio, on the EDSITEment-reviewed resource American Memory, yields more than 2,300 documents. It would be very time-consuming for an individual to go through that many entries, but students can divide up the task to enable the screening of many documents. Consider assigning individuals or groups as many as 100 documents (or as few as 20) by number (for example, 101-200). Using the title and information on the bibliography page, students can quickly screen many articles, reading through only the most promising.

Each group/individual is responsible for locating six documents:

  • Two reflecting race relations before World War I.
  • Two reflecting race relations during World War I.
  • Two reflecting race relations after World War I.

If desired, students can use the handout “Accounts in the African-American Press in Ohio,” on page 1 of the Master PDF, to summarize what they find.

In preparation for the next activity, distribute one of the six articles about the Chicago Riots (listed in Part 3) to every student to be read at home or in class, if time permits.

Activity 2. Context and Background

NOTE: Classes that have completed the companion EDSITEment lesson, African American Soldiers in World War I: The 92nd and 93rd Divisions, should start with Part 2. The following brief, optional activities here provide some context and background for contemporary students.

WWI: Not That Long Ago

To our students, World War I must seem quite distant. Yet the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, a link from the EDSITEment-reviewed resource Congress Link, reported that, as of May 2001, 2,503 veterans of World War I were still alive. A living link to that conflict remains, but it is vanishing. If desired, share with the class the chart with the heading “It is estimated that the number of living World War I veterans will be:” (last chart on the page) from the online publication America’s Wars, May 2001, available on the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs website, for projections of the numbers of surviving World War I veterans until 2018.

Conditions for African Americans Before World War I

Some background information would be useful for any students unaware of the conditions for African Americans civilians in the United States prior to the war. Commonly accepted beliefs and practices of the day effectively limited their rights. African American Odyssey, an exhibit of the EDSITEment-reviewed website American Memory, offers an Introduction to World War I and Postwar Society. Share with the class the section “Guinn vs. United States” to help students begin to appreciate the ways African Americans were prevented from enjoying full citizenship. If desired, look at the accompanying document NAACP Board minutes, June 3, 1913. What were some of the other issues on the NAACP agenda (inter-marriage, vigilance, federal aid to education)? If desired, share other exhibits and documents on the page. Other exhibits in the Introduction to World War I and Postwar Society touch on housing segregation and the work of the National Association of Colored Women's Clubs for the community and against voting discrimination and lynching. The History Channel video below addresses the Great Migration that brought millions of African Americans to urban centers in the northern states. 

 

 

Why Did They Fight?

Share with students the wartime poster True Sons of Freedom on the EDSITEment-reviewed website American Memory. What does the poster depict? What was the likely purpose of the poster? To what attitudes among African Americans was the poster attempting to appeal?

 

 

After viewing the History Channel video on the Harlem Hellfighters of WWI, share any or all of the following photographs and full captions from the collection of the National Archives, available through the EDSITEment-reviewed resource Digital Classroom. The last four are about the reception of the universally praised 369th Infantry. If desired, use the Photo Analysis Worksheet, also on Digital Classroom.

What do these photographs indicate about how African-American soldiers were received by the community and the white establishment when they first returned from the war?

Activity 3. The Chicago Riots

Share with students the basic introduction found in all of the articles below from the EDSITEment-reviewed website History Matters:

"As U.S. soldiers returned from Europe in the aftermath of World War I, scarce housing and jobs heightened racial and class antagonisms across urban America. African-American soldiers, in particular, came home from the war expecting to enjoy the full rights of citizenship that they had fought to defend overseas. In the spring and summer of 1919, murderous race riots erupted in 22 American cities and towns. Chicago experienced the most severe of these riots."

 

 

After viewing the video above on the Chicago Race Riots of 1919, divide the class into six groups, and assign each group one of the following articles:

Allow time for students to analyze their assigned articles. Download, copy, and distribute the handout “The Chicago Riots: One Point of View” on page 2 of the Master PDF. Student groups should respond to each question regarding their assigned account of the Chicago Riots.

Gather the class. Allow groups time to share the information from their article. When all groups are done, attempt to arrive at a statement for each of the following:

  • The immediate cause of the riot.
  • The basic facts of the riot.
  • The underlying causes of the riot.
  • A reasonable attempt at a solution that could have been implemented to address the underlying problems.

 

Assessment

Citing some specific evidence, have each student take a stand in one paragraph on the question, “To what extent did WWI affect race relations in the United States?” Allow volunteers to share. Discuss as a class.

Lesson Extensions

Selected EDSITEment Websites

Materials & Media

African-American Soldiers After World War I: Had Race Relations Changed?: Worksheet 1
Download File (PDF)

Related on EDSITEment

Lesson Plan

African-American Soldiers in World War I: The 92nd and 93rd Divisions
Lesson Plan

Birth of a Nation, the NAACP, and Civil Rights
Lesson Plan

Lesson 3: African-Americans and the New Deal's Civilian Conservation Corps
Media Resource

W.E.B. Du Bois Papers