Slavery To Democracy

It was difficult to believe that the United States would become involved prior to World War I. Many felt that Americans could not be concerned with European issues, they were consumed by their own problems. Some were concerned because several beatings and Lynching had been taking place. A completely bias production about blacks domination, violence toward blacks increased a great deal after the release of the production "The Birth of a Nation", While African Americans were in a time of extreme turmoil, their leader, Booker T. Washington, passed away..

As a result of the strong biases against African Americans, of the 750, 000 soldiers in the National Guard, 20,000 of them were African American. On May 18 The Selective Service Act was passed that allowed more than 700,000 blacks to register for the armed forces. Even though this act was in place many board still would not recognize blacks as officers. Joel Spingarn took this dispute to military authorities. They eventually were allowed to select 200 black college graduates for officer training. Many complaints continued on of the mistreatment of blacks by many whites.

African Americans were being sent over seas as the war progressed. The first of these was the officers in the ninety-third division. By the end of the war, this unit was the first unit of allied armies to reach the Rhine. The division never had a man captured and always held their ground. They were an elite unit. Blacks in the armed forces did some amazing things during the war. The "Battle of Henry Johnson" is an example of the incredible service given by blacks. This "battle" refers to two African American officers who engaged in hand-to-hand combat with enemy forces. Regardless of their fantastic service, white Americans still wanted blacks to be oppressed. In France, Blacks were treated as equals. Whites began to spread the word about how blacks were not intelligent and were rapist and murderers. They even released a document, Secret Information Concerning Black Troops, to the French, trying to truly convince them to separate blacks and whites at all times. Lies and rumors began to flourish in France. It was said that Blacks were beginning to get out of control, attacking and raping French women. After investigation took place, the truth surfaced. Only two individuals out of a unit of 1,200 were found guilty.

To help local campaign blacks began to purchase bonds. These bonds would in turn help the local cause for the war.