Why Are African Americans Involved In World War I?

Beginning in July 1914, World War I was the biggest and most expensive war Europe had seen to that date. Over two million American troops joined and fought in the war between April 1917 and November 1918. Although many Americans, blacks included, saw no reason for America to become involved in the war, the United States became joined after provocations by Germany. In the speech made to congress where he declared war on Germany, President Woodrow Wilson stated "The world must be made safe for democracy". While some African Americans thought this statement was hypocritical because a country advocating for true democracy and justice could not treat blacks as second class citizens, other African Americans found it their civic duty to fight in the war and prove that they were equal. Upon
Until “1910, about 90% of all African Americans lived in the south. Nearly 80% were engaged in agriculture.” Between 1914-1920 thousands of black southern americans moved to major northern cities, changing the political, economic, social, and cultural structure throughout the nation. Most of the black Americans who moved north during. Along with the economic devastation resulting from a boll weevil infestation which killed crops across the south, many African Americans had also been stripped of their right to vote, and were further oppressed through Jim Crow segregation. Because of the increase in industrial economy due to the war and decreased availability of cheap labor, northern factory owners appealed to southern blacks. While African Americans “ still suffered from racial prejudice, they could at least vore and send their children to better schools”. Although many did not find and live the life they imagined once they got up north, the nation was changed by the migration