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Difficulty: EasyWorld War I: Mobilization and the Home Front

"Our factories are working day and night to build ships and make shells. Our railroads are strained to the limit to carry supplies to our soldiers. All this requires coal. Every shovelful of coal you save at home helps run a factory or transport a soldier. Save coal to win the war."

— United States Fuel Administration poster, 1918

The efforts described in the excerpt most directly reflect which of the following developments on the United States home front?

  1. The expansion of federal power to coordinate the domestic economy for the war effortAnswer
  2. B
    The strict maintenance of laissez-faire economic policies by the federal government
  3. C
    A commitment to absolute isolationism by halting all shipments of domestic goods overseas
  4. D
    A mobilization of resources aimed at securing the annexation of Cuba and the Philippines

Answer

The expansion of federal power to coordinate the domestic economy for the war effort
The correct answer is correct because the Fuel Administration, along with other agencies like the Food Administration and the War Industries Board, represented a significant expansion of the federal government's authority to regulate and coordinate domestic resources, transportation, and industrial production for the war effort.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Analyze the stimulus context.
The excerpt is from the United States Fuel Administration in 1918, during World War I, urging citizens to conserve coal to assist factories and troops.
Identifying the time period and the agency helps contextualize the action as government-led resource management during wartime.
2
Link the document to broader historical trends.
Creating government administrations (like the Fuel Administration or Food Administration) to regulate domestic consumption is an example of expanding federal authority over the economy.
This matches the AP US History theme of mobilization and the increase in federal oversight during national crises.
3
Evaluate the choices to identify the correct option.
The correct option correctly identifies the expansion of federal power to coordinate the domestic economy. The other options either cite incorrect economic philosophies (laissez-faire), confuse the timeline with the Spanish-American War, or misinterpret the foreign policy context.
This ensures the selected answer directly answers the prompt and is historically accurate.

Key Concept

Wartime mobilization and federal regulation of the domestic economy during World War I.
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Topics

World War I: Mobilization and the Home Front

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