A Liberty Bond is a debt obligation issued jointly by the United States Treasury and the Federal Reserve. It was a war bond, sometimes known as a Liberty Loan, issued in four payments in 1917-18 to fund the United States’ participation in World War I and the Allied war effort in Europe.
What is the purpose of a Liberty Bond?
What were Liberty Bonds, and how did they work? The US government Liberty Bonds were a limited-edition series of US government bonds issued during WW1. Bonds are government-issued notes that are offered with the promise of repaying the money, plus interest, on a specific date.
What were Liberty Bonds used for? The primary goal of the Liberty Bonds was to raise funds for WW1, but they also urged Americans to save rather than spend during the wartime economy, which helped to contain inflation.
What was the purpose of Liberty Bonds? The Liberty Bonds were a direct and unconditional commitment by the United States to pay a certain sum of money in gold on a specific date, plus interest at a specific rate, until the bond matured or was called for redemption.
What contribution did Liberty Bonds make to the military effort? The Liberty Bonds sparked patriotism and gave Americans on the home front the feeling that they were helping the war effort. Propaganda operations for Liberty Bonds were widely used throughout WWI.
Fred Strothmann, an artist and cartoonist, drew the poster ‘Beat back the Hun with Liberty Bonds’ (1879-1958). Frederick Strothmann was born in Philadelphia, the son of German immigrants. He attended the Carl Hecker Art School in New York City, the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, and the École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts in Paris. The ‘Beat back the Hun’ poster was one of the Committee on Public Information’s most effective (CPI). The graphic depicts the head of a bloodthirsty “Hun” (German) with piercing eyes, blood-stained fingers, and a bayonet, looking across the Atlantic Ocean at America. The Creel Committee encouraged anti-German sentiment and employed a range of fear-based propaganda techniques to spread their message.
On the home front, what were Liberty Bonds used for?
The bonds were a method for Americans to show their support for the war, even if they couldn’t fight. Between 1917 and 1919, the bonds were issued five times.
Who would be urged to purchase a Liberty Bond?
The United States government issued a series of loans known as Liberty Bonds to fund the American military effort during World War I. During the conflict, the federal government provided a total of five distinct liberty loans. The Victory Bond was the name given to the fifth and final loan. By acquiring these bonds, private persons lent money to the government. If they couldn’t afford a bond, they could buy war stamps and savings certificates for less money. The government would repay the loans with interest at a later date, once the war was done.
Americans in Ohio, like the rest of the country, were encouraged to purchase these Liberty Bonds. Citizens were informed that it was their patriotic duty to buy bonds to support their military. To encourage residents to participate, many localities held special bond drives and tournaments. Ohioans bought 106 million dollars in Liberty Bonds in 1918, out of a total of two billion dollars sold nationwide.
Are Liberty Bonds still available?
Liberty Bonds were the first war bonds sold in the United States in 1917 to assist fund the United States’ participation in World War I. Liberty Bonds were last sold in 1918, but when war broke out in Europe again in 1939, the US government began planning to reissue Defense Bonds in order to prepare for the chance that the country may be drawn into the battle. Defense Bonds were renamed war bonds after the attack on Pearl Harbor and the United States’ entry into WWII.
What were the prices of Liberty Bonds?
The United States needed money to finance the war effort when it declared war on Germany in April 1917. The Civil War had shown that just printing more money will result in inflation and economic problems. William G. McAdoo, Secretary of the Treasury and Chairman of the Federal Reserve, did not want to risk weakening the new US paper currency, which had just been in use since 1914, during World War I. As a result, McAdoo chose to raise one-third of the required funds from taxes and the remaining funds through fundraisers.
McAdoo announced the Liberty Loan Plan to sell Liberty Bonds to support the war on April 28, 1917, barely twenty-two days after the United States entered the war. The strategy was divided into three parts:
Appeal to patriotism in the United States, asking everyone from children to millionaires to cut back on personal spending in order to purchase bonds.
According to McAdoo, “To support our Noble sons who go out to die for us, we must be willing to give up something of personal convenience, something of personal comfort, something of our treasureall, if necessary, and our lives in the bargain.”
The smallest Liberty Bond denomination was $50, which was equal to two weeks’ pay for industrial workers. To make the bonds more accessible to the general public, a savings system was established, allowing anyone to purchase Thrift Stamps for 25 cents each and paste them onto a collection card. The card was traded for a $5 War Savings Stamp, which was fastened to a War Savings Certificate after it had sixteen stamps. A $50 Liberty Bond could be exchanged for ten certificates.
After the armistice, there were four Liberty Loan drives and one Victory Loan drive. Liberty Bonds were acquired by 20 million people by the end of the war. A total of $17 billion was raised through the issuance of Liberty Bonds, with an additional $8.8 billion raised through taxation.
The sale of Liberty Bonds necessitated the use of propaganda posters to promote the sale of the bonds. They instilled in Americans a sense of patriotism by informing them about the causes and probable costs of the conflict. The posters below show a variety of propaganda used by the government to persuade Americans to support the war effort. They’re the outcome of McAdoo’s conviction that “Any major conflict must be accompanied by a public uprising. It’s a crusade, and like all crusades, it’s carried along by a strong current of romanticism.”
Have the Liberty Bonds been repaid?
Americans essentially gave the government money to help pay for the costs of wartime military operations under this program. Those who invested in these bonds would get their money back, plus interest, after a predetermined number of years. The government issued these bonds as part of the “Liberty Loan” program, which was a collaboration between the US Treasury and the Federal Reserve System, which had been established just three years prior, in 1914.
What is the meaning of Beat Back the Hun with Liberty Bonds?
“Beat Back the Hun” was one of many posters produced by the United States government to urge support for the war effort during World War I. Personifying the enemy as a non-human was a typical propaganda tactic used to persuade Americans to buy Liberty Bonds in order to fund the war. Frederick Strothmann designed this poster in 1918.
Why was it necessary to promote Liberty Bonds with posters like this one?
The written code “liberty bonds” communicates the propaganda poster’s objective, which is to sell liberty bonds to American citizens. The poster also employs visual traditions to elicit dread and animosity toward the opponent.
Who did win World War One?
Who was the victor in World War I? After four years of fighting and the deaths of 8.5 million troops as a consequence of battle wounds or disease, the Allies won World War I. More information on the Treaty of Versailles can be found here. The peace treaty that concluded World War I paved the path for World War II in numerous ways.