Photographs of the 369th Infantry and African Americans during World War I. The Constitution Community: The Emergence of Modern America (1890-1930).

In April 1917, President Woodrow Wilson asked Congress to declare war on Germany. Under the powers granted to it by the U.S. Constitution, Congress passed the Selective Service Act of 1917. Among the first regiments to arrive in France, and among the most highly decorated when it returned, was the 369th Infantry, more gallantly known as the "Harlem Hellfighters." The 369th was an all-black regiment under the command of mostly white officers. This lesson relates to the powers of Congress to raise and support armies in Article I, Section 8, and to citizens' rights to equal protection of the laws in the 14th Amendment, Section 1. The primary sources for the lesson are seven photographs taken of the 369th during World War I. The lesson correlates to the National History Standards and to the National Standards for Civics and Government. It provides historical background for the story of the 369th Infantry (with seven resources) and suggests diverse teaching activities for classroom implementation, including document analysis, creative writing, listening to music and discussion, writing news articles, student research, application projects, discussion, and analysis. Appended are a photograph analysis worksheet and the World War I photographs. (BT)