Download Ch. 18 Textbook Outline

Name: _____________________________________ Period: _____ Date: ___________________________
American Cultures – Academic
Mr. Dellinger & Mrs. Gilbert
WORLD WAR II: AMERICANS AT WAR (1941 – 1945)
TIMELINE QUESTIONS:
Directions: You should use only the timeline on pages 592-593 of the textbook to answer the following
questions about this particular time period.
1. What actions did the U.S. take to declare war in 1941?
- The U.S. declares war on Japan, Germany, and Italy.
2.
What military actions occurred in
1942? Japan conquers the Philippines. The U.S. defeats the
Japanese navy at the Battle of Midway. Japanese
Americans are interned in camps. Allied troops land
in N. Africa. The Battle of Stalingrad begins
[Use both time lines]
1943? Americans help defeat Axis armies in N. Africa and
invade Italy. Troops in the Pacific take Guadalcanal
and begin island-hopping campaign. Jews in Warsaw
ghetto rebel. Germany invades Italy after Mussolini
is overthrown.
1944? American and British troops lead the D-Day invasion
in France. Japan begins kamikaze attacks. De Gaulle
leads Allies into Paris.
3. (A) How did the U.S. win the war in 1945?
- American troops liberate W. Germany. The U.S. drops atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
(B) Who was the new President? Harry S. Truman
4. (A) What forced Italy out of the war? Mussolini was overthrown. Germany then invaded Italy.
(B) What forced Germany out of the war? Hitler committed suicide.
(C) What forced Japan out of the war?
- The U.S. dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
5. List the 2 Presidents of this era in order. Give the years of their presidential terms:
- Franklin D. Roosevelt (1933-1945)
- Harry S. Truman (1945-1953)
SETTING THE SCENE
1. What did Roosevelt mean when he said, “We must be the great arsenal of democracy?”
- FDR understood that the outcome of the war in Europe depended on the U.S.’s ability to produce planes,
tanks, guns, uniforms, and other war materials for the Allies.
1
MOBILIZING THE ARMED FORCES
1. (A) How did Roosevelt strengthen the armed forces?
- Congress authorized the Selective Training and Service Act, which required all males aged 21-36 to
register for military service. A limited number of men was selected from this pool to serve a year in
the army. The U.S. also boosted defense spending from $2 billion to more than $10 billion.
(B) Why was this unique? This was the first peacetime draft in the nation’s history.
2. How did the attack of Pearl Harbor affect feelings of American patriotism?
- Feelings of patriotism swept over the U.S.
3. (A) How many Americans served in the military during World War II? More than 16 million served.
(B) What were they called? Government Issues (aka GIs)
4. Discuss the service of these minorities in World War II:
(A) Mexican-Americans:
How many served? More than 300,000 served, primarily in the army.
(B) Native Americans:
How many served? 25,000 served. A group of Navajos developed a secret code that the enemy could
not break. Thus, many were recruited as radio operators (code talkers) and
provided an important secure communications link in several key battles of the
war.
(C) African-Americans:
How many served? Nearly a million served initially in supporting roles, but later in combat (due to
mounting casualties), although they fought in separate units.
(D) Women:
How many served? About 350,000 served in almost all areas, except combat.
PREPARING THE ECONOMY FOR WAR
1. How did these prepare the United States for the War effort?
(A) War Production Board: It directed the conversion of peacetime industries to industries that
produced war goods. It stopped the production of many civilian consumer goods, and encouraged
companies to make goods for the war instead. The armed forces decided which companies would
receive contracts to manufacture military hardware, but the WPB set priorities and allocated raw
materials.
(B) Office of War Mobilization: Agency that was formed to coordinate issues related to war production
during WWII.
(C) Liberty Ships: Large, sturdy merchant ships built in WWII to carry supplies or troops.
(1) Who was Henry J. Kaiser? Man who introduced mass production techniques into shipbuilding
and cut the time needed to build liberty ships from 200 days to 40
days.
(D) “Cost-Plus” System for Military Contracts: In order to motivate businesses and guarantee profits,
the military paid development and production costs and added a percentage of costs as profit for the
manufacturer.
2
2. Provide details that support the success of our war production efforts:
300,000 = Airplanes
100,000 = Tanks
80,000 = Landing Craft
41 billion = Rounds of Ammo
5,600 = Merchant Ships
6 million = Rifles, Carbines, and Machine Guns
3. What improvements for workers occurred as a result of World War II?
(1) Unemployment – Unemployment virtually vanished during the war.
(2) Wages – People earned more money for their work. Average weekly wages rose more than 50%.
4. How did the War effort affect union membership and union activities?
- Union membership rose dramatically. Labor and business representatives agreed to refrain from strikes
and “lockouts.” Due to the rise in cost of living, however, the number of strikes sharply rose in 1943 and
continued to rise in the last 2 years of the war.
5. (A) How much did the United States government spend on World War II? $321 billion
(B) How was this paid for?
(1) Higher taxes paid for about 41% of the cost of the war.
(2) The government borrowed the rest of the money from banks, private investors, and the public
(by encouraging Americans to buy war bonds).
6. How bad was the national debt by 1945?
1940? $43 billion
1945? $259 billion
DAILY LIFE ON THE HOME FRONT
1. What types of shortages existed because of the War?
- Metal, rubber, nylon, food (including sugar, tropical fruits, and coffee)
3. What was the job of the Office of Price Administration (OPA)?
- To control inflation by limiting prices and rents and oversee rationing
4. (A) What was Rationing? Fair distribution of scarce items.
(B) What types of goods were rationed? Sugar, coffee, meat, butter, canned fruit, shoes, and gas
(C) Explain how this program operated? Consumers were issued ration books of coupons worth a certain
number of points for categories of food or clothing. Once consumers had used up their points, they
could not buy any more of those items until they received new ration books or traded coupons with
neighbors.
5. What was the responsibility of the Office of War Information?
- To work with magazine publishers, advertising agencies, and radio stations and hire writers/artists to
create posters and ads that stirred Americans’ patriotic feelings.
3
6. In what ways did the American people show their support for the War?
- They planted victory gardens and drew their shades for nighttime “blackouts.” Men too old for the army
joined the Civilian Defense effort, wearing their CD armbands as they tested air raid sirens. Women
knit scarves and socks or rolled bandages for the Red Cross. People were also encouraged to recycle
scrap metal, paper, and other materials for war production.
SECTION 2: RETAKING EUROPE
1. (A) What was the Atlantic Charter (1941)?
- An agreement signed by President Franklin Roosevelt and Prime Minister Winston Churchill in
1941 outlining the two nations’ war aims.
(B) Who was responsible for making it?
- U.S. President Franklin Roosevelt and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill.
(C) How were the principals contained in this charter used after the war?
- This charter would form the basis for the United Nations.
AMERICANS JOIN THE STRUGGLE
1. Why was it critical that the United States entered the War when we did (December 1941)?
- London and other major British cities had suffered heavy damage during the Battle of Britain. Also, the
German’s blitzkrieg had extended Nazi control across most of Europe and, in North Africa, a mixed
German and Italian army was bearing down on British forces. Many people feared that Germany could
not be stopped.
BATTLE OF THE ATLANTIC
2. How did the Germans use their U-boats in the Atlantic?
- As allied merchant ships crossed the Atlantic, German U-boats (submarines) attacked them. After the
U.S. entered the war, U-boats began attacking merchant ships within sight of the American coast.
3. How did Allied navies counter these German actions?
- Allied ships formed convoys led by American and British warships that used underwater sound
equipment (sonar) to locate and attack U-boats. Allied convoys later developed better defensive
strategies, including the use of long-range sub-hunting aircraft.
NORTH AFRICA CAMPAIGN
4. What fighting had taken place in North Africa by November 1942 [See map on page 601]?
- The Battle at El Alamein between Germany (led by General Erwin Rommel) and the British (under the
command of General Bernard Montgomery). The British won this victory and the German army
retreated west.
5. (A) How did American troops become involved in North Africa?
- A large group of American Allied forces landed in the French territories of Morocco and Algeria on
the northwest coast of North Africa and quickly pushed eastward.
(B) Under whose command? General Dwight D. Eisenhower
6. What had happened to the German and Italian forces by early May 1943?
- The Allied armies had the Axis forces in North Africa trapped. About 240,000 Germans and Italians
surrendered.
4
7. (A) What was discussed at the Casablanca Conference in January 1943?
- Strategies for the rest of the war were discussed by Franklin Roosevelt and Winston Churchill.
They decided to maintain the approach of dealing with Europe first. They would also continue to
concentrate Allied resources on Europe before trying to win the war in the Pacific. Additionally, the
men agreed to accept nothing less than the unconditional surrender of Italy, Germany, and Japan.
(B) Who met there? Franklin Roosevelt and Winston Churchill
THE INVASION OF ITALY
8. (A) How did the Allies plan to invade Italy?
- The U.S. Seventh Army invaded Sicily with British forces
(B) When? July 1943
(C) Under whose command? General George S. Patton
9. What happened to Benito Mussolini?
- Italians lost faith in his leadership. He was overthrown and arrested, but the Germans freed him and
evacuated him to northern Italy.
WAR IN THE SOVIET UNION
1. Why did Hitler choose to wage war against the Soviet Union?
- To give the Germans “living space;” Germany had to be self-sufficient and needed its own sources of
oil and food.
2. How successful were the Germans?
- The intensity and brutality of the German attack took the Soviet defenders by surprise. The Luftwaffe
(German air forces) quickly gained control of the air, and German ground troops drove deep into Soviet
territory. The Soviet army began to retreat.
3. What did the Soviets do to try to slow down German advances?
- The Soviet army destroyed everything that might be useful to the enemy.
4. What did Stalin ask the Allies to do?
- He urged his allies to launch an attack on Western Europe, which would force Hitler to fight on 2 fronts
at once.
5. What was the importance of the Battle of Stalingrad?
- Soviet forces won the battle against Germany and began the long struggle to regain the territory lost to
the Germans; the Battle of Stalingrad proved to be the turning point of the war in the east.
THE ALLIED AIR WAR
1. What was Carpet Bombing?
- A technique developed by Britain’s Royal Air Force (RAF) in which planes scattered large numbers of
bombs over a wide area.
2. How did the Americans join in this fighting?
- Hundreds of B-17 Flying Fortresses escorted by fighters rained bombs on German aircraft factories,
railway lines, ball-bearing plants, bridges, and cities. By 1944, British and American commanders
coordinated air raids – American planes bombed by day and RAF planes bombed by night.
3. How successful were the Allies?
- German cities suffered heavy damage as a result - more than 40,000 civilians died in 4 attacks on
Hamburg. Allies attacked specific targets and aimed to destroy Germany’s ability to fight in the war.
5
THE INVASION OF WESTERN EUROPE
1. Who was George Marshall? The top American general and FDR’s Chief of Staff
2. (A) What was Operation Overlord?
- An Allied strategy proposed by George Marshall in which the Allies would launch from Great
Britain and attack German forces occupying France.
(B) Who led this? General Dwight D. Eisenhower
3. Explain how D-day was carried out:
- Shortly after midnight on June 6, 1944, thousands of invasion craft and warships crossed the English
Channel (from Southern England) and headed towards Normandy. Meanwhile, RAF bombers pounded
German defenses at Normandy and thousands of airborne British and American soldiers parachuted
behind enemy lines. At dawn on D-Day (the day of the invasion), Allied warships in the channel began
shelling the coast while American planes continued the RAF’s air bombardment. Then, around 150,000
Allied troops and their equipment began to come ashore along the coast of Normandy.
(A) When? At dawn on June 6, 1944
(B) Where? On the beaches of Normandy, France
4. How successful was the invasion?
- Within a week, a half million men had come ashore. By late July, the Allied force in France was about 2
million.
5. How were the Allies able to break from Normandy?
- General Patton used a blitzkrieg to open a hole in the German lines and burst out of Normandy. Next,
armored units of his U.S. Third Army drove deep into enemy territory and then encircled and destroyed
the opposing forces. He then led his army on a successful sweep across Northern France.
6. (A) Describe the Battle of the Bulge:
- It was the last major Nazi offensive against the Allies in WWII, the largest battle in Western Europe
during WWI, and the largest battle every fought by the U.S. army. In this battle, which occurred in
mid-December 1944, Hitler attempted to split the Allies in two and destroy their ability to supply
themselves as they made their way towards Germany. The German attack smashed into the U.S. First
Army and pushed it back, forming a “bulge” in the Allied line. The resulting clash came to be known as
the Battle of the Bulge. In just a few weeks, though, the First and Third armies, under the direction of
General Omar N. Bradley, knocked the Germans back and restarted the Allied drive into Germany.
(B) Who led it? U.S. General Omar N. Bradley
THE WAR IN EUROPE ENDS
1. (A) How were the Germans finally defeated?
- Soviet troops driving west and fighting their way into Berlin (Germany’s capital) connected with
American troops who were pushing east toward Berlin. The Soviet army then surrounded and
captured Berlin. On May 8, 1945, Germany’s remaining troops surrendered.
(B) What happened to Adolf Hitler? When?
- He committed suicide in his underground bunker in Berlin on April 30, 1945.
2. (A) What was V-E Day? Victory in Europe Day; the day the fighting in Europe ended.
(B) When? May 8, 1945 – the day the German troops surrendered.
6
3. What leaders attended the Yalta Conference? Roosevelt, Churchill, and Stalin
4. (A) What plans were made there to divide Germany?
- Germany would be split into 4 zones, each under the control of one of the major Allies – U.S.,
Britain, Soviet Union, and France.
(B) To divide Berlin?
- The leaders planned a similar division of Berlin, which would lie deep inside the Soviet zone.
5. What promise did Stalin make?
- He promised to allow elections in the nations of Eastern Europe that his army had liberated from the
Germans. He also promised to enter the war against Japan within 3 months of Germany’s surrender.
6. How did he eventually break his promises?
- He refused to honor his pledge of free elections in Eastern Europe.
SECTION 3: THE HOLOCAUST
1. (A) What is Anti-Semitism?
- Discrimination or (often violent) hostility directed at Jews.
(B) What were Hitler’s views on this?
- He revived the idea of Aryan superiority and expressed a hateful view of Jews. He despised the
mixing of the two “races” and, in 1933 when he became Germany’s leader, made anti-Semitism the
official policy of the nation.
PERSECUTION IN GERMANY
1. What was the Holocaust?
- Nazi Germany’s systematic murder of European Jews.
2. How bad was the holocaust?
- 6 million Jews, about 2/3 of Europe’s Jewish population, died. No other persecution of Jews in modern
history equals the extent and brutality of the Holocaust.
3. What were some ways in which the Jews were persecuted in Germany?
- German-Jews were excluded from all aspects of Germany’s political, social, and economic life. For
example, Nazis ordered boycotts against Jewish-owned businesses or forced them to surrender their
own businesses to Aryans; Jews were stripped from their German citizenship; marriages between Jews
and non-Jews were outlawed; Newspapers and radio constantly attacked and portrayed Jews as
enemies; Most Jews lost their jobs; Jewish doctors and lawyers were forbidden to serve non-Jews;
Jewish students were expelled from public schools; Jews were eventually forced to wear a yellow star
of david signifying that they were Jewish, which exposed them to public attacks and police harassment.
4. (A) How did Hitler deal with “undesirables?”
- They were confined, usually under harsh conditions, in concentration camps which were guarded
by the SS (Germany’s secret state police).
(B) What groups were included among them?
- Jews, homosexuals, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Gypsies, and the homeless
7
5. Describe what happened in the Kristallnacht – “night of the broken glass” - incident
[November 9, 1938]:
- Nazi thugs throughout Germany and Austria looted and destroyed Jewish stores, houses, and
synagogues. The Nazis arrested thousands of Jews that night and shipped them off to concentration
camps. Jews were then forced to pay huge fine for the damage of Kristallnacht.
6. What attitude did most of the world have regarding Jewish refugees?
- Few countries welcomed Jewish refugees as long as the Depression prevented their own citizens from
finding work. Due to the growing numbers of Jewish refugees, an international conference was held in
France in July 1938. With the exception of the Dominican Republic, each of the 32 nations represented
(including the U.S.) refused to open its doors to more immigrants.
FROM MURDER TO GENOCIDE
1. What was the Warsaw Ghetto like?
- The Warsaw Ghetto, an area less than 3% of the entire city, confined 400,000 Polish-Jews. The ghetto
was sealed off with a wall topped with barbed wire and guarded by Germans. Jews received little food,
and hunger, overcrowding, and a lack of sanitation brought on disease. Each month, thousands of Jews
died in the ghetto.
2. In what ways did Hitler eliminate his enemies?
- Many Jews in German-occupied territory were rounded up by mobile killing squads and driven to
gullies or freshly dug pits where they were then shot to death; Others were killed by genocide, typically
by being placed in disguised shower rooms at death camps and then exposed to poisonous gases.
3. How were Jews taken to death camps?
- Jews were crowded in train cars built for cattle and transported to these extermination centers.
4. How was it decided whom will be killed?
- The elderly, women with children, and those who looked too weak to work were herded into gas
chambers and killed.
5. In what ways did the Jews resist the Germans?
- Jews joined underground resistance groups and either took part in violent uprisings/riots or attempted to
escape. The few who succeeded in escaping brought word of the death camps to the outside world.
6. How did the United States deal with the Jews?
- The press showed little interest in reporting the story; Congress did not raise immigration quotas, and
even the existing quotas for Jews when unfilled. Finally, Roosevelt created the War Refugee Board
(WRB) in January 1944 to try to help people threatened by the Nazis.
7. What were the results of the Nuremburg Trials (1945)?
- Nazi defendants were charged with crimes against peace, crimes against humanity, and war crimes.
Of the 24 defendants, 12 received the death sentence.
SECTION 4: THE WAR IN THE PACIFIC
1. After Pearl Harbor, how else did Japan attack American lands and bases?
- Japanese forces attacked American bases on Wake Island on December 8 and on Guam on December
10. Japanese warplanes also bombed Clark Field, the main American air base in the Philippines.
8
THE JAPANESE ADVANCE (1941 – 1942)
1. Why were the Japanese interested in Southeast Asia?
- They wanted easy access to the natural resources, like oil and rubber, which would give them the
economic independence they needed.
2. (A) What was the importance of the Doolittle Raid (April 1942)?
- Although the raid caused little physical damage, it shocked Japan’s leadership and boosted Allied
morale at a crucial time.
(B) The Battle of the Coral Sea (May 1942)?
- The battle prevented the Japanese from invading Australia.
ALLIED VICTORIES TURN THE TIDE
1. Discuss the Battle of Midway (June 4, 1942):
(A) Location: Near Midway Island, about 1,100 miles northwest of Hawaii.
(B) The Battle: WWII air battle between the U.S. and Japan that occurred on June 4, 1942
Results: The battle caused a devastating blow to the Japanese Navy – 4 Japanese carriers were sunk,
about 250 planes were destroyed, and most of Japan’s skilled naval pilots were wiped out.
The battle became a turning point in the war in the Pacific because Japan was unable to
launch any more offensive operations in the Pacific.
2. Discuss the Battle of Guadalcanal (August 1942 – February 1943):
(A) Location: Solomon Islands
(B) The Battle: Battle between the U.S. and Japan that occurred in August 1942 in an attempt to capture
Guadalcanal where the Japanese were building an airfield to threaten nearby Allied bases
and lines of communication with Australia.
(C) Results: After several fierce naval battles, the American navy took control of the waters around the
island in November, limiting Japanese troop landings. The Japanese forces finally slipped
off the island; the Allies had conquered their first piece of Japanese-held territory.
STRUGGLE FOR THE ISLANDS
1. (A) Why did the United States begin the strategy of island-hopping?
- To selectively attack specific enemy-held islands and bypass others in order to cut off the bypassed
islands from supplies and reinforcements, which would render those islands useless to the
Japanese. This military strategy also allowed the Americans to move more quickly toward Japan.
(B) Who was in charge? General MacArthur and Admiral William Halsey led forces through the
Solomon Islands while Admiral Nimitz led a campaign in the Gilbert Islands.
2. Discuss the Battle of Leyte Gulf (October 1944):
(A) Location: Off the coast of the Philippine island of Leyte
(B) The Battle: Greatest naval battle that occurred between U.S. and Japan in the summer of 1944. More
than 280 warships took part in this 3-day battle and it was the first battle in which
Japanese kamikazes, or suicide planes, were used
(C) Results: Despite the kamikazes, the American forcer nearly destroyed the Japanese navy and emerged
victorious. Due to the continued resistance of the Japanese land forces, American troops
needed 2 months to liberate Leyte. Allies finally gained control of the Philippines in June
1945.
9
3. Discuss the Battle of Iwo Jima (February 1945):
(A) Location: Volcanic island of Iwo Jima, less than 700 miles from Japan
(B) The Battle: One of the bloodiest battles of WWII between U.S. and Japan which began in November
1944 with 74 days of American bombers pounding Iwo Jima from the air and American
warships shelling Iwo Jima’s defenders. Then, in mid-February 1945, U.S. marines
stormed the beaches and engaged in a heavy 3-day battle with Japanese land forces.
(C) Results: The U.S. marines secured the island within about a month. The Japanese fought to the bitter
end; only 216 of them were taken prisoner, but American forces suffered an estimated
25,000 casualties. The U.S. awarded 27 Medals of Honor for actions in Iwo Jima, more than
any other single operation of the war.
4. Discuss the Battle of Okinawa (April – June 1945):
(A) Location: Small island of Okinawa, little more than 350 miles from Japan itself.
(B) The Battle: Last obstacle to an Allied invasion of the Japanese home islands. This battle was as
bloody as the Battle of Iwo Jima – Japanese pilots flew nearly 2,000 kamikaze attacks
and defenders made banzai charges (attacks in which the soldiers tried to kill as many of
the enemy as possible until they themselves were killed) against American soldiers.
(C) Results: Japanese resistance finally ended after almost 3 months, but resulted in nearly 50,000
American force casualties, making this battle the costliest engagement of the Pacific
War. The Allies now had a clear path to Japan.
THE MANHATTAN PROJECT
1. What role did Albert Einstein play in this?
- He had written a letter to Roosevelt suggesting that an incredibly powerful new type of bomb could be
built by the Germans. Determined to build the bomb before Germany did, Roosevelt organized the top
secret Manhattan Project to develop an atomic bomb.
2. Discuss the steps in the final development of this Atomic Bomb?
- Scientists had to discover how to create a chain reaction in which the splitting of one atom would cause
others to split and produce a massive explosion. Enrico Fermi produced the first controlled chain
reaction in a lab at the University of Chicago. Scientists worked to design a bomb that could store the
raw materials and trigger a much more powerful chain reaction on demand. On July 6, 1945, scientists
field-tested the world’s first atomic bomb in the desert of New Mexico, which blew a huge crater in the
earth and shattered windows up to 125 miles away.
3. What four (4) alternatives were there to try to defeat Japan?
(1) A massive invasion of Japan, expected to cost millions of Allied casualties.
(2) A naval blockade to starve Japan, along with continued conventional bombing.
(3) A demonstration of the new weapon on a deserted island to pressure Japan to surrender.
(4) A softening of Allied demands for an unconditional surrender.
4. Who made the decision to drop the atomic bomb on Japan? Why?
- U.S. President Harry S. Truman; he had taken office barely 3 months earlier after Roosevelt’s sudden
death in April 1945.
10
5. (A) Discuss the bombing of Hiroshima [August 6, 1945]:
- On August 6, 1945, an American plane (the Enola Gay) dropped a single atomic bomb on
Hiroshima, a city in southern Japan and the site of a large army base. A blast of intense heat
annihilated the city’s center and its residents in an instant. The buildings that survived the initial
blast were destroyed by fires spread by powerful winds. At least 80,000 died, and many more were
injured by fire, radiation sickness, and the force of the explosion. At least 90% of the city’s
buildings were destroyed or damaged.
(1) What was the name of this bomb? “Little Boy”
(B) Discuss the bombing of Nagasaki [August 9, 1945]:
- On August 9, 1945 (3 days after the first bomb was dropped), a second bomb was dropped on
Nagasaki.
(1) What was the name of this bomb? “Fat Boy”
6. When and where did the surrender of Japan occur?
- On August 14, 1945, the government of Japan accepted the American terms for surrender. The formal
surrender agreement was signed on September 2, 1945, aboard the USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay.
SECTION 5: THE SOCIAL IMPACT OF THE WAR
AFRICAN AMERICANS
1. How were African Americans discriminated against in the following places:
(A) in the workplace: 1 out of 5 remained jobless; government agencies set up to help the unemployed
honored employers’ requests for “whites only.”
(B) in housing: Segregation forced most to live in poor housing in overcrowded urban ghettos
(C) in the military: They were segregated from the white soldiers and still faced prejudice when they
returned home on leave.
2. How did African Americans work toward changing this?
- The Pittsburgh Courier, an African newspaper launched a “Double V” campaign. The first V stood for
victory against the Axis powers. The second for victory in winning equality at home. Another step was
the founding of the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) in Chicago in 1942 who used nonviolent
techniques, such as sit-ins, to end racism.
MEXICAN AMERICANS
1. What types of work did they do during the war?
- Some worked in shipyards and aircraft factories. Others worked in war production centers.
2. (A) What were Braceros? Mexican farm laborers brought to work in the U.S.
(B) What were Barrios? Spanish-speaking (crowded) neighborhoods
3. What were the Zoot Suit Riots [1945]?
- A series of riots in 1945 that broke out in Los Angeles, CA, between sailors who came there on leave
and young Mexican Americans who looked “un-American” because of the way they dressed – in zoot
suits (long draped jacket, baggy pants with tight cuffs, and a slicked-back “ducktail” haircut).
11
JAPANESE AMERICANS
1. How was hostility shown toward Japanese Americans after Pearl Harbor?
- Hostility grew into hatred and hysteria towards Japanese Americans. They suffered discrimination, were
feared, accused of sabotage, and were viewed as spies.
2. Why were they placed in internment camps? Where were these camps?
- As a result of prejudices and fears, the government decided to remove all “aliens” from the West Coast
and place them in internment camps in remote areas far from the coast.
3. What losses did the Japanese Americans have?
- Many lost their businesses, farms, homes, and other valuable assets.
4. What were the camp conditions like?
- All camps were located in desolate areas, which were surrounded with barbed wire and patrolled by
armed guards. Families lived in wooden barracks covered with tar paper, in rooms equipped only with
cots, blankets, and a light bulb. People had to share toilet, bathing, and dining facilities.
5. How did the United States make up for this very unfair act of internment?
- They were allowed to leave the camps in early 1945. Then, in 1988, Congress passed a law awarding
each surviving Japanese American internee a tax-free payment of $20,000. Also, the U.S. government
officially apologized more than 40 years after the event.
6. What Japanese Americans served in the United States military? How well did they fight?
- Most were Nisei, or citizens born in the U.S. to Japanese immigrant parents. Many won recognition for
their courage in Europe. In fact, soldiers of the all-Japanese 442nd Regimental Combat Team won more
medals for bravery than any other unit in U.S. history.
WORKING WOMEN
1. Why did many women want to join the war effort?
- They realized that the war gave them an opportunity to work at jobs that would otherwise be closed to
them. Others took jobs for patriotic reasons
2. What new types of jobs did women take in World War II?
- They worked in war production jobs, such as aircraft factories, shipyards, and other industrial sites that
directly supported the war effort.
3. How many women were employed? Who was their symbol?
- About 19.4 million women were employed in 1944 and at one point made up about 35% of the total
civilian labor force.
- Their symbol was a fictional young woman called Rosie the Riveter
4. How did the War improve women’s lives?
- Women working outside the home gained self-confidence and economic independence.
5. What problems did women face in the work force? How did the ending of the War affect women?
- Some faced prejudice and hostility, particularly in jobs previously filled only by men. They earned less
pay than men doing the same jobs. Working women also had to figure out what to do with their children
while they were on the job and, oftentimes, had to rely on family and friends to care for their children.
In addition, most working women had to continue to carry the burden of cooking, cleaning, and
household maintenance beyond workday.
12
ESTIMATED WORLD WAR II DEATHS
[Use the chart on page 618 to complete the following table.]
COUNTRY
MILITARY DEATHS
CIVILLIAN DEATHS
TOTAL DEATHS
3,250,000
226,900
1,740,000
2,350,000
60,000
393,400
5,600,000
286,900
2,133,400
122,000
305,800
405,400
11,000,000
1,400,000
470,000
60,600
6,700,000
8,000,000
592,000
366,400
405,400
17,700,000
9,400,000
AXIS
GERMANY
ITALY
JAPAN
ALLIES
FRANCE
GREAT BRITAIN
UNITED STATES
SOVIET UNION
CHINA
13