Download The Homefront during WWII

The Home
Front during
WWII- Ch 17
Sec1
Mobilizing for
Defense
Ch 17 Sec1- Essential Ques.
How did the US expand its
armed forces?
How was the mobilization of
industry, labor, scientists, and
the media achieved?
What steps did the government
take to control the economy and
deal with alleged subversion?
Mobilization
After Pearl Harbor Americans jammed
recruiting offices
5 million volunteered for service
The Selective Service System was
expanded and another 10 million were
drafted (GI’s)
Women’s Army Corps (WAC’s) 350,000
women served as nurses, ambulance
drivers, radio operators, electricians,
parachute riggers, photographers,
mechanics, and clerks (WAVES, WASPS)
Diversity in the Armed Forces
300,000 Mexican Americans served
25,000 Native Americans Served (Navaho
Code Talkers)
1 million African Americans served
At first blacks were given supporting roles
in segregated units, by 1942 they were given
some combat opportunities
The Tuskegee Airman, Dr. Charles Drew
By 1944 some African Americans served in
white combat units
33,000 Japanese and 13,000 Chinese served
A Production Miracle
The Ford Motor Company made a new
factory to make B-24 bombers
Henry Kaiser used new techniques to
build Liberty ships in 40 days down
from 200 days
By 1944 US Production Levels doubled
those of the Axis Nations put together
By the middle of 1945 the US produced
300,000 airplanes, 80,000 landing craft,
100,000 tanks, 5,600 merchant ships, 6
million rifles and 41 million rounds
The War Powers Act
FDR gained power to reorganize the federal
gov. and create new agencies
Office of Price Adm. (OPA) Price Controls
National War Labor Board (NLRB) Halted
Strikes, Negotiated disputes
Office of War Mobilization (OWM)
Coordinated all operations
Office of War Information (OWI) Sell the War
Office of Scientific Research and
Development – Radar, Sonar, Manhattan
Project (atomic bomb)
New Workers
By 1944 nearly 18 million workers were
laboring in wartime industries ( The
female overall workforce reached 19.5
million)
More than 6 million in wartime jobs
were women
They were only paid 60% as much as
men
Women mined coal, repaired aircraft
engines, cut and wielded sheet metal
and operated forklifts and drill presses
“Rosie the Riveter” Campaign helped
recruitment
Minority Workers
Defense plants hired more than 2 million
minority workers
A. Phillip Randolph’s proposed March on
Washington forced FDR to call on
employers and labor unions to hire without
discrimination for war industries (Created
the Fair Employment Practices Commission)
The Bracero Program brought Mexican
legally into the US to help in industries ( Ex.
Shipbuilding)
200,000 Mexican Americans entered the US
legally to harvest crops
War Time Strikes
 17million new jobs were created but
economic gains were unevenly distributed
 Major Unions agreed to no-strike pledges in
exchange for higher wages and pensions
 Union member ship rose from 10.5 million to
14.7 million members
 Unions enrolled 1.25 million blacks
 1943 – US Rubber Company Factory in
Detroit staged a “Hate Strike”
 1943 – United Mine Worker (John L. Lewis)
Minors won, Smith-Connally Act Passed
Financial Costs of WWII
 WWII cost $1.15 a day for every man,
woman, and child
 Federal Spending rose from $8.9 billion
in 1939 to $95.2 billion in 1945
 The GNP more than doubled
 From 1941-1945 the Gov. spend $321
billion
 10X that of WWI
 More than all gov. expenditures from
1789 to 1940
Paying for the War
 The US Government added millions of
taxpayers to the rolls through lowering
the minimum tax-exempt income
 Raised personal income tax rates
 Held excess profits from corporations
 US borrowed the $ from banks, private
investors, and the public
 War bond sales brought in $186 billion
 Deficit Spending – The Nat . Debt rose
from $43 billion in 1940 to $259 billion
Economic Conversion
In January 1942 the government set up the
War Production Board (WPB) to direct the
conversion of peacetime industries to the
production of war goods
The WPB decided which companies
received defense contracts
It set priorities and allocated war materials
It used the Cost Plus System to allocate
profits to companies
“Dollar a year” executives came to
Washington to contribute while staying on
their Co. payrolls
Rationing and Nation Wide
Drives
 The OPA set up a system for rationing
through rationing/coupon books
 Scare items: meat, shoes, sugar, coffee,
gas, butter, and canned fruit
 Metal went for guns, rubber for tires, cloth
for uniforms, nylons for parachutes
 Scrap metal Drives and “Victory Gardens”
were publicized
 Civilian Defense conducted “Blackouts”
 USO Clubs entertained departing soldiers
Ch 17 Sec 4- The HomeFront
• What were the economic and
social changes that reshaped
American Life during the war?
• What economic opportunities
and discrimination did African
Americans and other minorities
experience during the war?
Family Life on the Home front
 Between 1940- 1943 more than a million
more couples married than if had there been
no war
 By 1946 divorces skyrocketed
 Housing Shortage-Federal Gov. build 2
million new homes
 Juvenile Delinquency increased during the
war
 By 1944 High School enrollments decreased
by 1.2 million “Back to School Campaign”
 More books, magazines and baseball
 60% of Americans viewed movies per week
The GI Bill
 To ease entry into Civilian Life and
provide opportunity for serviceman
Congress passed in 1944 the GI Bill of
Rights ( GI Bill)
 It provided education and training for
veterans
 College Tuition and Low Cost
Mortgages
 7.8 million veterans attended colleges
or technical schools under the GI Bill
 Low cost loans for starting businesses
Discrimination and Reaction
 Between 1940 and 1944 the % of African
Americans working in skilled or semi-skilled
jobs rose from 16% to 30%
 In 1942 civil rights leader James Farmer
founded the Congress of Racial Equality
(CORE) to combat urban segregation
 Detroit Race Riot of 1943 – 3 days, 9 whites,
and 25 blacks were killed, FDR sent in
troops
 A. Phillip Randolph’s efforts resulted in the
FEPC
 “Double V Campaign” started in Pitt. Pa
Zoot Suit Riots
 200,000 Mexican Americans were legally
brought to the US to work – Braceros
 Many Mexican Americans lived in barrios
 In 1943 Mexican Americans wore “Zoot
Suits” as a symbol of rebellion
 On June 4th, 11 sailors claimed they were
attacked, mobs violence erupted between
servicemen and Zoot Suits, many young
Mexican were beaten and jailed unjustly
with 700 injured
Japanese Internment
 After Pearl Harbor many Americans
feared an invasion of the US, and it was
thought that the Japanese could be
loyal to the enemy (0.1% of US Pop.)
 In Feb. 1942 FDR signed Executive
Order 9066 in which civil rights were
suspended and the army began
rounding up Japanese citizens
 Japanese on the West Coast were
given one week, then they were
transported to camps in UT, CO, AK,
ID,AZ,WY, and CA. (120,000 people)
Results of Internment
 Japanese Americans lost homes and
businesses valued at $500 million
 Korematsu vs the US ( 1944) The Supreme
Court upheld the relocation on the grounds
of national security
 In 1988 the US Congress gave reparations of
$20,000 to each internee and a public
apology to each of the 60,000 surviving
victims