Download World War I and its Aftermath

Life on the Home Front
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With so many white men in the military,
American defense factories began to recruit
women and minorities.
◦ Women in the Defense Plants
 “Rosie the Riveter”
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A. Philip Randolph: head of the Brotherhood of
Sleeping Car Porters
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Pressured Roosevelt by organizing “from ten to fifty thousand AA to
march on Washington in the interest of securing jobs in national
defense and integration into the military and naval forces.”
Roosevelt responds with executive order 8802
 “there shall be no discrimination in the implloyment of workers in
defense industries”
 Created the Fair Employment Practices Commission
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To help farmers in the Southwest overcome the labor
shortage, the government introduced the Bracero
Program in 1942
◦ Over 200,000 Mexicans came to the US to harvest fruits and vegetables
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15 million Americans moved during the war to fill jobs
Housing Crisis
Racism exploded into violence
Zoot Suit Riots
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After the attack on Pearl Harbor, many Americans
equated Japanese Americans with the Japanese
◦ Mobs attacked Japanese American businesses and homes
◦ Banks would not accept/cash their checks
◦ Grocers refused to sell them food
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The West Coast was declared a military zone and all
people of Japanese ancestry were ordered to evacuate
to 10 internment camps
◦ Korematsu v. the United States:
the supreme court ruled that the
relocation was not based on race,
but on “military urgency”
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Japanese Americans served as translators for the Army
The all-Japanese 100th Battalion, later integrated into
the 442nd Regimental Combat Team and was the most
highly decorated unit in World War II
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Wage and Price Controls were implemented by the
government through the Office of Price Administration
Blue Points-Red Points
◦ Rationing or limiting the availability of many products was
instituted to make sure enough were available for military use
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Victory Gardens and Scrap Drives
“V” for Victory
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$300,000,000,000 (that’s billion) was spent by the
federal government for the war
◦ The government raised taxes, but only enough to cover 45% of
the cost of the war
◦ The government also issued war bonds
 When people bought bonds, they were loaning money to the
government. In exchange for the money, the government promised
that the bonds could be cashed in at some future date for the
purchase price plus interest.
 E-bonds were the most common bonds
 Sold for $18.75 and could be redeemed
for $25.00 after 10 years
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Describe zoot suiters and explain why they
became the target of anger from many
Americans.
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Describe zoot suiters and explain why they
became the target of anger from many Americans.
◦ A zoot suit had an overstuffed jacket that had wide lapels
and reached to the knees, with very baggy, pleated pants.
Accessories included a wide-brimmed hat and a long key
chain. Zoot-suit wearers usually wore their hair long,
gathered into a ducktail. The zoot suit angered many
Americans. In order to save fabric for the war, most men
wore a “victory suit,” which had no vest, no cuffs, a short
jacket, and narrow lapels. By comparison, the zoot suit
seemed unpatriotic. Also, crimes committed by young
people had been rising dramatically across the nation. The
fact that many young Mexican Americans adopted the
zoot suit linked racism as well as fear of juvenile crime to
the zoot suit. In Los Angeles, this mix resulted in violence
against Mexican American teenagers.