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The War Begins
In 1939 World War II began. Germany, Japan, and Italy
fought on one side. Britain and France fought on the other
side. Before 1941, most Americans did not believe the war
could change their lives. They kept up with news of the war
through newspapers and radio reports. But to most people it
remained a foreign war.
Many people in the United States did not want their
country to fight. They remembered World War I (1914-1918).
The United States was still in the Great Depression. Millions
of people were having trouble finding jobs and putting food
on their tables.
As World War II continued, the United States government
set up a draft to call men to serve in the armed forces. The
United States sent weapons, food, and other goods to help
the British. Still, many Americans hoped the nation would
not enter the war. Then something happened.
Crowds outside the U.S. State Department building in Washington, D.C.,
read newspaper headlines about the war in Europe.
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The United States Enters the War
On December 7, 1941, Japanese planes attacked Pearl
Harbor, a United States Navy base in Hawaii. Three
hundred and sixty-five Japanese planes attacked the base
just after dawn. More than 2,300 people lost their lives.
Nineteen ships were sunk or damaged. Two hundred planes
were destroyed.
The next day President Franklin D. Roosevelt asked
Congress to declare war on Japan. Millions of Americans
listened to Roosevelt's speech on the radio. Several days
later, Germany and Italy declared war on the United States.
The United States joined the Allies. The Allies included
Britain, France, and the Soviet Union. The United States had
entered World War II. Life for Americans began to change.
The day after the attack on Pearl Harbor, President RooseveH
asked Congress to declare a state of war.
4
Workforce Changes
From 1941 to 1945, more than 15 million American men fought overseas.
That left many industries in need of workers. Who would fill these jobs?
During the war, people moved to California to find jobs in factories
that made planes and ships. The population of many California cities grew
quickly. For example, San Diego, a quiet town, became an industrial city.
Between 1941 and 1944, its population grew from 203,000 to almost
500,000 people. In 1943 the San Francisco Chronicle ran the headline "The
Second Gold Rush Hits the West." It compared the number of people who
moved West during World War II to the Gold Rush of the 1840s.
American industries also turned to the
nation's women to fill jobs. Before the war,
many cared for their families and homes.
But the war changed all of that.
Many women welcomed this change.
Jobs gave women a chance to earn money.
Women also worked to show their support
for the men overseas.
'ffii'l
DID YOU KNOW
To hide the large number of
factories producing aircraft and
ships in Southern California,
Hollywood movie designers
constructed fake trees and
animals above factory roofs
and the Pacific Highway.
Companies said that the work was just for the war. Once the war was
over, women could go back to their "nornul" lives.
Not everyone thought that women could do "men's" work. Yet, women
showed they could do well in jobs that had once been done only by men.
Few women had ever worked in the shipbuilding industry, for example.
But by 1944, one out of every ten shipbuilders was a woman.
In Minneapolis, Minnesota, one company was run by women during
the war years. In 1943, Douglas Aircraft Company was the country's largest
employer of women. Women worked in factories and lumber and steel mills.
They joined metal parts and made tanks to heat water.
About 400,000 women served in the military. Each
branch of the armed forces-the Army, Navy, Army
Air Forces, Marines, and Coast Guard-had women.
These women drove jeeps, handled communications,
and became instructors. The armed forces used the
slogan "Free a Man to Fight" to get women to join.
The more women who joined up, they said, the more
men could be sent to fight overseas. Maggie Gee of
California was one of two Chinese-American women
to serve during World War II as a member of the
Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP) .
Women had to find ways to care for their young
children. Mothers often depended on family members
or neighbors to help. Some cities and towns started
child-care programs. Some companies had child care
on their property. Others found that women could
work at home. For example, one company hired
women to weave grips. These were devices that held
lengths of telephone cable together. Women were able
to weave the grips in their kitchens. A worker could
make as many as 20 grips in an hour. She was paid
four cents for each finished grip. This would add up to
more than $30 a week. At the time this was good pay.
Women in military uniforms at Long Beach Army Air Base
10
About 6 million women worked during World War II. Many women
planned to stop working once the war ended. But some women continued
to work outside the home.
During World War II, the San Francisco Stock Exchange employed women on its floors
for the first time in the history of the exchange.
12
N
Rosie the Riveter
Based on a female factory worker, Rosie the Riveter was one of the most famous women
of the 1940s. She was the star of a 1943 song written by Redd Evans and John Jacob Loeb.
The song described a real and new idea-women at work in factories-and became very
popular.
A painting by Norman Rockwell made Rosie even more famous. It showed a defense factory
worker on her lunch break, a riveter resting on her lap. On May 29, 1943, the painting
appeared on the cover of the popular magazine The Saturday Evening Post. Women across
the United States identified with the image because it represented them and their work.
Changes During the War
People on the home front faced a shortage of goods. There were many
reasons for this. Many factories made war goods instead of automobiles and
clothing. Ships that brought goods from South America were now used to
carry troops. Metals used to make things such as bicycles and paper clips
were needed to make war goods.
Some goods could no longer be bought from other countries. Rubber
and silk from Southeast Asia weren't available. Japan had taken over the
countries that produced these goods.
The United States government was forced to ration (RASH•uhn) goods.
It put limits on the rubber, shoes, butter, sugar, gasoline, and coffee that
people could buy. During the war, every adult and child in the United States
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received a ratio n book each year. T h e book had stamps that could be used
to buy certain goods. H aving money wasn't en o ugh . A customer had to have
the righ t num b er of ration stamps as well.
R ationin g worked in two ways. A p erson could buy goods such as sugar,
coffee, or gasoline w ith cash and a ration stamp. But the amount people were
allowed was not always equal. In San Diego, California, most people were
allowed four gallons of gasoline a week. B ut p eople needed for the war
effort received more.
Food and clothing were rationed by using an equal point system. The
point value of the ratio n ed goods could chan ge, depending on the supplies
at hand. B ut everyone got the same amount.
A set of ration stamps
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It was hard for the United States government to run the rationing
program. It had to register 500,000 dealers and 150 million consumers. And
rationed goods were often bought and sold in ways that broke the law. This
was called the black market. The government had to find ways to end it.
Often people had to stand in long lines to buy goods. Here's how one
woman described shopping for food. "Shortages of meats and vegetables ...
mean that instead of the quick dash to the grocery for food, you have to
wander around to two or three or even more stores before you can find
what you need or want."
Most people were willing to help the war effort. They formed carpools to
save gasoline. They recycled. They learned to make do with what they had.
Girls shop using the point system.
16
Children and the War
Children, too, tried to help on the home front. Children across the United
States pulled wagons through their neighborhoods. They collected rubber,
paper, and tin needed for the war effort.
In Chicago, Illinois, every Wednesday was Paper Day. Teachers gave prizes
to students who brought in the most paper. In one five-month period,
Chicago students collected 18,000 tons of newspaper!
Children helped by buying war bonds. They took nickels and dimes
to school, where they bought savings stamps. Schools collected more than
$1 billion from the stamps and bonds. The average amount collected was
$21 per child. This program helped the government. In 1944, for example,
the stamps and bonds program bought 29,000 planes, 33,000 jeeps, and
11,690 parachutes.
In this 1942 photograph (right), seventh graders in Monroe, Michigan, turn in a week's worth
of waste paper. California high school students (below) form a U.S. Coast Guard shield in support
of the "Seventh War loan" drive-one of many war-bond drives supported by students during
World War II.
18
Items In Short Supply
During World War II
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Toasters
Vacuum cleaners
Waffle irons
Flashlights
Batteries
Zippers, snaps, and other
fasteners
19
Victory Gardens
Some people helped the war effort by
gardening. Citizens plowed their backyards as
well as vacant lots and parks. The government,
private groups, schools, and seed companies
worked with first-time gardeners. The groups
found land and gave out directions and seeds.
They helped people with their gardens.
Magazines and newspapers gave gardening tips.
A good victory garden produced enough
vegetables to feed a family during the summer.
Gardeners also grew extra vegetables that could
be canned and used the following winter and
spring. Citizens who grew their own food didn't
need as many rationed foods. That extra food
could go to the armed forces overseas. During the
war, United States citizens planted 20 million
victory gardens. These gardens produced more
than one-third of all the vegetables grown in
the country!
In 1943, children at a school for the blind
prepare to plant a victory garden.
21
ADark Side
During the war, a real feeling of patriotism
could be felt on the home front. But stories
about spies were spread by some newspapers
and radio programs. Some people worried that
enemy spies were being sent to the United
States. The stories weren't always true. The
Germ.ans made only weak attempts to send
spies. The Japanese sent none at all. Still, people
were frightened. People in small towns became
suspicious of strangers.
At the time of the attack on Pearl Harbor,
about 125,000 Japanese Americans lived in the
United States. Son1.e people began to think that
Japanese American people might be enemy
spies. Some said that Japanese Americans were
in contact with Japanese submarines. No proof
of this was ever found. But in 1942 President
Roosevelt signed an order. It sent about
110,000 Japanese Americans to "relocation
camps" far from their homes. For three years,
Japanese Americans were kept in these camps.
Many years later, in 1988, a law was passed that
ordered each survivor of the camps to receive
$20,000 from the United States government.
In 1993 President Bill Clinton sent a letter of
apology to every survivor.
Japanese Americans in California wait
to be transported to a relocation camp.
22
The War Ends
On May 7, 1945, the Germans surrendered to the Allies. The Japanese
surrendered a few months later, on August 14. On September 2 the war
was officially over. People all over the United States celebrated.
Factories began making a number of goods instead of only war materials.
Millions of men returned home to their families. The soldiers had faced the
horrible conditions of war, but the people back home had done their part as
well. Life on the home front had been unforgettable for millions of Americans.
The foreign minister of Japan surrendered in a solemn ceremony aboard the USS Missouri.
24
Think and Respond
CD
What event made the United States declare war
against Japan?
0
Explain why many women began working in
factories and other businesses during World
War II.
@)
Describe some of the benefits women felt thatthey
gained by working during the war.
@)
List some everyday items that were rationed during
the war.
®
What are some problems that women faced
during the war? How would you have addressed
those problems?
Design a Poster Imagine that you are a factory
owner and have lost many of your male employees to
the war effort. Design a poster that invites women to
work at your factory. What colors, pictures, and words
will you use?
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