Download World War II

3/21/2013
World War II
The Home Front
Learning Goals
Cartoon Analysis
• Describe the economic effects of World War II on
the home front, such as the end of the Great
Depression, rationing, and increased opportunity
for women and minority employment
• Explain the home front and how American
patriotism inspired exceptional actions by citizens
and military personnel, including high levels of
military enlistment; volunteerism; the purchase of
war bonds; Victory Gardens; and opportunities
and obstacles for women and ethnic minorities
• Analyze the function of the U.S. Office of War
Information.
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Paying for the War
• Government issued war
bonds, encouraging citizens
to buy them
• Sale of bonds kept currency
out of the economy,
keeping inflation down
• Displayed a high level of
volunteerism, willingness
to help war effort
Cost of War
Total Bonds
Participation
$350 billion
$185 billion
85 million
Rationing
• Used to control raw
materials
• Rationing regulated the
amount of goods a
consumer could obtain
• Introduced to avoid
public anger over
shortages and increase
war effort participation
Rationing
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Victory Gardens
• Encouraged
citizens to grow
their own food
• Allowed more
food from
farmers to go to
troops
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Where did these
posters come from?
In the following 5 slides, determine …
1. Message of the advertisement
2. Why the message is important
3. How you think U.S. citizens reacted
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Office of War Information
• Created in 1942 by president
• Control of content or imagery of
war messages
• Production of pro-Allied and antiAxis propaganda
• Movies, posters, radio programs,
newsreels, and required that all
movies produced during the war
contribute to the war effort
• “Voice of America”
What’s the message the
OWI is trying to convey?
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Rosie the Riveter
Women in the Workforce
• New jobs, new skills, new
opportunities for women
• Women’s Army Corps
• Most took clerical jobs in
the military
• Shipbuilding and aircraft
production, formerly
occupied by men
• 1941-45 more than 6.5
million women entered
the workforce
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Executive Order 8802
• Prohibited discrimination
in the defense industry
• Millions of jobs were
created to mobilize for
war
• African Americans were
often met with violence
when they tried to
occupy these jobs
Relocation of Japanese Americans
• Executive Order 9066
• Permitted military
commanders to require
Japanese Americans to move
away from coastal regions to
live in internment camps in
the interior
• Racially motivated considering
the was no evidence to
suggest that Japanese were
more likely to commit treason
or sabotage than German- or
Italian-Americans
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Check for Understanding
What was one of the largest changes created by
the homefront of World War II?
A. Immigration greatly increased during those
years.
B. Women’s roles in society were greatly
changed.
C. Men moved fro
D. The U.S. population vastly increased in the
war years.m industry to farm production.
Check for Understanding
All of the following were ways the government’s
increase in size during the war years affected
citizens' lives EXCEPT —
A. many products needed for the war effort were
rationed
B. millions of men and women were employed in
the war effort
C. unemployment increased from Depression era
levels
D. price controls throughout the war years held
down inflation
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Check for Understanding
Which congressional action not only raised
money for World War II but also contributed to
the national debt?
A. requiring employers to withhold taxes from
workers’ paychecks
B. raising income tax rates
C. selling war bonds
D. enacting wage and price controls
Check for Understanding
During World War II, the federal government
used rationing to
A. hold down prices of military weapons
B. increase educational benefits for veterans
C. increase imports of scarce products
D. provide more resources for the military
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