Download PPT - Minorities and Women

US Military History – Minorities/Women
Bell Ringer
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Injustice and inequality – name an incident that you associate
with these words.
Do you know about any involvement of minorities in WWII?
American Revolution
• Slaves could get freedom if they fought for
British
• Native Americans
• Women
– Deborah Sampson
– Teach their children ideals
– Molly Pitcher
• During America’s first war, The Revolutionary War,
Deborah Samson of Plymouth Massachusetts,
disguised herself as a young man and presented
herself to the American army as a willing volunteer
to fight our opponents. She enlisted in the year
1778 under the name “Robert Shirtliffe”
American Revolution & Civil War
• No official role in the
military
• Worked as cooks,
seamstresses, caregivers,
nurses, and launderers
• Some disguised
themselves as men and
fought in battle
• Some acted as spies,
saboteurs, and couriers
Slaves
& Indians
the War
The
Continental
Army hadin2 all-black
regiments
composed
of Northern
slaves
• Black slaves
supported
whoever
seemed likely to deliver freedom:
–Northern slaves supported the
colonists who offered freedom
for any slave who fought
–Southern slaves typically
supported Britain
• Native Americans feared colonial
expansion & overwhelmingly
supported Britain
James Armistead
• James Armistead was born into slavery in Virginia
around 1748.
• Armistead enlisted in the Revolutionary War
under General Lafayette.
• Working as a spy, Armistead gained the trust of
General Cornwallis and Benedict Arnold,
providing information that allowed American
forces to prevail at the Battle of Yorktown.
James Amistead
• Amistead convinced Cornwallis that he had escaped
and was ready to be a British agent
• He provided him with information about a fake troop
of soldiers, after soiling the paper so that he could
pretend he found it on the road
• He was thus able to gain entry to the British
command, and provide Lafayette with plans
• The Virginia state legislature later voted to grant him
his freedom as thanks for his services
Contributions of James Armistead to
the War for Independence
• Provided Lafayette with invaluable information as to
British troop movements
– Armistead was so effective that Cornwallis did not discover the
treachery until after the Battle of Yorktown
• Continued spying throughout the Battle of Yorktown,
sending information to Lafayette important to the cause
of victory
• Was a victory for slaves, asserting their intelligence
– This did not cause any wide sweeping changes, but it did open
people’s eyes
Legacy for Indians
• Generally thought it was not their war
• War for liberty and independence took
liberty and independence away from
Indians
• War against colonial oppression led to
colonization and oppression of Indians
by the U.S. government
• Soldiers paid with Indian land, not free
land
• Indians erased from history due to Paris
Peace Treaty and the idea that the war
was fought ONLY between colonists and
British
The
Civil War
(1861-1865)
After the Emancipation
Proclamation blacks
began to join the
Union Army
 Initially they were only
used for manual labor
 Eventually, Blacks saw
live combat
 54th regiment out of
Massachusetts
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William Carney
Black Men in Blue
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Frederick Douglass
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Field commanders start forming Black regiments from slaves they
freed
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Blacks fighting for union would guarantee citizenship
Non-combat roles
Paid less than whites
Officers were white
54th Massachusetts Infantry
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Robert Gould Shaw
Frederick Douglass and Robert Gould Shaw
Women and the War
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Female casualties
Clerical jobs open to women in the north
Clara Barton
Women’s Central Association for Relief
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Dr. Elizabeth Blackwell
United States Sanitary Commission
National Woman Suffrage Association
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Elizabeth Cady Stanton
Susan B. Anthony
Frances Clayton
Source: The National Archives
Sarah Rosetta
Wakeman
Harriet Tubman
Sarah Edmonds
Sarah Emma Edmonds: Sarah Emma Edmonds was born in Nova
Scotia in 1841, and later moved to the United States early in her
young adult life to escape the abuse of her father. While living in
Detroit Michigan in 1861, she decided to join the United States
Army and fight for “her country” in the Civil War. While in the
army, she disguised her sex and went by the alias Frank
Thompson, and became a male nurse in the Second Volunteers
of the United States Army. Edmonds was unique because not
only was she able to remain in the army for several years, but
was also successful as a Union spy-all while impersonating a
man.
African Americans have fought in
military conflicts since colonial
days. However, the Buffalo
Soldiers, comprised of former
slaves, freemen and Black Civil
War soldiers, were the first to serve
during peacetime.
Official Beginnings
• July 28th, 1866, provisions were made for the Negroes to
serve in the U.S. Army
• Six regiments, 2 of Cavalry and 4 of infantry were
authorized
– The Ninth (9th) and Tenth (10th) U.S. Cavalry Regiments
******************************************************
These regiments would become known as
The Buffalo Soldiers
Buffalo Soldiers, down through the years, have worn the
name with pride.
Spanish-American War
Cathay Williams
Cathay Williams was born in 1844, in Independence
Missouri. She was the first African American female to
enlist, serving in the United States Army under the
pseudonym William Cathay. Williams was one of the
Buffalo Soldiers for three years, passing herself off as a
man to all but her cousin and a friend, both of whom were
fellow soldiers in her regiment.
Why did they want to join the army?
• the chance for social and economic betterment. (Something difficult to
achieve in a society all but closed to them)
• they were free, but many did not have skills to go forward or a place to go.
(So many felt that the army would be a new home)
• the adventure of being sent west to help tame an untamed wilderness
• this could lead them to their great dream--building a new life on their own
land
• the prospect of learning how to read and write--they felt this would bring them
closer to learning and therefore to earning the respect of the white men
(knowing what the white man knew would help them survive and prosper)
19141918:
The World
at War
Spanish American War
& World War I
• Nursing Corps formed
as an auxiliary to the
Army (1901) and Navy
(1908).
• 34,000 women served
as nurses in all armed
forces in WWI.
• No military rank. No
military benefits.
Minorities in the U.S. Army
 African Americans
– Segregated and trained in separate
camps.
– Only a few regiments were trained.
– Were only allowed to be in the Army
and in the Navy as mess men.
– Usually assigned to French regiments
 Gave them 11 citations for bravery
and valor
 Latinos
– Often assigned menial tasks.
– Some couldn’t speak English
 Women
– Enlisted and went oversees to
work as switch board operators, nurses,
and typists in the Army, Navy, and
Marines.
Did You Know?
• Approximately 380,000 African Americans
served in the U.S.
armed forces during World War I.
• Nearly 200,000 African Americans who
served during World War I
played roles in Europe as support troops and
over 40,000 served
in combat.
• Many members of the 369th were from
Harlem, New York; the
nickname “Hellfighters” is said to have been
coined by German
troops, or more likely, the American press.
Henry Johnson
• When they returned from the war in
February 1919, over one million
people lined the streets of New York
City’s Fifth Avenue. The 369th
marched first in the parade, led by
legendary bandleader James
Reese Europe.
• The 369th was one of the few units
to have black officers in
addition to black soldiers.
An Introduction to the History and Heritage of the United States Army
World War I, 1917-1918
Hellfighters Let’s Go!
https://www.yout
ube.com/watch?
v=eEuoAl1elLU
http://www.history.com/topics/world-war-i/world-war-i-history/videos/the-harlem-hellfighters
Women in WWI
 Women
– Enlisted and went oversees to
work as switch board operators,
nurses,
and typists in the Army, Navy, and
Marines.
Harts War - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vlZQj4OrTUM
A) African Americans
• African American union leader A. Philip Randolph planned to march on
DC unless AA were given jobs in wartime industry
• Roosevelt signed EO 8802 – allowing government jobs without
discrimination
• March called off
• 2 million AA moved North – race riots in Detroit and New York
• Pittsburgh courier launched the double V campaign
• Congress of Racial Equality (CORE): civil rights group founded
in Chicago – used non-violent techniques to end discrimination
Dorie Miller
Tuskegee Airmen
B) Mexican Americans
•
•
•
•
•
Worked in factories and fought in the war amidst
discrimination
US needed farm laborers
braceros: Mexican farm laborers brought to work in US
Barrios: Spanish speaking neighborhoods in US – poor
Mexican-Americans began wearing zoot-suits – US navy
personnel in Los Angles thought it was un-American – fighting
and riots began – victims usually arrested - Navy limited leave
in Los Angles
C) Native Americans
• Many fought in the war (25,000)
• 23,000 moved to cities to work
• Never came home
Wind Talkers
• One of the keys to Allied success in the Pacific was the use
of secret codes. The United States trained a special group of
Navajo Indian “code talkers” for the task.
• Because Navajo is not a written language and is
understood by very few people, it made an excellent
basis for a code to transmit vital information.
D) Japanese Americans
• 127,000 Japanese Americans living in US at war time – 2/3
citizens
• US afraid of spies – Pearl Harbor
• EO 9066 – internment for Japanese in camps – people
lost everything
• Interned – confined
• Barbed wire and armed guards ?
• Today we look upon it as a grave injustice – 1988 all survivors given 20,000 and an
official apology.
Japanese Loyalty
• Questions?
• 442nd Combat Team
– Purple Heart Battalion
• George Sakato
• Some resisted the internment and fought
back.
– Korematsu v. United States
Japanese Americans in the Military
• 17,000 fought in WWII in Europe
• Nisei – citizens born to Japanese immigrants
•
Some volunteered while living in internment camps
•
442nd Regimental Combat Team most highly
decorated in WWII
“Go For Broke”
•
www.youtube.com/watch?v=adjnOrbM2rY
https://
E) Working Women
• Women made up 35% of work force – did jobs they never
thought possible
• Rosie the Riveter - 628
• AA women improved their jobs also
• Received less pay
• Women still did house care and needed family to watch
children
• Some women went back to house after war – many wanted
to keep jobs – most were fired for men
Military Women
Excluded from combat positions
Some served doing traditional
“women’s work” in military branches
(i.e. cleaning and secretarial duties)
Many women became nurses, or
used their nursing expertise to help in
the war effort (i.e. Red Cross, military
nursing units)
World
War
II
Nurses, secretaries,
telephone operators
350,000 women
served in the
military
representing 2% of
the total force
Women became
permanent
members of the
Regular and
Reserve forces
(1948)
Military Women
Enlist in the WAVES
John Falter
More Nurses are Needed!
World War II
• Women given full
military status
–
–
–
–
Navy WAVES (1942)
Army WAC (1943)
Airforce WASPS
Marine Corps
Women’s Reserve
– Coast Guard
Women’s Reserve
Military Women
• Women in the U.S. military during World War II:
–
–
–
–
–
–
Army: 140,000
Navy: 100,000
Marines: 23,000
Coast Guard: 13,000
Air Force: 1,000
Army and Navy Nurse Corps: 74,000
• Jacqueline Cochran: Jacqueline Cochran, born in
near Mobile, Alabama in 1906, was one of the most
gifted racing pilot of her generation. She was also an
important member of the Women’s Auxilliary Army
Corps and Women Airforce Services Piolets.
Korean War 1950-1953
Hiroshi H. Miyamura
Congressional Medal of Honor
Korea & Vietnam
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Roles increased due to
changes in society and
the needs of the military
Nurses,
clerical/administrative,
communications,
personnel, finance, data
processing, intelligence
Initially 1% of the
military force
The Vietnam
War
1954 - 1975
The Draft
 Poor
Americans
(and blacks)
disproportionally
served in Vietnam.
 Draft Exemptions
Muhammad Ali
refuses to fight
The Draft Lottery
Instituted in 1969 for fairness
American Morale
Begins to Dip
 Disproportionate representation of
poor people and minorities.
 Severe racial problems.
 Major drug
problems.
 Officers in combat
6 mo.; in rear
6 mo. Enlisted
men in combat for 12 mo.
Noncombat
positions
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Administration,
communication,
engineering, medical
care, and
transportation
Still in danger/could
get killed
Women
– 10,000 served in noncombat
positions(ex. Nurses)
– 20,000-45,0000 work in
civilian capacities (ex. Relief
agencies/ Red Cross)
Memorial to US
Nurses in Vietnam
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Vietnam Women’s
Designed by Glenna
Memorial
Goodacre
Dedicated to the
women who served
in the Vietnam War,
and for the families
who had lost loved
ones
Reminding
Americans of the
comfort and care
women had
provided during the
war
Military Women
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Many of the women in this war were
forgotten, men dominated this war
Around 11,000 American women were
stationed in Vietnam during the war.
Roles in the military:
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–
–
–
–
–
–
–
Nurses in the Army, Navy, and Air Force
Physicians
Physical therapists
Personnel in Medical Service Corps
Air traffic controllers
Communications specialists
Intelligence officers
Clerks
Statistics
 The
American women who served
in Vietnam:
– U.S. Army: 4,675
– U.S. Navy: 423
– U.S. Marine Corps: 36
– U.S. Air Force: 771
– Number of women killed: 8
 Total
number of U.S. military
personnel who served in Vietnam:
2,709,965
 Sharon
Anne
Lane: Sharon Lane was
a United States Army
nurse who perished
during the Vietnam War
of shrapnel wounds.
A Comparison
 World
War II had been a major advancement for
women in the U.S., but once the men had
returned, women were back to their domestic
lives.
 Vietnam War had occurred right after the “baby
boom” period, and the men had dominated during
the war. The women were overlooked, and
referred to as the “forgotten soldiers,” unlike
their larger roles in World War II.
 First women generals and
admirals
 All Volunteer Force (end
of the draft)
 Title 9 – girls active in
school sports
 Service academies
opened to women (1976)
 Women integrated fully
into military branches of
services
 Women entered Airborne
Training
 Combat Exclusion
Policy
 Operation Urgent
Fury - Grenada
 Operation Just Cause
- Panama
Terrorism
The Long War
 Transportation,
helicopter pilots,
missiles, supply,
medics, and more
 40,000 women
 Greater acceptance
of women in
expanded roles
 Serving on Navy
ships, and as combat
pilots, truck drivers,
Marine search teams
 180,000 women in the
war zone
 Repeated
deployments
Key Points
Women’s role in the military is
evolving and expanding
Women represent 15% of
active force, 23% of reserves
Women as a percentage of
the veteran population is
growing (2.5% in 1970 to 8%
in 2010)
Average female veteran is 46
compared to the average
male veteran at 60.
“Combat exclusion” no longer
an option