Essential Question :

■ Essential QuestionEssential Question:

–How did the U.S. mobilize civilians at home to help win World War 2 & what impact did this have on American society?

■ Warm-Up QuestionWarm-Up Question:

–What other major American war is most similar in its resemblance to the U.S. entrance into WW2?

Mobilizing an “Arsenal of Democracy”

The Home Front■ WW2 impacted all aspects of

American life:–FDR hoped the U.S. would be

the great “arsenal of democracy” –The boost of wartime industry

ended the Great Depression–The war altered the lives of

women, African-Americans, Japanese-Americans, & Mexican-Americans

Mobilization■ To win wars in Asia & Europe &

meet civilian demands, the U.S. gov’t grew to its largest size ever:

–The War Powers ActWar Powers Act gave the president unprecedented power

–New bureaucracies were formed to direct the economy, create propaganda, sell war bonds, & prevent enemy subversion

The power to create new gov’t agencies

to censor the press

to limit civil liberties & seize personal property

The Office of War Mobilization coordinated

the draft, consumer prices, & the labor force

The Office of War Information

directed press, print, radio, & film

propaganda

The Office of Strategic Services gathered enemy intelligence & conducted espionage

This is 2x as much as all previous gov’t spending combined

The U.S. gov’t spent $250 million per day from 1941 to 1945

MobilizationMobilization: The Demand for War Equipment & Soldiers

War bonds helped raise $187 billion to support

the war effort

Buy, Buy, Buy, Buy a Bond:Buy, Buy, Buy, Buy a Bond:It Will Lead to VICTORY!It Will Lead to VICTORY!

Buy, Buy, Buy, Buy a Bond:Buy, Buy, Buy, Buy a Bond:It Will Lead to VICTORY!It Will Lead to VICTORY!

War Rations

Victory GardensVictory Gardens: Grow Your Own

PropagandaPropaganda: Fighting the Enemy on the Battlefield & on the Home Front

Fear Propaganda

Hollywood Pitches In

Jimmy Stewart goes off to war

The Wartime Economy■ The most decisive factor for Allied

victory was America’s ability to outproduce both Germany & Japan

–Heavy industry was converted to war & was directed by the War Production Board (WPB)War Production Board (WPB)

–15 million U.S. soldiers fought but 60 million workers & farmers supplied them with supplies

U.S. made 2x more goods than Germany & 5x more than Japan

Ford’s Willow Run Factory Ford made one B-24 bomber every hour

Henry Kaiser’s West Coast ShipyardsThe Allies won the Battle of the Atlantic, in part, because the USA produced ships

faster than German u-boats could sink them

Kaiser standardized battleship building & reduced the time it took to make a battleship

from 355 days to 14 days

■ Essential QuestionEssential Question:

–How did the U.S. mobilize civilians at home to help win World War 2 & what impact did this have on American society?

■ Reading Quiz Ch 25 B (904-922)Reading Quiz Ch 25 B (904-922)

WW2 Changed American Society

FDR Video #2

Regional Changes■ The war effort transformed the

Western & Southern U.S.:–California became the major

center for industry to support the war effort in the Pacific

–60 of the 100 new military based were built in the South

–Southern textile factories & industrial jobs helped end sharecropping & tenant farming

9 million defense workers moved to new factories & shipyards in South & West

Women■ The war presented new economic

opportunities for women:

–Dramatic rise in employment (14 million to 19 million by 1945)

–Most new female workers were married, many middle-aged

–Entered “exclusively male” fields

–Temporarily redefined “woman’s sphere” from “just at home”

“To hell with the life I have had. This war is too [serious], and it

is too [important] to win it.”

““Rosie, the Riveter”Rosie, the Riveter”““Rosie, the Riveter”Rosie, the Riveter”

S..t..r..e..t..c..h That Food!S..t..r..e..t..c..h That Food!S..t..r..e..t..c..h That Food!S..t..r..e..t..c..h That Food!

Women’s Army Air Women’s Army Air Corps PilotsCorps Pilots

Women’s Army Air Women’s Army Air Corps PilotsCorps Pilots

Join the Women’s Join the Women’s Army Corps Army Corps

(WACs)(WACs)

Join the Women’s Join the Women’s Army Corps Army Corps

(WACs)(WACs)

Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service (WAVES)

Families■ The uncertainties of war &

economic affluence of the 1940s led to a dramatic rise in marriage

■ The influx of women into the workforce led to a new demand for daycare centers & to an increase in child delinquency

■ Public health improved as more families had access to doctors, dentists, & prescription drugs

…and high divorce rates

African-Americans■ 1 million blacks served in U.S.

military but few saw combat■ Discrimination in the workforce

led A. Philip Randolph to pressure FDR to create a Fair Employment Fair Employment Practices CommitteePractices Committee

■ Continued black migration into the North & West made race relations a national issue

Banned discrimination in defense industries & gov’t

Segregated units…againSegregated units…againSegregated units…againSegregated units…again

Tuskegee Airmen

Double V: Victory at Home & Abroad

A. Philip Randolph threatened a “March on Washington” to

protest war time discrimination

Other groups, like the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE), staged sit-ins in restaurants

in major cities to protest discrimination

Mexican-Americans ■ Mexican-Americans:Mexican-Americans:

–Served in quasi-segregated military units, often in the most hazardous branches

–Mexican-American workers found jobs in SW agriculture & west coast industry

–Faced discrimination, especially during the Zoot Suit Riots

“Zoot Suit” Riot in Los Angeles

Japanese-Americans■ Due to Pearl Harbor, many in the

U.S. feared Japanese-Americans were helping prepare for a Japanese invasion in the West

■ Civil liberties were restricted:–Issei had their assets frozen–Used racial stereotypes (“Japs”)–In 1942, FDR ordered 112,000

Japanese-Americans moved to internment camps

Japanese who were not American citizens living in the U.S.

Japanese- American Internment

Camps

Families were given one week to close their businesses & homes

The all Japanese-American 442nd Division fought in Europe & received over 1,000

citations for bravery

Win-the-War Politics■ In 1944, FDR used the war to

strengthen his leadership:–“Mr. New Deal” had shifted to

“Mr. Win the War”–Opponent Thomas Dewey made

communism & FDR’s health the focus of the election

–FDR switched VPs from liberal Henry Wallace to moderate Harry Truman to gain appeal