Chapter 25

1. Chapter 25 World War II at Home

2. Section One: The shift to wartime production • US gets out of depression due to supplying goods to Allied forces. • Economy devoted to making wartime goods. • Office of Price Administration (OPA) • Keep shortages from sending up prices and rent, thus causing inflation. • War Production Board (WPB) • Directs industries from making peace products to wartime goods. • Office of War Mobilization (OWM) • Run by James Byrnes, “assistant President” • Centralizes wartime-manufacture agencies

3. Industries convert • Shirt factories make mosquito nets • Typewriter plants make machine guns • Willow Run factory makes 340 planes/month in 1943. • Henry J. Kaiser introduces mass production techniques to ship building. • Liberty ships – large/sturdy metal ships that carried supplies or troops. • Takes an average of 46 days to build one.

4. One of Kaiser’s “Liberty Ships”

5. The “Great Arsenal of Democracy” • By the middle of 1945, the US had produced… • 300,000 airplanes • 80,000 landing craft • 100,000 tanks • 5,600 merchant ships (2,600 Liberty Ships) • 6 million rifles (carbines and machine guns) • 41 billion rounds of ammunition

6. The Wartime Work Force • Unemployment fell to 2% in 1943. • Average weekly pay rose 27% in just 3 yrs. • Union membership rose 10.5 million in 1941, to 14.8 million in 1945. • Thus, strikes doubled b/t 1942 and 1943. • Wildcat strikes – organized by workers themselves and not endorsed by unions. • Worst in the coal mines.

7. Financing the War • Federal spending increased from $9.4 billion in 1939 to $95.2 billion in 1945. • GNP doubled in that time. • Cost to Fed Gov’t b/t 1941-5 was $321 billion (ten times as much as WWI). • Got money $$$ from: • Higher taxes, banks, private investors, public • 1942 – US treasury introduces WAR BONDS • Gov’t savings bonds that financed the war. • Total brought in $156 billion. • Deficit spending – John Maynard Keyes • Gov’t should spend borrowed money to get econ moving. • Would create a huge national debt for later

8. Section 2: Daily Life on the Home Front • Everyone was involved some way! • Soldiers families, news on radio, new jobs, etc. • Morale boosted big time! • Income went up, increase in birth rate, people bought & read books/magazines, etc. • Robert de Graff, in 1939, developed a market for small-size paper-back books. • Less expensive, more available, small & easy to carry. • 60% of Americans went to the movies once a week. • Baseball still big and women played too! • 1943 Phillip Wrigley founded the All-American Girl’s Softball League. • Music and famous singers helped boost patriotism!

9. Shortages and Controls • Many things were at a shortage… • Metal for zippers used for guns, rubber for girdles went to tires for army trucks, and nylons went to parachutes instead of stockings. • Food shortages: • Sugar became scarce when our supplier, the Philippines, fell to Japan. • Shipping lanes closed, making it hard to get tropical fruits or Brazilian coffee. • The OPA took it upon themselves to ration! • Coupon books for clothing, food, etc. • People would trade one coupon for another. • Bread coupon for a meat coupon.

10. Enlisting Public Support • June 1942 – Office of War Information • Worked with magazine publishers, advertising agencies, and radio stations. • Hired people to write patriotic ads/posters. • Look at pages 724 and 725 • Victory Garden • After Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Sec. Of Agriculture suggested people plant home gardens to make up for farm produce sent to the soldiers. • People planted: tomatoes, peas, radishes, etc. • By 1943, victory gardens produced about 1/3 of the countries fresh veggies.

11. Enlisting Public Support • Women knitted socks/scarves for the soldiers. • Men too old, joined the Civilian Defense (tested air raid sirens). • People recycled due to shortages. • In VA, volunteers raised sunken ships for the metal. • From the kitchen, people saved fat for powder to make bullets. • Had contribution drives.

12. Section 3: Women and the War • 1942 song talked about ROSIE the Riveter • Young woman who worked in a defense plant while her boyfriend Charlie served in the marines. • The Gov’t used this image to attract women to the work force. • The image was young, white, and middle class. • Patriotism was her main reason for helping out.

13. Changes for Working Women • By 1940, about 15.5% of married women were working. • The War changed things… • The jobs weren’t just teaching and nursing… • Manufacturing: airplane plants, shipyards, steelworkers, welders, etc. • Number of working women rose from 14.6 million in 1941 to about 19.4 million in 1944. • At one point, they made up 35% of the workforce. • By the end of the war, half of all women workers were over age 35.

14. African American Women Workers • When they applied for defense positions, they still faced discrimination and prejudice. • During the war, they began to make the shift from working in domestic service to industry.

15. Problems for Working Women • Still faced discrimination & hostile reactions. • Many managers were nervous about mixing sexes, so they set up strict rules. • Can’t date each other, etc. • Working women had to leave their kids. • They were encouraged to work, but also were encouraged to be good mothers and run a good home. • They still weren’t paid as much as men were and they advanced slower in the work place. • At the Willow Run plant (airplanes)women earned $2,928/year compared with $3,363 for men.

16. After the War • The Gov’t just assumed after the war that the women would return home… • Returning men wanted their jobs and their old lifestyle at home back. • The Gov’t now encouraged women to return home and focus on cooking and child care. • Which can be recognized in the 1950/60’s. • When the war was over, twice as many women as men lost their factory jobs.

17. Section 4: The Struggle for Justice at Home • Unfortunately, everything wasn’t hunky-dory! • Discrimination: African Americans • Unemployment – 1/5 potential workers, not working. • Gov’t agencies honored employers “white only” requests. • 1940’s, two million Af. Amers moved to the North. • Found new opportunities but hard to find good housing. • Riots broke out in cities, some even lead to death. • Segregation in military and at home. • “Double V” campaign • Launched by African American newspaper, “The Pittsburgh Courier.” • The first V was for Allied Victory, and the second for winning an equality victory at home. • Founding Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) • Using nonviolent techniques to end racism, sit-ins.

18. A. Philip Randolph • Worked to overcome union discrimination to African Americans. • Organized march on Washington, & it was called off only when FDR signed an executive order. • This opened jobs and training programs in defense plants to all Americans, regardless of race. • Directed famous march on Washington in 1963, where MLK Jr. gave his famous speech.

19. Mexican Americans • By 1944, about 17,000 jobs in defense industries were held by Mexican Americans. • The Bracero Program (US needs ag. Help!) • A 1942 agreement b/t US and Mexico provided for transportation, food, shelter, etc for thousands of braceros (workers). • 1942-1947, 200,000 braceros worked on American farms. • High Latin Population of Los Angeles and southern Cali. • Zoot Suit Riots – 1940’s • Long draped jacket, baggy pants with tight cuffs, & slicked back hair worn by Mexican Americans. • This look offended people and got many Zooters beat up b/c it looked “Un-American.” • Turned to full on fighting and Zooters were blamed.

20. A Typical “Zoot Suit”

21. Japanese Americans • In 1941, they had 127,000 in the US…about .01% of the population. • Most lived in the west, where prejudice had always been strong…think gold rush. • 2/3 were Nisei (born in US, from parents who had migrated). • Frequently discriminated against. • After Pearl Harbor there was talk about sabotage from the West Coast. • Newspapers didn’t help by running headlines like “Jap Boat Flashes Message Ashore.” • Americans were left with the feeling that Japanese spies were everywhere!!!

22. Relocation Time… • As a result of fears and prejudice, the Gov't decided to remove all “aliens” from the West Coast. • Feb. 19, 1942: FDR signed Executive Order 9006. • Authorized the Secretary of War to establish military zones on the West Coast and remove “any or all persons” from those zones. • They moved 110,000 persons of Japanese ancestry to internment (confinement) camps in remote areas. • It happened so quickly, many didn’t have time to prepare…so many lost their businesses, farms, homes, etc.

23. Internment Camps – Picture It • Internment camps were in desolate areas, with wooden barracks covered with tar paper. • The rooms had cots, blankets, and a light bulb. • People shared a toilet, bathing, and dining facilities. • Barbed wire and armed guards surrounded the camps.

24. J U S T I F I E D ?

25. Legal Challenges • A few Japanese Americans challenged this in the courts. • Four actually went to the Supreme Court which ruled, “wartime relocation is constitutional.” • Early in 1945, they were allowed to leave the camps…life was very different. • 1988 – Congress passed a law awarding each surviving Japanese American internee a tax free payment of $20,000. • More than 40 years after, the US Gov’t formally apologized!

26. By the way…. • 17,000 Nisei soldiers served in the armed forces. • About 1,200 volunteered from the internment camps. • The 442nd Regimental Combat Team was made up of all Japanese Americans. • They fought in France and Germany. • They won more medals for bravery than any other unit in United States history.

27. Nisei Soldier