Chapter 25

World War II at Home

Section One: The shift to wartime productionUS 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

Industries convert

Shirt factories make mosquito netsTypewriter plants make machine gunsWillow 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.

One of Kaiser’s “Liberty Ships”

The “Great Arsenal of Democracy”

By the middle of 1945, the US had produced…300,000 airplanes80,000 landing craft100,000 tanks5,600 merchant ships (2,600 Liberty Ships)6 million rifles (carbines and machine

guns)41 billion rounds of ammunition

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.

Financing the WarFederal 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, public1942 – US treasury introduces WAR BONDS

Gov’t savings bonds that financed the war.Total brought in $156 billion.

Deficit spending – John Maynard KeyesGov’t should spend borrowed money to get econ moving.Would create a huge national debt for later

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!

Shortages and ControlsMany 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.

Enlisting Public Support

June 1942 – Office of War InformationWorked with magazine publishers, advertising agencies,

and radio stations.Hired people to write patriotic ads/posters.

Look at pages 724 and 725

Victory GardenAfter 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.

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.

Section 3: Women and the War1942 song talked about

ROSIE the RiveterYoung 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.

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.

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.

Problems for Working WomenStill 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.

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.

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.

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.

Mexican AmericansBy 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.

A Typical “Zoot Suit”

Japanese AmericansIn 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!!!

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.

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.

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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!

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.

Nisei Soldier