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1940–1949 Lesson 5

Teacher’s Guide

LESSON 5The Decade of 1940–1949

LESSON ASSIGNMENTSYou are encouraged to be very attentive while viewing the video program. Reviewthe video objectives and be prepared to record possible answers, in abbreviatedform, as you view the video. The topics and time periods may differ from thechapters of the textbook your school system is using. Each video programchronicles a wide array of events and personalities during a specific decade of the20th century. Keep in mind that one of the overarching goals of each lesson is tohelp you understand how past historical events and actions by historicalpersonalities did not occur in a vacuum, and that they are inextricably interwovenin your society today.

Video:

“The Decade of 1940–1949” from the series, The Remarkable 20th Century.

Activities:

Your teacher may assign one or more activities for each lesson.

OVERVIEWThe decade of the 1940s was dominated by World War II. The war helped pull theU.S. out of the depression, and women flooded the labor market in an attempt tofill the labor vacuum left when the men went to war. War posters abounded,encouraging Americans to conserve with slogans such as “Save Waste Fats forExplosives—Take Them to Your Meat Dealer” and “Have You Really Tried to SaveGas By Getting Into a Car Club?” One of the most famous of all wartime posterswas “Rosie the Riveter,” which was symbolic of the patriotic woman whoencouraged women to join the work force.

The horrors of the war were not confined to the battlefield. Ten people in theUnited States were convicted of spying for Japan during the entire course ofWorld War II, all of who were Caucasian. Yet, the U.S. Government constructedinternment camps that confined thousands of Japanese Americans for no otherreason than their lineage. Meanwhile in Germany, millions of Jews were beingherded into concentration camps. But, the Holocaust resulted in more than justconfinement in camps; it resulted in mass murder.

World War II had not even come to a close before the seeds of the “Cold War”took root. World War II ended Japanese, German, and Italian aggression, but italso spawned the “Red Scare” in the United States that shared many similaritiesto the “Red Scare” of 1918–1919.

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Franklin D. Roosevelt died toward the end of the war, after having been electedan unprecedented four times. He was replaced by Harry Truman who wouldmake the decision to drop the atomic bombs, face the realities of the “ColdWar,” and address the growing discontentment of African Americans who resentsecond-class citizenship in military and civilian life.

By 1947 there were 13 television stations available to the general public. At theend of the war there were only 5,000 television sets, with five-inch black andwhite screens, in American homes. By 1951, 17 million had been sold. Who canforget the “Howdy Doody Show” and Ed Sullivan’s “Toast of the Town”?Computers were developed in the early forties, and a digital computer namedENIAC, weighing 30 tons and standing two stories high, was completed in 1945.

The big bands of Glenn Miller, Duke Ellington, and others dominated the musicscene. Eventually many of the singers with the big bands struck out on their own.Frank Sinatra, Bing Crosby, Billy Holiday, and Ella Fitzgerald led the hit parade.

Dr. Benjamin Spock revolutionized child rearing with his “common sense”suggestions on raising children. He was just in time for the baby boom thatresulted when the GIs returned from the war.

LESSON GOALTo evaluate the major ramifications of World World II with reference to the“Cold War,” treatment of racial, ethnic, and religious groups, and the impact ofpropaganda.

VIDEO OBJECTIVESThe following objectives are designed to assist the viewer in identifying the mostsignificant aspects of the video segment of this lesson. You should take succinctnotes while viewing the video.

Video: “The Decade of 1940–1949”

1. Determine three key reasons for U.S. entry into World War II and three keyeffects of the U.S. entry into the war.

2. Analyze how World War II affected the following groups of people:

a. African Americans in the U.S.

b. Japanese Americans in the U.S.

c. Jews in the U.S. and Europe.

3. Evaluate why President Franklin Roosevelt was elected to four terms aspresident.

4. Ascertain the causes of the “Cold War.”

5. Identify three of the most significant cultural developments in the 1940s andbe prepared to defend your choices.

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TIME CODESTime Code Year Topic Description00 :00 Opening Opening00 :30 1940 Overview Howard K. Smith intros decade01 :57 Title Episode V: 1940s02 :07 1940 World Politics Germany in Poland; Japan

occupies much of Asia02 :42 1940 US Politics Isolationism03 :16 1940 Entertainment Movies: W. C. Fields, Mae West,

Kathryn Hepburn, Cary Grant03 :38 1940 US Politics Roosevelt wins 3rd term04 :08 1940 World Politics Denmark, Norway, Belgium,

France fall; Churchill becomes Prime Minister; Battle of Britain; Edward R. Murrow

07 :20 1940/41 US Politics Roosevelt builds up military; Lend-Lease Act

08 :50 1941 Entertainment Movies : Sgt. York, Citizen Kane; Sports: baseball – Joe DiMaggio

09 :51 1941 World Politics Hitler invades USSR11 :04 1942 World Politics U-Boats11 :24 1940/41 World Politics Roosevelt freezes Japanese assets;

General Tojo; Pearl Harbor13 :54 1941 US Politics Men Enlist; Rosie the Riveter; US

Japanese & internment camps15 :26 1941 World Politics The Final Solution; German

concentration camps16 :52 1942 Entertainment Movies : Casablanca, White

Christmas; Music: Frank Sinatra18 :06 1942 Entertainment Stars enlist & entertain;

Hollywood Canteen19 :33 1942 Social Issues Recycling; Victory Gardens; War

Bonds20 :09 1942 World Politics Japan expands to Southeast Asia;

Battles of Coral Sea & Midway; Guadalcanal = Turning Point; Allies seize North Africa; Rommel; Germany lays siege to Stalingrad

22 :47 1942 Social Issues Black Americans in war effort24 :54 1942 Social Issues Journalists – Pyle & Cronkite25 :35 1942-44 World Politics Patton marches to Rome;

Eisenhower & D-Day; assassination attempt on Hitler

28 :10 1944 Overview Howard K. Smith segues between 1st and 2nd half of 1940 decade: innovations

28 :51 1944/45 World Politics Paris is liberated; Russians free Poland; MacArthur in the East; Battle of the Bulge; Allies uncover Death Camps; Mussolini executed

32 :10 1945 US Politics Roosevelt dies; Truman inaugurated

32 :41 1945 World Politics Yalta Conference; Hitler commits suicide; V-E Day

33 :34 1945 World Politics Iwo Jima; Okinawa; Atom Bomb; Hiroshima & Nagasaki; Japan surrenders

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WEB ACTIVITIESThese activities are not required unless your teacher assigns them. They areoffered as suggestions to help you learn more about the material presented inthis lesson.

Activity 1—World War II Poster Art

1. Access the National Archives and Records Administration “Powers ofPersuasion Poster Art From World War II” at http://www.nara.gov/exhall/powers.html and review the background information.

2. Select one poster from each of the following categories to analyze:

Man the Guns It’s a Woman’s War Too

United We Win Warning! Our Homes Are in Danger Now

This Is Nazi Brutality He Knew the Meaning of Sacrifice

He’s Watching You Stamp ’em Out!

Four Freedoms Use it Up, Wear it Out, Make it Do, Or Do Without

3. Access the “Poster Analysis Worksheet” located at: http://www.nara.gov/education/teaching/posters/analysis.html.

Use the worksheet as a basis for analyzing the posters you have chosen.

Time Code Year Topic Description37 :21 1945 Social Issues Baby Boom Era begins; GI Bill of

Rights38 :03 1945 World Politics United Nations38 :20 1946 Discoveries & Technology First computer38 :33 1946 Social Issues Christian Dior fashions; the bikini39 :01 1947 World Politics Nuremberg Trials; Iron Curtain;

Truman Doctrine39 :55 1947 Social Issues/

EntertainmentSports: baseball & Jackie Robinson

41 :27 1947 Discoveries & Technology Dead Sea Scrolls; Yeager & Sonic Boom

43:08 1947-49 World Politics India wins independence; Marshall Plan; Division of Germany; Czechoslovakia falls to Communism; NATO; Israel is created

48 :40 1948 US Politics/ Social Issues Civil rights in the military50 :02 1948 US Politics Dewey v. Truman50 :49 1948 Social Issues House Committee on UnAmerican

Activities & Alger Hiss

51 :37 1949 World Politics Red Army takes China; Soviets get A-Bomb; The Cold War

52 :53 1949 Overview Howard K. Smith talks about the Cold War

54 :15 Closing Closing Credits

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Activity 2—Internment of Japanese Americans During World War II

Access the following Web sites and review the historical background ofinternment of Japanese Americans during World War II:

University of Washington materials related to the JapaneseAmerican incarcerationhttp://www.lib.washington.edu/Manuscripts/front.html

University of Washington Camp Harmonyhttp://www.lib.washington.edu/exhibits/harmony/Exhibit/default.htm

Executive Order No. 9066http://dizzy.library.arizona.edu/images/jpamer/execordr.html

National Archives. Documents and photographs related toJapanese Relocation during World War IIhttp://www.nara.gov/education/cc/relocate.html

American Memory Fellows ProgramNothing to Fear but Fear Itselfhttp://memory.loc.gov/ammem/ndlpedu/lesson99/fear/intro.html

Students should complete one of the following lessons.

1. Access the National Archives “Written Document Analysis Worksheet” athttp://www.nara.gov/education/teaching/analysis/write.html and use it as abasis to analyze “Executive Order No. 9066” located at: http://dizzy.library.arizona.edu/images/jpamer/execordr.html.

2. Access the Library of Congress student resources page, which contains alink to a photograph of a Japanese-American child being evacuated with hisparents to Owens Valley http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/ndlpedu/lesson99/fear/intro.html.

After analyzing the photograph, answer the questions listed on page 3 of theWeb site under the heading “Procedure” Activity One.

3. Access the National Archives Web site titled “Documents and PhotographsRelated to Japanese Relocation during World War II” at http://www.nara.gov/education/cc/relocate.html.

Then access the links to the following photographs:

4. “Posting of Exclusion Order”

7. “Children Pledge Allegiance”

14. “Sorting Baggage”

17. “High School Campus at Heart Mountain”

Access the National Archives “Photograph Analysis Worksheet” and use theworksheet as a basis for analyzing the four photographs.

http://www.nara.gov/education/teaching/analysis/photo.html

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Activity 3—Holocaust

Note to teachers and students

Access the “Guidelines for Teaching the Holocaust” at http://www.ushmm.org/misc-bin/add_goback/education/guidelines.html which is published by the UnitedStates Holocaust Memorial Museum before assigning lessons related to theHolocaust.

You must be very careful in using the Web to do research about theHolocaust. Many sites may contain inappropriate graphics or beextremely misleading.

1. Access the following Web sites and review the historical background of theHolocaust.

United States Holocaust Memorial Museumhttp://www.ushmm.org/education/

A Teacher’s Guide to the Holocaust. Student Activitieshttp://fcit.coedu.usf.edu/Holocaust/activity/activity.htm

The Nizkor Projecthttp://www.nizkor.org/

An Introductory Summary of the Holocausthttp://library.thinkquest.org/12663/summary/

Holocaust and Issues that Relate to the Holocausthttp://killeenroos.com/link/holocaus.htm

National Archives and Records AdministrationHolocaust-Era Assetshttp://www.nara.gov/research/assets/weblinks.html

Do one of the following lessons:

a. Access “Gallery 1 of Holocaust Images” from A Teacher’s Guide to theHolocaust at http://fcit.coedu.usf.edu/Holocaust/resource/gallery/gallery.htm.

Select two images from the following two categories:

The Warsaw Ghetto Uprising

Resistance

Access the National Archives and Records Administration “PhotographAnalysis Worksheet” at: http://www.nara.gov/education/teaching/analysis/photo.html.

Use it as a basis for analyzing the documents you select.

b. Access “Documents” from A Teacher’s Guide to the Holocaust at http://fcit.coedu.usf.edu/Holocaust/resource/document/document.htm.

Then access two of the three links listed below:

Hitler on Propaganda

The Wannsee Protocol

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Statements by Leading Nazis on the “Jewish Question”

Then access the National Archives and Records Administration “WrittenDocument Analysis Worksheet” at http://www.nara.gov/education/teaching/analysis/write.html. Use it as a basis for analyzing the two documents youselect.

PRACTICE TESTAfter watching the video and reviewing the objectives, you should be able tocomplete the following Practice Test. When you have completed the PracticeTest, turn to the Answer Key to score your answers.

Multiple-choice

Select the single best answer. If more than one answer is required, it will be soindicated.

1. Harry Truman supported U.S. recognition of the new state of Israel for all ofthe following reasons except:

A. humanitarian sympathy for the Jewish survivors of the Holocaust.

B. a desire to preempt Soviet influence in Israel.

C. a wish to retain the support of American Jewish voters.

D. pressure from the State and Defense departments.

2. Jian Jieshi and the Nationalist government lost the Chinese civil war to thecommunists and Mao Ze-dong mainly because:

A. Jiang lost the support and confidence of the Chinese people.

B. the United States failed to give Jiang enough aid.

C. Mao received much assistance from the Soviet Union.

D. communists with the Truman administration undermined Jiang’s efforts.

3. Underlying the origins of the Cold War lay a fundamental disagreementbetween the United States and the Soviet Union over postwar arrangementsin:

A. Europe.

B. Asia.

C. the Middle East.

D. the Third World.

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4. One sign of the stress that post-World War II geographic mobility and thebaby boom placed on American families was the:

A. popularity of advice books on child rearing by Dr. Spock.

B. increasing reliance on television as a “baby sitter.”

C. increased number of long-distance telephone calls.

D. redistribution of income.

5. Action by the United States against Adolf Hitler’s campaign of genocideagainst the Jews:

A. was far too slow in coming.

B. included the admission of large numbers of Jewish refugees into theUnited States.

C. involved the bombing of rail lines used to carry victims to the Nazisdeath camps.

D. was slow in coming, because the United States did not know about thedeath camps until near the end of the war.

6. Japanese-Americans were placed in concentration camps duringWorld War II:

A. due to numerous acts of sabotage.

B. in retaliation for the placement of Americans in concentration camps bythe Japanese.

C. as a result of anti-Japanese prejudice and fear.

D. all of the above.

7. African-Americans did all of the following during World War II except:

A. fight in integrated combat units.

B. rally behind the slogan “Double V” (victory over dictators abroad andracists home).

C. move north and west in large numbers.

D. form a militant organization called the Congress of Racial Equality.

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Essay/Problem Questions

8. How did World War II affect:

a. the role of the national government in American life?

b. the relationship between the government and the economy?

c. minority groups in the U.S.?

d. the traditional two-term limit on holding the office of the presidency?

9. What action do you think the U.S. Government should have taken withregard to the following issues? Defend your answers.

a. internment of Japanese-Americans

b. the Holocaust

c. entry into World War II

ANSWER KEYMultiple Choice: Essay/Problem Questions

1. D Ref. V 2 8. Ref. V 1; 2; 3

2. A Ref. V 4 9. Ref. V 1; 2

3. A Ref. V 4

4. A Ref. V 5

5. A Ref. V 2

6. C Ref. V 2

7. A Ref. V 1; 2; 3

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