War on the Home Front - Production + Financing
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War on the Home Front - Production + Financing Within weeks of Pearl Harbor, the US redirected production of many products. • Production of bicycles, soda cans, refrigerators, toothpaste tubes and 300+ other items was cut back or banned. • Auto manufacturers converted production to tanks and war supplies. • New industries were created… Our supply of natural rubber (from SE Asia) was cut off, so new companies were created to design synthetic rubber. • America’s production of war materials matched the total output of Germany, Italy and Japan combined. • Because of increasing demand, the government started rationing a number of products including sugar, butter, gasoline, shoes and coffee. The US also had to find new and innovative ways to finance the war: • The government increased taxes and extended the income tax to include middle and lower income
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War on the Home Front - Production + Financing Within weeks of Pearl Harbor, the US redirected production of many products. Production of bicycles, soda cans, refrigerators, toothpaste tubes and 300+ other items was cut back or banned. - PowerPoint PPT Presentation
Transcript of War on the Home Front - Production + Financing
War on the Home Front - Production + FinancingWithin weeks of Pearl Harbor, the US redirected production of many products.
• Production of bicycles, soda cans, refrigerators, toothpaste tubes and 300+ other items was cut back or banned.
• Auto manufacturers converted production to tanks and war supplies.• New industries were created… Our supply of natural rubber (from SE Asia)
was cut off, so new companies were created to design synthetic rubber.• America’s production of war materials matched the total output of Germany,
Italy and Japan combined.• Because of increasing demand, the government started rationing a number of
products including sugar, butter, gasoline, shoes and coffee.The US also had to find new and innovative ways to finance the war:
• The government increased taxes and extended the income tax to include middle and lower income families.
• The government sold war bonds.
War on the Home Front – Women in the WorkforceWith men oversees, more women than ever before entered the labor force.
• “Rosie the Riveter” became a national symbol of the contribution women were making to the war effort.• Rosie the Riveter: a cultural icon and advertising success which
symbolized feminism and women’s economic power as part of the effort to mobilize America for war
• Many of the female laborers had children at home. The government offered training courses, funded child-care centers and ideas about equal pay for equal work started to spread.
• Although at first most women considered their new employment temporary, by war’s end 80% said they wanted to keep their jobs.
War on the Home Front – Social ChangeTo support the growing labor and production needs, society started to change.
• Between 1941-1945, one of every five American relocated to another part of the country.
• Prejudice increased towards African Americans, Okies and other re-locating families.
People were loyal to President Roosevelt. He was elected 4 times as our President (the only President ever elected 4 times):
• 1932• 1936• 1940• 1944…
Unfortunately, FDR did not see the end of WWII. He died April 12, 1945, less than one month before VE Day. Vice President Truman became our 33rd President and learned about a secret weapon the US was building… the a-bomb.
