CH. 23-4 MOBILIZING FOR WAR

AMERICAN HISTORY

MOBILIZING THE ARMED FORCES

Isolationist feelings were destroyed by the Pearl Harbor attack

USA had a head start on mobilization1940—military spending sharply increasedJobs were created to bring USA out of the

Great DepressionThe leader of the mobilization was Army

Chief of Staff, General George C. Marshall

Marshall and Roosevelt worked closely to plan for war

Marshall ensured that American soldiers were well equipped and properly trained

FINDING SOLDIERSFollowing Pearl Harbor, the military draft

(reinstated in 1940) was expandedMillions of young men volunteered

Eventually, some 16 million Americans entered the armed forces

WOMEN AND THE ARMED FORCESWomen not allowed in combatThey filled traditional males roles so the

men could fight10,000 women joined Women Accepted for

Volunteer Emergency Services (WAVES)

This was a navy program where women did necessary clerical work that would otherwise be done by men

Some 1,000 women joined Women Air Force Service Pilots (WASPs) and tested and delivered aircraft

Nearly 40 WASPs gave their lives serving the country

The largest group was the Women’s Army Corps (WAC) in which 150,000 women served

1943—Women’s Army Corp became full members of the Army and received protection and benefits and could serve overseas

WAC leader was Oveta Culp Hobby, who was given the rank of Colonel

NEW MILITARY BASESNew bases were built in rural areas with

plenty of land available

Camp Blanding, FL—55,000 troops became the 4th largest FL city overnight

Texans saw 1.2 million troops trainSome 200,000 air pilots trained at Texas

air basesTexas was temporary home to over 50,000

German, Italian, and Japanese prisoners of war

MOBILIZING INDUSTRY AND SCIENCE

American forces would need proper equipment

Many factors were quickly converted to make war materials

Roosevelt set a goal of building 60,000 new aircraft in 1942 and 125,000 aircraft in 1943

All war material had to be shipped overseas

Thanks to Henry Ford and others 125,000 tanks were created by 1943

Early in the war submarines took a heavy toll on American ships

American shipyards built 5,500 vessels during the course of the war

ROSIE THE RIVETERMore than 6.5 million women took factory

jobs vacated by men that went to war

LABOR IN WORLD WAR IIGovernment spending during the war

helped end the Great Depression and create millions of new jobs

Many of these workers joined labor unionsGovernment was worried labor strikes would

hamper the war effortRoosevelt created the National War Labor

Board prior to Pearl Harbor to settle labor disputes

1943—Congress passed the Smith-Connally Act, giving the President the power to take over vital industries in the event of a strike

MOBILIZING SCIENCETechnology would play a vital part in the

war effort

THE MANHATTAN PROJECT—located in Los Alamos, NM

Top-secret project to develop an ATOMIC BOMB (weapon of great energy created by splitting atoms)

Research began in 1939 led by physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer

USA was worried Germany was working on a bomb

FIGHTING FOR FREEDOM AT HOME

AFRICAN AMERICANS IN THE MILITARYHundreds of thousands of African

Americans served with honor in WWIIThere was still discriminationThere were segregated unitsNo African Americans were awarded the

Medal of Honor during the warThis error was corrected 50 years later

when 7 Medals were awarded

AFRICAN AMERICANS IN THE WORKFORCEMany factory jobs for opened up for

African AmericansThey were still forced to take the lowest

paying jobs

CHALLENGES FOR HISPANIC AMERICANSUS and Mexican governments established

the BRACERO PROGRAM in 1942

This gave Mexicans workers the chance to work temporarily in the USA

Hispanic Americans served bravely in the armed forces

They also shared a strong commitment to victory and freedom

THE END