Home Front and Total War

Chapter 38 Part 1

AP USUnit 14 – WW2

ABC-1 Agreement

• While most of America wanted to “Get Japan First,” the decision was made to stop Germany and then when that happened, to turn the Allies on Japan.

• A limited American force was sent to the Pacific to prevent further Japanese expansion

• This plan required time to work…

America had to Prepare

• America had to:– Gather an army– Provide the Allies with munitions and

supplies– Feed and supply Americans– Get it all together before the Germans

took over

Total War• “Shock” of war bonded the country

together• Entire country devoted itself to the

war effort– Seen in propaganda– No one seen as “unpatriotic” like with

the Red Scare in WWI– Rationing– Effects on Women– Not always good – Japanese

Internment

Japanese American

Internment

Internment of Japanese Americans in Hawaii

• Soon after the attack on Pearl Harbor, the War Department ordered that all the Japanese Americans living on Hawaii had to be removed.

• Since this was over 1/3 of the Hawaiian population, the governor protested.

• In the end, 1,444 Japanese Americans living in Hawaii were interned or confined.

Japanese Americans on the West Coast

• Next, rumors began to spread that Japanese Americans living on the West Coast were acting as spies or sabotaging American war efforts.

• No evidence of this was ever found though.

• In California, only 1% of the population was Japanese American, but the Californians took their anger out on them.

Executive Order 9066

• On February 19,1942, President Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066 – Required all people of Japanese ancestry

to be removed from the west coast of America and sent to internment camps.

• Roosevelt and the military justified doing this in the name of national security.

Relocation• Approximately 110,000 Japanese

Americans were relocated to ten internment camps in the middle of the country.

• Approximately 2/3 of those relocated were Nisei, or Japanese Americans who were born in America.

• The smaller group of Japanese Americans that were born in Japan were known as the Issei.

The Camp at Gila

Leaving Before the End of the War

• Towards the end of the war, many of the relocated Japanese Americans who could be sponsored in jobs away from the West Coast were allowed to leave the camps.

• Those who chose to join the U.S. Army were also released. – The heavily decorated 442nd was a

Japanese American unit that fought in Europe and won more medals and decorations than any other of its size and term of service.

Reparation

• US Supreme Court upheld relocation in 1944 with Korematsu v. US

• In 1990, reparation checks (compensation for wrongdoing by the government) of $20,000 were sent to every Japanese American that was interned.

• While the government apologized in this way, it is still a small measure compared to the great Civil Rights violations that happened at this time.

Mass Production

at Home

Bye Bye Great Depression

• 1942 - $100 billion of military orders• All orchestrated by the War Production

Board• Manufacture of non-essentials was halted

– No cars produced in America between 1942-1945

– All was focused on access to raw materials to build war supplies and transportation for the war

• Farmers rapidly increased capacity to feed Americans, American soldiers, and Allied soldiers

Still Some Economic Problems…

• Inflation in 1942 because of full employment but scarce consumer goods– People were willing to pay for products

• Led to Black Market of scarce items

• War Labor Board (WLB) created a ceiling on wage increases

• Some labor problems (because of wage ceiling) slowed by the Smith-Connally Anti-Strike Act– Allowed government to take over a business if

workers were on strike– Very few strikes anyway - most people were

committed

Enlistment

• 15 million men were enlisted in WWII• 216,000 women were enlisted

– WAACS or WAVES or SPARS• Women in Army or Navy or Coast Guard

• Even though key people in agriculture and industry were exempted from the draft, there was still a strain on the workforce

New Workers - Braceros

• A new program began with Mexico for workers to come across the border to harvest crops in the American West

• Known as the Bracero Program

Rosie the Riveter

• Rosie the Riveter is the term given to the representation of women who went to work in factories during World War II.

• More than 6 million women took up jobs outside the home– Over half of them had never worked

for wages

Juggling Act

• Many of these women were mothers and the government had to set up approximately 3,000 day care centers across the country!

Two Views of Rosie

J. Howard Miller’s RosieNorman Rockwell’s Rosie

Women Finish Bomber Noses

Woman Welds Gas Tank

Women Wartime Workers

• Women who had husbands at home rarely went to work

• 2/3 of women workers left the workforce at the end of the war– Most became suburban mothers

Government Propaganda

• Propaganda is a type of message aimed at influencing the opinions or behavior of people

• Propaganda is not always factual, but uses people’s emotions to convince them to do things

Government Propaganda

Government Propaganda - All Kinds of Jobs for Women

How do these pieces of propaganda target different audiences?

“Loose Lips Sink Ships”

Propaganda warns against talking about war related topics – deployment locations and defense

production were the most important.

Buy War BondsEven though the government was finally taking in a larger tax revenue, WWII still cost billions of dollars. Citizens were encouraged to buy war bonds to help the government finance the war effort.

Victory Gardens

Conserve Everything from Train Rides to Cooking Fat

Rationing •Rationing is the controlled

distribution of resources and scarce goods or services

• In WWII, rationing was used to control how much civilians used so more could be sent to the troops.

• Rationed goods included sugar, coffee, processed food, meat, wheat, shoes, and gasoline– Gasoline was rationed not only for the gas,

but also to conserve rubber

Ration Books• Different series

of ration books were issued to cover different time periods or products.

• This ration book covered food. Each person in the household received a food ration book.

Ration Stamps

• Ration stamps were necessary to buy ALL rationed goods,

• They were not money. The stamps just allowed the item to be purchased.

Ration Instruction

s• Each time a ration book was issued, specific instructions were issued for its use.

• Each town had a ration board that distributed books and instructions as well as insured that businesses were enforcing the use of stamps.

Effects of WWII on America - Migrations

• Cities continued to grow• The Sunbelt became popular• African Americans moved to the

north or west and to cities• Native Americans left the

reservations

Effects of WWII on America - Racial

Tension• Zoot Suit Riots in LA in 1943

– White sailors cruised the streets looking for Mexicans and Mexican Americans to beat up

• Detroit Riots - 25 African Americans and 9 whites were killed in anti-African American violence

Effects of WWII on America - Big Government

• Keynesian Economics and true deficit spending was finally employed and it did pull America out of the Great Depression

• More government intervention and intertwinement in people’s lives occurred during WWII than during the Great Depression

• America’s continued growth would rely on government military spending

Effects of WWII on America - Big Government

• The government began to (and would continue to) promote scientific growth at universities

• HUGE increase in income taxes and who paid them

• Growing national debt