MOBILIZING FOR WAR

Ch.20 Sec.1

Converting the Economy

Cost-Plus Contracts Govt would pay companies for cost of

product plus a percentage as profit The more a company produced and the

faster it was made, the more money it could make

Allowed U.S. to produce war materials quickly after Pearl Harbor

Reconstruction Finance Corp. Govt agency set up by Hoover In charge of giving loans to companies to

convert to war production

American Industry Gets the Job Done

Automobile Industry Easily able to convert from cars to tanks,

trucks, & jeeps Helped revive a near-dead industry in the

U.S. Produced 1/3 of all U.S. military equipment

in WWII American Shipyards

America needed to build up a navy to fight in the Pacific & get supplies to Europe

Production headed by Henry Kaiser Patented the idea to build liberty ships for

the U.S. military

American Industry Gets the Job Done

Liberty Ships Basic cargo ship built at Kaiser’s shipyards Was welded instead of riveted together Could be quickly assembled and cheap to

produce

Building an Army

U.S. Army before WWII Had less than 100,000 active-duty soldiers Vehicles & equipment were outdated,

unused Soldiers trained with sticks for rifles, rocks

for grenades Selective Service & Training Act

Called for the 1st peacetime draft Americans disliked it at first, supported it

after Hitler took France

Building an Army

Army Segregation African-Americans placed in separate

regiments w/ white officers Mostly assigned to construction and supply

missions “Double V” Campaign

Urged African Americans to defeat racism abroad and at home

African American enlistment rose rapidly

Building An Army

African Americans in Combat Tuskegee Airmen flew over 200 mission w/o

losing a single plane 761st Tank Battalion was critical in winning

the Battle of the Bulge Col. Benjamin O. Davis became 1st African

American promoted to Brigadier General

Building an Army

Women in WWII Women encouraged to join the army an

noncombatants Mostly hired as secretaries, nurses, and

supply runners