Mobilizing for WarI. Converting the Economy

a. Churchill and Roosevelt knew that victory in a modern war depended on a nation’s industrial powerb. US industrial output during the war outpaced the rest of the world with American workers twice as productive as

Germans and five times as productive as the Japanesec. American war production allowed the US to win a two front war against two powerful military forcesd. war production was able to expand rapidly after Pearl Harbor because the government had already begun to

mobilize for ware. when Germany invaded France in 1940, Roosevelt declared a national emergency and announced a plan to build

50.000 warplanes a yearf. Roosevelt and his advisers believed the best way to rapidly industrialize was to give industry an incentiveg. the government developed cost-plus contracts that skipped the usual bidding process and paid the company for

the production cost plus a guaranteed percentage of the costs as a profit – the more a company produced the more money they could make

h. the effect was rapid production of war materials in large quantitiesi. some companies could not afford to reequip their factories for war production, so the Reconstruction Finance

Corporation (RFC from the Depression) made loans to companies to cover the cost of converting to war production

1. What did US production allow America to achieve?2. Why was US war production able to rapidly expand ?3. How did the government encourage rapid industrialization?4. Explain a cost-plus contract:5. How did the RFC help?

I. American Industry Gets the Job DoneIn the fall of 1941 most companies still focused on consumer goods. The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor changed everything and by summer of 1942 almost all major industries had converted to war production.

a. Tanks Replace Carsi. the automobile industry was well suited to mass production and soon turned out

trucks, jeeps and tanksii. this equipment was necessary to move men and supplies quickly as part of modern,

mechanized warfareiii.automobile assembly lines also produced artillery, rifles, mines, helmets, pontoon

bridges, cooking pots and other pieces of military equipmentiv. Henry Ford created an assembly line for B-24 bombers, “the Liberator” that resulted

in over 8.600 aircraft by the end of the war

1. What were companies focused on producing before Pearl Harbor?2. What industry started making tanks, jeeps, etc?3. Why was this equipment needed?4. What other equipment was produced by the automobile industry?5. What was Henry Ford’s contribution to the war effort?

a. Building the Liberty Shipsi. Henry Kaiser’s shipyard matched Ford’s achievement by producing Liberty ships, a basic

cargo ship that was cheap, easy to build and very hard to sink due to the welded hull - riveted hulls came apart when hit by torpedoes, but welded hulls didn’t. Also welded hulls required less labor and less experience to make

ii. damaged Liberty ships could often get to port, make repairs, and return to service (unfortunately the quality of the steel used in production made it susceptible to cracking)

b. The War Production Board

i. at the beginning of war production there was a lot of arguing within government over which supplies, contracts and orders had the highest priority

ii. Roosevelt created the War Production Board to set priorities, production goals, and control distribution of materials and supplies

iii. the WPB and the military clashed as the military signed contracts without consulting the WPB

iv. the Office of War Mobilization was established in 1943 to coordinate and settle arguments between the different agencies

1. What was a Liberty ship?2. Why was it hard to sink?3. Why do you think it was important Liberty ships required less labor and experience to

make?4. How did Roosevelt try to make war production more efficient?5. What changes did the Office of War Mobilization make?

I. Building an ArmyIn addition to war materials, the country would also need soldiers to win the war.

a. Creating an Armyi. Roosevelt started expanding the army in September 1939 after Poland was attackedii. In 1940 after France surrendered Congress passed the Selective Service and Training Act, the

first peacetime draft in US history b. You’re in the Army Now

i. The flood of draftees overwhelmed the army training facilities with recruits living in tents using sticks for guns, stones for grenades, and trucks labeled TANK for practice maneuvers

ii. new draftees were given physical exams, vaccinations against smallpox and typhoid, and issued uniforms, boots and equipment, all stamped GI, or government issue (and this is why American soldiers are called GIs)

iii. after taking an aptitude tests recruits went through 8 weeks of basic training that included handling weapons, reading maps, pitching tents, digging trenches and learning to work as a team

iv. after the war there were many complaints that basic training useless, a rush that left them physically exhausted without the skills needed such as loading a rifle

v. basic training broke down barriers as recruits from all over the country came together to form units and relationships that ensured their success – you didn’t want to let your buddies down in a battle

1. What caused Roosevelt to expand the military?2. How did draftees prepare for war?3. What did GI Joes learn in basic training?

4. What about training really helped the soldiers succeed?

a. A Segregated Armyi. at the beginning of the war the US army was segregated with black recruits having separate training,

barracks, latrines, mess halls and recreational facilitiesii. after training, blacks were organized into their own military units, usually under the command of

white officersiii. military leaders wanted to keep black soldiers out of combat and assigned them to construction an

supply units

b. Pushing for “Double V”i. some blacks did not want to support the war because of the treatment they had received in America

– Jim Crow laws, segregation, disfranchisements and even lynchingii. most blacks believed they should support their countryiii. many black leaders combined patriotism with protest, arguing for complete participation in the war

effort and improved conditions at home after the wariv. the “Double V” campaign encouraged blacks to join the war effort in order to achieve victory of

Hitler’s racism abroad and racism at homev. if the US wanted to portray itself as the defender of democracy overseas, Americans might be willing

to end discrimination at homevi. Roosevelt knew blacks had played a major role in his election success so he ordered the military to

begin recruiting blacks and to put them into combatvii. furthermore he promoted Colonel Benjamin O Davis, the highest ranking black officer, to the rank of

Brigadier General

1. How were soldiers segregated?2. What was the “Double V?”3. Why did Roosevelt order the military to include more African Americans?4. How did Roosevelt show his support for African American troops?

a. African Americans in Combati. the air force created the 99th Pursuit Squadron, a black unit that trained at

Tuskegee Alabamaii. these black fighter pilots, known as the Tuskegee Airmen, were sent to the

Mediterranean and played an important role in the Battle of Anzio in Italyiii.the all black 761st Tank Battalion was commended for its service during the

Battle of the Bulge and the 614th Tank Destroyer Battalion won 8 Silver Stars, 28 Bronze Stars and 79 Purple Hearts

iv. segregation did not end in the military until after the war, but military bases were integrated in 1943 and blacks steadily increased their role in the armed forces

1. Who were the Tuskegee Airman?2. Where did they play an important role?3. What success did the 761st Tank Battalion achieve?4. How were military bases more progressive than the rest of society?

Navajo Code Talkers • Native Americans enlisted for military service in higher proportions than

any other minority group. • More than 25,000 served in combat during the war.• the Navajo code talkers took part in every assault the U.S. Marines

conducted in the Pacific from 1942 to 1945.• Navajo answered the military requirement for an undecipherable code

because Navajo is an unwritten language of extreme complexity. Its syntax and tonal qualities, not to mention dialects, make it unintelligible to anyone without extensive exposure and training. It has no alphabet or symbols, and is spoken only on the Navajo lands of the American Southwest. One estimate indicates that less than 30 non-Navajos, none of them Japanese, could understand the language at the outbreak of World War II.

• The code talkers' primary job was to talk, transmitting information on tactics and troop movements, orders and other vital battlefield communications over telephones and radios. They also acted as messengers, and performed general Marine duties.

• As of 1945, about 540 Navajos served as Marines. From 375 to 420 of those trained as code talkers

1. Why did the US Marines recruit Navajo to serve in the military?2. Why was the Navajo language used to transmit code?3. How important do you think the Navajo code talkers were and why?

a. Women Join the Armed Forcesi. women also joined the armed forces, with the

army enlisting women for the first time, though they continued to be barred from combat

ii. women served in administrative and clerical positions, freeing more men for combat

iii.Congress established the Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps (WAAC) in 1942 under the leadership of Oveta Culp Hobby, but many women were unhappy not to be in the regular army

iv. the WAAC was replaced in 1943 by the Women’s Army Corp (WAC) and director Hobby was given the rank of colonel

v. women also served in the Coast Guard, navy, marines and nursing corps

1. How did women serve in the armed forces?2. Who was the highest ranking female at the

time?

a. Americans Go To Wari. in 1941 the US military was not

well trained, most troops had no previous military experience and their officers had not led men into combat

ii. Americans never adopted the spit-and-polish style of Europeans, their uniforms were usually messy and they rarely marched in step

iii.despite their inexperience, the US military performed well in battle and suffered the fewest casualties in combat

1. What were the weaknesses of the GI Joes?

2. What did they do well?

I. Women and Minorities Gain GroundWorld War II dramatically changed American society. It ended any lingering effects of the Great Depression, created 19 million new jobs and nearly doubled the average family’s income. Employers recruited women and minorities work in factories as so many men joined the military.

a. Women in the Defense Plantsi. during the depression, it was believed married women should not work outside the home, especially if it

took a job away from a man supporting his familyii. women who worked during the Depression were young, single and worked in traditional female jobs

such as clerks, teachers, etciii. wartime labor shortages forced factories to recruit women, single and married, to do industrial jobs

traditionally performed by meniv. although the government hired nearly 4 million women for clerical work, it was the image of women

factory workers who caught the public imaginationv. “Rosie the Riveter” was a popular song that told of Rosie who worked in a factory while her boyfriend

served in the marines. the image of Rosie appeared on posters, newspapers, and magazines symbolizing the campaign to hire women.

vi. 2.5 million women worked in shipyards, aircraft factories, and other manufacturing plantsvii. although most women left the factories after the war, their success permanently changed attitudes about

women in the workplace

1. What happened to family income during the war?2. What didn’t women work during the depression?3. What work did women do during the war?4. Who was Rosie the Riveter?5. How did the war change the workforce?

6. Who is making the aircraft parts and why?

a. African Americans Demand War Worki. factories resisted hiring blacksii. A. Philip Randolph, head of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters – a major

union for black railroad workers – decided to take action and informed President Roosevelt he was organizing a march on Washington to secure jobs in national defense as well as integration in military and naval forces

iii.Roosevelt responded with Executive Order 8802 a declaration against discrimination in defense industries or government jobs, and created the Fair Employment Practices Commission – the first civil rights agency since Reconstruction – to enforce the order

1. Why do you think factories wouldn’t hire African Americans?2. What caused Roosevelt to issue Executive Order 8802?3. What was in Executive Order 8802?4. How was it enforced?

a. Mexicans Become Farm workersi. to help farmers in the Southwest

overcome labor shortages needed to harvest crops, the government introduced the Bracero Program

ii. the federal government arranged for Mexican farm workers to help with the harvest

iii.over 200.000 Mexicans came to the US to help harvest fruits and vegetables in the Southwest, build and maintain railroads

iv. the program continued until 1964v. migrant farm workers became an

important part of the US agricultural system

1. What led to the creation of the Bracero program?

2. How long did the program last?3. What was the effect?

I. A Nation on the MoveThe wartime economy created millions of new jobs and 15 million Americans moved during the war to get to these jobs. Assembly plants in the Midwest and shipyards in the Northeast attracted some workers, but most Americans headed south and west into a new industrial region called the Sunbelt. The south and west led the way in manufacturing and urbanization. At the beginning of the war, Roosevelt recognized that the South and West were still in the Depression so a disproportion number of government contracts were given to southern businesses as well as dozens of new military bases were founded to boost the economy of the South and West.

a. The Housing Crisisi. thousands of new industrial workers needed a place to live – housing lagged behind industryii. many people lived in tents and trailersiii. to help with the housing crisis, the government allocated over 1.2 billion for public housing,

schools and community centersiv. the prefabricated government housing had tiny rooms, thin walls, poor heating, and almost no

privacy, but it was better than nothingv. almost 2 million people lived in government housing during the war

1. Where was the Sunbelt and why did people go there?2. How did Roosevelt try to help the Sunbelt?3. What was the housing crisis?4. How did the government try to solve the crisis?

a. Racism Explodes in Violencei. the “Great Migration” of blacks leaving the South began during World War I,

slowed during the Great Depression, then resumed when war factories began employing blacks

ii. blacks arriving in the crowded cities of the North and West were often met with suspicion and intolerances, attitudes that sometimes led to violence

iii.the worst racial violence of the war occurred in Detroit on Sunday 20 June 1943

iv. during the sweltering weather (no air conditioning) nearly 100.000 people gathered at Belle Isle on the Detroit River to cool off

v. fights erupted between gangs of black and white teenage girlsvi.the fights triggered others and a full-scale riot erupted across the cityvii.by the end of the violence, 25 blacks and 9 whites were dead

1. What was the Great Migration?2. What caused racial violence to erupt?3. Where was the worst riot and what was the effect?

a. Japanese American Relocationi. when Japan attacked Pearl Harbor, many West Coast Americans turned their anger against Japanese Americans, attacking

Japanese American businesses and homes; banks would not cash their checks and grocers refused to sell them foodii. there were rumors of Japanese spies in the Japanese American community, and congressmen, mayors, business and labor

leaders demanded that Japanese Americans be removed from the West Coast, because they did not believe they would remain loyal to the US in a war against Japan

iii. Roosevelt gave in to pressure and signed Executive Order 9066 allowing the War Department to declare any part of the US to be a military zone and remove anybody they wanted from that area

iv. Secretary of War Henry Stimson declared most of the West Coast a military zone and ordered all people of Japanese ancestry to evacuate to 10 internment camps

v. given days to sell their homes, businesses and personal property, 120.000 men, women and children, the majority of whom were American citizens, were marched under military guard to rail depots then sent to remote, inhospitable sites where they lived in cramped barracks surrounded by barbed wire and watchtowers

vi. Fred Korematsu argued that his rights had been violated and took his case to the Supreme Court in Korematsu v. the United States (1944)

vii. the Court ruled that the relocation was constitutional because it was based on “military urgency.” shortly afterwards the Court ruled Ex Parte Endo that loyal American citizens could not be held against their will.

viii. in early 1945 the government began releasing the Japanese Americans from the campsix. No Japanese American was ever tried for espionage or sabotagex. Japanese Americans served as translators for the army during the war in the Pacific and the all-Japanese 100 th Battalion,

later integrated into the 442nd Regimental Combat Team, was the most highly decorated unit in World War II (nicknamed the purple heart battalion - combat service in European theater)

xi. after the war the Japanese American Citizens League (JACL) tried to help those who lost property during the relocation. xii. in 1988 President Ronald Reagan apologized to Japanese Americans on behalf of the US government and signed legislation

granting $20.000 to each Japanese American who had been interned

1. Why were people afraid of Japanese Americans?2. Why was the West Coast declared a military zone?3. Why were Japanese Americans sent to internment camps?4. How did Japanese Americans serve their country?

5. How do you think these children felt about living in an internment camp?

US Office of War InformationIn 1942, the president created the Office of War Information (OWI) to produce pro-Allied, anti-Axis propaganda to make citizens aware of how they could help the war effort. Through movies, posters and radio programs the OWI asked citizens to contribute time and money, create products, conserve resources, and donate to the war effort. The OWI also started the radio program Voice of America to send messages overseas to stir up distrust of German, Italian and Japanese leaders, lower morale of enemy troops and population, and encourage their surrender. 1. What was produced by the OWI?2. How did the OWI contribute to the war effort?3. How was the OWI used overseas?4. What was the goal of the Voice of America radio programs?

I. Daily Life in Wartime AmericaProblems during the war included rising prices, material shortages, and the looming cost of the war effort.

a. Wage and Price Controlsi. as the economy mobilized the president worried about inflation because

the high demand for workers and raw materials led to quick rises in wages and prices

ii. the Office of Price Administration (OPA) and the Office of Economic Stabilization (OES) was created to stabilize both wages and prices

iii.The OPA and the OES were able to keep inflation under controliv. the War Labor Board (WLB) tried to prevent labor strikes that might hurt

the war effortv. most American unions issued a “no strike pledge” and asked the WLB to

mediate in wage disputesvi.by the end of the war the WLB had helped settle over 17.000 disputes

involving 12 million workers

1. What did the president create to stabilize the economy?2. How did labor unions help the war effort?

a. Blue Points, Red Pointsi. the demand for raw materials and supplies for the war effort created shortagesii. the OPA began rationing, limiting the availability of many products to make sure

enough was available for the military useiii.meat and sugar were rationediv. gasoline was rationed, driving was restricted and speed limits set to 35mph to

save gasoline and rubberv. every month each household would receive ration coupons – read for meats,

fats, and oils, blue for processed foods – and when people bought items they had to give money and coupons to cover their purchases.

1. What was rationing?2. What was rationed?3. What was the purpose of the 35mph speed limit?4. How did you use your ration coupons?

a. Victory Gardens and Scrap Drivesi. Americans planted gardens to produce more food for the war effort.ii. gardens were planted in backyards, school yards, city parks and empty

lotsiii.the government encouraged victory gardens through film and pamphlet

campaignsiv. metals and other materials were vital to the war effort and led to scrap

drives – rubber, tin, aluminum, steelv. Americans donated pots, tires, tin cans, car bumpers, radiators, and

rusting bicyclesvi.oils and fats were needed to make explosives, so the WPB set up fat

collecting stations were citizens would exchange bacon grease and meat drippings for extra ration coupons

vii.these scrap drives helped industry succeed during the war

1. Why did American plant gardens?2. Why was collected during scrap drives?3. Why were oils and fats needed?

a. Paying for the Wari. the US had to pay for all its equipment and supplies, and the federal

government spent $300 billion during World War II (more money than it had spent from Washington to FDRs second term)

ii. to raise the money the government raised taxes, but because Americans oppose large tax increases, Congress would not raise taxes as high as Roosevelt wanted, so taxes only covered 45% of the war bill

iii.to raise the rest of the money, the government issued war bondsiv. when American bought bonds they were loaning the government money to be

repaid with interest at a future datev. individual Americans bought nearly $50 billion in war bonds, and banks,

insurance businesses and other institutions bought the rest – over $100 billion in bonds

b. “V” for Victory

i. the majority of American believed the war had to be fought and, despite hardships, remained united behind the goal of winning the war

1. How much did the war cost?2. How did the government pay for the war?3. What is a war bond and who bought them?