U.S. Homefront ( ) Booby TrapsSpies

Converting American industry to wartime production. Mandatory: rationing programs, recycling campaigns, government control of media and all wartime industries. Mobilization

Government Control of the Economy (1942 – 1945) Agencies and LawsWhat the Regulation Did Office of Price Administration (OPA)Froze prices, wages, rents, rationed foods Department of TreasuryIssued war bonds for the war effort and to fight inflation Revenue Act of 1942Raised personal income tax rate to 88% Added lower and middle income Americans to tax rolls

War Bond Drives As in WW I the federal government raised money by selling war bonds using Hollywood celebrities. Eight war bond drives that raised $150 billion

War Bond Drives

SUPERHEROES TO THE RESCUE

Office of Price Administration (OPA) “Mandatory rationing” Ration books Carpooling Victory Gardens

Office of Price Administration Propaganda Campaign As in WW I, a propaganda campaign portrayed our enemies in negative terms if German and racist terms if Japanese

“V” for VICTORY Hollywood’s Contribution The Office of War Information controlled news about the war. Hollywood mobilization Training films All movies, radio, and popular music supported a cheerful, patriotic view of the war.

SNAFU

SAFTEY FIRST Warnings to our troops about sexually transmitted diseases to cut down on men being inactive at the front lines.

Mandatory Rationing All Americans received a ration book. Coupons inside allowed you to get sugar, salt, meat, car tires, gasoline, etc.

Victory Gardens

Carpooling

War Production Board (WPB) Convert from peacetime to wartime production. Nationwide recycling campaigns: 1.Scrap metal 2.Cooking oil 3.Tin cans 4.Rags 5.Paper

Minorities During WW II ROSIE THE RIVETER 6,000,000 women in war industries Earned 60% as much as men Jobs- welders, riveters, metal fabrication Like during World War I, women worked at traditional male jobs

WOMEN IN THE MILITARY Women’s Auxiliary Army Corps (WAAC) In 1942, the auxiliary status was dropped and female soldiers received full benefits and salary equal to male soldiers.

Other Minorities During WW II Minorities forced into segregated units. One million African- American joined 300,000 Mexican-Americans 33,000 Japanese Americans (Nisei fought mainly in Italy/Europe) 25,000 Native Americans (Navajo wind talkers in Pacific Theater)

FDR issued Executive Order 9066 (executive orders are issued by a president for issues that Congress has not or will not deal with) The War Relocation Authority interned 100,000 Japanese Americans. 10 relocation camps were set up in 6 western states and in Arkansas. These were minimum security prisons for Isei and Nisei Japanese Americans. Japanese Internment

Internment is the incarceration of a group of people deemed a threat by the federal government in time of war. The Supreme Court ruled in Korematsu v. U.S. (June, 1944) and several other cases that the relocation camps were a military necessity.

Scientists Mobilize Office of Scientific Research and Development (OSRD) –scientists pioneering technological advances Manhattan Project –secret program to create the atomic weapon J. Robert Oppenheimer I am become death, the destroyer of worlds. J. Robert Oppenheimer The atomic bomb made the prospect of future war unendurable. It has led us up those last few steps to the mountain pass; and beyond there is a different country. J. Robert Oppenheimer When you see something that is technically sweet, you go ahead and do it and you argue about what to do about it only after you have had your technical success. That is the way it was with the atomic bomb. J. Robert Oppenheimer

New Technology from World War II TechnologyMilitary UsePeacetime Use SemiconductorsNavigationTransistors, radios, electronics ComputersCode breakingSoftware programs, video games Freeze-dried foodSoldier’s rationsTV dinners, space shuttle rations Synthetic materialsParachutes, tires, weapons parts Telephones, pacemakers, automobile fenders RadarTracking and Surveillance Weather tracking, air traffic control

THE GI BILL 10 million soldiers coming home after WWII. –Want jobs back and want to start a family. –GI Bill of Rights ‘44 Offered tuition for education, and low interest loans for homes.