Chapter 17: The U.S. in WWII Section 1: Mobilization on the Home Front

Standards 11.7.3, 5, & 6 .3 Identify the roles and sacrifices of individual American soldiers, as well as the unique contributions of the special fighting forces (e.g., the Tuskegee Airmen, the 442nd Regimental Combat team, the Navajo Code Talkers). .5 Discuss the constitutional issues and impact of events on the U.S. home front, including the internment of Japanese Americans (e.g., Fred Korematsu v. United States of America) and the restrictions on German and Italian resident aliens; the response of the administration to Hitler's atrocities against Jews and other groups; the roles of women in military production; and the roles and growing political demands of African Americans. .6 Describe major developments in aviation, weaponry, communication, and medicine and the war's impact on the location of American industry and use of resources.

Objectives Following lecture and reading of this section, students will be able to: Explain how the U.S. expanded its armed forces in response to America’s entry into WWII. Describe wartime mobilization of industry, labor, scientists, and the media. Describe the efforts of the federal government to control the economy.

Selective Service and the GI Japan thought they had scared us with their attack on Pearl Harbor If anything, the attack gave a perfect excuse to get into the FDR knew we had to fight After Pearl Harbor, 5 million men volunteered for military service With the Selective Service System, 10 million more soldiers were drafted High #s to meet needs of the two-front war 8 weeks basic training, then off to war…

Expanding the Military Women’s corps General George Marshall, Army Chief of Staff, calls for women to increase # of soldiers Women’s Auxiliary Army Corps (WAAC)—women in noncombat positions Thousands of women enlisted “auxiliary” dropped from their titles (1943) Got full U. S. army benefits Worked as: Nurses Electricians Pilots Ambulance Drivers Radio Operators

Recruiting and Discrimination Minority groups, especially African Americans, are denied basic citizenship rights They are only allowed to serve in segregated units Question whether they should fight for democracy in other countries when they do not even have basic rights here in America

Dramatic Contributions 300,000 Mexican Americans join armed forces 1 million African Americans served Lived & worked in segregated units Mostly non-combat positions Saw combat late in the war 13,000 Chinese Americans served 33,000 Japanese Americans served Spies & interpreters on the front lines 25,000 Native Americans enlisted

The Industrial Response Factories converted from civilian production to war production Car factories boats, planes, tanks, command cars Bed spreads makers mosquito nets Soft-drinks producers explosive shells Shipyards & defense plants expanded and new ones were built Produced ships and arms rapidly Used prefabricated parts People worked at record speeds Built ships in 4 days!

Nearly 18 million workers worked in war industries Labor’s Contribution Nearly 18 million workers worked in war industries 6 million are women Paid about 60% of man’s wage for same job Over 2 million minorities were hired faced strong discrimination A. Philip Randolph, organized a march on D.C. which could have been very divisive FDR issued an executive order forbidding discrimination in the workplace

Mobilization of Scientists Office of Scientific Research and Development (OSRD) Developed new technologies & medicines Pesticides Radar Sonar Manhattan Project (division of the OSRD) developed the atomic bomb Later the bomb would be used on Japan to end the war

Office of Price Administration (OPA) Economic Controls Office of Price Administration (OPA) Fought inflation by freezing prices on goods Raised and extended income taxes, which lowered demand for scarce goods Encouraged the purchase of war bonds Rationing (stamps) Common people could only buy certain amounts of goods because the military needed their share

War Production Board (WPB) Economic Controls War Production Board (WPB) Decided which companies would convert from consumer production to wartime production Allocated raw materials Organized collection of recyclable materials Paper, tin, scrap metal, rags, cooking fat