T HE H OME F RONT 24.2

O BJECTIVES Explain how World War II increased opportunities for women and minorities. Analyze the effects of the war civil liberties for Japanese Americans and others. Examine how the need to support the war effort changed American lives.

K EY P ARTS New Economic Opportunities Workers on the Move A Challenge to Civil Liberties Supporting the War Effort

I NTRODUCTION Read section 24.2 Answer Critical Thinking Questions 5&6

N EW E CONOMIC O PPORTUNITIES American industry quickly converted to war production to meet the nation’s military needs. Once industry exhausted the available men, women found more jobs for the taking. Government and Industry launched an all-out publicity campaign urging women to do their part to meet wartime production quotas.

C ONT. Women began finding jobs in heavy industry which was outside the norm. Rosie the Riveter was the governments propaganda piece to get women to join industrial jobs. Women gained confidence by doing these difficult jobs and felt more of a self worth. With women in the workplace, children’s lives began to change.

C ONT.. The federal government spent $50 million building day care centers for children of working mothers. African Americans were hoping to find jobs during the war, how ever very few did. For example every 100,000 aircraft workers only approx 240 would be black. A. Philip Randolph was the main reformer during this time.

W ORKERS ON THE M OVE Wartime needs encouraged migration as people moved in search of work. Roughly 2 million people moved to California for work. Also the Southwest began to boom during this time. The bracero program brought workers from Mexico to work the American farms to support the war effort.

C ONT. In the summer of 1943 wartime migration led to racial violence in a number of cities. The worst of which was in Detroit Michigan where a conflict erupted over the construction of housing for black workers. Roughly 100,000 whites and black broke out into fights that ultimately led to 34 people being killed.

A C HALLENGE OF C IVIL L IBERTIES The attack on Pearl Harbor spread fear across America. The Federal Government began drafting policies toward immigrants and aliens from the Axis Nations. German, Italian, and Japanese aliens were subject to arrest or deportation if deemed dangerous to national security.

C ONT. German and Italian immigrants were set free relatively quickly, but not the Japanese. By September of 1942 more than 100,000 Japanese on the West Cost were evacuated. They were taken to designated camps in Arizona and were not allowed to leave until the war was over. They were fed properly and not mistreated but they were isolated.

S UPPORTING THE W AR E FFORT The war eventually cost Americans $330 billion which was double the total amount of federal expenditures sint the funding of the nation. In six years the national debt skyrocketed from $42 billion to $269 billion. To levy some of the money congress passed a 5% tax on all income. Also many Americans bought war bonds.

C ONT. Increased production of war goods created a scarcity of consumer products. As shortages led to price increases many feared that inflation would run wild again. To fix this FDR created the Office of Price Administration which had the authority to control wages and set maximum prices, and also rationing.

C ONT.. This is where you begin to see the “black market” people began an underground network for the sale of restricted goods. Sacrifices on the home front took a toll on morale. The Office of War Information worked closely with the media to encourage support of the war effort.