After Pearl Harbor… Japan thought America would avoid further conflict Japan Times said America was “trembling in their shoes” Japan Times said America was “trembling in their shoes” “Remember Pearl Harbor” was America’s rallying cry

Americans Rush to Enlist 5 million Americans enlisted after Pearl Harbor Selective Service expanded the draft Eventually provided extra 10 million soldiers Eventually provided extra 10 million soldiers

World War II Recruitment Posters

Women Join the Fight George Marshall pushed for formation of Women’s Auxiliary Army Corp (WAAC) Women worked in non-combat roles Nurses Nurses Ambulance Drivers Ambulance Drivers Radio Operators Radio Operators Pilots Pilots

Women’s Roles in World War II

All Americans Fought Despite discrimination at home, minority populations contributed to the war effort 1 million African Americans 1 million African Americans 300,000 Mexican Americans 300,000 Mexican Americans 33,000 Japanese Americans 33,000 Japanese Americans 25,000 Native Americans 25,000 Native Americans 13,000 Chinese Americans 13,000 Chinese Americans

A Production Miracle Americans converted the auto industry into war industry Nation’s auto plants began to produce: Tanks Tanks Planes Planes Boats Boats Command cars Command cars Many other industries also converted to war-related supplies

American Factories

Labor’s Contribution By 1944, nearly 18 million workers were laboring in war industries 3 times the number in 1941 More than 6 million were women and nearly 2 million were minorities

Mobilization of Scientists In 1941, FDR created the Office of Scientific Research and Development to bring scientists into the war effort Focused on radar and sonar to locate submarines Focused on radar and sonar to locate submarines Also the scientists worked on penicillin and pesticides like DDT

Office of Scientific Research and Development

Manhattan Project Most important achievement of OSRD was the secret development of the atomic bomb Einstein wrote to FDR warning him that Germany was attempting to develop such a weapon Code used to describe American efforts to build the bomb was “Manhattan Project”

Einstein’s Letter to FDR

Federal Gov’t Takes Control of Inflation With the price of goods threatening to rise out of control, FDR created Office of Price Administration OPA froze prices on most goods and encouraged purchase of war bonds to fight inflation

War Production Board To ensure troops had ample resources, FDR created WPB WPB decided which companies would convert to wartime production Also decided how to allocate raw materials to those industries

Collection Drives WPB also organized nationwide drives to collect: Scrap iron and tin cans Scrap iron and tin cans Paper, rags, and cooking fat Paper, rags, and cooking fat Additionally, the OPA set up a system of rationing Households had allocations of scarce goods—gas, meat, shoes, sugar, coffee, etc. Households had allocations of scarce goods—gas, meat, shoes, sugar, coffee, etc.

Rationing Coupons