1. Modern US History Chapter 26, Section 2 “America Moves Toward War”

2. Presidential Election of 1940
As world events seemed to draw the US closer to war, FDR felt that it was not a good time for a change in leadership
FDR then ran for an unprecedented 3rd term as president
Roosevelt had been a popular president
His Republican opponent, Wendell Willkie, supported FDR’s support of Britain
Thus, there was no major difference between the two candidates in relation to foreign affairs, which was the dominant issue of that year

3. Roosevelt Moves Away from Neutrality (#7)
FDR urged Congress to pass a “cash and carry” amendment to the Neutrality acts in 1939
This allowed warring nation to buy US arms as long as they paid up front and transported them on their own ships
At this point, Poland had just been invaded, and France and Britain were still strong
FDR hoped by helping the Allies they could defeat Hitler without our help
One year later it looked like our help was too little, too late

4. Tripartite Pact
By the end of the summer of France has fallen and Britain was under attack
At that moment it was announced that Japan would join Italy and Germany in a mutual defense treaty (the Tripartite Pact)
Together they were known as the Axis Powers
The treaty was meant to keep the US out of the war
If the US declared war on any one of them, then the US would have to fight all of them
The prospect of a 2 ocean war was a US military nightmare

5. Lend Lease Act
After the election FDR announced that the US would have to be “the great arsenal for democracy”
By the beginning of 1940, there were fewer Allies to support and Britain was out of cash to purchase armaments
Should the US maintain an isolationist stance or protect democracies around the world?
Lend Lease Act (1941) – allowed the US to provide weapons to the Allies and they could pay us back later
Germany tried to prevent shipments of Lend Lease supplies by using “wolf packs” of submarines
FDR granted US ships the ability to defend themselves against German attack (creating undeclared war)

6. Undeclared Naval War with Germany
Hitler orders his U-boats to sink any U.S. ships supplying the Allies
An undeclared naval war goes on for months before the U.S. enters the war
USS Reuben James is the first U.S. naval vessel sunk in the war (in October 1941)

7. The U.S. Aids Its Allies
Roosevelt and Churchill meet before U.S. enters the war (August, 1941), and issue a statement of principles
Atlantic Charter—
supports free trade, right to form own government, and serves as the Allies peace plan for after the war
What does this sound similar to?

8. Japan and the U.S.
US was sending aid for the Chinese resistance against Japan
Japan develops a plan for attacks on European colonies in Southeast Asia (to gain resources)
US worried about the Philippines (which it controls)
In 1941 Pres. Roosevelt cut off oil shipments to Japan when it invaded French Indochina in July 1941
Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto plans attack on U.S. fleet in Hawaii

9. Surprise Attack on Pearl Harbor
Japan attacks Pearl Harbor—U.S. Naval base in Hawaii— on December 7, 1941
2,400 Americans killed, 1,200 wounded
U.S. declares war on Japan December 8, 1941
Germany declares war on the U.S. in response

10. Route of Japanese Fleet Attacking Pearl Harbor

11. Waves of the Attack
First wave, 182 planes
Second wave, 171 planes

12. Battleship USS Arizona
U.S. Pacific fleet nearly destroyed
Japan now able to conquer more lands without fear of U.S. resistance

13. Silver Lining?
What kind of ship, which would prove to be the most important in the war, was not at Pearl Harbor?
Aircraft carriers

14. Economy Recovers During the War
The economy improved during the war
More jobs were created
People began saving more money
Unemployment rate dropped to a low of 1.2% in 1944
Average weekly pay rose 10% during the war
Farmers, who had struggled in previous decades, prospered during the war due to higher prices, more demand, and better weather
Women and minorities were able to gain access to jobs they were denied prior to the war

15. War Production
In full war mode, the U.S. was producing weapons faster than anybody around thought that it would or could
In one month, the U.S. was able to produce up to 4,000 tanks and 4,500 planes
Ship production also increased dramatically to help protect our coasts
US doubled the war production of all of the Axis Powers combined and fed Allied soldiers around the world

16. GERMANY
46,857 tanks
107,245 planes
USA
88,410 tanks
283,230 planes

17. Wartime Agencies War Production Board
Rationed fuel and materials vital to the war such as gasoline, heating oil, metals, rubber, and plastics
Office of Price Administration
fought inflation by freezing wages, prices and rents, and also rationed foods such as meat, butter, cheese, vegetables, sugar, and coffee
National War Labor Board
limited wage increases, allowed negotiated benefits like vacations, pensions, and health insurance, and kept unions stable by forbidding workers to change unions

18. US Prepares for War
Selective Training and Service Act – passed in 1940 following Nazi victories in Europe, it set up the first peacetime draft in US history
Men between the ages of 21 and 35 had to register for the draft
It was designed to draft 1 million men for one year of military service only in the Western Hemisphere
By the end of the war the selective Service had drafted 16 million men

19. Financing the War Department of the Treasury
Issued war bonds to raise money for the war effort and to fight inflation
Revenue Act of 1942
Raised the top personal income tax rate to 88% and added lower and middle income Americans to the income tax rolls

20. Scrap Metal Drives

21. Rationing
Americans at home supported the war by conserving and rationing resources (food, gas, and clothing) needed in the war effort

24. Industry Adapts to War Effort
American industry had to go from peace time production to war time production (which takes a lot of time)
GM, Ford, and Chrysler went from creating cars to tanks
Boeing from regular airplanes to bombers and fighter jets
Gun makers like Colt, from hunting rifles to machine guns, flamethrowers, war rifles
Soft drink companies made explosive shells

25. Labor Needed for Industry
By 1944 nearly 18 million worked in wartime industries, three times that in 1941
6 million of the new workers were women (they proved capable of handling the welding and riveting equipment and could be paid only 60% as much as men)
2 million more workers were minorities (most of which could not get jobs in these companies before the war)

26. Women in the Military
Women’s Army Corps (WAC) – took women volunteers to work as nurses, ambulance drivers, radio operators, electricians, and pilots (nearly everything except combat positions)
Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service (WAVE) – women volunteers for the Navy who did mostly clerical work, but also in nursing, communications, intelligence, and supplies
Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP) – women volunteers in the Air Force who flew planes in non-combat missions

27. Social Adjustments
With fathers away fighting in the war, women had to raise children on their own while many worked in wartime industries
Children had to get used to being left with neighbors, family members, or with daycare centers
Teenagers often were left on their own, and many got into trouble
Many couples got married quickly before the war
Many couples struggled to adjust when soldiers returned from the fighting often after years of being away

28. Population Shifts
The war caused many to move from where they had always lived to places that needed workers in their factories to support the war
Many moved to northern cities, but also to West Coast cities
Of those moving, the largest group was African Americans
Cities with defense industries doubled and tripled in size
The percentage of African Americans working in skilled and semi-skilled positions doubled during the war

29. Minorities During the War
Minority groups faced segregated neighborhoods, discrimination, and some were denied citizenship
This second class status caused many to question why they should support the war cause for the nation that treated them this way
Despite this, minority populations contributed heavily to the war effort:
1,000,000 African Americans
300,000 Mexican-Americans
33,000 Japanese Americans
25,000 Native Americans
13,000 Chinese Americans
Tuskegee Airmen
Navajo Code Talkers

30. African Americans During the War
African Americans contributed heavily to the war, but they still faced discrimination at home and in the military
A. Philip Randolph – president of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters (a union for African American railroad workers)
Randolph called for all African Americans to stop work and march on Washington to protest this discrimination
President Roosevelt met with Randolph and agreed to issue an executive order prohibiting companies with gov’t contracts to discriminate on the basis of race, creed, color, or national origin

31. Racial Discrimination and Violence
Where ever African Americans moved to during the war, they still faced discrimination
The interracial organization called the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) was founded in 1942 to confront urban segregation in the North
It conducted its first sit-in at a segregated Chicago restaurant in 1942
Sometimes the tensions between whites and the newly arrived black populations turned to violence
One race riot that started at a beach in Detroit lasted 3 days and had to be put down by federal troops

32. Hispanics in the 1940s
300,000 Mexican Americans served in the military and others found work in wartime industries
Bracero program – WWII program that hired hundreds of thousands of Mexican immigrants to come to the US and work in agriculture due to the shortage of workers during the war (expected to leave after war)
Longoria incident – Mexican Americans were angered when Felix Longoria, a Mexican American war hero, was not allowed a funeral service in his home town
Unity League – founded in California to register Mexican American voters and to promote candidates who would represent their interests

33. Zoot Suit Riots
Zoot suits were popular with young Mexican Americans in southern California during the war
In the summer of 1943 an incident involving sailors and some young men wearing zoot suits led to riots
Thousands of servicemen and civilians poured in Mexican neighborhoods and grabbed anyone with a zoot suit, stripped them of their clothes, and beat them up
It lasted a week and hundreds of Mexican American young people were attacked

34. Japanese American Internment
The surprise Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor stunned the nation
Executive Order 9066 – Of the 120,000 Japanese Americans living in the country, 110,000 of them were rounded up and sent to internment camps
Reasons for internment:
So they couldn’t be spies against the U.S. (fear they might sabotage US defenses and the war effort)
Racism against Asians
Anger over the Pearl Harbor attack

35. Legality of Internment
Korematsu v. United States (1944) – A Supreme Court case in which it was ruled that the internment of Japanese Americans during the war was legal
The justification for the decision was that the internment took place out of “military necessity”
Japanese American Citizens League took of the cause of pushing the US gov’t to compensate those sent to camps for their lost property

36. Delayed Justice for Japanese Americans
In 1965 Congress authorized the spending of $38 million for compensating those sent to the internment camps for their lost property
This was less than a tenth of what they lost
In 1988 Congress passed a bill that promised $20,000 to every Japanese American sent to the relocation camps, and the payments were finally made in 1990
Korematsu

37. Japanese-Americans Contribute to War Effort
Nisei– American born citizens (born here to Japanese immigrant parents) who lost jobs, homes, and belongings when sent to internment camps
After Pearl Harbor the gov’t banned Japanese Americans from serving in the military, but this policy was reversed in 1943
33,000 Nisei served in WWII (only allowed to serve in Europe), including many who were held in internment camps, and some received medals for bravery