1. Mobilizing for Defense

2. Americans Join the War Effort
Japanese had attacked Pearl Harbor – Dec. 7, 1941
“Day that will live in infamy!”
Japan thought that America would shrink from further conflict
Japan Times boasted “United States, now reduced to a third-rate power was ‘trembling in her shoes’”
Americans united behind “Remember Pearl Harbor”

3. Americans Join the War Effort
The Selective Service Act expanded the draft to fight on two global fronts – Europe and Pacific
5,000,000 to 10,000,000 soldiers – 8 week basic training
George Marshall (Army chief of staff) formed the WAAC
WAAC – Women’s Auxiliary Army Corps
Women volunteered in non-combat positions

4. Recruiting and Discrimination
Minority Groups – African Americans, Native Americans, Mexican Americans, Asian Americans – questioned whether this war was their war to fight
“Why die for democracy for some foreign country when we don’t even have it here?”
Minority soldiers will be treated VERY differently in Europe than here in the US  Growth of Civil Rights Mvmt.
Mexican Americans = 300,000 soldiers
African Americans = 1,000,000 soldiers
Asian Americans = 13,000 Chinese Americans
33,000 Japanese Americans
Native Americans = 25,000 soldiers / 800 women

5. A Production Miracle
February 1942 – end of automobile production for private use
Automobile plants produced:
1. Tanks Planes Boats Command cars
Across the nation, factories converted to war production:
Mechanical pencils plant – made bomb parts
Bedspread manufacturer – made mosquito netting
Soft drink company – filled shells with explosives
They did this with dizzying speed
End of 1942 – Hull 440, a Liberty ship – Built in 4 DAYS!
Industrial employment increased by three times since 1941
Women and minorities took the majority of these jobs

6. Mobilization of Scientists
1941 – Roosevelt created the Office of Scientific Research and Development (OSRD)
1. Improvements in sonar and radar
2. New technologies for locating submarines underwater
3. Encouraged the use of pesticides like DDT (no lice)
4. Secret development of the atomic bomb
Early research on the atomic bomb was done at Columbia University in Manhattan = code name Manhattan Project

7. The Federal Government Takes Control
Economic Controls:
Fewer consumer goods produced = prices increase
Roosevelt created the Office of Price Administration (OPA)
Fought inflation by freezing prices on most goods
Congress raised income tax rates
Extended the tax to millions who had never paid it – higher taxes reduced spending; workers had less to spend
Americans encouraged to buy war bonds

8. The Federal Government Takes Control
War Production Board (WPB)
Decided which companies would convert from peacetime to wartime production and allocated raw materials to key industries
Organized nationwide drives to collect scrap iron, tin cans, paper, rags, and cooking fat for recycling into war goods
Rationing
Established fixed allotments of goods deemed essential for the military – ration books
Meat, shoes, sugar, coffee, gasoline
Most Americans accepted rationing as their personal contribution to the war

13. Disney and WWII Donald Duck in Nutzi Land: Commando Duck: Thrifty Pig:
Commando Duck:
Thrifty Pig: