1. Mitten – CSHS AMAZ History – Semester 2
The Home Front Chapter 25.4
Mitten – CSHS
AMAZ History – Semester 2

2. Opportunity & Adjustment
Economic Gains
Defense industries boom, unemployment falls to 1.2% in 1944
average pay rises 10% during war
Farmers prosper from rising crop prices, increase in production
many pay off mortgages
Percentage of women in work force rises to 35%

3. Opportunity & Adjustment
Population Shifts
War triggers mass migrations to towns with defense industries
Social Adjustments
Many couples rush to marry before husband goes overseas
1944 GI Bill of Rights or Serviceman’s Readjustment Act:
pays education; loan guarantees for homes, new business

4. Discrimination & Reaction
Civil Rights Protests
Racial tensions rise in overcrowded Northern cities
James Farmer founds Congress of Racial Equality (CORE)
1943 racial violence sweeps across country; Detroit riots worst case
Tension in Los Angeles
Anti-Mexican zoot suit riots involve thousands servicemen, civilians

5. Internment of Japanese Americans
Japanese Americans in Internment Camps
Hawaii governor forced to order internment (confinement) of Japanese
1942 FDR signs removal of Japanese Americans in four states
U.S. Army forces 110,000 Japanese Americans into prison camps
1944 Korematsu v. United States – Court rules in favor of internment
After war, Japanese American Citizens League pushes for compensation
1988, Congress grants $20,000 to everyone sent to relocation camp

6. Arizona Relocation Camps
Arizona Camps
2 of the 10 camps in Arizona
Gila River Relocation Center – near Sacaton
Colorado River Camp – near Poston
30,000 Japanese Americans confined in these two camps
Wooden barracks, mess hall, recreation hall, and combination washroom-toilet-laundry building
Furniture made from scrap lumber and old crates
Discrimination in Arizona was very prevalent

7. Arizona Prisoner of War Camps
German and Italian Prisoners
2 prisoner of war camps in Arizona
Papago POW Camp – east Phoenix
Yuma POW Camp – Yuma – smaller
large Italian POW colony near Florence
Escapes
Many escapes from Papago Camp
“Great Escape”, Christmas 1944
25 men escape in tunnel – 20 feet deep, 180 feet long
All recaptured and returned to camp