1. Chapter 17: The U.S. in WWII Section 1: Mobilization on the Home Front

2. Standards
11.7.3, 5, & 6
.3 Identify the roles and sacrifices of individual American soldiers, as well as the unique contributions of the special fighting forces (e.g., the Tuskegee Airmen, the 442nd Regimental Combat team, the Navajo Code Talkers).
.5 Discuss the constitutional issues and impact of events on the U.S. home front, including the internment of Japanese Americans (e.g., Fred Korematsu v. United States of America) and the restrictions on German and Italian resident aliens; the response of the administration to Hitler's atrocities against Jews and other groups; the roles of women in military production; and the roles and growing political demands of African Americans.
.6 Describe major developments in aviation, weaponry, communication, and medicine and the war's impact on the location of American industry and use of resources.

3. Objectives
Following lecture and reading of this section, students will be able to:
Explain how the U.S. expanded its armed forces in response to America’s entry into WWII.
Describe wartime mobilization of industry, labor, scientists, and the media.
Describe the efforts of the federal government to control the economy.

4. Selective Service and the GI
Japan thought they had scared us with their attack on Pearl Harbor
If anything, the attack gave a perfect excuse to get into the FDR knew we had to fight
After Pearl Harbor, 5 million men volunteered for military service
With the Selective Service System, 10 million more soldiers were drafted
High #s to meet needs of the two-front war
8 weeks basic training, then off to war…

5. Expanding the Military
Women’s corps
General George Marshall, Army Chief of Staff, calls for women to increase # of soldiers
Women’s Auxiliary Army Corps (WAAC)—women in noncombat positions
Thousands of women enlisted
“auxiliary” dropped from their titles (1943)
Got full U. S. army benefits
Worked as:
Nurses Electricians Pilots
Ambulance Drivers Radio Operators

6. Recruiting and Discrimination
Minority groups, especially African Americans, are denied basic citizenship rights
They are only allowed to serve in segregated units
Question whether they should fight for democracy in other countries when they do not even have basic rights here in America

7. Dramatic Contributions
300,000 Mexican Americans join armed forces
1 million African Americans served
Lived & worked in segregated units
Mostly non-combat positions
Saw combat late in the war
13,000 Chinese Americans served
33,000 Japanese Americans served
Spies & interpreters on the front lines
25,000 Native Americans enlisted

8. The Industrial Response
Factories converted from civilian production to war production
Car factories boats, planes, tanks, command cars
Bed spreads makers mosquito nets
Soft-drinks producers explosive shells
Shipyards & defense plants expanded and new ones were built
Produced ships and arms rapidly
Used prefabricated parts
People worked at record speeds
Built ships in 4 days!

9. Nearly 18 million workers worked in war industries
Labor’s Contribution
Nearly 18 million workers worked in war industries
6 million are women
Paid about 60% of man’s wage for same job
Over 2 million minorities were hired
faced strong discrimination
A. Philip Randolph, organized a march on D.C. which could have been very divisive
FDR issued an executive order forbidding discrimination in the workplace

10. Mobilization of Scientists
Office of Scientific Research and Development (OSRD)
Developed new technologies & medicines
Pesticides
Radar
Sonar
Manhattan Project (division of the OSRD) developed the atomic bomb
Later the bomb would be used on Japan to end the war

11. Office of Price Administration (OPA)
Economic Controls
Office of Price Administration (OPA)
Fought inflation by freezing prices on goods
Raised and extended income taxes, which lowered demand for scarce goods
Encouraged the purchase of war bonds
Rationing (stamps)
Common people could only buy certain amounts of goods because the military needed their share

12. War Production Board (WPB)
Economic Controls
War Production Board (WPB)
Decided which companies would convert from consumer production to wartime production
Allocated raw materials
Organized collection of recyclable materials
Paper, tin, scrap metal, rags, cooking fat