The War at Home: How WWII Affected America

US Preparations for War

   Prior to entering WWII, FDR began increasing the size of the US military and ordered increased production of war materials like planes The government awarded factory owners with lucrative contracts to increase military production After Pearl Harbor, almost all US industry was converted to military use

Selective Service and Training Act

     Passed in 1940, after the fall of France to Germany First peace-time draft in US history Required 12 months service if drafted (requirement dropped during war) All men ages 18 -36 had to register (expanded during WWII to ages 18 – 65) Over the 7 years the act was in effect, over 10 million were drafted

War Production Board

 Created after US entered the war to regulate war-time industry by deciding priorities, setting production goals, and controlling distribution of raw materials and supplies

Automobile Industry & War

   Auto factories were among first converted to war production, making jeeps, tanks, trucks, and other gear Henry Ford even began building bombers on his assembly lines By end of WWII, auto industry had produced 1/3 of all US military supplies used

Liberty Ships

   Standardized cargo ships which could be produced quickly (could be built in just 42 days), cheaply, and in large numbers Ships seams were welded, rather than riveted, which made them both cheaper and harder to sink Over 2700 were built during the war, and only about 300 were sunk

War Revenue

   War cost more than $300 billion – more money than the US government had spent in its entire existence War Bonds: sold over $150 billion in bonds (small private loans) Income taxes: withheld directly from people’s paychecks for the first time; tax rate raised

Wartime Rationing

   Ration books: to purchase many goods (tires, gas, silk stockings, etc.), consumers had to have special coupons allowing them to buy Victory Gardens: Americans were encouraged to grow their own food where possible Scrap drives: rubber, tin, aluminum, steel, animal fats and grease were all collected for recycling

Patriotism & Propaganda

  Posters: America was covered with propaganda posters promoting everything from recycling to enlistment Newsreels: movie theaters showed patriotic films, pro-US news clips to keep Americans motivated

Women in the Military

  US Army accepted women for the first time (Women’s Army Corp), but in non combat roles, to free up more men for combat service Over 275,000 women would serve in the WAC & WAVES (US Navy’s Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service)

Women in the Workforce

  As men entered military service, women stepped into traditionally male roles, such as working in factories Millions of women entered the US workforce and would show some reluctance to leave it after the war

Rosie the Riveter

  Character based on a popular song about a woman who took a factory job to support her Marine boyfriend in the war Became a nationally recognized symbol for the important role of women workers

“Double V” Campaign

  Due to a segregated military, some blacks did not support the war Others supported the idea of a “Double V” campaign – by fighting in the war, African Americans could win a double victory – victories over Hitler’s racism abroad and over racism at home

Benjamin O. Davis

    1877 – 1970 Joined Army during Spanish-American War, worked his way up from Private Highest ranking black officer in the US Army, was first black promoted to General Promoted by FDR to show support for ending discrimination in the armed forces

Black Soldiers

 Although the military remained segregated until after the war (1948), all-black units served with distinction and began to win respect from the military leadership and from their fellow soldiers

Tuskegee Airmen

   99 th Pursuit Squadron All-black unit trained as fighter pilots at the Tuskegee Institute in Alabama Once allowed to entire combat in the European Theater as bomber escorts, they proved their ability by not losing a single bomber on missions in which they were providing the protection

Executive Order 8802

  Due to discriminatory hiring practices in the US, Roosevelt issued an executive order in June 1941, banning racial discrimination in government hiring and in industries engaged as defense contractors Established the Fair Employment Practices Commission to enforce the order – the first federal civil rights agency since Reconstruction ended

Native American Soldiers

  Thousands of Native Americans served, especially in the Marine Corps About 300 Navajo worked as “code talkers,” using their native language to transmit radio messages for the Marines, a code which was never broken by the Japanese!

Bracero Program

  Due to labor shortages on farms in the Southwest US, the federal government arranged for Mexican workers to help with the harvest Over 200,000 Mexicans entered the US as part of the Bracero Program, and began a tradition of US reliance on Latino migrant farmers

Zoot Suit Riots

   June 1943 Anti-Latino racism and a rise in juvenile crime, coupled with the “unpatriotic” fashion of “zoot suits” (large baggy suits which wasted material) which had been adopted by Mexican-American teens led to large-scale fights between soldiers and Latinos in Los Angeles Violence continued for days and led to a ban of Zoot Suits by the City of Los Angeles

Hispanic-American Soldiers

  Despite episodes of racism, over 500,000 Hispanic Americans served in the Armed Forces during the war, primarily Mexicans and Puerto Ricans They served in every theater of the war and won 17 Medals of Honor

Japanese Internment

  Fear of spies and saboteurs amongst the Japanese-American population on the West Coast prompted the US to “relocate” over 100,000 to internment camps Those interned lost homes, businesses, and jobs while detained from 1942 - 1945

Korematsu v. US

   Dec. 1944 Fred Korematsu sued the US government, claiming that his rights had been violated US Supreme Court ruled that the internment camps were legal because they were a matter of “military urgency” and were not based on race, but also ruled that loyal US citizens can not be held against their will, prompting the government to begin releasing those held at the camps

Japanese-American Soldiers

 Again, despite racism, many Japanese Americans served in the US Armed Forces during the war, including the 442 nd Regimental Combat Team, who became the most decorated unit of the entire war

Population Shifts

   Over 15 million Americans moved during the war to fill open jobs Many moved into major industrial centers in the North, Midwest, and California, but more moved into the “Sunbelt” across the southern US Once again, millions of blacks left the South for northern and western cities, leading to racial tensions

Wage and Price Controls

  To control inflation, the government acted to freeze prices on consumer goods and to freeze workers’ wages These frozen wages had the potential to create labor disputes

Unions During the War

  Most unions pledged to not strike during the war but to instead seek mediation through the government’s War Labor Board Not all unions cooperated, and a 1943 strike by coal workers under John L. Lewis forced the government to intervene

Unions After the War

  Labor unrest and strikes became common immediately following the war, disrupting the post-war economy Another coal strike was so serious that President Truman ordered the mines seized by the government

Taft-Hartley Act

 In 1947, Congress passed sweeping labor reform which banned “closed shops” (where all employees had to be union members) and allowed employers to sue unions for damages in some cases

Automation Threatens Jobs

 As American factories increasingly modernized after the war, machines began to take the place of unskilled labor, costing jobs and hurting union membership

AFL-CIO

 Eventually, powerful new “super-unions” arose, such as the AFL CIO, a merger between the American Federation of Labor and the Congress of Industrial Organizations in 1955, which represented over 15 million workers

Election of 1948

  Democrats ran President Harry Truman while Republicans ran NY Governor Thomas Dewey Nearly everyone expected Dewey to win easily, but were surprised when Truman pulled off a narrow victory, becoming President in his own right rather than by default (death of FDR)

OOPS!

Truman’s “Fair Deal”

  Truman began to pursue a series of social reform programs he called his “Fair Deal” Included expansion of Social Security, increasing minimum wage, and funding low-income housing, among other things

The GI Bill

   Passed in 1944 Designed to help GIs transition back to civilian life Helped veterans by paying for college tuition, providing one year’s unemployment pay, and providing easy to get loans for purchasing housing or starting businesses

Growth of Middle Class

  As hundreds of thousands of GIs became better educated and able to acquire better jobs, the middle class in America grew significantly during the 1950s This expanded middle class increased the demand for consumer goods and single-family housing

“Baby Boom”

  Returning GIs were also anxious to marry and start families, leading to a dramatic surge in the birth rate from 1946 to 1964 This generation of children, the largest in US history, came to be known as the “baby boomers”

Why is this a problem TODAY?

Growth of Suburbs

  Growth of middle-class families led to a dramatic spike in demand for housing Since space was limited (and therefore expensive) in the cities, millions of Americans looked to the areas just outside of the cities to live and raise their families

William J. Levitt

    1907 – 1994 Real estate developer who popularized building large developments of cheap “assembly line” style housing within commuting distance of major cities – “suburbs” Affordable housing allowed many soldiers returning from WWII to marry and start families First project was in Levittown, NY between 1947 -1951, where Levitt built over 17,000 single-family homes

Levittown