Topic 14 - World War II (1935-1945)

Lesson 3 - The Home Front

14-3.mp3

During World War II, more than 15 million Americans served in the military. Many millions more spent the war years at home, far from the battlefields. To win the war, it was crucial to mobilize the home front to support and supply the armed forces.

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Start up

Airwoman Lillian Yonally of the Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASPs) flew warplanes to Europe. How might living through a war change women’s lives after the war?

Guiding Questions

How did the United States mobilize its economy to produce materials and funds for World War II?
How did working women help the war effort?
How did the United States treat minority groups during the war?

Vocabulary

Academic Vocabulary

Americans Mobilize for War

President Roosevelt had taken a number of steps even before war was declared to make sure America was ready if the time came. He was already building the armed forces through the draft, and manufacturers were turning out aircraft, artillery, and ammunition for Britain and other countries. Still, actually joining in the war meant even greater efforts were needed to prepare and supply America’s forces.

Training Recruits

In 1939, the United States military had just 334,500 servicemen. That was not nearly enough to combat the large and experienced armies of Germany and Japan. So, as war approached, America had to quickly recruit and train a huge number of civilians.

Army, navy, and air bases were built all over the country. Recruits were trained to fight in the jungles of the Pacific, the deserts of North Africa, and the towns and farmlands of Europe.

Throughout the war, recruitment and training continued to receive the highest priority. By the end of 1941, there were 1,800,000 men and women in the armed forces. By 1945, the number had risen to over 12 million.

A Wartime Economy

Even more than in World War I, the government controlled the economy during World War II. Government agencies set the prices of goods, negotiated with labor unions, and decided what should be produced.

The War Production Board required factories to shift from making consumer goods to making guns, ships, and other war materials. Automobile makers, for example, produced tanks, aircraft, and artillery shells. From 1942 to 1945, no new cars were built in America. The War Production Board also allocated resources to ensure factories had the materials they needed..

A Nazi leader once scoffed that “Americans can’t build planes, only electric iceboxes and razor blades.” He was wrong. In 1942 alone, American workers produced more than 48,000 planes and shipped more than 8 million tons of goods.

Analyze Charts The chart provides a glimpse of how the U.S. economy was performing during World War II.

Cite Evidence What evidence shows that the United States supported the Allied war effort in the early 1940s?

Civilians Pitch In

To control shortages and ensure that enough raw materials would be available for war production, the government imposed rationing, or limits on certain goods that people could buy. Americans were given ration coupons to purchase coffee, sugar, meat, gasoline, and other goods. When people ran out of coupons, they could not buy the items until new coupons were issued.

Consumer goods became scarce. To combat food shortages, many Americans planted victory gardens. At the height of the war, more than 20 million victory gardens produced 40 percent of all vegetables grown in the country.

To pay for the war, the government raised taxes. Also, as in World War I, the U.S. government borrowed money from millions of American citizens by selling war bonds. Americans could buy a bond with the promise that the government would redeem the bond after ten years, with interest. In the meantime, the government would use the money from bond sales to pay for the war. Movie stars took part in drives to sell bonds and boost patriotic spirit.

The war quickly ended the Great Depression. Unemployment fell as millions of jobs opened up in factories. Minority workers found jobs where they had been rejected in the past.

READING CHECK

Draw Conclusions How did America’s entry into World War II affect the U.S. economy?

New Opportunities for Women and African Americans

“If you can drive a car, you can run a machine.” Newspapers and magazines echoed this call to American women to work for victory. “Why do we need women workers?” asked a radio announcer. “You can’t build ships, planes, and guns without them.”

Analyze Images This poster aimed to recruit women ordinance workers, or WOWs.

Generate Explanations Why was it so important to get women working?

Women Go to Work

Women responded to the urgent demand for their labor. Almost five million women entered the work force. They replaced the men who joined the armed services. Many women worked in offices. Millions more kept the nation’s factories operating around the clock. Some welded, ran huge cranes, or tended blast furnaces. Others became bus drivers, police officers, and gas station attendants. The image of Rosie the Riveter, a fictional factory worker, became a symbol of American women’s contribution to the war effort.

Because women were badly needed in industry, they were able to win better pay and working conditions. The government agreed that women and men should get the same pay for the same job. Many employers, however, found ways to avoid equal pay.

The war also changed fashions for women. Instead of wearing skirts on the job, many women dressed in trousers. They wore overalls and tied scarves around their hair. More importantly, war work gave many women a new sense of confidence:

Primary Source

“I will never regret my two years or more in the shipyards. It gave me a good start in life. . . . I decided that if I could learn to weld like a man, I could do anything it took to make a living.”

—Nova Lee McGhee Holbrook, quoted in A Mouthful of Rivets

Women Join the Armed Forces

Women joined all the armed services in great numbers. Almost 400,000 signed up for the army, navy, marines, and army air forces. Through their service, they replaced men who could be reassigned to combat units.

Women pilots logged 60 million air miles ferrying bombers from base to base, towing targets, and teaching men to fly. Many served overseas, and although they were not sent into combat, they faced some of the same dangers. Some were captured and made prisoners of war. Some died, and some earned Purple Hearts, Bronze Stars, and Legions of Merit, all medals given for courage and service.

Fighting a War Abroad and Discrimination at Home

When the war began, African Americans rallied to their nation’s cause, as they had during World War I. This time, however, African Americans decided to pursue a “Double V” campaign—victory over the enemy abroad and victory over discrimination at home.

As industry geared up for war, factories replaced “No Help Wanted” signs with “Help Wanted, White” signs. African Americans, as well as Chinese Americans, Mexican Americans, and others, were excluded.

In 1941, A. Philip Randolph, head of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters, called for a protest march on Washington. The government, he said, “will never give the Negro justice until they see masses—ten, twenty, fifty thousand Negroes on the White House lawn.”

Government officials worried that such a march would feed Hitler’s propaganda machine. After meeting with Randolph, FDR ordered employers that did business with the government to end discrimination in hiring. As a result, the employment of skilled black workers doubled during the war.

However, as black employment increased, so did racial tension. Thousands of Americans—black and white—moved to cities to work in industry. Competition for scarce housing led to angry incidents. In 1943, race riots broke out in Detroit, New York, and other cities.

Heroism in the Military

While FDR acted against discrimination in hiring, he refused to end segregation of the races in the military. Nearly a million African Americans enlisted or were drafted. They had to serve in all-black units commanded by white officers.

African Americans served heroically in all branches of the armed forces. In the army, African American soldiers formed artillery and tank units. African Americans in the navy served as gunners’ mates and helped build bases in the Pacific. African American marines helped defend American posts against Japanese attacks.

The Tuskegee Airmen were African American fighter pilots who trained at Tuskegee, Alabama. By the end of the war, the Tuskegee airmen had destroyed or damaged about 400 enemy aircraft.

One of the earliest heroes of the war was Dorie Miller, an African American sailor serving on the battleship West Virginia. During the attack on Pearl Harbor, Miller dragged his wounded captain to safety. Then, though he had no training as a gunner, Miller manned a machine gun to defend his ship against enemy planes. For heroism in action, Miller was awarded the Navy Cross.

The contributions of African Americans to the war effort increased their determination to win justice at home. After the war, black veterans would be at the forefront of a renewed campaign for civil rights.

Analyze Images Members of the Tuskegee airmen are briefed prior to the spring 1945 offensive in northern Italy.

Infer Why were African Americans eager to serve in the military despite the discrimination?

READING CHECK

Summarize Explain the “Double V” campaign and provide details showing its success and limitations.

Other Americans Face Discrimination

The war brought suffering to many Japanese Americans. Most lived on the West Coast or in Hawaii. Many of those on the West Coast were successful farmers and business people. For years, they had faced prejudice, in part because of their success.

Japanese American Relocation Camps

After the attack on Pearl Harbor, many Americans questioned the loyalty of Japanese Americans. Some thought they might act as spies and help Japan invade the United States. No evidence of disloyalty existed. Yet, President Roosevelt signed an order allowing the army to move Japanese Americans from their homes to “relocation camps.” Many were American citizens by birth. Later, a court case challenged the order, but the Supreme Court decided in Korematsu v. United States that such an order was constitutional in times of war.

About 110,000 Japanese Americans were forced to sell their homes, farms, or businesses at great loss. “We didn’t know where we were going,” recalled Peter Ota, who was 15 at the time. “We didn’t know what to take. A toothbrush, toilet supplies, some clothes. Only what you could carry.”

In the camps, Japanese Americans lived behind barbed wire in crowded barracks with little privacy.

Analyze Images Japanese Americans were imprisoned in temporary “assembly camps” like this one before being transported to longterm internment camps.

Generate Explanations Why did many people argue that these camps were not needed and unconstitutional?

Japanese American Service and Compensation

Despite unfair treatment, thousands of Japanese American men served in the armed forces. Most were put in segregated units and sent to fight in Europe. There, they won many honors for bravery. The 442nd Nisei Regimental Combat Team became the most highly decorated military unit in United States history.

Years later, in 1988, Congress apologized to Japanese Americans who had suffered from internment, or temporary imprisonment, during World War II. Congress also approved compensation, or repayment for losses, in the amount of $20,000 to every survivor of the camps.

German Americans and Italian Americans

Japanese Americans were not the only group to face wartime restrictions. About 11,000 German Americans and several hundred Italian Americans were also held in government camps as “enemy aliens.” Other German Americans and Italian Americans faced curfews or travel restrictions.

Mexican Americans

Because of the need for workers, the United States signed a treaty with Mexico in 1942. It allowed the recruitment of Mexican laborers to work in the United States. Under this Bracero Program, many Mexicans moved north to work on farms and railroads.

At the same time, Mexican American citizens faced prejudice and discrimination. In June 1943, a group of sailors on leave attacked some young Mexican Americans, beating them on the streets. The incident led to several days of rioting in Los Angeles. Newspapers blamed the violence on the Mexican Americans. But in her newspaper column, Eleanor Roosevelt argued that the riots were the result of “longstanding discrimination against the Mexicans in the Southwest.”

Still, like other groups, Mexican Americans served bravely in the military during World War II. Despite problems at home, Americans were united in their resolve to win in Europe and the Pacific.

Analyze Images These Bracero Program participants have just arrived in Stockton, California, on their way to temporary jobs harvesting beets.

Identify Cause and Effect Why were these workers needed in the United States?

READING CHECK

Understand Effects Why did Japanese, German, and Italian Americans face unfair treatment during World War II?

Lesson Check

How did the War Production Board support the war effort?
What was the purpose of rationing and victory gardens?
What was the “Double V” campaign?
Summarize How did Rosie the Riveter show the significant changes in American society during World War II?
Identify Cause and Effect How did America’s entry into World War II affect the nation’s economy?
Writing Workshop: Organize Sequence of Events Consider the events you will describe in your narrative about life during World War II. What will happen first, second, and so on?

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