World War II at Home
Military Mobilization 16 million men and women served Selective Service
Men aged 18 – 65 must register @ 72,000 “conscientious objectors” @ 5,500 jailed for refusing to enlist
Women Over 250,000 served (medical, flying equipment, decoding) WAC’s (Women’s Army Corp), WAVES (Women Appointed for
Voluntary Emergency Service), WAF’s (Women’s Auxiliary Ferrying Squadron)
African Americans Over 1 million served in segregated units
Other minorities enlisted Native Americans = Navajo “code talkers” Japanese Americans = Nisei soldiers
Economic Mobilization Office for War Mobilization (OWM)
Created to supervise agencies for war production War Production Board (WPB)
Regulated the use of raw materials ½ of factory production went to war materials
“Rosie the Riveter” Over 5 million women entered the work force Propaganda films to encourage more “Rosies” Wages increased (still less than 2/3rds that of men),
family income swelled Pressure to leave the workforce after the war is over
Demographic shift to the “Sunbelt” Population shift to the Southwest and South
Economic Mobilization (cont.) Attempts to control inflation
War Labor Board – created to keep wages to go with standard of living increases
Office of Price Administration (OPA) Froze prices @ March, 1942 levels Rationing: everything from cars and tires to meat,
coffee, and sugar Taxes
Taxes pay for most of the war 1939 – 4 million paid taxes, 1945 – 50 million
National Debt 1941 = $49 billion; 1945 = $259 billion New Deal + WWII = “warfare welfare” state
Smith-Connolly Antistrike Act (1943) Gov’t could seize plants or mines if idled by a strike
(1943 United Mine Workers strike)
African Americans & WWII Massive migration to
industrial areas Detroit Race Riot (June,
1943) & 47 other cities affected by racial violence
NAACP grows from 50,000 members to 500,000 members during the war
A. Philip Randolph African-Americans excluded from war-
related industries (well paying) 3 demands for FDR
Equal access to defense jobs Desegregation of the armed forces Desegregation in federal agencies
Proposed March on Washington (1941) Fair Employment Practices Committee
(FEPC) FDR issues Executive Order 8802 in
June, 1941 Gov’t agencies ended segregation Randolph = “father of the Civil Rights
movement”
Mexican Americans & WWII Bracero Program
Need for increased farm production led to short-term work permits for Mexican workers
Zoot Suit Riots (L.A. – 1943) Young Mexican-Americans often attacked
in L.A. U.S. sailors attacked “zooters” while on
leave Radio reports blamed the “zooters”, but
real issue was racism and need for more housing
Interment of Japanese Americans Executive Order 9066 (2/19/1942)
FDR proclaims the West Coast as a “war theater”
110,000 people of Japanese ancestry interned 1/3 Issei – foreign born, 2/3 Nisei –
American born Interment Camps
10 camps in 7 states headed by General john DeWitt
48 hours to get rid of all belongings (most lost @ 95%)
Camps were in desolate areas and conditions were harsh
Japanese Relocation Considered but didn’t relocate
German or Italians Korematsu v. U.S. – Supreme
Court upholds internment but could be free once loyalty established
Labor & business wanted Japanese removed
No act of sabotage ever discovered
17,000 Nisei soldiers fought Camps close in March, 1946 1990 – Congress pays $20,000 to
each internee ($1.25 billion total)