WWII on the Home Front

Opener

• How many sacrifices should the government ask you to make during war time? What sacrifices would you be willing to make in order to contribute?

Rationing• Office of Price Administration

– regulate consumers – freezing prices, wages, rents,

rationing valuable goods• ration books for each family

member • Rationed items

– sugar– coffee– meat– butter– tires– gasoline

• http://www.smithsonianeducation.org/idealabs/wwii/fullmovie.html

Conservation

• Conserve food: Canning and Victory Gardens

• Water, fuel, material goods,

• Time and health: never miss a day of work

• Scrap and salvage drives– Pots, pans, shoes and

tires collected

American Business

• Unprecedented control of businesses

• War Production Board • Office of War

Mobilization• Economic Boom: War

demand and government contracts

• Great Depression ends

Raising Production• Raising Production:

– double the Axis Dec. 7 1942• Unions and Strikes:

– Companies/Unions agreed not to strike

– Smith-Connally Anti-Strike Act (1943)

• Paying for the War:– Income Tax– War bonds $1.7 Trillion

(2012)

Soldiers - Marines

• 16 million served – majority drafted

• 12% in combat • 25% never left the US

Moving Population

• Moved away from country to big cities

• New towns around military/industry

• Los Angeles, Detroit, Seattle, and Baton Rouge - Boomtowns

Women at War

• 216,000 Women served in none combat positions– Clerks– Cooks– Operators– Servants

• WASPs, WAACs, WAVES,

Women at Work

• 25% of the workforce pre-war

• 5 million women joined

• Rosie the Riveter• Unequal pay -

temporary

African-Americans at War

• 120,000 armed services

• Segregated Units• Many served in

noncombat roles

Tuskegee Airmen

African Americans at Work

• 1.6 Million moved from the South

• 2 million blacks would find work in the war industries

• Double V

Riots, Randolph and Rights

• Race Riots New York, Detroit

• A. Phillip Randolph march on Washington

• Fair Employment Practices Committee – prohibiting race

discriminating in war industries

Mexican-Americans

• 750,000 Armed Services

• Braceros (Strong arms) Agricultural workers

• LA- Zoot Suit Riots– Week long brawl

Closer

• How has government/civilian interaction changed in times of national emergency since WWII?

• Would you be willing to participate in rationing today to support the War on Terror? Why or why not?