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Mobilization for War and the Homefront

Mobilization for War and the Homefront. Building an American Force at Home and Abroad. The Draft. 1940: First peace time military draft 15 million men and women served 31 million men from 18 and 44 registered More than half were found to be unfit physically

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Mobilization for War and the Homefront

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  1. Mobilization for War and the Homefront Building an American Force at Home and Abroad

  2. The Draft • 1940: First peace time military draft • 15 million men and women served • 31 million men from 18 and 44 registered • More than half were found to be unfit physically • Military attempted to prevent homosexuals from enlisting, but that proved difficult

  3. Keys to Economic Success • War Production Board: • Supervised production and supply • Need to change consumption for wartime • Rationing: shoes, meat, coffee • Black market develops • Ration books with coupons given to everyone • American production is at its highest point • Block wardens

  4. Other Wartime Agencies • War Labor Board • War Manpower Commission • Fair Labor Employment Practices Committee • Office of Price Administration

  5. African Americans in WWII • Less discrimination than in WWI • African Americans served in segregated units • Civil rights groups protested the segregation • Often assigned the most menial duties • Trained as officers in the Air Force • Segregated troops • Fought for democracy • Pittsburgh Courier—Double V Campaign • Blood banks had segregated blood

  6. African Americans continued • Many moved from South to North • Able to get factory jobs—paid less than their white counterparts • Fair Employment Practices Commission: Prohibit discrimination on the basis of race or national origin • Didn’t end discrimination but led to improvements

  7. Latinos • Mexican Americans served in combat troops • Bracero Program: 1942-1964 • Brought in temporary contract labor from Mexico to fill agriculture jobs during the War • Braceros (from the Spanish word arms) would work for 4 months and then return home--they could contract for longer • Zoot Suit Riots: 1943 • Servicemen accused “Zoot suiters” of attacking them • Led to riots in which Mexicans were beaten up by servicemen • Led to the passage of laws prohibiting the wearing of Zoot Suits

  8. Conditions of Relocation: Continued • Korematsu v. United States • Internment challenged and upheld in the Supreme Court • Not a unanimous decision • One justice called it, “legalization of racism” • Some Japanese-Americans gave up their citizenship • considered a symbolic act of distaste for the actions of the American government

  9. Women on the Home Front • Women took the jobs formerly held by men • Jobs offered higher pay • Rosie the Riveter became a popular image • Encouraged women to “do their part” • Women worked at heavy industrial jobs for the first time • At the end of the war women were expected to return home • Made room in the factories for veterans • Returned home and to jobs that didn’t pay as well

  10. Women in the Military • Women were not drafted but could volunteer • Served as nurses and support staff • WACS—Army • WAVES—Navy • SPARS—Coast Guard • WASPS—Air Force

  11. Japanese Internment • After the bombing of Pearl Harbor the US works to tighten national security • FDR issues Executive Order 9066 • Excluded people of Japanese heritage from certain “designated military areas” • Only affected Japanese on the West Coast • Cleared “enemy aliens” due to a threat of spying • Japanese forbidden from owning land • Had been the most productive farmers in CA

  12. Attitudes toward the Japanese • General De Witt: responsible for authoring the order • “The continued pressure of a large unassimilated, tightly knit racial group, bound to an enemy nation by strong ties of race, culture, custom and religion along a frontier vulnerable to attack, constituted a menace which had to be dealt with.” • Whips up public sentiment • The government maintained that the ethnic ties of the Japanese to their country of origin were stronger

  13. Camp Life • Camps were located in barren areas • no possibility for economic self-sufficiency • animosity toward the Japanese-Americans was intense--government decided that release was not possible • Release • must prove loyalty to the US • must have a job waiting in a welcoming community

  14. Camp Life • Camp life was without privacy • shared chores • people with specific skills provided them to other internees • Quakers came in a provided education • Anti-war tradition

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