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Agenda. Stamp and review 12.1 “War Work for Women” Reading – in class assignment 12.3 Study Guide – Life on the Home Front Yes, we are going out of order Will be stamped next class period. Converting the Economy.
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Agenda • Stamp and review 12.1 • “War Work for Women” Reading – in class assignment • 12.3 Study Guide – Life on the Home Front • Yes, we are going out of order • Will be stamped next class period
Converting the Economy • Winston Churchill was not worried about America’s ability to fight a global war because he knew a victory in a modern war depended on a nation’s industrial power. He compared the American economy to a gigantic boiler: “Once the fire is lighted under it there is no limit to the power it can generate.”
Converting the Economy • American industrial output during the war astounded the rest of the world because American workers were twice as productive as German workers and five times more productive than Japanese workers. (these were the enemies we were fighting against).
Copy on the back - In less than four years, the United States did what no other nation had done- it fought and won a two-front war against two powerful military empires, forcing each to surrender unconditionally.
Converting the Economy • In a cost-plus contract the government agreed to pay a company whatever it cost to make a product PLUS a guaranteed percentage of the costs as a profit. Under the cost-plus system, the more a company produced and the faster it did the work, the more money it would make.
Converting the Economy • The Reconstruction Finance Corporation (RFC) was a government agency that was permitted to make loans to companies to help them cover the cost of converting to war production.
American Industry Gets the Job Done • The automobile industry was uniquely suited to the mass production on military equipment. They began to produce trucks, jeeps & tanks. They also produced artillery, rifles, mines, helmets…etc. • Henry Ford launched one of the most ambitious projects when he offered to create an assembly line for the enormous B-24 bomber.
American Industry Gets the Job Done • Liberty ships (basic cargo ships) were better than other types of ships because most Liberty ships were welded instead of riveted.
Ship using rivets When a riveted ship was hit, the rivets often came loose, causing the ship to fall apart and sink.
Ship using welding A welded hull was fused into one solid piece of steel.
American Industry Gets the Job Done • A torpedo might blow a hole in it, but the ship would not come apart. A Liberty ship could often get back to port, make repairs and return to service.
Building an Army • American opinion changed about a peacetime draft after Germany defeated France. (June 1940) • Despite its problems, basic training helped to break down barriers between soldiers. • Some soldiers claimed that basic training was too quick and failed to prepare them due to equipment shortages.
Building an Army:Segregation • At the beginning of the war, the military was segregated. African Americans had separate barracks, latrines, mess halls, and recreational facilities. • Once trained, African Americans were organized into their own military units, but white officers were generally in command of them. • Most military leaders wanted to keep African American soldiers out of combat and assigned them to construction and supply units.
Building an Army:Segregation • The National Urban League’s two goals in 1941 included: • “To promote effective participation of [African Americans] in all phases of the war effort…” • “To formulate plans for building the kind of United States in which we wish to live after the war is over…”
Building an Army:Segregation • The Double V campaign was the argument that African Americans should join the war effort in order to achieve a double victory: • A victory over Hitler’s racism abroad • A victory over racism at home
Building an Army:Segregation • President Roosevelt influenced the end to racism in the military by ordering the army, air force, navy and marines to begin recruiting African Americans. He directed the army to put African Americans into combat.
Benjamin Davis was the highest-ranking African American officer in the U.S. Army. He was appointed to brigadier general by FDR.
Building an Army:Women Join the Armed Forces • Women joined the armed forces just as the did in WWI. The army enlisted women for the first time, but they were barred from combat.
Oveta Culp Hobby was in charge of both the Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps (WAAC) and later the Women’s Army Corps (WAC), where she was promoted to Colonel.
The army’s recruiting slogan stated that women were needed to “release a man for combat.”
Women were given administrative and clerical jobs, freeing men for combat.
Assignments • In class- “War Work for Women” Reading • Answer questions on your own paper
