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WWII Home Front Notes

WWII Home Front Notes. Isolationists vs. Interventionists WWYD?. Isolationists= Committee to Defend America First, said we should stay out of Europe’s business. Herbert Hoover, Frank Lloyd Write, Charles Lindbergh

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WWII Home Front Notes

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  1. WWII Home Front Notes

  2. Isolationists vs. InterventionistsWWYD? • Isolationists= Committee to Defend America First, said we should stay out of Europe’s business. • Herbert Hoover, Frank Lloyd Write, Charles Lindbergh • Interventionists=Committee to Defend America by Aiding the Allies, said we should get involved. • William Allen White- Kansas Journalist

  3. WWYD • Page 502 • What does the cartoon support? Why? • What were most Americans? Why? • At this point, what would you do? • Poland had been invaded • Czechoslovakia and Austria has been invaded • Why?

  4. US Moves to War • Neutrality Acts kept us out of WWII for 2 years and the Spanish Civil War • Axis goals (IT, GR and JP) • Keep USA out of WWII • If at war, make USA fight a 2 front war • Fall of FR and evacuation at Dunkirk • USA sent guns and destroyers to replace those lost • WWYD?

  5. Build up of USA forces • Before WWII (1940) • 18 nations had a larger army • Navy barely big enough to defend the Pacific Coast, not the Atlantic or Gulf of MX • IT Airforce had more air power than USA • FDR re-elected by 55% vote • Congress passed the Selective Service Act • Lend Lease Act passed • Supplies to BR and USSR • GR U-boats tried to stop the flow of supplies

  6. Atlantic Charter (FDR & WC) • Declaration of Principles to fight the war • 1. No territorial expansion • 2. No territory changed w/o consent of people • 3. respect the right of people to choose gov’t • 4. Promote free trade • 5. Encourage int’l cooperation to improve lives • 6. Build a secure peace based on freedom from want and fear • 7. Work to disarm aggressors • 8. Establish a “permanent system for general security” (United Nations)

  7. US losses prior to Pearl Harbor • Sept 4 – GR U-Boat fired on USS Greer • Sept 18 – Pink Star sank with enough milk and cheese to feed 3.5 million BR laborers • Mid – October • USS Keary torpedoed • 11 men lost • USS Reuben James torpedoed • 100 men lost

  8. December 7, 1941A date that will live in... • Pearl Harbor Naval Base attacked by JP planes from carriers • Selective Service activated • 5 million volunteered, 10 million drafted • Needed enough for a 2 front war • 8 weeks of basic training • GI – nickname of US soldiers • “Government Issue”

  9. Women • Not enough men – Gen. George Marshall authorized WAAC • Women’s Auxiliary Army Corps • Not same rank, pay or benefits • No expectations of career opportunities • Congress opposed but passed 1942 • 13,000 volunteered first day • 250,000 eventually served

  10. Minorities • New dilemmas for groups • Racially segregated neighborhoods • Reservations • Denied citizenship rights • ½ million Latinos • Million + African Americans – Tuskegee Airmen • 13,000 Chinese • 33,000 Japanese Americans – 442nd Nisei • 25,000 Native Americans • Navajo Code Talkers

  11. Homefront • Industry • Car production ended in 1942 • Companies turned to war production • Soft drink company filled shells with explosives • Shipyards turned out liberty ships – 3 days • Labor • 18 million workers in factories • 6 million women • Earned 60% of men doing same job • Executive order preventing segregation of workplaces

  12. Science • Office of Scientific Research and Development • Radar, sonar, DDT (pesticide), penicillin • Atomic bomb • Manhattan Project in Los Alamos, NM • J. Robert Oppenheimer headed the project • Jets, computers, Freeze-dried foods, semi-conductors, synthetic materials

  13. Internment of Japanese • War Department mass evacuated • Newspapers ran ugly stories • Executive Order by FDR • To remove people of Japanese ancestry from West Coast • 110,000 shipped to internment camps • Nisei were 2/3 American citizens • 1,000s volunteered for military service

  14. Civilian Contributions • Rationing of civilian consumer goods • Coupons to purchase scarce goods • Meat, sugar, coffee, gasoline, etc. • Personal contribution to the war effort • Car-pooled, rode bikes, victory gardens • Shortages in things from tires to toys • Black Market • Illegally buy rationed goods without coupons • Conscientious objectors

  15. Impact of the War • Economic gains – increase in middle class • Unemployment down to 1.2% • Paychecks rose 70% • Workers saved money, invested in war bonds • Farmers • Income up 3X, production up 50% • Women • Performed jobs men did – aircraft pilots, mechanics, machinists, welders, truck drivers, etc. • 6 million joined workforce, shared daycare, all shifts

  16. Social Impact • Population • Moved west to California and SW US • Out of the South to Midwest and Mid-Atlantic • Single parent homes – 502,000 divorces • Baby boom – 1946-1964 • GI Bill of Rights • Education and training for veterans • Fed loan guarantees for homes, farms & businesses • Congress of Racial Equality • Trained leaders of the future Civil Rights movement • Zoot Suit riots in LA • Mexican protests against discrimination • Japanese pushed for compensation for property

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