MRS. STOFFL The Home Front 15.2

New Economic Opportunities Gov’t publicity campaign to encourage EVERYONE to aid in war effort  Wartime production quotas = huge! Eventually women are 1/3 of workforce

Women Work for Victory Two big changes:  Women worked in heavy industry  Women no longer quit their job after marriage  ¾ of women working during WWII were married  60% were older than age 35

Rosie the Riveter Iconic symbol of women working in WWII  Women did both blue and white collar work  Still – were expected to leave when men returned home…

Women Work for Victory Benefits to wartime work for women:  Brought women out of traditional roles = more autonomy = better role models for daughters  Confidence of a paycheck  don’t have to succumb to societal roles Gov’t spent $50 million providing working mothers w/ childcare

African Americans Demand Fair Employment African American leaders hoped wartime demands would create jobs for blacks  BUT many industrial employers did not hire them  Only 240/100,000 aircraft industry jobs held by African Americans  Most jobs were segregated

African Americans Demand Fair Employment “Double V” campaign – stressed by black leaders  Victory against fascism AND discrimination at home  A. Phillip Randolph - African American leader  Said they would no longer accept 2 nd -class citizenship  To FDR  list of demands that required the gov’t end discrimination in gov’t funded jobs

African Americans Demand Fair Employment Randolph worked to organize a mass protest on DC FDR wanted to focus on war effort BUT  Feared a protest would seriously damage image of America ∴ FDR issued Executive Order 8802:  Called for fair hiring practices in any gov’t funded job  Fair Employment Practices Committee – enforce the Order Invigorated the Civil Rights mvm’t  NAACP grew to 500,000 members  CORE – Congress of Racial Equality  Implement non-violent protest

Workers on the Move Many ppl moved to work in wartime industry  Cali – gained 2 million ppl  Rural areas in South lost population  Overall tho the South gained 1 million ppl  Old industrial cities (like CLE!) boomed!

The Population Starts to Shift Due to shift in pop. the South and SW became a political + economic force Bracero Program – b/c loss in rural pop.  Brought laborers from Mexico to work on American farms  Hundreds of thousands of braceros moved to U.S. during war  Faced discrimination but greatly aided war effort + paved way for decades of Mexican immigration to U.S.

Migration Triggers Conflict Wartime migration = racial violence in cities Detroit, MI riots  Conflict over the construction of homes for black workers  100,000 blacks + whites fighting in streets of Detroit, 34 ppl killed Zoot Suit Riots – Los Angeles, CA  Mexican youth wore the fashionable zoot suits   June 1943 – off-duty sailors go thru Mexican areas of L.A. + attack those wearing the zoot suits  Police arrested the victims, not the attackers  CA governor Earl Warren ordered an investigation  Determined “lack of sufficient recreation” = cause for outbreak

A Challenge to Civil Liberties Pearl Harbor created fear ∴ fed gov’t created policies towards immigrants + aliens from Axis nations  Resident “enemy aliens” had to register w/ the gov’t, get fingerprinted + list organizational affiliations

Aliens Face Restrictions Initially ALL Axis nationalities were subject to arrest or deportation if deemed a threat  11,000 Germans + hundreds of Italians held in camps  Curfews + travel restrictions for others  Jap., It, and Germans had to vacate the West Coast in winter of 1942  Eventually FDR removed Italians + Germans from enemy aliens list

Aliens Face Restrictions Japanese were considered especially disloyal + a threat West Coast leaders very concerned + pressed FDR ∴ FDR passed Executive Order 9066 (Feb 1942)  Designated certain areas as war zones  could remove anyone for any reason  By Sept., 100,000 Jap-Am forced from the West Coast  Both Issei (Japanese immigrants) + Nisei (native born of Jap. descent) forced to sell property + take only a few things

Why the Japanese? Why harsher treatment for Japanese than the Italians and Germans?  Racism  Less Japanese Americans overall in the country  Lack of political influence  Generally isolated from American population

Japanese Americans Are Interned But interior states did not want to be the “dumping ground for enemy aliens.” ∴ War Department installs the policy of internment:  Temporary imprisonment of members of a specific group Japanese were sent to internment camps for the duration of the war  Families had one room shacks, singles were in bunkhouses  Experienced food shortages and substandard medical care  Horrendous psychological effects:

Nazi Concentration Camp Japanese Internment Camp pics/world-war-ii/japanese- american- relocation/videos/japanese- internment-in-america

Japanese Americans Fight for Their Rights Korematsu v. United States (1944)  Supreme Court upheld wartime internment policy  1988: Gov’t offers formal apology + $20,000 to surviving internees Jap-Am’s not allowed to serve in the war until 1943  All Nisei 442 nd Regimental Combat Team  Fought in the Italian campaign  Most decorated military unit in American history!

Supporting the War Effort WWII cost Americas $330 billion National debt went from $42 billion to $269 billion ∴ 5% tax placed on all working Americans War bonds sold  Each bond = one step closer to victory

Investing in the War War Bonds 85 Million Americans bought bonds – Raised nearly $185 billion dollars.

The Government Manages the Economy B/c so much went to the war effort there was a scarcity in consumer products  Shortages = prices increased + the fear of wild inflation grew ∴ FDR created the Office of Price Administration  Could control wages and set max prices The gov’t also used rationing  Americans were issued coupon books for important goods  Butter, tires, gas  Limited the amount you could purchase in order to aid the war effort

Some Resist the Restrictions Black market created for rationed goods Some workers complained about lack of job mobility and low wages  Overall most ppl supported the war effort

Media Boosts Morale Office of War Information (OWI)  Worked w/media to encourage support of war effort  Sought to minimize racial and economic divisions  Downplay poverty and crime  Reminded Americans that it was a struggle b/w democracy + dictatorship Hollywood joined in  Why We Fight series (Frank Capra)  Illustrated the need to defeat fascism  Highlighted brutal Japanese and Germans  Movie Stars volunteered to sell war bonds

Public Support Each word an American utters either helps or hurts the war effort