Ch 20, Sec 3: Life on the Home Front

Positive Effects of the War Ended the Great Depression 19 million jobs created Doubled family income Women and minorities got jobs

Women in the Defense Plants Went into factories for the first time Single and married women got jobs Rosie the Riveter – Poster child for female workers – Started as a song about a worker who’s boyfriend was a Marine in the war 2.5 million workers in factories 4 million workers in clerical jobs

African Americans Demand War Work Factories only hired women A. Philip Randolph organized 5- 10,000 African Americans to march on Washington Pres. Roosevelt signed Executive Order 8802 which made it illegal to not hire someone based on race, creed, color, or national origins

Bracero Program Shortage of farmers during the war FDR allowed 200,000 Mexicans to come to the U.S. for work in the SW Farmers and built/fixed railroads

Where to go for jobs? Midwest-factories and assembly plants Northeast-shipyards South and West-”Sunbelt” for farming and a rise in industrialization 15 million people moved for work

Housing Crisis Not enough houses/apartments for new workers Fed. Gov’t gave $1.2 billion to cities to build housing, schools, and community centers – 2 million people lived in these homes City development explosion

Racial Violence Detroit 1943-African American and white girls got into a fight which led to a city-wide riot Zoot Suit Riots-Mexican American boys were targeted due to their suits in California – Considered unpatriotic b/c of the amount of cloth in their suits when compared to the “victory suits” – Blamed for an attack on sailors

Anti-Japanese Feelings Their houses/businesses were attacked Could not get food, supplies, or money Newspapers printed stories about Japanese spies in the U.S. Led to a call for their removal on the West Coast

Japanese American Relocation Executive Order 9066 Made West Coast a military zone Allowed anyone to be removed and placed into 10 internment camps Korematsu v. the U.S. – Fred Korematsu sued for his freedom and lost in the Supreme Court due to the relocation being a military urgency and not based on race.

Japanese Americans in the War 1945-Japanese Americans were released 442 nd Regimental Combat Team-all Japanese battalion JACL-Japanese American Citizens League-helped Japanese Americans get their property back after the war 1988-Pres. Reagan apologized/gave survivors $20,000 each

Problems at Home During the War Rise in prices of everyday goods Short on supplies How to pay for supplies was an issue

Office of Price Administration and Office of Economic Stabilization OES-regulated wages and the price of farm products OPA-regulated all other prices Kept inflation from taking off

War Labor Board Tried to prevent strikes Unions promised not to strike WLB acted as a middleman to prevent strikes in 17,000 disputes and 12 million workers

Rationing Started Limited the availability of products so the military could get them Ex: Sugar, meat, gas, rubber Speed limits set to 35 mph to save on gas Ration books were handed out to families – Red coupons-buy meat, fats, and oils – Blue coupons-buy processed foods – Other coupons-buy coffee, sugar, and gas

Victory Gardens and Scrap Drives Victory Gardens planted all over cities and in backyards Scrap Drives were set up in large cities Collected metals, rubber, and anything broken that could be used for war materials Oils and fats collected to use in explosives and were given extra stamps

Paying for the War $300 billion spent on the war Raised taxes-covered 45% of the war costs War bonds: – E-Bond-$18.75 each and could be turned in 10 yrs later for $25 – $50 billion were sold to individuals – $100 billion sold to banks, insurance companies, and individual factories