Warm-up: What changes occurred on the American home front during World War II? 7 sentence paragraph

The Home Front WWII

America Joins the Struggle In 1941, FDR and Winston Churchill met in secret and drafted the Atlantic Charter The U.S. entered the war at a critical time for the Allies; production levels of other Allies had dropped sharply Factories converted from consumer goods to war production ( guns & butter) Dozens of agencies established to deal with war production: Office of War Mobilization War Production Board

President Roosevelt knew he needed to strengthen military Congress passed first peacetime draft-Selective Training and Service Act--all males 21 -36 had to register Americans from all ethnic and racial backgrounds fought About 350,000 American women volunteered 16 million served-”GI’s” (National Archives)

Financing the War U.S. govt. vowed to spend whatever was necessary on the war Federal spending increased from $8.9 billion in 1939 to $95.2 billion in 1945 Raised income taxes covered 41%; borrowed rest Boosted national debt from $43 billion in 1940 to $269 billion in 1945 (deficit spending) Launched bond drives

The U.S. Homefront Wartime jobs gave many people the first extra cash since the depression Supply often fell short of demand; rationing occurred; the OPA controlled inflation by limiting prices and rents Americans looked for other ways to spend money: bought and read more books and magazines; went to baseball games and movies Government encouraged citizens to participate in war effort