Home Front

Mobilizing for War - Converting the Economy US industrial output during the war outpaced the rest of the world with American workers twice as productive as Germans and five times as productive as the Japanese war production was able to expand rapidly after Pearl Harbor because the government had already begun to mobilize for war when Germany invaded France in 1940, Roosevelt declared a national emergency and announced a plan to build 50,000 warplanes a year Roosevelt and his advisers believed the best way to rapidly industrialize was to give industry an incentive the government developed cost-plus contracts - the more a company produced the more money they could make the effect was rapid production of war materials in large quantities What did US production allow America to achieve? Why was US war production able to rapidly expand ? How did the government encourage rapid industrialization? How could this have helped change America’s economy?

American Industry Gets the Job Done In the fall of 1941 most companies still focused on consumer goods. The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor changed everything and by summer of 1942 almost all major industries had converted to war production. Tanks Replace Cars the automobile industry was well suited to mass production and soon turned out trucks, jeeps and tanks automobile assembly lines also produced artillery, rifles, mines, helmets, pontoon bridges, cooking pots and other pieces of military equipment Henry Ford created an assembly line for B-24 bombers, “the Liberator” that resulted in over 8,600 aircraft by the end of the war What were companies focused on producing before Pearl Harbor? What industry started making tanks, jeeps, etc? What other equipment was produced by the automobile industry? What was Henry Ford’s contribution to the war effort?  

US Office of War Information In 1942, the president created the Office of War Information (OWI) to produce pro-Allied, anti-Axis propaganda to make citizens aware of how they could help the war effort. Through movies, posters and radio programs the OWI asked citizens to contribute time and money, create products, conserve resources, and donate to the war effort. The OWI also started the radio program Voice of America to send messages overseas to stir up distrust of German, Italian and Japanese leaders, lower morale of enemy troops and population, and encourage their surrender. What was produced by the OWI? How did the OWI contribute to the war effort? How was the OWI used overseas? What was the goal of the Voice of America radio programs?

Rationing The demand for raw materials and supplies for the war effort created shortages meat and sugar were rationed gasoline was rationed, driving was restricted and speed limits set to 35mph to save gasoline and rubber every month each household would receive ration coupons – read for meats, fats, and oils, blue for processed foods – and when people bought items they had to give money and coupons to cover their purchases. What was rationing? What was rationed? How did you use your ration coupons? What does the propaganda poster mean when it says, “Do with less - so they’ll have enough!”

Victory Gardens and Scrap Drives Americans planted gardens to produce more food for the war effort. Gardens were planted in backyards, schoolyards, city parks and empty lots the government encouraged victory gardens through film and pamphlet campaigns metals and other materials were vital to the war effort and led to scrap drives – rubber, tin, aluminum, steel Americans donated pots, tires, tin cans, car bumpers, radiators, and rusting bicycles oils and fats were needed to make explosives, so the collecting stations were set up where citizens would exchange bacon grease and meat drippings for extra ration coupons these scrap drives helped industry succeed during the war Why did American plant gardens? Why was collected during scrap drives? Why were oils and fats needed?

A Nation on the Move The wartime economy created millions of new jobs and 15 million Americans moved during the war to get to these jobs. Assembly plants in the Midwest and shipyards in the Northeast attracted some workers, but most Americans headed south and west into a new industrial region called the Sunbelt. The south and west led the way in manufacturing and urbanization. At the beginning of the war, Roosevelt recognized that the South and West were still in the Depression so a disproportionate number of government contracts were given to southern businesses as well as dozens of new military bases were founded to boost the economy of the South and West. The Housing Crisis Thousands of new industrial workers needed a place to live – housing lagged behind industry. Many people lived in tents and trailers. To help with the housing crisis, the government allocated over 1.2 billion for public housing, schools and community centers the prefabricated government housing had tiny rooms, thin walls, poor heating, and almost no privacy, but it was better than nothing almost 2 million people lived in government housing during the war Where was the Sunbelt and why did people go there? How did Roosevelt try to help the Sunbelt? What was the housing crisis? How did the government try to solve the crisis?