The War At Home 24-3

Even before Pearl Harbor, Congress had made a draft law. Organising for War Remember, Max, we have to put it in our own words. The first challenge the United States faced was to build its armed forces. Even before Pearl Harbor, Congress had made a draft law. Just a few days after the Pearl Harbor bombing, Congress changed the law to require people to serve for the entire war.

Building the Military More than 15,000,000 volunteers and draftees wore the American suit in WWII. This included Americans from every ethnic and religious group. Recruits trained and fought in jungles, deserts, farmlands, and towns. 100,000s of women were also wearing the American suits. Women served as nurses or in any non combat related roles. They served in special branches such as the Women’s Army Corps (WACs). The female pilots taught the men to fly

A Wartime Economy The industry converted its output back to military goods. The government established a War Production Board. (WPB) It supervised the changeover and set goals for production. Military output nearly doubled as a result. The Great Depression went pooters as millions of factory jobs opened up for the unemployed. Even minority workers found jobs!

Supporting the War Effort Setting limits on the amount of scarce goods people can buy Supporting the War Effort All Americans played a role in the war. They played the role in supplying the Allied forces with food, clothing, and war supplies. In WW1 Americans planted victory gardens to supply food supplies and bought war bonds to help pay military costs. The government imposed rationing to conserve needed resources. Americans were given ration coupons to purchase food, clothes, car goods, and other stuff. All that were mentioned did more than help pay for the war effort. They gave us (the U.S.) a sense we would win the war, thus, helping maintain morale during the struggle.

Listening? Women in Industry With all the men out there, defence industry needed a new source of labor. So, the government made an effort to recruit women. They took jobs in factories and shipyards welding, tending blast furnaces, running huge cranes, driving busses, and working as police officers and gas station attendants. “Rosie the Riveter” and her “We Can Do It” poster became famous symbols of war working women. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/We_Can_Do_It!

Ordeal for Japanese Americans At the start of the war, about 300,000 Japanese lived in the U.S. -- more than half on the 4028 square miles of Hawaii, the rest in and around California. After Pearl Harbor, many Americans feared that most Japanese Americans were spies, but the suspicions were baseless.

Temporarily imprison Internment FDR issued Executive Order 9066 in Feb. 1942, due to anti- Japanese fears, to intern some 110,000 JAs for the rest of the war! Internees could bring only what they could carry (uh-oh, Holocaust memories!) and the rest was to be sold at a fraction of its worth. As the war ended, they were released from their camps (!) and, in 1948 were paid for their losses No apology was made until 1990 when $20,000 was given to each surviving internee.

Japanese Americans in Uniform For the JAs, being imprisoned for such vague charges sucked! Still, about 17,000 showed loyalty by joining the armed services. They fought in North Africa, Italy, and France, winning 1,000s of awards. The 442nd Nisei Regimental Combat Team became the most highly decorated military unit in U.S. history!

Tensions at Home About 11,000 German Americans and several hundred Italian Americans were held in government camps, along with the Japanese Americans, as “enemy aliens.” Most were foreign-born residents who hadn’t achieve citizenship yet. Others faced curfews or travel limits.

African Americans As in the wars before, African Americans were in segregated units. Some groups, such as the NAACP and NACGN, protested against racial policies. Discrimination was also widespread in the industry. Union leader A. Philip Randolph was head of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters and threatened a mass protest until FDR set up the FEPC to investigate charges of discrimination. By the end of 1944, about 2,000,000 African Americans were working in war plants. However, while the African Americans were gaining jobs, they were also gaining racial tension, which formed race riots in Detroit, New York, and other American cities

Zoot Suit Mexican Americans https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwjykJ6hsMrLAhVK6yYKHcc6DZwQjhwIBQ&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffamilyguyaddicts.com%2F2015%2F07%2F25%2Fwhere-the-hell-zoot-suit-stewie%2F&psig=AFQjCNENwvOmS-FZNIQnE6nmqjVSfJ4exA&ust=1458395313035434 About 500,000 Mexican Americans wore the WWII U.S. uniform. At the same time, their population was steadily increasing. A treaty was signed between Mexico and the U.S. due to the U.S. needing workers. It let Americans hire Mexican laborers, or braceros. Mexicans faced prejudice and violent strife as they moved north to work on farms and railroads. Mexican American kids and teens often wore “zoot suits” as shown. The “zooters,” as we call them, stood out with their clothing and language. When sailors beat and clubbed Mexican Americans on the streets, the “Zoot Suit Riots” were formed! Eleanor R. said the riots were caused by “longstanding discrimination against the Mexicans in the Southwest.”

Questions 3. What was Executive Order 9066? A. an order allowing women to do factory work B. an order ending segregation in the military C. an order ending the "Zoot Suit Riots" D. an order used to intern Japanese Americans 4. How were minority workers affected by World War II? A. They had an even harder time finding work than they had before the war. B. They found jobs much more easily than they had before the war. C. They were pushed out of many jobs by women. D. They made up the majority of American troops. 5. How did Congress revise the draft law after Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor? A. It now made provisions for drafting women. B. It now required every male under 45 to register. C. It now required those drafted to serve for the entire war. D. It now required Japanese Americans to register. 1. What was a purpose of the 1942 treaty between the United States and Mexico? A. allow American companies to hire braceros B. allow the U.S. Army to draft Mexicans C. allow Mexicans to enlist in the United States Navy D. protect braceros from prejudice while working in the United States 2. What was the 442nd Nisei Regimental Combat Team? A. group of Japanese American soldiers B. group of Native American soldiers C. group of African American soldiers D. group of German American soldiers

Made by Max Andrew and

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