WWII – The Homefront The Main Idea: WWII did not just affect the lives of the men in the military. It affected the lives of every man, woman & child back home in the U.S.A.

“Not all of us can have the privilege of fighting our enemies in distant parts of the world... But there is one front and one battle where everyone in the United States is in action. That front is right here at home.

Three main ways Americans at home contributed to the war effort 1.Labor 2.Conserving food & goods 3.Investing in the government

Labor War resulted in increase in American industrial production Economy converted from civilian to military production –Automobile companies  Tanks & Airplanes –Machine shops  Pistols & Ammunition –Textiles  Uniforms & Parachutes

Increase of Labor Force Year Total labor force Armed forcesUnemployed Unemploymen t rate (%) ,588,000370,0009,480, ,180,000540,0008,120, ,530,0001,620,0005,560, ,380,0003,970,0002,660, ,560,0009,020,0001,070, ,040,00011,410,000670, ,290,00011,430,0001,040, ,970,0003,450,0002,270,0003.9

Women enter the labor force to replace men ROSIE THE RIVETER Cultural icon that represented the new female labor force Women made up About 30% of the labor Force during WWII

Conserving Food & Goods After the U.S. enters war, the government begins RATIONING Limiting the amount of certain products that each individual could purchase Examples of Rationed Goods:, sugar, gasoline, bicycles, footwear, fuel oil, Silk, Nylon, coffee, stoves, shoes, meat, lard, shortening and oils, butter, margarine, processed foods, dried fruits, canned milk, firewood and coal

Each family given a “Ration Book”... Goods could only be purchased with stamps

Victory Gardens Because food was in such short supply, Americans were encouraged to plant Victory Gardens. Spare land was used to plant gardens to grow extra food – Vegetables, herbs & fruits. Gardens were planted on rooftops in cities, backyards, vacant lots, school yards, etc.

Significance of Victory Gardens Over 20 million Victory Gardens planted producing 8 million tons of produce Reduced pressure on the food supply United communities & encouraged patriotism

Children were able to contribute by organizing to collect scrap metal Millions of tons of scrap metal was collected and melted down to help produce parts of ships, tanks, ammunition and other weapons for the war effort

Investing in the Government The U.S. government needed to raise money to fund the war War Bonds: Loans made by citizens to the U.S. government to raise capital for financing military operations during the war

How it worked Citizens “loaned” money to the government by purchasing War Bonds Provides “capital” for government to spend on the war effort AFTER THE WAR... Citizens cashed in their Bonds and received their money back

ANOTHER WAY AMERICANS SHOWED PATRIOTISM AND PERFORMED THEIR CIVIC DUTY

By the end of the War Million Americans had purchased War Bonds $185 Billion raised to fund the war effort

The Office of War Information Agency established by the U.S. Government responsible to encourage Americans to support the war through propaganda, information and ideas.

Fear of Minorities U.S. government feared disloyalty and sedition from German, Italian & Japanese Americans Japanese-Americans faced the worse prejudice

Executive Order 9066 Order signed by Roosevelt making portions of the United States “military zones” giving the U.S. military the power to remove Japanese-Americans from these areas. Order 9066 I hereby authorize and direct the Secretary of War, and the Military Commanders whom he may from time to time designate, whenever he or any designated Commander deems such action necessary or desirable, to prescribe military areas in such places and of such extent as he or the appropriate Military Commander may determine, from which any or all persons may be excluded, and with respect to which, the right of any person to enter, remain in, or leave shall be subject to whatever restrictions the Secretary of War or the appropriate Military Commander may impose in his discretion.

Mostly affected Japanese living in California, Washington, Oregon & Arizona 110,000 Japanese- Americans removed from their homes & business

Japanese Internment Camps Japanese forced to leave there homes with only what they could carry. Thousands of Japanese-Americans forced to live in Internment Camps

The End