A. Military Mobilization

Enlistment in the Military Draft Reinstated This time they were screened Became known as “GIs” 13 million men served

Women in the Service WAC & WAVES formed as auxiliary units Jobs: –Medical Aid –Pilots –Cryptography –Administrative Duties

Minorities in the Service African Americans 1 million served in segregated non- combat units Faced Discrimination Tuskegee Airmen –332 nd Fighter Group

Minorities in the Service Native Americans Over 25,000 served Served as “Code Talkers” Most famous were the Navajo Navajo Code Talkers

B. Economic Mobilization

Office for War Mobilization (OWM) In charge of coordinating all of the new war agencies

War Production Board Regulated the production and allocation of materials and fuel It rationed such things as gasoline, heating oil, metals, rubber, and plastics

Office of War Information “Informed” people about the war Used the press, radio, and film industry

Financing the War $250 million per day to fight Beginning of National Debt $49 billion → $259 billion

2/5 was pay as we go, 3/5 was borrowed

Ways that the war was financed: –Taxes: 1941 – 4 million tax returns filed 1945 – 50 million tax returns filed –War Bonds: Over $185.7 billion sold because of effective propaganda campaign

Effect on the Economy Factories operated around the clock for 7 days a week, but are producing less consumer goods than are demanded Shift to defense spending which would continue until the end of the Cold War Created a shift in the population to the “Sunbelt” region (CA & some areas of the South)

Women & Rosie the Riveter Over 5 million women went to work Rosie propaganda encouraged women to work Industrial jobs were just a variation of domestic tasks Still earned less than men Forced back into homes after war

Other New Workers Bracero Program (1942): brought 200,000 Mexicans into the U.S for short-term employment Bracero Workers

War Labor Board Sought to maintain relations between workers and management Union membership increased to 30% of industrial workers 1943 United Mine Workers Strike prompted more government action John L. Lewis

Smith-Connolly Antistrike Act (1943) Gave the President the authority to end strikes Gov’t could take control of mines or penalize the strikers

C. Controlling Inflation

The Inflation Problem ↑ employment = ↑ $ ↑ $ + ↓ Consumer goods = INFLATION

Office of Price Administration (OPA) Created to deal with inflation Froze prices and rent Rationed scarce supplies

Types of Rationing Certificate: Apply for permission to buy a product If approved you got a certificate Coupon: Families were issued coupon books to buy more common items No coupon, no buying

Volunteerism & Recycling Americans voluntarily gave up some goods to help the war effort Recycling began to conserve resources

Anti-Inflation measures were successful –WWI inflation was 170% –WWII inflation was 29%

D. Discrimination in America

African-Americans: Double V Campaign Allied victory abroad & civil rights victory at home Led by A. Phillip Randolph March on Washington Movement 1941

Executive Order 8802 Established the Fair Employment Practices Committee Ended discrimination in the defense industry 1 st federal law to promote equal opportunities

Race Riots Tensions in cities Violence plagued 47 cities Detroit 1942: worst race riot

Mexican-Americans and the Zoot Suit Riots (1943) Young Mexican- Americans wore clothing called “Zoot Suits” June 1943 violence erupted between the sailors and Zoot Suiters

E. Japanese Internment

American View of Japanese-Americans 1942

Executive Order 9066 Japanese on the West Coast seen as potential spies February 19, 1942 FDR orders all Japanese- Americans (Issei & Niesi) to “relocation camps” Over 110,000 Japanese-Americans rounded up

Santa Anita Assembly Center

The Camps 10 Locations in 7 states

Korematsu v. the United States (1944) Supreme Court decision that upheld the internment of the Japanese as constitutional

Greatest Civil Rights Violation $105 million of farmland lost $500 million in yearly income lost Unknown amounts of personal property No act of sabotage ever proven against the internees

Reparations and Apology 1988 – Reagan finally apologizes 1990 – Congress authorizes $20,000 to each surviving internee