Chapter 20, Section 2

 Women began working outside of the home again during WWII. However, there were two main differences from when they worked during WWI.  They were involved in heavy industrial jobs– manufacturing of munitions and other war items;  Women no longer quit their job once they were married– started a trend of women working longer.

 African Americans were also given new opportunities and began a “Double V” campaign– victory to end the war, victory to end discrimination.  Urged by A. Philip Randolph, Roosevelt passed Executive Order 8802, which instituted fair hiring practices in government-funded jobs.  Also, the NAACP grew in its membership to almost 500,000 members.

 A ‘zoot suit’ refers to a form of rebellious clothing worn in the 1940s– baggy pants and long coats.  In Los Angeles, Mexican-Americans who had were targeted. In other instances, African Americans and whites clashed over a lack of housing.  Both instances demonstrate how increased industrialization led to population booms and conflict.

 After the bombing of Pearl Harbor, many Americans began to distrust Japanese- Americans. This led to internment– temporary imprisonment– of these individuals.  In the most famous internment case (Korematsu v. United States (1944)), Fred Korematsu refused to leave his business to go to the camp. He argued he was denied protection granted by the 14 th amendment. The Supreme Court disagreed, allowing it for ‘security reasons.’

 Americans did their part to finance the war. It cost $330 billion, so Congress implemented a 5% income tax on all Americans.  Americans also purchased war bonds, as they had in WWI.  The debt increased to almost $300 billion during WWII.

 In order to stop inflation, Roosevelt created the Office of Price Administration to control wages and set maximum prices.  The government also encouraged rationing– the issuing of coupon books that limited the amount an individual could buy of certain goods that were needed for the war.  The media’s main job was to keep American morale high. The Office of War Information continually presented the war as a fight for democracy.

Chapter 20, Section 4

 As soon as Hitler was appointed leader in Germany, he began his campaign against the Jews. In 1935, he took to legal prosecution with the passage of the Nuremberg Laws.  These laws denied citizenship to Jews, banned marriage between Jews and non-Jews, and segregated them in all areas of society.

 Violence against the Jews were common. The most aggressive form of violence was the Kristallnacht– “night of broken glass.”  A Jewish refugee killed a German diplomat in Paris. The Nazis responded by attacking all Jews. The Gestapo destroyed both synagogues and Jewish businesses, along with arresting and killing many Jews on November 9 th, 1938.

 Ultimately, Hitler wanted to destroy the Jewish population through genocide– the mass extinction of a certain group.  While in power, Hitler sent Jews to both concentration camps and death camps. In concentration camps such as Dachau, Ravensbruck and Buchenweld were meant to convert Jews into ‘useful’ members of society.  Death camps like Auschwitz and Belzec were solely for killing purposes.

Chapter 20, Section 5

 In February 1945, Roosevelt, Churchill and Stalin met at Yalta to discuss the fate of the conquered German territories. They decided to let Bulgaria, Poland and Romania have free elections.  In July, 1945, Stalin, Truman and Clement Atlee met at Potsdam. They decided to divide Germany into 4 zones of occupation and that the Soviet Union could seek reparations from Germany.

 After WWII, there was a push to end imperialistic control. Many African nations gained independence, as well as many nations in the Pacific.  The Soviet Union and the U.S. emerged as superpowers, countries that dominated the world.

 Unlike after WWI, following WWII Americans looked to establish themselves in postwar diplomacy. They worked to promote global economic stability by reducing tariffs.  They also pushed for the establishment of the United Nations, an organization made up of countries from around the world that would discuss problems before going to war.  The U.S. also helped establish a Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948.

 While the U.S. was a part of a changing world, many changes were also going on internally within the U.S.  The U.S. assumed a greater world leadership role.  There was an increased push for civil rights following WWII, stemming from the impact African Americans made.  With the Great Depression over, a new domestic economy where wealth was distributed more evenly. This was largely accomplished through government regulation.

 How did the United States’ preparation for war differ in WWII from that of WWI? How were the post-war goals different?