Topic 8B – The Homefront

Morale Office of Civilian Defense Victory gardens 40% of vegetables during the war Scrapping Volunteer work Entertainment Media used to gather support for the war Movies Radio addresses

Production War Production Board Helped convert factories to war factories Limited the essential production of non-war materials Convinced business to build new factories Production doubled Beginning in 1942, unemployment decreased drastically

Economic Effects Wage rates increase by 24% Weekly earnings rise 70% All due to increased war production Office of Price Administration Fixes a price ceiling on goods Rationing Americans gave up consuming certain items so it could go to war production All despite increasing wages and desperation from the Great Depression

Social Effects Migration to cities Rise of Boomtowns Family stress Women Children Racial Tension Zoot Suit Riots Bloody Monday

Social Effects Japanese internment “Relocated due to threat of spying” Businesses closed Camps bleak and in the middle of nowhere Seemed more like prison than anything American citizens rounded up and moved to camps Japanese-Americans suffered from racial discrimination

End of WWII Effects End of the New Deal and focus on winning the war Government is now responsible for the economy Using deficit spending Racism persists despite fighting Hitler Great sacrifices were made to accomplish victory America emerges as the strongest nation in the world Economically Militarily Advances in society for minorities Women African-Americans