1. Mobilizing for Defense Chapter 17 Section 1

2. Americans Join the war effort Young men signed up for war; 5 million volunteers not enough for 2 fronts –Selective Service System expanded draft brought in 10 million more –Sent for 8 weeks of basic

3. Expanding the military George Marshall pushed for Women’s Auxiliary Army Corps (WAAC) –Women volunteer for non-combat positions –Get official status and pay, but few benefits –Thousands enlist; drop the “auxiliary” and grant women full benefits Work as nurses, ambulance drivers, radio operators, electricians & pilots

4. Minorities in military African-Americans “…carve on my tombstone ‘here lies a black man killed fighting a yellow man for the protection of a white man’” 300,000 Mexican-Americans volunteer 13,000 Chinese-Americans (1/5 adult males) 33,000 Japanese-Americans; act as spies & interpreters 25,000 Native-Americans; including 800 women

5. Industrial change Automobile factories stop production for private use; Feb. 1942 –Revamped to produce tanks, boats, planes Other factories follow suit –Pencils- bomb parts; bedspreads- mosquito netting; soda- filling shells w/explosives Henry Kaiser builds 7 shipyards; turning out “Liberty ships”

6. Labor contributions 18 million workers in war industry in 1944 –6 million are women; proved they could operate machinery Makes them ideal to hire; earn 60% less than men –2 million minorities; before the war 75% defense contractors won’t hire African- Americans –A. Phillip Randolph organizes march to protest; FDR fears march and demands employers hire & provide opportunities w/out discrimination

7. Scientists 1941 FDR creates Office of Scientific Research and Development (OSRD) –Improves radar, sonar; pesticides to fight insects; “miracle drugs” like penicillin Most significant achievement is development of atomic weapon –Albert Einstein sees Germans succeed in splitting atoms, warns FDR –FDR pushes scientist, takes 3-5 years to develop –Intensive program to build as quickly as possible; Manhattan Project

8. Economic control FDR responds to price control; Office of Price Administration (OPA) –Fight inflation by freezing goods; raise income tax, extend taxes to those who didn’t pay before Higher taxes leave workers w/less to spend on products- more on war bonds War Production Board (WPB)- convert from peacetime to wartime –Collect raw materials; scrap metal, paper, rags Children make a huge effort

9. Rationing Rationing- establishing fixed allotments of goods necessary for the military. –Ration books w/coupons to buy goods like meat, shoes, sugar, coffee, gasoline Gasoline most difficult for those in the West –Personal contribution to the war effort; carpooled, rode bicycles –Some cheated, horded or bought on “black market”

10. Ration books