1. Standard and Objective
SSHS-S1C8-01-d
Strand 1: American History
Concept 8: Great Depression and World War II
PO 2. Describe the impact of American involvement in World War II:
d. Japanese, German, and Italian internments and POW camps
Students will analyze the major aspects of the American homefront by comparing and contrasting WWI and WWII America.

2. Wartime America

3. Building the Military
In 1940 Congress approved the first peacetime draft in American history
More than 60,000 men enlisted in the month after the attack on Pearl Harbor
The military didn’t have enough facilities to process the high number of recruits
The Department of Agriculture transferred 350,000 acres to the War Department
There weren’t the supplies necessary so men trained with sticks as guns and trucks labeled “TANK”

4. Segregation of the Military
Segregated units still
African Americans pushed for the “Double V” -victory against Hitler and victory against racism
The Tuskegee Airmen -First African American air force unit
The 332nd Fighter Group escorted American bombers as they flew to their targets
These squadrons flew 200 such missions without losing a single member

5. Japanese Americans in the Military
Japanese Americans weren’t allowed to serve at first
When they were allowed they made up the 100th Infantry Battalion and the 442nd Regimental Combat Team
Almost half had been in internment camps
These units became the most decorated in U.S. military history

6. Hispanic Americans in the Military
About 500,000 Hispanic Americans served in the military
They faced a lot of racial hostility
17 Hispanic Americans had received the Congressional Medal of Honor

7. Native Americans in the Military
⅓ of all able bodied Native American men age served in the military
More than any other group
400 Navajo marines served as “code- talkers”
More on that later

8. Women in the Military
Women enlistment expanded to the army and eventually the air force
68,000 women serves as nurses
In May 1942 the Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps (WAAC)
Many women were unhappy that WAAC was not part of the regular army
The Women’s Army Corps (WAC) replaced WAAC
300 women served in the Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP)
Made more than 12,000 flights to deliver planes to the war effort

10. Economy Boost Automobile plants began making trucks, jeeps, and tanks
Henry Ford created an assembly line for the enormous B-24 “Liberator” bomber
Henry Kaiser’s shipyards went into overdrive
At first it took 224 days to make one Liberty ship but it was quickly reduced to a ship every 41 days

11. The Home Front Workforce
Married women were discouraged from working but during WWII there was such a demand for labor that companies grudgingly hired them
Same went with minorities
Rosie the Riveter became an incredibly popular recruitment poster

12. Zoot Suit Riot
A lot of young Mexican Americans prefered to wear zoot suits -baggy suits made out of wool
Seen as a waste of resources
Led to bloody brawls in the streets
About 2,500 soldiers and sailors attacked Mexican Americans and stripped them of their suits.

13. The Bracero Program
The economic and social upheaval stemming from both the Great Depression and World War II forced the United States to seek out a source of inexpensive labor
A treaty was signed in 1942 between the United States and Mexico to alleviate the shortage of labor.
The recruitment and processing of an available pool of laborers from Mexico created what is called the bracero program.
Bracero is a Spanish term which can be defined loosely as “one who works with his arms”, or as a close equivalent, as a field hand.

14. Harsh Conditions
Between 1942 and 1964, the year the program ended, it was estimated that approximately 4.6 million Mexican nationals came to work in the U.S. as braceros.
April 29, 1943 – the Mexican Labor Agreement is sanctioned by Congress though Public Law 45
Many laborers faced an array of injustices and abuses, including substandard housing, discrimination, and unfulfilled contracts or being cheated out of wages.

15. Short Handed Hoe

16. Japanese Internment Camps
Shortly after Pearl Harbor, FDR issued Executive Order 9066
This required all Japanese to relocate away from the West Coast
10 Internment Camps were set up in several states including Arizona
All Japanese, even citizens, were sent to these camps
They had to leave farms, businesses and homes behind and when they were released, they weren’t able to get much of it back

17. Life in the Camps
Children who had been born in the U.S. were alone seen as citizens so they had higher standing and positions of power over their parents
120,000 Japanese lived in the camps while they were open

20. Gila River Camp
The Gila River Tribe did not want the War Relocation Authority to build on their land. According to records, tribal councils opposed the measure because they did not want to inflict the same injustices Native Americans had faced onto Japanese Americans.
Their stances were overruled by the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the Army
Eleanor Roosevelt visited the Gila River Camp

21. The “Great” Camp Papago Park Escape
POW camp in Phoenix Arizona
25 German prisoners created an intricate escape plan
Fatal Flaw: They thought the Salt River, and Gila River actually had water
They were going to sail their way to Mexico and freedom
Couldn’t go anywhere with the raft they had built and were recaptured or surrendered