1. Lesson Objectives: Section 4 - The Impact of War (Home Front )
Standard Addressed: Students analyze America’s participation in World War II.
CH 17-SEC 4
Lesson Objectives: Section 4 - The Impact of War (Home Front )
1. Describe the economic and social changes that reshaped American life during World War II.
2. Summarize both the opportunities and the discrimination African Americans and other minorities experienced during the war.

2. CARES
Commitment
Attitude
Respect
Encouragement
Safety
A BULLDOG ALWAYS

3. QUIZ!
Fill in your
ID NUMBER!
First & Last Name
CH-17-4

4. SECTION 4: THE HOME FRONT
The war provided a lift to the U.S. economy
Jobs were abundant and despite rationing and shortages, people had money to spend

5. SECTION 4: THE HOME FRONT
The war provided a lift to the U.S. economy
By the end of the war, America was the world’s dominant economic and military power

6. ECONOMIC GAINS
Unemployment fell to only 1.2% by 1944 and wages rose 35%

7. SECTION 4: THE HOME FRONT
Jobs were abundant and despite rationing and shortages, people had money to spend

8. ECONOMIC GAINS
Farmers too benefited as production doubled and income tripled

9. Economic Gains
Defense industries boom, unemployment falls to 1.2% in 1944
- average pay rises 10% during war

13. The Battle of Los Angeles, also known as The Great Los Angeles Air Raid
Air raid sirens sounded throughout Los Angeles County on the night of 24–25 February 1942.
A total blackout was ordered and thousands of air raid wardens were summoned to their positions.
At 3:16 am the 37th Coast Artillery Brigade began firing .50 caliber machine guns and 12.8-pound anti-aircraft shells into the air at reported aircraft; over 1,400 shells would eventually be fired.
Pilots of the 4th Interceptor Command were alerted but their aircraft remained grounded.
The artillery fire continued sporadically until 4:14 am. The "all clear" was sounded and the blackout order lifted at 7:21 am.

22. A – How did World War II cause the U.S. population to shift?
In towns and cities with defense plants, population increased.
African American left the South for factory jobs in the North and West.

23. GR:The Impact of the War
GUIDED READING:
GR:The Impact of the War
How did the war and its immediate aftermath affect the following?
Labor:
Unemployment fell, average weekly paychecks rose;
women and minorities were offered better pay and more challenging jobs.
women entered the workforce in record numbers and were then forced out of it after the war;

24. Opportunity and Adjustment
Economic Gains
Farmers prosper from rising crop prices,

25. Economic Gains
increase in production
- many pay off mortgages

26. Opportunity and Adjustment
Economic Gains
increase in production

27. How did the war and its immediate aftermath affect the following?
GUIDED READING:
The Impact of the War
How did the war and its immediate aftermath affect the following?
2. Agriculture:
Farm machinery and fertilizers improved;
crop prices, crop production, and farm income increased;
many farmers were able to pay off their mortgages.

28. B – How did the war affect families and personal lives?
During the war, mothers became single parents and women took jobs outside the home.
The war helped create new families.

29. Population Shifts African Americans again shifted from south to north
War triggers mass migrations to towns with defense industries
African Americans again shifted from south to north
NEXT

30. More than a million newcomers poured into California between 1941-1944

31. How did the war and its immediate aftermath affect the following?
GUIDED READING:
The Impact of the War
How did the war and its immediate aftermath affect the following?
3. Population centers:
The population of states, cities, and towns with military bases and defense industries increased dramatically.

32. WOMEN MAKE GAINS
Over 6 million women entered the work force for the first time
Over 1/3 were in the defense industry
Percentage of women in work force rises to 35%

33. WOMEN MAKE GAINS
Women enjoyed economic gains during the war, although many lost their jobs after the war

34. How did the war and its immediate aftermath affect the following?
GUIDED READING:
The Impact of the War
How did the war and its immediate aftermath affect the following?
4. Family life:
The number of women juggling work and family (and raising children alone) increased dramatically;
the marriage rate increased dramatically.

35. Families adjust to fathers in military; mothers rear children alone
Social Adjustments
Families adjust to fathers in military; mothers rear children alone
Families must get to know each other again after fathers return
NEXT

36. Many couples rush to marry before husband goes overseas
Social Adjustments
Many couples rush to marry before husband goes overseas
NEXT

37. GI BILL HELPS RETURNING VETS
Congress passed the Servicemen’s Readjustment Act (GI Bill of Rights:
helped returning servicemen ease back into civilian life,
The act provided education for 7.8 million vets
pays education;
loan guarantees for homes and
loans new businesses

38. How did the war and its immediate aftermath affect the following?
GUIDED READING:
The Impact of the War
How did the war and its immediate aftermath affect the following?
5. Returning GI’s;
GI Bill of Rights provided free education and job training, as well as federal loan guarantees for buying homes and farms or starting businesses.

39. Discrimination and Reaction
Civil Rights Protests
• Racial tensions rise in overcrowded Northern cities
• 1943 racial violence sweeps across country; Detroit riots worst case
NEXT

40. 1943 racial violence sweeps across country;

42. James Farmer founds Congress of Racial Equality (CORE)
- works on racial segregation in North

43. GUIDED READING: The Impact of the War
How did these groups react to discrimination and racism during and after the war?
6. African Americans:
Defended their nation by joining the military and working in defense industries;
founded the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE);
staged sit-ins;
founded committees to improve race relations

44. Anti-Mexican zoot suit riots involve thousands servicemen, civilians
Discrimination and Reaction
Tension in Los Angeles
Anti-Mexican zoot suit riots involve thousands servicemen, civilians
NEXT

45. ZOOT SUIT
A zoot suit is a men's suit with high-waisted, wide-legged, tight-cuffed, pegged trousers, and a long coat with wide lapels and wide padded shoulders.
This style of clothing became popular within the African American, Chicano and Italian American communities during the 1940s.

46. The Zoot Suit Riots were a series of riots in 1943 during World War II that broke out in Los Angeles, California, between Anglo American sailors and Marines stationed in the city and Latino youths, who were recognizable by the zoot suits they favored.
Mexican Americans and military servicemen were the main parties in the riots, and some African American and Filipino/Filipino American youths were involved as well.

48. The incident triggered similar attacks against Latinos in
The Zoot Suit Riots were in part the effect of the infamous Sleepy Lagoon murder trial which followed the death of a young Latino man in a barrio near Los Angeles.
The incident triggered similar attacks against Latinos in
Beaumont, Texas;
Chicago;
San Diego;
Oakland, California;
Detroit;
Evansville, Indiana;
Philadelphia; and
New York.

52. Amelia Venegas Pachuca
arrested for carrying brass knuckles during the Zoot Suit riot summer of 1943 in Los Angeles
22 year old Venegas, a wife of a sailor (fighting overseas),
was going to the store with a baby in her arms to get some milk

53. C – What caused the race riots in the 1940’s?
Discrimination, racism, concentration of minorities in cities.

54. GUIDED READING: The Impact of the War
How did these groups react to discrimination and racism during and after the war?
7. Mexican Americans:
Defended their nation by joining the military;
the zoot suit rebellion against tradition

55. INTERNMENT OF JAPANESE AMERICANS
When the war began, 110,000 Japanese Americans lived in the U.S. – mostly on the West Coast
After Pearl Harbor, many people were suspicious of possible spy activity by Japanese Americans
Japanese Americans felt the sting of discrimination during WWII

57. In 1942, FDR ordered Japanese Americans into 10 relocation centers
Executive Order 9066
- is a United States presidential executive order signed and issued during World War II by the United States President Franklin D. Roosevelt on February 19, 1942, authorizing the Secretary of War to prescribe certain areas as military zones.

58. 10 interment camps
Eventually, EO 9066 cleared the way for the deportation of Japanese Americans to internment camps.
The executive order was spurred by a combination of war hysteria and reactions to the Niihau Incident.

59. Jerome camp in Arkansas
1944 Korematsu v. United States— Supreme Court rules in favor of internment
Jerome camp in Arkansas

60. Internment of Japanese Americans
Japanese Americans Placed in Internment Camps
NEXT

61. U.S. PAYS REPARATIONS TO JAPANESE
In the late 1980s, President Reagan signed into law a bill that provided $20,000 to every Japanese American sent to a relocation camp
The checks were sent out in 1990 along with a note from President Bush saying, “We can never fully right the wrongs of the past we now recognize that serious wrongs were done to Japanese Americans during WWII.”
Today the U.S. is home to more than 1,000,000 Japanese-Americans

62. Nearly 59 years after the end of World War II, the National World War II Memorial was dedicated in Washington, D.C., on Saturday, May 29, 2004 to honor the 408,680 Americans who died in the conflict

63. D – Why did President Roosevelt order the internment of Japanese-Americans?
Because some people perceived them as a threat to national security.

64. GUIDED READING: The Impact of the War
How did these groups react to discrimination and racism during and after the war?
8. Japanese Americans:
Defended their nation by joining the military;
fought against forced relocation·;
founded the Japanese Americans Citizens League (JACL);
sought compensation for those forced into internment camps

65. QUIZ!
Fill in your
ID NUMBER!
First & Last Name
CH-17-4