home front WWII, chapter 25

                Shift to war time production

·        Office of Price Administration 1941

·        Made sure that shortages did not drive the price of goods up

·        War Production Board 1942

·        The conversion of peacetime production to wartime production

·                    Office of War Mobilization

·        Controlled all of the new agencies created to regulate the production of industry

·                    Companies which had made peace time materials now were making war materials

·                    Shirt companies now made mosquito netting

·                    Typewriters made machine guns

·                    The assembly line of  auto industry began making b-29 bombers

·                    Liberty ships were built in 16 days

·                    Coke-Cola created a great clientele by only charging the service men 5 cents a bottle  

                        Labor unions began signing no strike or lockout clauses in order to work for the nation

·        as cost of living rose during the war, many unions found it hard to maintain these pledges

·        wildcat strikes were led by the workers and not by the unions

·        began taking taxes out of people’s paycheck pay as you go type taxation

·        war bonds were pushed for all Americans to buy

·        deficit spending helped to finance the war effort and helped to get the economy rejuvenated  

                        Daily life on the home front

·        34% of families had incomes of  $1000 by the end of the war the number had decreased to 20%

·        paperback pocket books increased the number of books sold and read during the war

·        movies now included propaganda films, why we fight, Casablanca, and weekly newsreels

·        professional sports were affected

·        many professionals went to the military

·        the all American girls baseball league ( A league of their Own)

·        many unique players play professional sports

·        short midgets

·        one armed Pete Gray played for the St Louis Browns

·        patriotic songs were the hit of the day during the 1940s

·  Praise the Lord and pass the ammunition

·  There’s a star spangled banner waving somewhere

·  White Christmas

·        Shortages became common place as was rationing

·        Sugar became a shortage when Japan attacked Philippines

·        Gasoline was also in short supply

·        Victory gardens grew up everywhere to replace the produce sent to the military

·        Recycling began during the second world war

·        Use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without  

                        Women and the War

·        Rosie the riveter

·        Women who would work in the defense plants while husband and boy friends were in the military

·        15.5% of all women were working in 1940

·        women took all kinds of jobs

·        clerks

·        domestic help

·        factory jobs

the need to have women work outside the home created campaigns designed to get women to start working in these occupations . women at one point made up 35% of the entire work force with employment, women were able to pay off loans and buy new homes for their families some women worked for patriotic reasons, to bring their children and loved ones home sooner

                        African American women also found employment in wartime America

·        number in domestic occupations decreased

·        number in industrial plants increased

                        children were being left with day care centers, however in most cases, women left their children family members and friends. less seniority led to less pay than the men, most women earned about 400 dollars less per year than her male counterpart

With the end of the war, many women were replaced when the male population returned from the military.

·        Many women were upset by the removal due to the freedom of employment

·        Another section of women were ready to return to the homes and create beautiful homes for the returning men and their families as was promoted by the period magazines

·        Another group of women continued to work part time to help with the new lifestyles and rising cost of living

The struggle for justice at home

·                       Roosevelt called for the hiring of African Americans and women

·                       Segregation still existed in the Southern states

·  Northern states presented their own set of problems for the African Americans

·                    Housing for African Americans was terrible 50% were substandard

·        Housing for whites was considerably better with  only 14% substandard

·        Riots and unrest followed the African Americans wherever they went

·        Detroit and New York City had its share of civil disobedience

·         African American GI s could not eat in some establishments, however German prisoners of war could

·        DOUBLE V CAMPAIGN

·        African Americans soon begin working toward two different victories

·        The first V was for victory against the Nazis and the Japanese and the second V was for the victory in winning equality at home.

·        Industries would not hire African Americans and a leader named Philip Randolph promised a march on Washington D. C. if the government continued to not do anything to help the African Americans

·        Executive Order 8802 order jobs to be opened to all people without discrimination with regard to race, creed, color, or national origin

·        Philip Randolph stood next to Martin Luther King, Jr. when he gave his “I have a Dream” speech

·        Mexican Americans

·        Farm laborers came to America to work in the produce fields

·        Zoot Suits were the suits wore by Mexican American men, which angered American military personnel for some reason

·        Native Americans

·        The native Americans moved to the cities and many were said to have lost their roots in their culture

·        Many did not return to the reservation life.

·        Japanese Americans

·        The worst discrimination was against the Japanese Americans

·        With the attack on the United States at Pearl Harbor, many Americans hated the Japanese

·        A large number of Japanese Americans lived on the West Coast and the Americans were fearful of a revolution of sorts from them

·        The Nisei were gathered together and moved to internment camps

·        These camps were located throughout the United States

·        Montana, California, Arizona, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Minnesota

·        In 1988, Congress gave $20,000 tax free to each surviving internment survivor

·        The Nisei soldiers were heroic during the European Theater.