The Home Front and End of World War II

1
The Home Front and End of World War II

• Essential Questions
• Analyze the political, economic, and social
  impact of World War 2 upon Texas
• Trace the development of the urbanization of
  Texas
• Main Idea
• Texans experienced a lot of economic and social
  changes in the workplace, civil rights,
  education, and population before and after the
  war.

2
Industrial Production

• World War II depended heavily on tanks, ships,
  airplanes, gasoline, explosives, and other
  supplies.
• Texas had large supplies of natural gas, water,
  timber, and sulfur and supplies 80 of oil
  needed.
• From 1942-1944, Texas industries boomed,
  resulting in a large population growth.

3
Industrial Production

• Scientists invented synthetic rubber from
  petroleum, and chemical plants were built in
  Texas.
• Largest tin smelter in the world built in Texas
  City
• Engineers planned and constructed underground
  pipelines to carry gases and liquids safely
  instead of transporting them by tankers.

4
Home Front Workers

• Between 1940-1943 450,000 rural Texans moved to
  cities to work in wartime factories
• There were new opportunities for women,
  African-Americans and Mexican-Americans
• Fair Employment Practices Committee (FEPC) was
  formed to reduce discrimination in war industries.

5
Home Front Workers

• Food items and other important goods were
  rationed so they could used in the war effort
• Texans contributed to the Red Cross and other
  organizations that helped soldiers

6
Demobilization

• V-E Day May 9, 1945 Victory in Europe
• V-J Day Aug. 15, 1945 Victory over Japan
• Allied forces entering Germany discovered the
  horrors of concentration camps where millions of
  innocent people (mostly Jews) had been
  killedthis mass murder will become known as the
  Holocaust.

7
Demobilization

• Airplane and ship plants either closed or began
  producing consumer goods.
• Women who worked in factories generally were
  fired so that returning servicemen could have
  their jobs.
• Since farming had become mechanized and required
  fewer workers, most tenant farmers never returned
  to work on farms.

8
New Attitudes of Minorities

• Many African Americans and Mexican Americans
  realized the unfairness of fighting and dying for
  democracy and freedom when many of their civil
  rights were denied at home.
• Many Mexican American veterans joined LULAC,
  while others formed the American GI Forum of
  Texasfounded by Hector P. Garcia in 1948.

9
New Attitudes of Minorities

• The National Association for the Advancement of
  Colored People (NAACP) became active during and
  after the war in the discrimination cases of
  Smith v. Allwright (1944) and Sweatt v. Painter
  (1950).
• Early civil rights activist Lulu Belle Madison
  White helped choose the plaintiff, Heman B.
  Sweatt, for the case.

10
After the War

• After the war, many factories closed down and
  there were not enough consumer goods for
  everyone.
• 1944 - Congress passed the GI Bill of Rights
  which helped veterans in various ways. As a
  result, the United States economy grew and
  prospered.
• An increase in marriages resulted in the baby
  boom era.

11
After the War

• Some U.S. troops stayed to serve in Germany and
  Japan as armies of occupation.
• New threats emerged when the Soviet Union set up
  Communist dictatorships in several Eastern
  European nations.
• The United States was committed to stopping the
  spread of Communism and became involved in the
  Cold War.

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