Title: Exploring American History Unit VIII- Boom Times and Challenges
1Exploring American HistoryUnit VIII- Boom Times
and Challenges
- Chapter 26 Section 2
- The Homefront
2The Home Front
- The Big Idea
- American involvement in World War II helped the
U.S. economy and changed the lives of many
Americans. - Main Ideas
- Businesses, soldiers, and citizens worked to
prepare the United States for war. - The war brought new opportunities for many women
and minorities. - Japanese Americans faced internment during the
war.
3Main Idea 1Businesses, soldiers, and citizens
worked to prepare for war.
- Factories.
- Agricultural production.
- end to the Great Depression
Businesses
- Selective Training and Service Act of 1940
Soldiers
- War Production Board
- Increased taxes
- Sold war bonds
Government
- Collected scrap metal
- Learned to use less
Civilians
4New Roles for Federal Government
- The Office of Price Administration.
- The War Production Board.
- Government spending during the war
- increased income tax rates
5Office of Price Administration
- The functions of the OPA- (established to prevent
wartime inflation) - stabilize prices (price controls) and rents after
the outbreak of World War II. - place ceilings on all prices except agricultural
commodities - ration scarce supplies of other items, including
tires, automobiles, shoes, nylon, sugar,
gasoline, fuel oil, coffee, meats and processed
foods. At the peak, almost 90 of retail food
prices were frozen. - It could also authorize subsidies for production
of some of those commodities.
6War Production Board
- resources
- companies would convert.
- Organized nationwide drives to collect scrap
7Sacrifice and Struggle for Americans at Home
- victory gardens.
- rationing food items
- scarce goods.
- scrap drives
Conserving Food and other Goods
- millions of dollars worth of war bonds.
Investing in Victory
- flag with a blue star.
- (Ernie Pyle newspaper journalist).
Paying the Personal Price
8Victory Gardens
- vegetable, fruit and herb gardens
- a civil "morale booster"
9Scrap Drives
- morale boosters.
- tin foil
- Scrap paper.
- Grease
- Salvaged kitchen fat
- rubber recycling - synthetic rubber and
conservation. - Gas rationing
- Recycling of steel and iron
10War Bonds
- Series E bonds as "war bonds", "war loans",
"victory bonds", and by other names meant to
appeal to a sense of patriotism. - 185 billion worth
11Taxes
- 1940, virtually all Americans - withholding.
- All told, taxes provided about 136.8 billion of
the war's total cost of 304 billion
12Service Star Banner
- Service Star Banner
- Each blue star on the flag represents a service
member in active duty. - A gold star is displayed if a service member is
killed in action or dies in service. - If several stars are displayed in one family the
gold star takes the honor of being placed at the
top.
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14Preparing for War
- Recall- What law required men to register for
the draft? - Predict How might limiting the use of rubber
help in the war effort?
15Main Idea 2The war brought new opportunities
for many women and minorities.
Women in Workforce
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17African Americans in World War II
Civilians
- A. Philip Randolph
- Roosevelt issued an order prohibiting racial
discrimination in the government and companies
producing war goods.
Military
- About 1 million African Americans served in World
War II, - The Tuskegee Airmen
18Mexican Americans in World War II
- About 300,000 served in the military
- Many found wartime jobs on West Coast and in
Midwest. - braceros..
- Mexican American youth culture grew.
- Many faced discrimination.
19Zoot Suit Riots - 1943
- A zoot suit was a popular outfit with young
African American and Mexican American men in the
1940s. Most zoot suits sported extra-wide
shoulders, knee-length coats, and cuffed baggy
pants, sometimes topped with a porkpie hat. - After a fight broke out in central Los Angeles
between a group of zoot-suited teenagers and
sailors on leave, some sailors began roaming the
streets seeking revenge. What started out as a
brawl quickly turned into an invasion, as gangs
of servicemen took over sections of the city,
beating any Mexican American men and boys they
could find. - The mobs stopped traffic, searched streetcars,
and even pulled their victims out of movie
theaters. After five days of bloodshed
20Wartime Opportunities
- Recall- Why did factories need more workers?
- Contrast What is the difference between the
opportunities created for women and minorities in
the two world wars?
21Wartime Opportunities
- Recall- What unfair treatment did Randolph
protest? - Rate Do you think Roosevelts order went far
enough in prohibiting racial discrimination?
22Wartime Opportunities
- Explain- What were the advantages promise
workers in the bracero program? - Draw Conclusions In what ways did people of
Mexican heritage contribute to the war effort?
23Main Idea 3Japanese Americans faced internment
during the war.
- After Pearl Harbor, some Americans began to look
at Japanese Americans with fear and suspicion. - Roosevelt issued Executive Order 9066.
- internment, or forced relocation and
imprisonment, of Japanese Americans - 115,000 Japanese Americans.
- Government initially banned Japanese Americans
from serving in military. - Policy reversed in 1943.
- 33,000 U.S.-born citizens of Japanese descent, or
Nisei, served in World War II.
24Japanese American Internment
- Japanese American Loyalty
- Some mounted legal challenges such as Korematsu
v. United States.
25Japanese American Internment
- Recall- What did Japanese Americans lose when
they were interned? - Explain Why was losing everything and starting
over especially difficult in the early 1940s? - Evaluate What do you think about the service of
the all-Nisei combat team?