Mobilizing for Defense

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Mobilizing for Defense

• Mr. Whites US 2 History

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Main Idea, Big Questions, and Objectives

• Main Idea In order to win World War II, the
  United States government took direct control over
  industry, the economy, and many aspects of daily
  life. This was known as mobilization.
• Big question What would you be willing to
  sacrifice or do to protect your country?
• After this section, we should be able to
• Describe the sacrifices of the American people
  during the war effort
• Examine the impact of racism on the American war
  effort and society

3
Americans Join the War Effort

• Immediately after the attack on Pearl Harbor, men
  began showing up to volunteer
• Over 5 million would volunteer over the course of
  the war
• Over 10 million others would be drafted using the
  Selective Service Act

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Youre in the army now

• After volunteering or being drafted, new recruits
  would enter basic training
• Goal of basic training was to take an untrained
  recruit and make them into a soldier
• Men would learn how to use their weapons,
  hand-to-hand combat, and other knowledge they
  would need in combat

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Women Join The Effort

• Women couldnt serve in combat roles, but could
  help in other ways
• US0 held dances, entertainment, social
  gatherings, showed movies
• WAC Womens Army Corps these women filled
  non-combat jobs such as office workers, etc., to
  free up men who could be in combat

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Discrimination in Recruiting

• Black troops Over 1 million served, but werent
  allowed to serve in combat roles until last year
  of the war
• Over 300,000 Mexican Americans joined armed
  forces
• Asian Americans, including many Japanese
  Americans, volunteered as well
• Over 25,000 Native Americans served, some of whom
  were code-talkers that were used to keep
  Japanese from breaking code

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Industry Shifts to War Production

• Industries quickly shifted over to war production
  after Pearl Harbor
• Automobile production completely stopped all
  auto factories turned to war production
• Factories were putting out as many as one bomber
  every hour some shipyards were putting out one
  cargo ship every four days

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Women in the Workforce

• Of the 18 million people employed in defense
  industries by the end of the war, over 6 million
  were women
• At first, people were reluctant to hire women
  didnt think they could handle factory work
• However, women became widely sought after, since
  they worked for less money than men

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Scientists and the Manhattan Project

• President Roosevelt created the Office of
  Scientific Research and Development to research
  new technologies
• Radar
• Sonar
• Penicillin
• Most significant achievement was developing the
  atomic bomb
• Albert Einstein helped design this weapon that
  would help win the war

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The Federal Government Takes Control

• Fewer consumer products were available as the war
  went on most production was for the war
• Prices started to creep upwards because of low
  supply
• Federal government stepped in froze prices on
  most consumer goods

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War Bonds

• Americans were encouraged to purchase war bonds
• War bonds were loans bought by citizens
• Government got money to support the war, and
  Americans would get paid back that money with
  interest after the war

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War Goods Drives

• War Production Board planned drives for many
  goods needed in the war scrap iron, tin cans,
  paper, rags, and cooking fat
• Children were sent out scouring for these
  materials

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Rationing

• The federal government began to restrict the
  amounts of certain goods that people could buy
• Ration books were issued, with coupons that
  allowed families to buy certain goods, but
  limited how much they could buy
• Meat, shoes, sugar, coffee, and gasoline were
  rationed
• Gas rationing was particularly hard on some
  people
• This was used to free up materials for the war
  effort

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Main Idea, Big Questions, and Objectives

• Main Idea In order to win World War II, the
  United States government took direct control over
  industry, the economy, and many aspects of daily
  life. This was known as mobilization.
• Big question What would you be willing to
  sacrifice or do to protect your country?
• After this section, we should be able to
• Describe the sacrifices of the American people
  during the war effort
• Examine the impact of racism on the American war
  effort and society

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Wrap-up

• So
• One of the sacrifices that the American people
  made to assist in the war effort was
• One of the ways that racism impacted the war
  effort for the United States was