America and World War II Life on the Home Front

With so many white men in the military, American defense factories began to recruit women and minorities.◦ Women in the Defense Plants

“Rosie the Riveter”

Women and Minorities Gain Ground

A. Philip Randolph: head of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters Pressured Roosevelt by organizing “from ten to fifty thousand AA to

march on Washington in the interest of securing jobs in national defense and integration into the military and naval forces.”

Roosevelt responds with executive order 8802 “there shall be no discrimination in the implloyment of workers in

defense industries” Created the Fair Employment Practices Commission

African Americans Demand War Work

To help farmers in the Southwest overcome the labor shortage, the government introduced the Bracero Program in 1942 ◦ Over 200,000 Mexicans came to the US to harvest fruits and vegetables

Mexicans become Farm Workers

15 million Americans moved during the war to fill jobs Housing Crisis Racism exploded into violence Zoot Suit Riots

A Nation on the Move

After the attack on Pearl Harbor, many Americans equated Japanese Americans with the Japanese◦ Mobs attacked Japanese American businesses and homes◦ Banks would not accept/cash their checks◦ Grocers refused to sell them food

The West Coast was declared a military zone and all people of Japanese ancestry were ordered to evacuate to 10 internment camps◦ Korematsu v. the United States: the supreme court ruled that the relocation was not based on race, but on “military urgency”

Japanese American Relocation

Japanese Americans served as translators for the Army

The all-Japanese 100th Battalion, later integrated into the 442nd Regimental Combat Team and was the most highly decorated unit in World War II

Japanese Americans help the War Effort

Wage and Price Controls were implemented by the government through the Office of Price Administration

Blue Points-Red Points◦ Rationing or limiting the availability of many products was

instituted to make sure enough were available for military use

Victory Gardens and Scrap Drives “V” for Victory

Daily Life in Wartime America

$300,000,000,000 (that’s billion) was spent by the federal government for the war◦ The government raised taxes, but only enough to cover 45%

of the cost of the war◦ The government also issued war bonds

When people bought bonds, they were loaning money to the government. In exchange for the money, the government promised that the bonds could be cashed in at some future date for the purchase price plus interest.

E-bonds were the most common bonds Sold for $18.75 and could be redeemed for $25.00 after 10 years

Paying for the War

Describe zoot suiters and explain why they became the target of anger from many Americans.

Essay Question

Describe zoot suiters and explain why they became the target of anger from many Americans.◦ A zoot suit had an overstuffed jacket that had wide lapels

and reached to the knees, with very baggy, pleated pants. Accessories included a wide-brimmed hat and a long key chain. Zoot-suit wearers usually wore their hair long, gathered into a ducktail. The zoot suit angered many Americans. In order to save fabric for the war, most men wore a “victory suit,” which had no vest, no cuffs, a short jacket, and narrow lapels. By comparison, the zoot suit seemed unpatriotic. Also, crimes committed by young people had been rising dramatically across the nation. The fact that many young Mexican Americans adopted the zoot suit linked racism as well as fear of juvenile crime to the zoot suit. In Los Angeles, this mix resulted in violence against Mexican American teenagers.

Essay Question