Ch 20 Sec 3 Life on the Home

Ch 20, Sec 3: Life on the Home Front

Positive Effects of the War • • Ended the Great Depression 19 million jobs created Doubled family income Women and minorities got jobs

Women in the Defense Plants • Went into factories for the first time • Single and married women got jobs • Rosie the Riveter – Poster child for female workers – Started as a song about a worker who’s boyfriend was a Marine in the war • 2. 5 million workers in factories • 4 million workers in clerical jobs

African Americans Demand War Work • Factories only hired women • A. Philip Randolph organized 510, 000 African Americans to march on Washington • Pres. Roosevelt signed Executive Order 8802 which made it illegal to not hire someone based on race, creed, color, or national origins

Bracero Program • Shortage of farmers during the war • FDR allowed 200, 000 Mexicans to come to the U. S. for work in the SW • Farmers and built/fixed railroads • 1942 -1964

Where to go for jobs? • Midwest-factories and assembly plants • Northeast-shipyards • South and West-”Sunbelt” for farming and a rise in industrialization • 15 million people moved for work

Housing Crisis • Not enough houses/apartments for new workers • Fed. Gov’t gave $1. 2 billion to cities to build housing, schools, and community centers – 2 million people lived in these homes • City development explosion

Racial Violence • Detroit 1943 -African American and white girls got into a fight which led to a city-wide riot • Zoot Suit Riots-Mexican American boys were targeted due to their suits in California – Considered unpatriotic b/c of the amount of cloth in their suits when compared to the “victory suits” – Blamed for an attack on sailors

Anti-Japanese Feelings • Their houses/businesses were attacked • Could not get food, supplies, or money • Newspapers printed stories about Japanese spies in the U. S. • Led to a call for their removal on the West Coast

Japanese American Relocation • Executive Order 9066 • Made West Coast a military zone • Allowed anyone to be removed and placed into 10 internment camps • Korematsu v. the U. S. – Fred Korematsu sued for his freedom and lost in the Supreme Court due to the relocation being a military urgency and not based on race.

Japanese Americans in the War • 1945 -Japanese Americans were released • 442 nd Regimental Combat Team-all Japanese battalion • JACL-Japanese American Citizens League-helped Japanese Americans get their property back after the war • 1988 -Pres. Reagan apologized/gave survivors $20, 000 each

Problems at Home During the War • Rise in prices of everyday goods • Short on supplies • How to pay for supplies was an issue

Office of Price Administration and Office of Economic Stabilization • OES-regulated wages and the price of farm products • OPA-regulated all other prices • Kept inflation from taking off

War Labor Board • Tried to prevent strikes • Unions promised not to strike • WLB acted as a middleman to prevent strikes in 17, 000 disputes and 12 million workers

Rationing Started • Limited the availability of products so the military could get them • Ex: Sugar, meat, gas, rubber • Speed limits set to 35 mph to save on gas • Ration books were handed out to families – Red coupons-buy meat, fats, and oils – Blue coupons-buy processed foods – Other coupons-buy coffee, sugar, and gas

Victory Gardens and Scrap Drives • Victory Gardens planted all over cities and in backyards • Scrap Drives were set up in large cities • Collected metals, rubber, and anything broken that could be used for war materials • Oils and fats collected to use in explosives and were given extra stamps

Paying for the War • $300 billion spent on the war • Raised taxes-covered 45% of the war costs • War bonds: – E-Bond-$18. 75 each and could be turned in 10 yrs later for $25 – $50 billion were sold to individuals – $100 billion sold to banks, insurance companies, and individual factories