Transcript Unit VIII: Prelude to Another World Conflict

Wartime Migration
 Many of the 15 million mobilized for the
war chose not to return home after 1945
 War industries brought people to
boomtowns like Seattle, Detroit, LA
 In 1938 FDR called the South the nation’s
“number one economic problem”
 Received a disproportionate share of defense
contracts
 1.6 million blacks left the South seeking jobs
in the North and West
 Race relations now be a “national” issue
Wartime Migration – Race Relations
 Racial tensions increased over employment,
housing, and segregated facilities
 A. Philip Randolph (head of the Brotherhood of
Sleeping Car Porters) threatened a massive
“Negro March on Washington” in 1941
 Demanded equal opportunities for blacks in war
jobs and in the armed forces
 Result: FDR issued an executive order
forbidding discrimination in defense industries
 The war will embolden blacks to fight for
equality (slogan “Double V” - victory over
dictators abroad and racism at home)
A. Philip Randolph, 1942 & 1963
Wartime Migration
 1944 invention of the mechanical cotton
picker – did the work of 50 people @ 1/8 the
cost
 South’s need for cheap labor disappeared
 Some 5 million black tenant farmers and
sharecroppers head north over next 3 decades
 By 1970 half of all blacks live outside the South
 War prompted the exodus of Native
Americans from reservations
 1940 90% live on reservations
 By 2000 half lived in cities w/ many in southern
California
 John Daniel Rust (1892–1954)  inventor
 International Harvester Corporation 
producer
Federal Action and Labor
 WMC (War Manpower Commission) –
determined which industries needed
manpower the most
 The NWLB (National War Labor Board)
 Limited wage increases
 Allowed negotiated benefits such as paid
vacations, pensions, and medical insurance
 Kept unions stable by forbidding workers to
change unions
Federal Action and Labor (cont’d)
 Union membership increases from 10 million
to 13 million workers during the war
 Despite the no-strike pledges of most major
unions, a rash of labor walk-outs plagued the
war effort
 Prominent strikers  United Mine Workers led by
John L. Lewis (Alabama)
 Struck in Jan. 1943 – negotiations break down
 May 1943 – FDR seized the mines & threatens to
draft the miners (miners don’t give up)
 November 1943 – some union demands met;
miners win pay raise of $1.50 per day
The Smith-Connally Anti-Strike Act
 Congress worried  the Smith-Connally
Anti-Strike Act (June 1943)
 Authorized the government to seize and
operate tied-up industries
 Montgomery Ward (refused to recognize
its workers’ union) – workers strike
 NWLB ordered Sewell Avery (president) to
negotiate with the union
 Avery ignores the order and refuses to leave
– soldiers carry him out
 Government ran the company the rest of the
war
 Anti New-Deal
chairman,
Sewell Avery,
had to be
literally carried
out of the
plant by
Guardsmen
Federal Action and Labor (cont’d)
 The Smith-Connally Anti-Strike Act (cont’d)
 Strikes against any government-operated
industry were made criminal offenses
 Govt. took over coal mines and briefly the
railroads
 Work stoppages only accounted for less
than 1% of total working hours
Labor in WW2
 By 1944 nearly 18 million workers labored in
war industries
 More than 6 million were women
 Reluctance at first to hire women
 Thought they lacked the stamina of men or
technical understanding of machinery
 Thought they would be a distraction to men
 Soon women were hired in record numbers
 Earn only 60% as much as men
 By war’s end 1 out of 3 workers are women
Labor in WW2
 Nearly 2 million minority workers hired
during the war
 Faced prejudice, at first, like women
 Start of the war 75% of defense
contractors simply refused to hire blacks
 After Randolph’s threat to strike FDR
issued Executive Order 8802
 Banned discrimination in all government
agencies, job-training, and all companies
doing business w/ the federal govt.
Labor in WW2
 FDR established the Fair Employment
Practices Committee to ensure equal
treatment amongst minorities
 At war’s end 2 million blacks held jobs in
aircraft factories, steel mills, and shipyards
 In the North and South blacks enjoyed
more social acceptance and economic
well-being
Discrimination Persisted
 Armed Forces – official policy 
 have all-black soldiers or sailors commanded
by white officers
 In the navy – blacks could only be porters
 Black soldiers on leave face segregation in
the South
 In the North whites resent competition w/
influx of blacks for jobs and housing
Japanese Americans Lose their Liberties
 After Pearl Harbor US fear of a Japanese
invasion – most Japanese lived in small
identifiable communities along the Pacific
coast (easy targets)
 February 1942 defense officials labeled them “a
menace to be dealt with”
 FDR yields to pressure and gives War
Department full authority to forcibly relocate
thousands of Japanese families (2/3 native-born)
 110,000 uprooted to internment camps
 Had to sell homes, businesses, and most
possessions
Japanese Internment
 1,200 petitioned FDR to be allowed to
serve – formed the 100th Inf. Battalion
 One of the most highly decorated
 1944 Supreme Court upheld forced
location as justifiable during war
 1945 families allowed to return
 1988 Congress votes overwhelmingly to
formally apologize ($20,000 to each
survivor)
The National Debt
 To pay for the war, the government raised
taxes with the Revenue Act of 1942
 Raised the top personal-income-tax rate to 90%
 Added lower and middle-income Americans to the
income-tax roles
 Also the government borrowed huge amounts
of money by selling war bonds
 Spectacular drives used movie stars and comic
book heroes such as Batman and Dick Tracy to
sell bonds and bolster patriotic spirit
 The National Debt first begins to balloon
because of World War II (not New Deal)
The Return of Prosperity
 US economy grew during the war:
 GNP rose from $91.1 billion (1939) to $213.6
billion (1945)
 During 1942 alone, war production rose over
300% surpassing Germany, Italy, and Japan
combined
 Increase in production ends the depression
 Farmers see a prosperity not enjoyed since WWI