Transcript The Home Front

United States Prepares
Objective: explain how the US
changed its economy to provide
supplies for the war effort
Preparing for War - chart

Tell one way each group prepared for the
war: men, women, industry

Read pages 756 - 757
Military
Men volunteered or were drafted under
the Selective Service Act
 Pass medical test
 Got uniforms and equipment
 Uniforms labeled G.I. meaning
government issue
 Trained for 8 weeks

Women in Military
Large numbers served for the first time
 Women’s Army Corps (WAC)
 Women Appointed for Volunteer
Emergency Service (WAVES)

Economy
National Labor Board – settled disputes
 War Production Board – charged with
changing factories over to military
products

Funding the War
$320 billion spent on the war (10x the
cost of WWI)
 Raised taxes on businesses
 Made most Americans pay income tax
 Congress approved method of taking
taxes directly out of paychecks (The
Revenue Act of 1942)
 Borrowed money from citizens – sold War
Bonds

Summary
Why were American soldiers called “GIs”?
 Name two ways the government raised
money for the war.
 How did the War Production Board and
National War Labor Board help
mobilization?
Activity suggestions: create a propaganda
poster encouraging people to buy a war
bond or join the armed forces
