Transcript African-Americans in WWII

The United States Mobilizes for War
Topic: From Isolation to
World War (1930-1945)
The isolationist approach to foreign policy meant
U.S. leadership in world affairs diminished after
World War I. Overseas, certain nations saw the
growth of tyrannical governments that reasserted
their power through aggression and created
conditions leading to the Second World War. After
Pearl Harbor, the United States entered World
War II, which changed the country’s focus from
isolationism to international
involvement.
Content Statement:
The United States mobilization of its
economic and military resources during
World War II brought significant changes
to American society.
Expectations for Learning:
Identify and explain changes American
society experienced with the mobilization
of its economic and military resources
during World War II.
Mobilizing For War:
The Home Front
• Mobilize: Get ready for war
• We were not ready, but . . .
–Peacetime Draft was started in 1940
–1.6 million in the army by1941
–Guns, planes, tanks, and ships built
• This got the United States completely out
of the Great Depression
Converting for Wartime
• Factories starting making war materials
–Full employment
–Prosperity on the home front
Rationing
• Ration: an allotted amount
• This time rationing was mandatory it had
been voluntary during WWI
• Americans were issued books of stamps
for key items
–Gasoline, sugar, meat, butter, canned
foods, fuel oil, shoes, and rubber
–These items couldn’t be purchased
without a stamp
Other Mobilization Efforts
• Scrap metal was gathered so that it could
be used for the war effort
• People planted “victory gardens” in small
backyard patches or even in window
boxes on fire escapes to supplement food
supplies
• Some unions signed no-strike pledges
• Regulations were imposed on some
wages and prices
Paying for the War
• War cost $321 billion
• Taxes were raised to generate revenue
and control inflation
• War bonds sold to help raise money
during the war
–$100 billion sold
Propaganda
• Information, ideas, or
rumors deliberately
spread widely to help or
harm a person, group,
movement, institution,
nation, etc.
Propaganda
• U.S. created Office of
War Information
–Promoted public
support for war
–Used propaganda
Movies
Advertisements
Artwork
Women in the Service
• Encouraged by Eleanor Roosevelt, FDR
created the women's auxiliary forces
–Army (WACs)
–Navy (WAVES)
–Air force (WASPS)
–Coast Guard (SPARS)
Women on the Home Front
• They were actively recruited into what had
been non-traditional work for women,
including such jobs as
–Blacksmiths
–Welding
–Machinist
–Doctors
–Construction
–Chemists
–Bus and truck driving –Lawyers
–Lumberjacks
–Blast furnace operators
Rosie the Riveter
• “Rosie the Riveter”
posters asked housewives
to leave the home and
enter the nation's
factories
• About 6.5 million women
entered the workforce
during the war, many for
the first time
Black Women and WWII
• More than 6,500 black women
volunteered in the WAC
• Only one all-black WAC unit served
overseas
–They were responsible for keeping mail
flowing to the more than seven million
servicemen and women in Europe
Black Women and WWII
• On the home front black
women benefit
–More jobs available
–Better jobs available
African-Americans in WWII
• Despite a high enlistment rate in the U.S.
Army, African Americans were not
treated equally
• Racial tensions existed
• At parades, church services, in
transportation and canteens the races
were kept separate
African-Americans in WWII
• Most African American soldiers still served
only as truck drivers and laborers
• In the Battle of the Bulge, General
Eisenhower was short of replacement troops
for existing all white military units
• He allowed African American soldiers to join
the white military units to fight in combat for
the first time
• This was an important step toward a
desegregated U.S. military
Dr. Charles Drew
• African American
surgeon and researcher
• Pioneered methods of
storing blood plasma for
transfusion
• Organized the first
large-scale blood bank
in the U.S.
Dr. Charles Drew
• Directed the blood plasma programs of
the U.S. and Great Britain in WWII
• At first, the military did not want to use
blood from African Americans, but they
later said it could only be used for
African-American soldiers
–He was outraged by this racist policy
–Resigned his position
A. Philip Randolph
• Organized the first
predominantly African
American labor union
• Led the movement that
convinced FDR to issue
an executive order in
1941, banning
discrimination in the
defense industries
A. Philip Randolph
• The group then
successfully pressured
President Harry S.
Truman to issue
an executive order in
1948, ending
segregation in the
armed services
President Truman
Japanese Americans
• Over 127,000 U.S. citizens were
imprisoned during World War II because
they were of Japanese ancestry
• Despite the lack of any concrete
evidence, Japanese Americans were
suspected of remaining loyal to their
ancestral land
Internment Camps
• President Roosevelt signed an executive
order in February, 1942 ordering the
relocation of all Americans of Japanese
ancestry to concentration camps in the
interior of the U.S.
• Evacuation orders were posted in
Japanese-American communities giving
instructions on how to
comply
Internment Camps
• Many families sold their homes, their
stores, and most of their assets
–These were often sold at a fraction of
their true value
• Almost two-thirds of the interns were
Japanese Americans born in the U.S.
• It made no difference that many had
never even been to Japan
Internment Camps
• Even JapaneseAmerican veterans
of World War I
were forced to leave
their homes
• The Supreme Court
justified the
executive order as a
wartime necessity
Internment Camps
• Last camp closed in 1946
• Hostility against Japanese
Americans remained high
across the West Coast into
the postwar years as
many villages displayed
signs demanding that the
evacuees never return
Japanese Immigrants in the
U.S. Military
• As the war progressed,
many of the young
Japanese immigrants’
children who were born
with American
citizenship, volunteered
or were drafted to serve
in the U.S. military
• Video