The Home Front
Dec. 9,
1941
FDR’s
message…
Revenge
What strains did war place on
families?
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Housing shortages…
Rationing…
Balancing work and households…
Lack of child care…
Latchkey kids…
Juvenile delinquency…
High school drop-outs…
Ration coupons
for meat, milk,
sugar, cheese,
coffee, butter,
and gasoline
Family Life on the Home front
 Between 1940- 1943 more than a million more
couples married than if had there been no war
 By 1946 divorces skyrocketed
 Housing Shortage-Federal Gov. build 2 million
new homes
 Juvenile Delinquency increased during the war
 By 1944 High School enrollments decreased by
1.2 million “Back to School Campaign”
 More books, magazines and baseball
 60% of Americans viewed movies per week
Other war time trends?
•
•
•
•
•
Marriage rate up…
Incomes up….
Divorce rate up…
Public health improved…
Death rate down…
“Economic conditions are ripe for a
rush to the alter”
Japanese Internment
 Fear of invasion and lack of loyalty
 0.1% of US Pop.
 Executive Order 9066
 civil rights were suspended
 the army began rounding up Japanese citizens
 Japanese Americans
 West Coast were given one week
 transported to camps in UT, CO, AK, ID,AZ,WY,
and CA.
 120,000 people
Internment
Notice:
FDR issued
Executive
Order # 9066
Topaz Internment Camp
442nd Japanese
American Unit
KIA
WIA
MIA Total
NaplesFoggia
Campaign
Rome-Arno
Campaign
139
442
3
584
239
1,016
17
1,272
Rhineland
CampaignVosges
160
1,220
42
1,422
Rhineland
CampaignMaritime
Alps
Po Valley
Campaign
Total
11
102
2
115
101
922
3
1,026
650
3713*
67
4,419*
KIA = Killed In Action (includes Died Of Wounds)
WIA =442nd Regimental Combat Team Facts Wounded In Action (includes
Injured In Action)
*Includes 15 WIA/IIA in 442nd Anti-Tank Company at Southern France
Campaign (invasion)
Source: U.S. Army Mediterranean Theater of Operations InformationEducation Section. The Story of the 442nd Combat Team, Composed of:
442nd Infantry Regiment, 522nd Field Artillery Battalion, 232nd Combat
Engineer Company, 1945.
F. Korematsu
In 1942
convicted of
“being in a
place from
which all
persons of
Japanese
ancestry were
excluded”
In 1988
survivors
were awarded
$20,000.
Korematsu
with
reparations
check.
1998
President
Clinton
awards the
Presidential
Medal of
Freedom
Results of Internment
 Japanese Americans lost homes and
businesses valued at $500 million
 Korematsu vs the US (1944) The Supreme
Court upheld the relocation on the grounds
of national security
 In 1988 the US Congress gave reparations of
$20,000 to each internee and a public
apology to each of the 60,000 surviving
victims
The citation in part read…
“Fred Korematsu
challenged our Nation’s
conscience, reminding us
that we must uphold the
rights of our own citizens
even as we fight tyranny
in other lands.” President W.J Clinton
Civil Rights & Race Riots
Why was the goal of
fighting for democracy
in Europe viewed as
hypocritical to most
African Americans?...
What was the “Double V”
campaign?
• Destroy racism at home and abroad
• Victory on battlefield and over racial
discrimination
• Black support of war hinged upon
America’s commitment to racial justice
How was A. Philip Randolph a
leader in civil rights?
• President of the Sleeping Car Porters
Union…
• Organized a march on Washington
demanding that the gov’t open jobs in the
defense industry to blacks
• Met with FDR and demanded
–
–
–
An end of segregation & discrimination in gov’t hiring.
An end to segregation in the military.
An end to discrimination & segregation in all employment.
• Executive Order 8802…
• Fair Employment Practices Commission…
Discrimination and Reaction
 Between 1940 and 1944 the % of African
Americans working in skilled or semi-skilled jobs
rose from 16% to 30%
 In 1942 civil rights leader James Farmer founded
the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) to combat
urban segregation
 Detroit Race Riot of 1943 – 3 days, 9 whites, and
25 blacks were killed, FDR sent in troops
 A. Phillip Randolph’s efforts resulted in the FEPC
 “Double V Campaign” started in Pitt. Pa
What were the goals of the
NAACP?
•
•
•
•
Anti – lynching and poll tax legislation
End discrimination in the military
End black disenfranchisement
Membership grew from 50,000 in 1940
to 450,000 in 1945
Police and blacks at the Sojourner
Truth Homes in 1942
Detroit 1943
White mob overturns a car belonging to a black man
What did blacks gain by the war
experience?
• More blacks are voting…
• Other countries are aware of racism in
the U.S…
• The U.S. appears hypocritical….
• High expectations from blacks…
• 1 million blacks in the military – slowly
begins to integrate…
Objective…
Describe how racial
intolerance on the
home front effects
Hispanics.
Zoot Suit Riots
 200,000 Mexican Americans were legally
brought to the US to work – Braceros
 Many Mexican Americans lived in barrios
 In 1943 Mexican Americans wore “Zoot
Suits” as a symbol of rebellion
 On June 4th, 11 sailors claimed they were
attacked, mobs violence erupted between
servicemen and Zoot Suits, many young
Mexican were beaten and jailed unjustly
with 700 injured
Objective…
Describe how the war
effort affected
popular culture
How did the war affect popular
culture?
• “country” and “rhythm and blues”
migrated North
• Patriotism and the concept of the
“good war”…
• Sentimental…
• Anti-fascist…
• Super – hero – comics…