Agenda
• Stamp and review 12.1
• “War Work for Women” Reading – in
class assignment
• 12.3 Study Guide – Life on the Home Front
• Yes, we are going out of order
• Will be stamped next class period
Converting the Economy
1. Winston Churchill was not worried
about America’s ability to fight a global
war because he knew a victory in a
modern war depended on a nation’s
industrial power. He compared the
American economy to a gigantic boiler:
“Once the fire is lighted under it there
is no limit to the power it can
generate.”
Converting the Economy
2. American industrial output during the
war astounded the rest of the world
because American workers were twice
as productive as German workers and
five times more productive than
Japanese workers. (these were the
enemies we were fighting against).
Copy on the back
- In less than four years, the United States
did what no other nation had done- it
fought and won a two-front war against
two powerful military empires, forcing
each to surrender unconditionally.
Converting the Economy
3. In a cost-plus contract the government
agreed to pay a company whatever it
cost to make a product PLUS a
guaranteed percentage of the costs as
a profit. Under the cost-plus system,
the more a company produced and the
faster it did the work, the more money
it would make.
Converting the Economy
4. The Reconstruction Finance
Corporation (RFC) was a government
agency that was permitted to make
loans to companies to help them cover
the cost of converting to war
production.
American Industry
Gets the Job Done
5. The automobile industry was uniquely suited
to the mass production on military
equipment. They began to produce trucks,
jeeps & tanks. They also produced artillery,
rifles, mines, helmets…etc.
6. Henry Ford launched one of the most
ambitious projects when he offered to create
an assembly line for the enormous B-24
bomber.
Tanks in an auto plant
Tanks in an auto plant
Ammunition
American Industry
Gets the Job Done
7. Liberty ships (basic cargo ships) were
better than other types of ships
because most Liberty ships were
welded instead of riveted.
Ship using rivets
When a riveted ship was hit, the rivets often came
loose, causing the ship to fall apart and sink.
Ship using welding
A welded hull was fused into one solid piece of
steel.
American Industry
Gets the Job Done
7. A torpedo might blow a hole in it, but
the ship would not come apart. A
Liberty ship could often get back to
port, make repairs and return to
service.
Building an Army
8. American opinion changed about a
peacetime draft after Germany defeated
France. (June 1940)
9. Despite its problems, basic training helped
to break down barriers between soldiers.
• Some soldiers claimed that basic training
was too quick and failed to prepare them
due to equipment shortages.
Building an Army:
Segregation
10. At the beginning of the war, the military was
segregated. African Americans had
separate barracks, latrines, mess halls, and
recreational facilities.
• Once trained, African Americans were
organized into their own military units, but
white officers were generally in command
of them.
• Most military leaders wanted to keep
African American soldiers out of combat
and assigned them to construction and
supply units.
Building an Army:
Segregation
11. The National Urban League’s two goals in
1941 included:
1. “To promote effective participation of
[African Americans] in all phases of the
war effort…”
2. “To formulate plans for building the kind of
United States in which we wish to live
after the war is over…”
Building an Army:
Segregation
12.The Double V
campaign was the
argument that African
Americans should
join the war effort in
order to achieve a
double victory:
1. A victory over Hitler’s racism abroad
2. A victory over racism at home
Building an Army:
Segregation
13. President Roosevelt influenced the end to
racism in the military by ordering the army,
air force, navy and marines to begin
recruiting African Americans. He directed
the army to put African Americans into
combat.
13.Benjamin Davis was
the highest-ranking
African American
officer in the U.S.
Army. He was
appointed to brigadier
general by FDR.
Building an Army:
Women Join the Armed Forces
•
Women joined the armed forces just as
the did in WWI. The army enlisted
women for the first time, but they were
barred from combat.
15.Oveta Culp Hobby
was in charge of
both the Women’s
Army Auxiliary Corps
(WAAC) and later
the Women’s Army
Corps (WAC), where
she was promoted to
Colonel.
The army’s recruiting slogan stated that women were
needed to “release a man for combat.”
Women were given administrative and clerical
jobs, freeing men for combat.
Assignments
• In class- “War Work for Women”
Reading
• Answer questions on your own paper
• 12.3 (yes, we are going out of order)
• Stamped next class period