Unit 4
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.
Chapter 2: United
States Involvement in
World War II
• 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.
Section 1: Mobilization
• Content Elaboration: The mobilization of the United States to a
wartime economy during World War II was massive. The federal
government reorganized existing plants to produce goods and services
for the war effort and instituted policies to ration and redirect
resources.
• Content Elaboration: Mobilization caused major impacts of the lives
of Americans. A peacetime draft was instituted in 1940to supplement
military enlistments. Scrap drives were conducted to reallocate
materials for war goods. Regulations were imposed on some wages
and prices. Some products were subjected to rationing. Citizens
raised victory gardens to supplement food supplies and purchased war
bonds to help fund the war. Some labor unions signed no-strike
pledges.
Home Front
• what goes on in the United States during a
time of war
Mobilizing For War
• A. Mobilize: Get ready for war
• B. We were not ready, but......
•
1. Draft--1940
•
2. 1.6 million in army--1941
•
3. guns, planes, tanks, and ships built
• ***This got the United States completely
out of the Great Depression.
Converting to Wartime
A. Factories = war materials = full employment
= prosperity on the home front
B. Ration: an allotted amount

1. oil, sugar, meat, shoes, coffee, gas

2. coupons
Raising Money
• A. War cost $321
billion!
•
1. taxes raised
•
2. war bonds ($100
billion sold): sold to
help raise money during
the war
***Farmers were doing well during the war.
***Manufacturing wages went up 50%.
***Many prospered during the war.
Other Mobilizing Efforts
• Scrap metal was gathered so
that it could be used for the
war effort.
• People planted “victory
gardens” to supplement the
food supply
• Some unions vowed to not go
on strike
Propaganda
• A. Propaganda: information, ideas, or rumors deliberately spread
widely to help or harm a person, group, movement, institution, nation,
etc.
• B. U.S. created Office of War Information
– 1. promoted public support for war
– 2. used propaganda
• a. movies
• b. advertisements
• c. artwork
• d. one of most famous: Frank Capra’s series Why We Fight,
which was shown around the U.S.
C. This propaganda showed our enemies as brutal barbarians and
the U.S. as the good guys.
Section 2: Job Opportunities for
Women and Minorities and the
Internment of Japanese-Americans
• Content Elaboration: Job opportunities in the
civilian workforce and in the military opened for
women and minorities. African Americans
organized to end discrimination and segregation so
that they could contribute to the war effort.
Although Japanese Americans were interned in
relocation camps by the U.S. government, many
enlisted in the armed forces.
Women During World War II
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A. In the Armed Forces: 1945
1. 258,000 women in armed forces
2. no combat
3. did all other jobs
B. Had to join work force
1. 6 million more women (Total = 18 million)
C. Did men’s jobs
1. lumberjacks
2. blast furnace operators
3. blacksmiths
4. doctors
5. chemists
6. lawyers
D. Black women benefit
1. better jobs
2. more able to work
African-Americans During the War
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Racial segregation and the
war
A. 1 million black
soldiers
--less discrimination than
WWI
B. Dr. Charles Drew
--blood bank
C. Segregation still
existed
D. 1949--no racial
quotas in armed forces
. Black Americans and the
home front
•
A. A. Philip Randolph
•
--fought for racial
equality
•
B. Blacks moved to the
cities to work for
factories
•
(Just like in WWI)
Japanese-Americans are Interned
• A. 1942: Japanese-Americans forced into internment camps
•
1. 11,000 J-A rounded up
•
2. sold homes
•
3. closed businesses
•
4. put into camps
•
5. no evidence of guilt
•
6. released in 1944
• ***1200 of these J-A’s fought for the U.S. in WWII!!!!!!
OGT Multiple Choice
• (Practice Test Booklet 2005) During World War II,
in the United States Japanese-Americans were
• A. given full rights as American citizens
• B. given partial rights as Americans citizens
• C. treated as though the war had not happened
• D. forced into internment camps
OGT Multiple Choice
Which was NOT a way the U.S. raised money for World War
II?
• A. taxes were raised
• B. war bonds were sold
• C. the government forced people to
donate money
OGT Multiple Choice
• (Practice Test Booklet 2005) Which of the
following statements best describes what
happens to constitutional rights in the United
States during times of war?
• A. Americans are free to exercise all of the
freedoms guaranteed by the Constitution
• B. Many constitutional freedoms are restricted
because of concerns over national security
• C. By law, the Constitution is temporarily
abolished until after the war is over.
• D. Americans find no change in the amount of
freedom they have during wartime
OGT Short Answer
• During times of war or perceived danger to the
United States, groups of Americans have been
singled out as potentially disloyal to the country.
For example, during World War I, patriotic support
for the war led to a distrust and persecution of
German-Americans. In some places, German
language instruction was forbidden, and German
culture and heritage were subject to
discrimination.
•
Identify a group of Americans that was
targeted as potentially disloyal in the years
between 1940 and 1985. (1 point)
•
Explain why this group was targeted. (1 point)
OGT Extended Response
What impact did World War II have
on African-American and women in
regards to the workforce?
(4 points)
OGT Extended Response
Before World War II began, the United
States was in the worst depression in
history. Although FDR tried many
different programs in his New Deal, the
depression did not end until World War
II. Explain how World War II impacted
our economy, and how this war led us
out of depression.
(4 points)
OGT Extended Response
During World War II, Japanese-Americans
were forced into intern camps.
•Do you agree with this?
•Give two reasons why you agree or disagree.
•What rights were taken away from this group?
(4 points)