10th American History
Unit IV- A Champion of
Democracy
Chapter 13 – Section 4
Mobilizing for War
Mobilizing for War
The Main Idea
The outbreak of World War II spurred the mobilization of American
military and industrial might.
Reading Focus
• How did the U.S. armed forces mobilize to fight World War II?
• What role did American industry and science play in mobilizing to
fight World War II?
• How did mobilization challenge the nation’s ideals of freedom?
U.S. Armed Forces Mobilize

Once the United States entered the war, it had to mobilize, or
bring its forces into readiness.

In 1940 the government had begun to increase military
spending.

This helped end the Great Depression.

Thousands found work in factories, making supplies for the military.

Army Chief of Staff, General George C. Marshall led the
mobilization effort.

In addition to equipment and supplies, the United States
needed soldiers.

American women filled a variety of vital roles in the military.

New military bases were needed to train and house soldiers.
General George C. Marshall (04:39)
Mobilizing the Armed Forces
Finding Soldiers
• The government
expanded the
draft, which had
been reinstated
in 1940.
• Millions of young
men
volunteered.
• Some 16 million
Americans
entered the
armed forces.
Women
• 10,000 joined
the WAVES, a
navy program.
• 1,000 joined the
WASPs, an air
force program.
• 150,000 served
in the WAC, an
army program.
• Oveta Culp
Hobby led the
WACs; she was a
colonel.
Military Bases
• Most bases were
built in rural
areas.
• The military bases
transformed parts
of the United
States.
• California, Florida,
and Texas became
home to large
numbers of
soldiers.
Women and WWII- 3:56
Mobilizing the Armed Forces




How did the U.S. armed forces mobilize to
fight World War II?
Explain – How did the United States get the
soldiers and sailors needed to fight in the
war?
Recall – How did WAVES help the war
effort?
Evaluate – How do you think increased
military spending during 1940 and 1941
contributed to ending the Great Depression?
Mobilizing the Armed Forces



Explain – Why did the military need so many
new bases?
Contrast – What was the difference between
the WAAC’s and the WAC’s?
Draw Conclusions – How did military bases
help transform the southern United States?
Manufacturing




Factories switch from making domestic
products to making products for war.
U.S. Factories make supplies for allied
forces.
Brings in new jobs for the unemployed.
Large push for minority labor.
American Industry and Science
in World War II


Troops needed proper equipment to fight World War II.

Factories that produced consumer goods were converted to the production of
military supplies.

Roosevelt called for the production of new planes and tanks.
War supplies had to be shipped overseas.

Submarines took a terrible toll on American shipping.

American shipyards turned out thousands of new vessels to replace those lost
during the war.

Henry Kaiser build the so-called liberty ships using assembly-line techniques.

Wartime agencies regulated what factories produced, what prices they
could charge, and how the nation’s raw materials could be used.

Producing supplies to fight the war required many workers.

Government spending during the war created millions of new jobs.

Technology played an important role in World War II.
Liberty Ship






Liberty ship was the name given to the EC2 type ship designed for "Emergency"
construction by the United States Maritime Commission in World War II. Liberty ships,
nicknamed "ugly ducklings" by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt
The first of the 2,751 Liberty ships was the SS Patrick Henry, launched on Sept. 27, 1941,
and built to a standardized, mass produced design. The 250,000 parts were pre-fabricated
throughout the country in 250-ton sections and welded together in about 70 days.
One Liberty ship, the SS Robert E. Peary was built in four and a half days. A Liberty cost
under $2,000,000.
The Liberty was 441 feet long and 56 feet wide. Her three-cylinder, reciprocating steam
engine, fed by two oil-burning boilers produced 2,500 hp and a speed of 11 knots. Her 5
holds could carry over 9,000 tons of cargo, plus airplanes, tanks, and locomotives lashed to
its deck. A Liberty could carry 2,840 jeeps, 440 tanks, or 230 million rounds of rifle
ammunition.
Liberty ships were named after prominent (deceased) Americans, starting with Patrick
Henry and the signers of the Declaration of Independence. 18 that were named for
outstanding African-Americans.
Henry Kaiser became most famous for the Kaiser Shipyards in Richmond, California
during World War II, adopting production techniques that generated one cargo ship every
30 days
American Manufacturing Mobilizes for War (03:03)
Mobilizing Industry and Science
Rosie the
Riveter
Labor in
WW II
Mobilizing
Science

Factories needed workers at the same time men were leaving to join
the armed forces.

Women solved the problem. Millions began to work outside the
home in industrial jobs.

Working women of the war were represented by the symbolic figure
known as Rosie the Riveter.

Many workers joined labor unions and the government was
concerned about strikes.

The National War Labor Board was established in 1941 to help
settle labor disputes.

The Smith-Connally Act passed in 1943.

The Manhattan Project began a top-secret mission to build an
atomic bomb.

Physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer and other American scientists
raced to develop this weapon ahead of the Germans.
Science and Technology in World War II (00:41)
Manhattan Project


Refers to the project to develop the first
nuclear weapons during World War II by the
United States, the United Kingdom and
Canada.
The project succeeded in developing and
detonating three nuclear weapons in 1945: a
test detonation on July 16 (the Trinity test)
near Alamogordo, New Mexico; an enriched
uranium bomb code-named "Little Boy"
detonated on August 6 over Hiroshima,
Japan; and a plutonium bomb code-named
"Fat Man" on August 9 over Nagasaki, Japan.
Mobilizing Industry and Science




What role did American industry and science
play in mobilizing to fight World War II?
Define – What was a Liberty Ship?
Summarize – How did the role of the federal
government grown during the early days of
the war
Evaluate – Why do you think the character of
Rosie the Riveter was so important?
Mobilizing Science
– What was the Manhattan
Project?
 Analyze – Why was this project
the most important science
project of the war?
 Recall
Freedom at Home
African Americans
in the military
African Americans
in the workforce
• Hundreds of
thousands served
during World War
II.
• Found jobs in
factories that had
been unavailable
to them before the
war
• They broke down
barriers that had
long blocked their
way.
• They continued to
face discrimination
(ex. Segregated
units).
• Still faced
discrimination
• A. Philip
Randolph called
for a march on
Washington to
protest their unfair
treatment
Challenges for
Hispanic
Americans
• Demand for farm
labor led to the
Bracero Program,
which gave Mexican
workers the chance
to work in the
United States.
• Tension over the
increasing numbers
of Hispanic workers
led to the zoot suit
riots in June 1943.
Zoot Suit Riots - 1943



A zoot suit was a popular outfit with young
African American and Mexican American
men in the 1940s. Most zoot suits sported
extra-wide shoulders, knee-length coats, and
cuffed baggy pants, sometimes topped with a
porkpie hat.
After a fight broke out in central Los Angeles
between a group of zoot-suited teenagers and
sailors on leave, some sailors began roaming
the streets seeking revenge. What started out
as a brawl quickly turned into an invasion, as
gangs of servicemen took over sections of the
city, beating any Mexican American men and
boys they could find.
The mobs stopped traffic, searched streetcars,
and even pulled their victims out of movie
theaters. After five days of bloodshed
Propaganda



The Great Dictator is a comedy film
directed by and starring Charlie Chaplin.
First released in October 1940, it bitterly
satirizes Nazism and Adolf Hitler,
culminating in an overt political plea to defy
fascism.
The film is unusual for its period, in the
days prior to American entry into World
War II, as the United States was still
formally at peace with Nazi Germany.
Chaplin's film advanced a stirring,
controversial condemnation of Hitler,
fascism, anti-Semitism, and the Nazis, the
latter of whom he excoriates in the film as
"machine men, with machine minds and
machine hearts". Despite the fact that the
United States was currently at peace when
the movie was made, Charlie Chaplin
bitterly opposed the Nazi regime of Adolf
Hitler long before most Americans did.
The film was Chaplin's first "talkie", as well
as his most commercially successful film.
Propaganda
 Charlie
Chaplin- The
Great Dictator


Best Scenes- 10:03
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yypR80BLEo
4&feature=related
Globe Scene- 2:34
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IJOuoyoMhj
8&feature=related
Raising Money


Raising Taxes
Bonds



People could not spend money because of
rations. So they invested their money in
government bonds.
Children could buy bonds a little at a time.
Raised 185.7 billion dollars.
Financing the War (01:34)
Fighting for Freedom at Home



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How did mobilization challenge the nation’s
ideals of freedom??
Identify – What was the Bracero Program?
Interpret – How did African Americans
serving in the armed forces help break down
racial barriers?
Draw a Conclusion – Why would
Roosevelt’s executive order outlawing
discrimination in government or defense jobs
affect sleeping car porters.?