The War at
Home:
How WWII
Affected America
US Preparations for War
Prior to entering WWII,
FDR began increasing the
size of the US military
and ordered increased
production of war
materials like planes
 The government awarded
factory owners with
lucrative contracts to
increase military
production
 After Pearl Harbor, almost
all US industry was
converted to military use

Selective Service and Training Act
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Passed in 1940, after the
fall of France to Germany
First peace-time draft in
US history
Required 12 months
service if drafted
(requirement dropped
during war)
All men ages 18 -36 had to
register (expanded during
WWII to ages 18 – 65)
Over the 7 years the act
was in effect, over 10
million were drafted
War Production Board

Created after US
entered the war to
regulate war-time
industry by deciding
priorities, setting
production goals,
and controlling
distribution of raw
materials and
supplies
Automobile Industry & War
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Auto factories were
among first converted
to war production,
making jeeps, tanks,
trucks, and other gear
Henry Ford even began
building bombers on his
assembly lines
By end of WWII, auto
industry had produced
1/3 of all US military
supplies used
Liberty Ships
Standardized cargo ships
which could be produced
quickly (could be built in
just 42 days), cheaply,
and in large numbers
 Ships seams were
welded, rather than
riveted, which made them
both cheaper and harder
to sink
 Over 2700 were built
during the war, and only
about 300 were sunk

War Revenue
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War cost more than
$300 billion – more
money than the US
government had spent
in its entire existence
War Bonds: sold over
$150 billion in bonds
(small private loans)
Income taxes: withheld
directly from people’s
paychecks for the first
time; tax rate raised
Wartime Rationing
Ration books: to
purchase many goods
(tires, gas, silk stockings,
etc.), consumers had to
have special coupons
allowing them to buy
 Victory Gardens:
Americans were
encouraged to grow their
own food where possible
 Scrap drives: rubber, tin,
aluminum, steel, animal
fats and grease were all
collected for recycling

Patriotism & Propaganda
Posters: America was
covered with
propaganda posters
promoting everything
from recycling to
enlistment
 Newsreels: movie
theaters showed
patriotic films, pro-US
news clips to keep
Americans motivated

Women in the Military
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US Army accepted
women for the first
time (Women’s Army
Corp), but in noncombat roles, to free up
more men for combat
service
Over 275,000 women
would serve in the WAC
& WAVES (US Navy’s
Women Accepted for
Volunteer Emergency
Service)
Women in the Workforce
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As men entered military
service, women
stepped into
traditionally male roles,
such as working in
factories
Millions of women
entered the US
workforce and would
show some reluctance
to leave it after the war
Rosie the Riveter
Character based on a
popular song about a
woman who took a
factory job to support
her Marine boyfriend
in the war
 Became a nationally
recognized symbol for
the important role of
women workers
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“Double V” Campaign
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Due to a segregated
military, some blacks
did not support the war
Others supported the
idea of a “Double V”
campaign – by fighting
in the war, AfricanAmericans could win a
double victory –
victories over Hitler’s
racism abroad and over
racism at home
Benjamin O. Davis
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1877 – 1970
Joined Army during
Spanish-American War,
worked his way up from
Private
Highest ranking black
officer in the US Army,
was first black promoted
to General
Promoted by FDR to
show support for ending
discrimination in the
armed forces
Black Soldiers

Although the military
remained segregated
until after the war
(1948), all-black units
served with distinction
and began to win
respect from the
military leadership
and from their fellow
soldiers
Tuskegee Airmen
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99th Pursuit Squadron
All-black unit trained as
fighter pilots at the
Tuskegee Institute in
Alabama
Once allowed to entire
combat in the European
Theater as bomberescorts, they proved their
ability by not losing a
single bomber on
missions in which they
were providing the
protection
Executive Order 8802
Due to discriminatory hiring
practices in the US,
Roosevelt issued an
executive order in June
1941, banning racial
discrimination in
government hiring and in
industries engaged as
defense contractors
 Established the Fair
Employment Practices
Commission to enforce the
order – the first federal civil
rights agency since
Reconstruction ended

Native American Soldiers
Thousands of Native
Americans served,
especially in the Marine
Corps
 About 300 Navajo
worked as “code
talkers,” using their
native language to
transmit radio messages
for the Marines, a code
which was never broken
by the Japanese!
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Bracero Program
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Due to labor shortages
on farms in the
Southwest US, the
federal government
arranged for Mexican
workers to help with
the harvest
Over 200,000 Mexicans
entered the US as part
of the Bracero Program,
and began a tradition
of US reliance on Latino
migrant farmers
Zoot Suit Riots
June 1943
 Anti-Latino racism and a rise
in juvenile crime, coupled
with the “unpatriotic” fashion
of “zoot suits” (large baggy
suits which wasted material)
which had been adopted by
Mexican-American teens led
to large-scale fights between
soldiers and Latinos in Los
Angeles
 Violence continued for days
and led to a ban of Zoot Suits
by the City of Los Angeles
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Hispanic-American Soldiers
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Despite episodes of
racism, over 500,000
Hispanic Americans
served in the Armed
Forces during the war,
primarily Mexicans and
Puerto Ricans
They served in every
theater of the war and
won 17 Medals of
Honor
Japanese Internment
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Fear of spies and
saboteurs amongst the
Japanese-American
population on the West
Coast prompted the US to
“relocate” over 100,000
to internment camps
Those interned lost
homes, businesses, and
jobs while detained from
1942 - 1945
Korematsu v. US
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Dec. 1944
Fred Korematsu sued the US
government, claiming that his
rights had been violated
US Supreme Court ruled that
the internment camps were
legal because they were a
matter of “military urgency”
and were not based on race,
but also ruled that loyal US
citizens can not be held
against their will, prompting
the government to begin
releasing those held at the
camps
Japanese-American Soldiers
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Again, despite racism,
many JapaneseAmericans served in
the US Armed Forces
during the war,
including the 442nd
Regimental Combat
Team, who became
the most decorated
unit of the entire war
Population Shifts
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Over 15 million
Americans moved during
the war to fill open jobs
Many moved into major
industrial centers in the
North, Midwest, and
California, but more
moved into the “Sunbelt”
across the southern US
Once again, millions of
blacks left the South for
northern and western
cities, leading to racial
tensions
Wage and Price Controls
To control inflation,
the government acted
to freeze prices on
consumer goods and
to freeze workers’
wages
 These frozen wages
had the potential to
create labor disputes
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Unions During the War
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Most unions pledged to
not strike during the war
but to instead seek
mediation through the
government’s War Labor
Board
Not all unions
cooperated, and a 1943
strike by coal workers
under John L. Lewis
forced the government to
intervene