Chapter 18 Section 2 Notes
The Home Front
At home the people were having to make sacrifices because
of rationing. They were constantly bombarded with
propaganda to keep their morale high.
Encouraging Patriotism
•Blue Star/Gold Star- emblems in window- gold means dead
•Movies, songs, radio- urged full participation in the war effort\
•Movie stars helped sell war bonds and traveled to entertain troops
•Foreign correspondents reported about the war
•Radio stations abandoned spy and sabotage programs and some
sound effects (sirens)
**The Office of War Information controlled the flow of
information at home
Life During Wartime
Americans at home changed their habits due to the
demands the war placed on them and to help the war
effort
• Victory Gardens- many Americans plowed up their yards to grow
their own food
• West Coast Cities imposed blackouts
• Broadway and musicals showed the lighter side of war
• By choice or gov’t decree Americans cut back on consumption and
certain activities to help the war effort
• Music was more realistic- “Praise the Lord and Pass the
Ammunition
• Paperbacks and nonfiction became the best sellers
Rosie the Riveter
The life of women changed dramatically during WW2.
During the Great Depression women were
encouraged NOT to work. Now doing “men’s” work
became patriotic.
One of the main symbols of this was Rosie the Riveter.
6,000,000 more women entered the workforce and
many women changed jobs from traditional
women’s work to the higher paid war work.
Many women gained new self-pride, self-worth and
independence because of this
Discrimination During the War
*Racial tensions did not disappear during the war but
the gov’t had to try and reduce it in the war
industries*
• Many African Am’s moved into better paying jobs
• 1,000,000 served in the armed forces
• Served in segregated units often low-level work
• Many war plants wouldn’t hire them- or as janitors
• White workers staged “hate strikes”
Fighting Discrimination
A. Philip Randolph- (1941) Planned a march on DC to
protest the discrimination. FDR feared unrest and met
with Randolph
• FDR issued an executive order forbidding racial
discrimination
• FDR created the Fair Employment Practices Committee
(FEPC) to investigate companies to make sure his order
was followed- not always followed- poor enforcement
powers
• Competition for housing in crowded cities caused
tensions- 1943 in Detroit 34 people died in riots that
before bein g put down by federal troops
Mexican Americans and WW2
WW2 was a real mixed-bag for Mexican Americans
Good:
• 300,000 served in the armed forces- 17 MOH
• Many Mexican Americans found good jobs-MW/WC
• Thousands of braceros came to the SW to work
Bad:
• Discrimination in hiring and promotion
Carlos E. Castaneda- U of Texas professor worked with
the FEPC to discontinue discriminatory practices
Zoot-Suit Riots
Racial tensions reached their highest in LA in
what became known as the Zoot- Suit Riots
Sailors started attacking Mexican American youth and
the police and media unfairly covered it. An inquiry
eventually placed the blame on prejudice by the
police, media and sailors. LA was off-limits to sailors
for weeks
Zoot-Suits
Japanese American Relocation
“Internment”
Internment was one of the most blatant denial of rights
in WW2. Japanese Americans on the West Coast
were forcibly relocated to camps in WY,UT etc
•
•
•
•
•
•
119,000 relocated
Issei- 1st generation were not allowed to be citizens
Nisei- 2nd generation were citizens
No evidence of disloyalty was ever found
Hawaiian Japanese Americans were put under martial law
Thousand of Japanese Americans served heroically in WW2
– 442nd in Europe and interpreters in the Pacific theater
Round Up
Internment Camps
Case Study
Norman Mineta
• Nisei
• 10 years old when interned- wore his Boy
Scouts uniform- to show loyalty
• Successful life– HOR from 1974 to 1995
– Introduced reparations legislation- successful
– Secretary of Commerce