WWII on the Homefront l Economic Changes l
- Slides: 9
WWII on the Homefront l Economic Changes l Affect on daily life l Affect on women l Discrimination
Economic Changes l Ended the Great Depression Businesses benefitted from government needs l Unemployment goes from 20% in 1940 to 3% in 1943 (15 million in army alone!!!) l Average wage (factory jobs)- 1940 -$20…. 1945 - $50 l Gigantic government spending l l 1939 - $9. 4 billion…. . 1945 - $95. 2 billion Deficit spending Office of War Mobilization War Production Board l Shift from consumer products to wartime l Cars>>jeeps…planes>>> bombers. . Etc.
Daily Life on the Homefront l l WWII consumed everday life people used extra $$ from economic boom on books, records, movies, baseball l What common characteristics do you think pop culture had? l l l Escapist patriotic Limits on Goods l Rationing l l Metal, rubber, cotton, shoes, gasoline Points given to food items such as sugar, coffee, meat, butter, Conserving Recycling l Scrap metal, rubber, glass, etc.
Women l Pre WWII- 82% Americans felt married women shouldn’t work l Women went to the factory in far larger numbers than in WWI l “Rosie the Riveter”
African-Americans l Served in great numbers in WWII l Around 1 million l Mostly in non-combat support positions l Pressure from civil rights leaders led to some all black fighting units l Tuskegee l More Airmen moved to factory jobs in North l Can be considered start of civil rights movement
l l l Discrimination Bracero Program l US government gave $$$ to farmers to hire Mexicans l Mexicans allowed to come to US to work on farms for the war effort l Eased immigration l Many were not paid, and deported after the war l Some allowed to stay, and program lasted another 25 years African-Americans l Jim Crow in South l Segregation in military Japanese Americans l Executive Order 9066 made all Japanese-Americans (127, 000) (both aliens and citizens!!!) from the West Coast go to internment camps for the duration of the war Korematsu vs. US. l Korematsu, US born, refused to go to internment camp, arrested… he claimed internment camps violated his 5 th amendment rights (“nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law”) …… Decision? ? ? l Court ruled against him stating the threat of espionage more important than his individual rights 1980’s, Reagan gives $25, 000 to every survivor of internment camps and formal apology
