Today We continued PResentations. Here is the information.
-Home front:
The home front was what people would do back in the United States to support the war.
-Labor.
The unemployment problem ended.
Women also joined the work force. Changed the way women were viewed in society. Roosevelt said personal sacrifice was key. Labor shortages were felt in agriculture. Some schools were closed at harvest time so students could work. Prisoners of war were used as farm laborers. In the factories its mostly women working on the machines.
-Rosie the Riveter.
Became the symbol of women laboring manufacturing. Women took new jobs and replaced male workers. Rosie the Riveter resembled a real woman, rose will Monroe. The term was first used in 1942 in a song. Women returned to housework after the war. Many women wanted to keep doing factory work.
-Rationing.
A rationing system was begun. Rationing ensured people got their fair share. Ration books were issued. Designated how much stuff people could buy. Tires were the first item to be rationed. Japan seized US plantations in the pacific that made 90% of our rubber. Across the country over 8000 rationing boards were created. Boards that basically set the rations.
-Controls on the economy.
Many controls were put on the economy. Most important were price controls. Price controls were put on products. They were monitered by the office of price administration. Wages were also controlled. The military imposed priorities that said what to make.
-Propaganda.
Hollywood studios went all out for the war effort. The finest films from the era are about the war. Casablanca, Mrs. Miniver, and Going My Way. Cartoons and were a major sign of the times. Reminded people of things like rationing. Disney remade the story of the three little pigs. Practical Pig’s house was made of war bonds.
-War bonds.
Financed military. 185 billion dollars worth of bonds were sold. 85 million Americans bought the bonds.
-Japanese American internment.
The American government forces 110,000 Japanese Americans to move to internment camps. This meant that no Japanese could live on the pacific coast. The American government eventually had to pay the Japanese Americans 1.6 billion dollars.
-Economic Gains.
The war years were good ones for the people in the United States. As defense industries boomed, unemployment fell 2% in 1944. Average weekly wages also rose 10%. Farm production increased 50% and farm income tripled. Before the war ended most people were able to pay off their mortgages. During the war the percent of women who occupied jobs rose 35%.
-Population Shift
The war triggered the biggest migrations in history. Over 1 million migrants moved to California between 1941 and 1944. Towns with defense industries doubled and some even tripled. African Americans just up and left the south and headed to the North in record numbers.
-Social Adjustments
Most wives had a hard time taking care of their children. Most children got used to staying with neighbors while their mothers went to work. In 1944, congress passed the GI Bill of rights. The Bill provided education and training to the veterans who went off to war and did not get all the education they could have gotten before they went to war. About 7.8 Million veterans attended colleges. This was completely paid for by the US government. This is the time when Day Cares became very popular at this time.
-Tension in Los Angeles
In 1943 there was a big zoot suit riot. The zoot suit riot was a suit that was worn by most Mexican- Americans at this time. The riot had started when 11 sailors said they were attacked by some Mexicans wearing zoot suits. Mobs poured into Mexican areas and grabbed every zoot suit wearing person they could find. The mobs tore the zoot suits off the people and beat them up.
-Taxes
Taxes rose during the war so that the government and military had more money to support the war. Everyone agreed on the need for higher taxes to pay for the war. By 1944, nearly every employed person was paying federal income taxes. Taxes were used to pay for the factories also.
-Baby Boom
Marriage and motherhood came back after the war was over. The birth rate started shooting up in 1941, and then paused in 1944 and 1945. It continued to soar until peaking in the late 1950’s. The Government set up the EMIC; this provided free prenatal and natal care. 76 Million American children were born during this time. EMIC stands for Emergency Medical Infantile Care.
Erin and Jenna started their presentation today. There information is about the African Front in WW II. This part of the war started in Libya, Egypt, Algeria, Tunisia, and Morocco.
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