Today I finished taking the test. After taking the test my group and I set up a Google Documents Presentation. After setting up the presentation, I started to look up information for the project. I found this source, http://www.teachamericanhistory.org/File/Homefront_WWII.pdf. I learned that the United State's economy expanded rapidly throughout the war. Each year saw the Gross National Product (GNP) rise by 15 percent or more. Production skyrocketed from 1942-1945 as President Franklin D. Roosevelt ordered the construction of hundreds of thousands of planes and the nation exported massive quantities of supplies, including 2.5 million trucks and 50 million pairs of shoes. Government funding also subsidized new industries such as electronics, and enabled others such as rubber and chemicals.
To finance the war the government spending went up from $9 billion in 1940 to $98
billion in 1944. Very few goods were available for sale. Many Americans bought in war
bonds. Many people spent their life savings financing the war. A lot of factories started to make war goods instead of things that people at home could use so consumer goods became scarce. Food, fabrics, and gasoline were rationed and shared equally. The government also did things to make more money such as making the wealthy pay higher taxes.
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