WWII on the Homefront

HUSH

Unit 4

The Shift to Wartime Production

FDR and his administration set out to win the war at home by converting heavy industry to wartime production

Office of Price Administration (OPA) Controlled rent and prices from inflation Enforced rationing of scarce goods

War Production Board (WPB) Oversee transition of factories from consumer to war manufacturing Office of War Mobilization headed by James Byrnes

nicknamed the “home front president” Oversaw the distribution of raw materials to needed plants Oversaw and scheduled transportation of needed materials Henry Kaiser introduced faster and more efficient methods to

build Liberty ships took supplies to armed forces)

“Dollar a year men” – worked for $1 a year from government

The Great Arsenal of Democracy

In 1940 FDR said the U.S. must become the “arsenal of democracy” for the Allies

Work force on Homefront No unemployment Wages rose Union membership increased (Wildcat strikes

were sudden workers’ stoppage, not approved by a union.)

Cost of living rose faster than wages

So….Who’s Gonna Pay??

The nation looked for financial support to fund the war

Taxpayers paid higher taxes War bonds were sold FDR and Congress approved Deficit spending –

Spending borrowed money Economist John Maynard Keynes theory that

this was ok and would not wreck the economy later

Thoughts on this??

Daily Life on the Home Front New jobs brought higher income Birthrate increased

Healthier people Books and Movies

Looking for escape Pocket books were popular 60% of people went to movies each week!!! New reels brought war to life

Sports changed NCAA stopped men’s teams No pro teams for men (no World Series) Women’s Pro Baseball

A League of their Own

Saving for the Troops

Shortages and controls Older citizens, and those with 4-F designation were in

charge of iron and steel drives Clothing was streamlined

No stockings, zippers… Leg makeup No vests for men

Rationing for food and gas became way of life Recycling and reuse

Victory gardens Growing food in backyard

Play your part, use it up and wear it out, make it do or do without

Harvesting bumper crop for Uncle Sam Movie star Rita Hayworth sacrificed her bumpers for the duration. Besides setting an example by turning in unessential metal car parts, Miss Hayworth has been active in selling war bonds." 1942.

Women and the War Women go to work on the Homefront

Took the place of soldiers 15.5 % of married women went

to work during WWII Around 35% of all women

worked Factory jobs that had not

hired women before Rosie the riveter

Promotions and rising in the ranks Many women did not go back

home after the war Changed pattern of life Families changed Changed the way Americans

worked AND lived

African Americans on the Homefront

The Struggle for Justice continued on the home front as well as in the military

In the South, segregation continued Civil rights still a struggle

Unemployment was high for all segments of the black community

Black migration – over 2 million migrated to the northern industrial cities

Forced to live in crowded urban areas called ghettos

Concentrated neighborhoods of minorities

Two Americas??

Attitudes of Americans in 1942 60% of whites thought blacks satisfied

with their condition Most blacks disagreed

Detroit riots – 34 people killed (1943) New York City riots (1943)

FDR did not push Civil Rights as a priority “I doubt we can bring about

perfection at this time.”

The Double V Campaign V for Victory- V for equality at home

African Americans started the Double V campaign

They remained patriotic, yet pushed for civil rights for blacks.

It was very important that the campaign show loyalty towards the war effort, since the black press had been criticized for pushing their own agenda ahead of the national agenda.

CORE The Congress of Racial Equality

CORE was founded in 1942 by James Farmer and others

Precursor to Dr. King and movement in 1950’s

Used non-violent means to force equality Used sit-ins to force change

The group's inspiration the book War Without Violence which outlined Mahatma Gandhi's step-by-step procedures for organizing people and mounting a nonviolent campaign.

Gandhi had, in turn, been influenced by the writings of Henry David

Hispanic Americans on the Homefront

Many Mexican Americans worked in defense plants

1942 U.S./Mexico agreement The U.S. would pay for transportation, food,

shelter, and medical care for Mexicans to come to work as “braceros” (workers) on farms

Comes from “Barrios”- Spanish neighborhoods

Hispanic Americans on the Homefront

Many Hispanics or Chicanos wore zoot suits

Long coats, baggy pants, “duck tail” hair styles

The Zoot suits were thought to be un-American, leading to riots in Los Angeles

Zoot Suit Riots ( 1943)

Native Americans on the Homefront

Many Native Americans moved from reservations to cities for jobs

Many volunteered for military Some used native language as code.

Never broken by Japanese or Germans

It was generally believed that Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbor was made possible with help of ethnic Japanese.

Citizens on the West Coast reacted with fear and distrust

Japanese Americans on the Homefront

“How to Tell Chinese from a Jap,” from an Army Manual

Prior to Internment

Parents (Issei) spoke Japanese Children (Nissei) were

translators Children taught to study “real hard

for the good of the family” Japanese community was isolated

from most others Farming communities Japanese schools Japanese churches

Issei -- 1st generation

Nissei – 2nd generation

Sansei -- 3rd generation

• Presidents in the past have used extraordinary powers during war time

• Allowed by Constitution• Lincoln jailed the Maryland legislature to

prevent it from voting on secession during the Civil War.

• Lincoln suspended the writ of habeas corpus

Presidential Power

Executive Order 9066

Executive Order 9066 giving authority to military commanders to establish special zones in territory threatened by enemy attack.

The order invested the military commanders with the power to decide who could come, go or remain the special military areas.

On May 9 1942 ordered the exclusion of all persons of Japanese ancestry from the entire Pacific coastal region.

Allowed military commanders to designate areas "from which any or all persons may be

excluded."

The Establishment of Zones Secretary of War to establish military zones on the

West Coast and to remove all or any aliens from the zones

War Relocation Authority moved around 110,000 people of Japanese ancestry to interment camps inland

Many lost their businesses, homes and possessions Important Supreme Court case

Korematsu v. U.S.(1944) The Court ruled that in an emergency citizens may be

forcibly moved and detained in another location. Internment camps were closed when war was over

In 1988 Congress awarded each detainee $20,000.

Map of Japanese-American Internment Camps

Formation of Camps

Interview with Amy Uno Ishii

“…First we had to dispose of all of our belongings and this is a thing that really, really hurt, because we stood by so helpless when people we thought were our friends and our neighbors would come in and say to my mother, “I’ll give you two dollars for your stove and a dollar and a half for your refrigerator and a dollar for your washing machine and 50 cents for each bed in the house, including the mattress and all the linens you know, and things like that really, really hurt because we knew. I was old enough to realize that they took my mother and father 25 years of hard work and piecing together a few little things, you know, and barely getting together the bare necessities of life, you know, and then to have this kind of a thing happen. So we finally were able to get rid of everything except our—we had a piano, an old-fashioned, upright piano that we were very, very fond of, and there was no way that my mother was gonna let that piano go for two dollars. She just refused. She said she’ll take that piano out in the backyard and take an ax to it.”

“…You know, people were living in Sea Biscuit’s stable and all of the various horses’ stables, and the horses were not there, but the straw was still there, and the smell was still there. We were lucky. We lived in the parking lot area where they had constructed these new pre-fabricated barracks.”

Manzanar Relocation Center, April 1942

Inside the fence of an internment camp

School Building

Korematsu v. United States (1944)

Korematsu v. U.S.(1944) involved a Japanese American who was removed to an internment camp

His case was accepted by the Supreme Court Did the President and Congress go beyond their

war powers by implementing exclusion and restricting the rights of Americans of Japanese descent?

Conclusion of Court

The Court said no… The Court sided with the government and

held that the need to protect against espionage outweighed Korematsu's rights.

Justice Black argued that compulsory exclusion, though constitutionally suspect, is justified during circumstances of "emergency and peril." citizens may be forcibly moved and detained in another location.

Meanwhile in 1988…

The US Government officially apologized for the internment in 1988, saying it was based on "race prejudice, war hysteria, and a failure of political leadership", and paid reparations to survivors.

In 1988 Congress awarded each detainee $20,000.

Some compensations for property losses were also paid in 1948, but most internees were unable to fully recover their losses.

Fred Korematsu with a letter of apology from the White House in 1988

Memorial Monument

Was the United States Government Justified in Interning Japanese-Americans in 1942?

“It is fact the Japanese navy has been investigating reconnoitering the Pacific Coast…It is a fact that communication takes place between the enemy at sea and enemy agents on land. The Pacific Coast is officially a combat zone: some part of it may at any moment be a battlefield. Nobody's constitutional rights include the right to reside and do business on a battlefield.”

Walter Lippmann, American columnist February 1942

Arguments for Internment

• The United States was suddenly attacked by Japan.

• These people’s presence on the West Coast was a “Clear and Present Danger” to the nation’s security.

• The President as Commander and Chief has the Constitutional power and responsibility to defend the nation.

• Citizens may not have all their civil liberties in wartime.

More Arguments for Internment

Arguments Against Internment

The evacuation of the Nisei was motivated by racial prejudice.

No evidence was ever uncovered that these citizens were involved in espionage as a group.

Executive order 9066 took away the citizenship of an entire group of people.

German and Italian Americans were not relocated.

These people were denied due process guaranteed by the 14th Amendment.

“Racial discrimination in any form and in any degree has no justifiable part whatever in our democratic way of life…All residents of this nation are kin in some way by blood or culture to a foreign land. Yet they are primarily and necessarily a part of the United States {and are} …entitled to all rights and freedoms guaranteed by the Constitution”

Supreme Court Justice Frank Murphy 1944

More Arguments Against Internment

WHAT DO YOU THINK?