Theme 3: d - war & the economy

Question 1

What was production like 1941-45?

Answer 1

• USA produced 86,000 tanks
• 296,000 aircraft
• 15 mil rifles

Question 2

How did an increase in demand affect farmers?

Answer 2

• farm income grew by 250%
• farmers grew bigger & production increased by 25%
• concerns of overproduction & falling prices were no longer necessary

Question 3

What was the unemployment rate in 1940 & 1944?

Answer 3

1940: 14%
1944: 1.2%

Unemployment had effectively ceased by 1942

Question 4

How did the war affect women’s employment?

Answer 4

in 1944 alone, 6.5 mil women entered the labour workforce

by the end of the war 60% of women were employed

Question 5

How did employment in the Federal Gov change? (1939-44)

Answer 5

1939: 50,000 working for them
1944: rose to 200,000

Question 6

How did employment change for young people?

Answer 6

• 66% of teen boys found working

1940: 900,000 14-18 yr olds in work
1944: 3 mil were (1/3 of the age group)

Question 7

What were the consequences of high employment in young people?

Answer 7

• many states had to change their child labour laws to facilitate this
• teens (esp those with both parents working/at war) became more assertive
• elders complained of a decline in deference
• a youth culture emerged (Zoot-suits, popular music)

Question 8

What did young people in education look like?

Answer 8

• many saw it as irrelevant
• no. of teens in high school fell from 6.6 mil (1940) to 5.6 mil (1944)
• some said the biggest concern for youth was delinquent behaviour
• led to a ‘back-to-school’ drive 1944

Question 9

How did federal spending change during the war?

Answer 9

The Gov spent twice as much between 1941-45 than it had in the prev 150 years

Question 10

How were taxes changed during the war & what was the impact?

Answer 10

• raised so those with incomes over $200,000 paid 94% tax
• gave a greater sense of equality
• poor grew wealthier & the rich received a smaller national income

Question 11

How did war bonds help the economy?

Answer 11

They provided 50% of gov income & were enthusiastically promoted by celebs nationwide

Question 12

What legislation allowed for more gov intervention in people’s lives?

Answer 12

1940: Smith Act
* made it illegal to threaten to overthrow the gov
* first associated with fascists but soon communists

1940: Selective Service Act
* intro conscription
* first for men age 21-25
* extended at the outbreak of war to 18-45

Question 13

What did the Office of War Mobilization do? (1943)

Answer 13

Controlled production, food prices & rents

• meat, sugar & petrol rationed
• car production stopped entirely
• clothes made from less material

Question 14

How did rationing affect the spending power of people?

Answer 14

• as there was little to buy & wages were rising people saved money
• nationally, by 1945 they had $140 bil in savings
• fuelled a post-war boom

Question 15

How did prices change in relation to wages during the war?

Answer 15

• prices rose by 28%
• wages rose by 40%
  
  • av weekly wage almost doubled from $24 –> $44

:)

Question 16

What were the other government agencies which interfered with people’s lives?

Answer 16

• The War Production Board
• The Office of Price Admin & Civilian Supply
• The National War Labour Board
• The Office of Economic Stabilization

Question 17

How did the war affect migration?

Answer 17

• 1 in 8 civilians moved to find war work, often from South to North & from East to West
• est. 27 mil Americans moved during war
• pop of rural areas fell by 29%
  RESULT: housing shortages, esp near defence plants

Question 18

What social problems did wartime bring?

Answer 18

• divorce rate increased from 20% –> 29% (1940-44)
• rise in youth crime - less parental control
• fear of the first youth ‘cult’ (bobbysoxers)
• increasingly fewer high school students
• general fear of a loss in deference

Question 19

How did membership for labour unions change during the war?

Answer 19

1940: 10.5 mil
1945: 15 mil

Question 20

Why did the federal government encourage workers to recognise unions?

Answer 20

• the AFL & CIO supported the war efforts & agreed to avoid strikes
• It was understood that if industrial disputes could not be resolved then they’d be taken to the National War Labour Board
• then they would help negotiate a binding settlement

Question 21

What did industrial relations look like during the war?

Answer 21

Considerable industrial unrest
* 1943: 400,000 coal miners went on strike for 12 days

Although, many saw this as unpatriotic as thousands of men were fighting for less money than they were even earning

Question 22

What was the 1943 Smith-Connally War Labour Disputes Act?

Answer 22

• response to the miners strike
• allowed federal gov to take control of any essential industries faced with industrial action
• used first to break a strike by public transport workers in 1944

Question 23

What were the three factors sociologists found to be the cause of strike action? (1944)

Answer 23

1. Discipline & working conditions
2. What were perceived as unfair company policies
3. Support for a dismissed colleague

Question 24

How was labour efficiency impacted by industrial action during the war years?

Answer 24

It’s estimated that it fell between 20-50% during the war years

Question 25

What was the Taft-Hartley Act & how did it impact strike action?

Answer 25

Taft-Hartley Act:

• outlawed closed shop & secondary strikes
• made union leaders swear they were non-communist
• gave the President power to prevent strikes that he considered to be against the national interest

Impact:
* saw an end to serve industrial unrest

Question 26

What new industries emerged because of the war?

Answer 26

• advanced electronics
• telecommunications
• synthetic materials
• pharmaceuticals
• atomic energy

Question 27

Why did the synthetic rubber industry take off in the US?

Answer 27

• Due to conquests in the Far East, Japan cut of 90% of the USA’s supply of natural rubber
• by 1944 the US was converting petrol into synthetic rubber
• process so successful that by 1945, 51 plants were operating
• 1945: US biggest exporter of synthetic rubber in the world

Question 28

Why did the pharmaceutical industry take off in the US?

Answer 28

• demand for penicillin
• 1942: federal gov gave 60 companies funding to begin the mass production of penicillin
• saved thousands & became the most profitable industry in the world
• Pfizer developed a fermentation technique that allowed them to produce more than ever before

Question 29

What is a military-industrial complex?

Answer 29

The relationship between the US military & the industrialists who supply it with materials

Question 30

How did the economy change with rearmament?

Answer 30

• in 1940 10% of national income was spent on defence
• by 1945 this had risen to 50%
• 33% of the economy devoted to war production

Question 31

How did the change in the economy affect production?

Answer 31

• enabled production to sg increase

* by early 1945 the US was producing enough to supply 50% of the armaments needs of it’s allies

Question 32

How was significant war production achieved?

Answer 32

• economic changed
• normal production was diverted to war production
  
  • automobile factories switched to produce cars &trucks
  • as a whole was producing 20% of all war production
• centres of armament production created
  
  • naval & aircraft in Northwest & California
• Infrastructure remained so military spending could continue