Unit 5 Lesson 10: The homefront

Question 1

What was womens role in the army?

Answer 1

Women joined all the armed services. Women pilots logged 60 million air miles ferrying bombers from base to base, towing targets, and teaching men to fly. Although women were not allowed in combat, many served close to the front lines.

Question 2

Who controlled the economy in WWII?

Answer 2

Even more than in World War I, the government controlled the economy during World War II. Government agencies set the prices of goods, negotiated with labor unions, and decided what should be produced.

Question 3

What did the War Production Board help with?

Answer 3

The War Production Board helped factories shift from making consumer goods to making guns, ships, aircraft, and other war materials. Automobile makers, for example, switched to producing tanks and trucks.
In 1942 alone, American workers produced more than 48,000 planes and shipped more than 8 million tons of goods.

Question 4

To control shortages and ensure that enough raw materials would be available for war production, the government imposed rationing, or limits on certain goods that people could buy. How did the governement enforce this?

Answer 4

The government gave Americans ration coupons to purchase coffee, sugar, meat, gasoline, and other goods. When people ran out of coupons, they could not buy the items until new coupons were issued.

Question 5

What are victory gardens how and why did they come to be?

Answer 5

Consumer goods became scarce. To combat food shortages, many Americans planted victory gardens. At the height of the war, more than 20 million victory gardens produced 40 percent of all vegetables grown in the country.

Question 6

How did the US pay for the war?

Answer 6

To pay for the war, the government raised taxes. Also, as was the case in World War I, the U.S. government borrowed money from millions of American citizens by selling war bonds. Americans could buy a bond for a certain price with the expectation that they could redeem the bond from the government after ten years for a profit. In the meantime, the government would then use the money from bond sales to pay for the war. Movie stars took part in drives to sell bonds and boost patriotic spirit.

Question 7

How did the war affect unempolyment?

Answer 7

The war quickly ended the Great Depression. Unemployment fell as millions of jobs opened up in factories. Minority workers found jobs where they had been rejected in the past.

Question 8

How did Women join the work force?

Answer 8

Almost five million women entered the work force. They replaced the men who joined the armed services. Many women worked in offices. Millions more kept the nation’s factories operating around the clock.

Question 9

How were working conditions for women?

Answer 9

Because women were badly needed in industry, they were able to win better pay and working conditions. The government agreed that women and men should get the same pay for the same job. Many employers, however, found ways to avoid equal pay.

Question 10

How did womens fashion choices change as they entered the workforce?

Answer 10

The war also changed fashions for women. Instead of wearing skirts on the job, many women dressed in trousers. They wore overalls and tied scarves around their hair. More importantly, war work gave many women a new sense of confidence.

Question 11

When the war began, African Americans rallied to their nation’s cause, as they had during World War I. What was the Double V campaign?

Answer 11

African Americans decided to pursue a “Double V” campaign—victory over the enemy abroad and victory over discrimination at home.

Question 12

Who was A. Philip Randolph?

Answer 12

In 1941, A. Philip Randolph, head of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters, called for a protest march on Washington. The government, he said, “will never give the Negro justice until they see masses—ten, twenty, fifty thousand Negroes on the White House lawn.”

Question 13

Why did government officals meet with Randolph?

Answer 13

Government officials worried that such a march would feed Hitler’s propaganda machine.

Question 14

What was the result of Randolphs protest?

Answer 14

After meeting with Randolph, FDR ordered employers that did business with the government to end discrimination in hiring. As a result, the employment of skilled black workers doubled during the war.

Question 15

Whagt caused racial tension to increase?

Answer 15

However, as black employment increased, so did racial tension. Thousands of Americans—black and white—moved to cities to work in industry. Competition for scarce housing led to angry incidents. In 1943, race riots broke out in Detroit, New York, and other cities.

Question 16

Who was Dorie Miller?

Answer 16

One of the earliest heroes of the war was Dorie Miller, an African American sailor serving on the battleship West Virginia. During the attack on Pearl Harbor, Miller dragged his wounded captain to safety. Then, though he had no training as a gunner, Miller manned a machine gun to defend his ship against enemy planes. For heroism in action, Miller was awarded the Navy Cross.

Question 17

Afircan American contribution to the war?

Answer 17

African Americans in the navy served as gunners’ mates and helped build bases in the Pacific. African American marines helped defend American posts against Japanese attacks.

Question 18

Who were the Tuskrgrr Airmen?

Answer 18

The Tuskegee Airmen were African American fighter pilots who trained at Tuskegee, Alabama. By the end of the war, the Tuskegee airmen had destroyed or damaged about 400 enemy aircraft.

The contributions of African Americans to the war effort increased their determination to win justice at home. After the war, black veterans would be at the forefront of a renewed campaign for civil rights.

Question 19

How were Japansese Americans treated during the war?

Answer 19

After the attack on Pearl Harbor, many Americans questioned the loyalty of Japanese Americans. Some thought they might act as spies and help Japan invade the United States. No evidence of disloyalty existed. Yet, President Roosevelt signed an order allowing the army to move Japanese Americans from their homes to “relocation camps.”

Question 20

Korematsu V. US

Answer 20

Later, a court case challenged the order, but the Supreme Court decided in Korematsu v. United States that such an order was constitutional in times of war.
Fred Korematsu was an American citizen outraged that the government would treat citizens like this. He defied the order. His argument went all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court. He claimed that the United States denied him his liberty without due process of law, as promised by the Constitution of the United States

Question 21

What was the 442nd Nisei Redimental Combat Team?

Answer 21

espite unfair treatment, thousands of Japanese American men served in the armed forces. Most were put in segregated units and sent to fight in Europe. There, they won many honors for bravery. The 442nd Nisei Regimental Combat Team became the most highly decorated military unit in United States history.

Question 22

What did congress do the Japanese Americans in 1988?

Answer 22

Years later, in 1988, Congress apologized to Japanese Americans who had suffered from internment, or temporary imprisonment, during World War II. Congress also approved compensation, or repayment for losses, in the amount of $20,000 to every survivor of the camps.

Question 23

How were Germans and Italians treated in America?

Answer 23

About 11,000 German Americans and several hundred Italian Americans were also held in government camps as “enemy aliens.” Other German Americans and Italian Americans faced curfews or travel restrictions.

Question 24

What was the Bracero Program?

Answer 24

Because of the need for workers, the United States signed a treaty with Mexico in 1942. It allowed the recruitment of Mexican laborers to work in the United States. Under this Bracero Program, many Mexicans moved north to work on farms and railroads

Question 25

Fred Korematsu’s fight for justice timeline:

Answer 25

• 1942—Executive Order 9066 is issued
  The order allows the military to remove any person from war zones. Japanese Americans on the West Coast are forcibly relocated to internment camps. Fred Korematsu is arrested and convicted for resisting the order.
• 1944—Korematsu v. United States
  Korematsu appeals to the Supreme Court and argues that his constitutional rights have been violated. The government rejects his appeal, saying the military order was justified for security reasons.
• 1983—Korematsu’s conviction is overturned
  The U.S. District Court of Northern California sets aside Korematsu’s conviction. However, unless a similar event occurs and the Korematsu ruling is challenged, the 1944 Supreme Court decision still stands.
• 1988—Government apologizes to Japanese Americans
  Congress formally apologizes to the Japanese Americans who were interned during World War II. Each survivor is paid reparations of $20,000.
• 1998—Fred Korematsu awarded Presidential Medal of Freedom
  President Clinton says: “In the long history of our country’s constant search for justice, some names of ordinary citizens stand for millions of souls: Plessy. Brown. Parks. To that distinguished list, today we add the name of Fred Korematsu.”