The United States On the Homefront
When Japan attacked The United States' naval base at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, President Roosevelt was no longer able to stay neutral in the war. When America entered World War Two, life changed drastically on the homefront. The absence of many men who became soldiers, along with many other effects of the war, caused huge changes in economic, political and social aspects of life on the homefront of the United States.
Propaganda
Once the United States Army entered World War Two in 1941, it was up to the government to get the rest of the country to support the cause of war. The most important things the army needed during the war included more recruits, supplies such as scrap metal and rubber, and most importantly, support from the home front. Therefore, to acquire what they needed, the government came out with many propaganda posters to get the country behind them. Many posters, like the one on the top of the page included cartoons depicting war-like situations to convince Americans to donate scraps and supplies. Others such as the famous one to the left motivated people on the home front to join the war effort and join the army.
Click on the picture to the left for more propaganda posters found during World War Two.
Click on the picture to the left for more propaganda posters found during World War Two.
Social Life on the Home Front
With the arrival of World War Two in 1941, came the draft of countless American men into the army. The absence of these men brought on a big change in the roles that different Americans played in society on the Home Front. One of the most significant changes that occurred was that of gender roles. Since most of the strong men that normally held important jobs were gone, it was up to the rest of the country to take over where the men had left off. As shown in the propaganda poster to the right, many women broke away from their lives at home with children, and began working to support the war effort. Many women got jobs as factory workers, and other jobs formally held by men. Not only did this change in gender roles greatly impact social life on the Home Front, but also, the women and other workers that took jobs in factories helped build and provide supplies for those fighting in Europe. Along with the women that took up new roles, others such as younger and older people all joined the war effort by getting jobs in factories, growing food for soldiers, and donating scraps and food. Overall, even though the war changed The United States' social structure, it was for the better, as the country united to support the troops over seas.
Below is a good cartoon depicting the change in roles for different people back on the Home Front of World War Two.
War Time Economy
During the war everything that was need was given. People had to start rationing everything. Limits were set on the amount gas, food and clothing consumers could purchase. Families were given a certain number of stamps that were used to buy everything from meat, sugar, fat, butter, vegetables and fruit to gas, tires, clothing and fuel oil. Metal was an essential thing that was needed in the war. Counties help local scrap metal drives, They collected aluminum cans and rubber, all of which were recycled and used to produce things that would go towards supplies to the troops. Saving tin cans for metal to be recycled into military material, eating leftovers, recycling paper, growing vegetables and canning them for later home use, saving gasoline by driving cars slower and less often. The national speed limit was lowered to 35 mph. This was Americas first taste of salvaging and recycling used materials. Even the farmers were encouraged to do the same. 'Sink a Sub From Your Farm': Bring in Your Scrap. That was told to farmers from the the John Deere Company. Clothing was collected to make rags for cleaning machinery, also the clothing was used for cleaning the decks of our navy ships. Many other classes of material were collected for various ultimate uses, all to help in the war effort. The US citizens would do anything that was needed to help win the war.
Japanese American
After Pearl Harbor the American government was afraid of National Security. Not only that but American citizens became very anti-Japanese. Because of this President Roosevelt issued order 9066 which relocated anyone with Japanese ancestry to relocation camps. People with Japanese ancestry were told to pack up and go to an assembly center near there homes for further instruction. They where then moved to the relocation camps. Anything left behind was left behind without any protection. 117,000 Japanese descendants were relocated but many of them were native born American citizens. In total about two-thirds of the relocated Japanese were American citizens. As the war began to come to an end the relocation camps began to evacuate slowly. Many considered the relocation camps necessary but others saw them as concentration camps. Later in 1988 the Reagan-Bush administration gave $20,000 to Japanese descendants that were sent to the relocation camps.
Political
Many changes happened during World War 2 such as tax increase and policies to help service men(white and black) and women. The war cost money. In order to pay for the war taxes went up and heavy borrowing took place by the American Government. The government also lowered the income needed to pay tax. By the end of the war almost everyone was paying taxes instead of only %10 in 1940. Seen as the last New Deal policy, the G.I. Bill- Serviceman Readjustment Act was made in 1944 was created in order to avoid a repeat of the Bonus March of 1932. It paid for a serviceman's entire education making it easy for them to receive a higher education. Because of this many schools increased the enrollment amount. The University of Michigan went from under 10,000 students enrolled to over 30,000. For the servicemen that decided not to get a further education but to look for a job the bill would pay them $20 a week for a year to support them while they looked for a job. The G.I. Bill also enabled servicemen to take out loans with low interest and no down payment. This enabled many families to get houses in suburbs. Although the G.I. Bill has been changed it still partially exists.
Civil Air Patrol
Civil Air Patrol(CAP) was created during World War 2. CAP is a non profit organization that is still around today. It was created with Administrative order 9 and the first National Commander was Major General John F. Curry. CAP's mission during World War 2 was to have civilians do coastal and boarder air patrols hence the name. On occasion CAP members attached bombs to their planes and bombed U-boats. In total CAP spotted 173 enemy U-boats, attacked 57, hit 10 and sank 2 as well as killing and unfortunate whale. After World War 2 CAP was made the official auxiliary of the Air Force. Today CAP still exists but can not take part of any combat.