Life on the home front in WWII

1. Life on the Home Front
Ch.20 Sec.3

2. Women & Minorities Gain
Ground
 Women on the Home Front
 Were able to easily find jobs outside the home due
to labor shortages
 Helped women gain independence, respect outside
of traditional roles
 P.R. campaigns used “Rosie the Riveter” to
encourage women to take action

3. Women & Minorities Gain
Ground
 African Americans on the Home Front
 Women were being hired by factories, but not
African Americans
 A Phillip Randolph organized the 1st attempt to
march on Washington to protest workplace
discrimination
 Roosevelt responded by organizing the 1st civil
rights agency to fight discrimination
 Mexicans on the Home Front
 Bracero Program encouraged Mexicans to come
live in the U.S. to work on farms
 Helped establish Mexican immigration in the SW
United States

4. A Nation on the Move
 Economy Changes & Challenges
 Businesses began popping up in the South,
became known as the “Sunbelt”
 Workers who had moved to cities for work had no
place to live
 Govt built temporary housing for nearly 2 million
workers during WWII
 Racism & Violence in the U.S.
 Racism intensified as the Great Migration continued
into WWII
 Detriot, MI saw riots that killed 25 African Americans
& 9 Caucasians

5. A Nation on the Move
 Zoot Suit Riots
 Racism against Mexican Americans had increased
due to immigration
 Many Mexican teenagers began wearing zoot suits
for fashion
 Zoot suits were considered “anti-American”, led to
violence against Mexicans
 June 1943, 2,500 American sailors stormed
Mexican neighborhoods for zootsuiters, police did
noting

6. Japanese-American Relocation
 Japanese Internment Camps
 Suspicions against Japanese Americans was high
during WWII
 Media ran stories of Japanese spies in the U.S.
 Many began calling for Japanese Americans to be
removed from the West Coast
 Govt set up “camps” around the U.S. where
Japanese American families were forced to more
into

7. Daily Life in Wartime America
 Rationing
 Supplies were needed for troops, govt set up a
system to conserve materials for the war
 Each family sent a monthly book of ration coupons
for certain goods
 Products included rubber, meat, sugar, vegetables
 Speed limits lowered to conserve gas
 Victory Gardens
 Any piece of land that could be used to grow food
domestically should be used by “true Americans”
 Scrap Drives
 Towns organized events to donate any spare metal
for war effort

8. Daily Life in Wartime America
 E Bonds
 Govt needed to raise money to pay for its war
supplies
 Bonds allowed people to buy checks for a certain
price that could be redeemed for a higher one later
on
 Nearly $50 billion in bonds were sold in the U.S.