BECOMING AMERICANS AGAIN · BECOMING AMERICANS AGAIN The vast effort required to fight a global war had a transforming effect on Virginia. World War II unleashed forces that brought

BECOMING AMERICANS AGAIN

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The vast effort required to fight a global war had a transforming effect on Virginia World War II unleashed forces that brought the commonshywealth back into the national mainstream and reinforced Virginiansrsquo idenshytity as Americans

STANDARDS OF LEARNING

K1 12 25 211VS7 US18 US19VUS7VUS14

KEY POINTS

bull American participation in World War I was too short to effect permanent change in Virginia but the war accelerated the migration of black Virginians to northern cities

bull The sudden collapse of France in World War II triggered a huge American defense buildup that affected Virginia enormously

bull Virginia thrived economically because of its shipbuilding facilities numerous military bases and camps the munitions industry that was protected by the western mountains and the statersquos proximity to Washington DC from which there was a huge spillover of federal jobs

bull In 1942 there was naval combat off the coast of Virginia but the state was never attacked by the Axis powers

bull Although the war was not fought on Virginia soil it was a total war that reached into every community and touched every VirginianThree hundred thousand Virginians served in unishyform and 7000 were killed

bull The mechanization of agriculture spurred by wartime labor shortages permanently freed large numbers of Virginians for the retail and service economy of the postwar period

bull Vast tracts of prefabricated single-dwelling houses built for war workers were prototypes for the postwar suburbs

bull The broadened experiences of blacks and women gave impetus to the postwar civil rights and womenrsquos movements

BECOMING AMERICANS AGAIN bull 99

WORLD WAR I Virginia-born president Woodrow Wilson led the war effort against the Central Powers in 1917 and 1918 Virginians welcomed the jobs opened up by a huge guncotton (explosive) plant at Hopewell and the growth of the largest naval base in Norfolk They also mourned the loss of 1200 Virginians who gave their lives in their countryrsquos serviceAmerican participation in the war lasted only nineteen monthsmdashtoo short a time to alter Virginiarsquos economic social or political sysshytem

World War I bond drive

100 bull BECOMING AMERICANS AGAIN

WOODROW WILSON (1856ndash1924) Thomas Woodrow Wilson was the twenty-eighth presishydent of the United States He was born in Staunton Virginia on December 28 1856 the son and grandshyson of Presbyterian ministersWilson left Virginia at an early age He grew up in Georgia and South Carolina where he read the classics and develshyoped a love of history Wilson was greatly influshyenced by his study of the Civil War and the Reconstruction period

Wilson served as a history and political science professor at several colleges before he became president of Princeton University in 1902 His innoshyvative reorganization of the university caught the attention of James Smith boss of the New Jersey Democratic Party Smith encouraged Wilson to run for governor and he was elected to that office in 1910 Under Wilsonrsquos stewardship the New Jersey legislature passed a number of Progressive measures including direct primaries municishypal reform antitrust legislation regulation of public utilities and reorganization of the school sysshytemThese accomplishments as governor brought Wilson into the national spotlight

Woodrow Wilson was elected president in 1912 As president he pushed for Progressive reforms Known as ldquoNew Freedomrdquo this program lowered the tariff established the Federal Reserve and directed antitrust legislation through Congress In 1916 Wilson was re-elected through his efforts to keep America out of the war in Europe Less than six months later howshyever on April 6 1917 Congress declared war on Germany

For the idealistic WilsonWorld War I was a crusade to make ldquothe world safe for democracyrdquo When the treaty was debated at the Versailles Conference Wilson advocated the famous ldquoFourteen Pointsrdquo which included leniency for the defeated countries democracy and self-detershymination for all peoples and the creation of a League of Nations to resolve international conshyflictsThe League of Nations was established but the Senate refused to ratify the Versailles treaty and join the international organization This congressional defeat left Wilson bitter and disillushysioned The elections of Republican Warren G Harding to the presidency in 1920 signaled an end to Wilsonian idealism and a return to ldquonormalcyrdquo Wilson died on February 3 1924

Critical Thinking

Wilson and Democracy

President Wilson believed in world democracy and a world organization to promote global peace Do you think that democracy can be achieved in most nations What are the major accomplishshyments of the United Nations What are some of the reasons why peace is so difficult to maintain


WORLD WAR II Adolf Hitlerrsquos lightning-quick conquest of France in 1940 led to an American defense buildup that had enormous consequences in VirginiaVirginians were more willing than many other Americans to send aid to Great Britain as that country faced the Nazis alone after the fall of France

World War II ration book and coupons

WAR WORK The defense buildup of 1940ndash41 effectively ended the Great Depression and raised Virginia to unprecedented levels of prosperity and employment Several factors contributed to this growth including shipbuilding in Hampton Roads the construction and expansion of federal facilities across the state the manufacture of munitions and other materials across the state and enorshymous growth of the federal government some of which spilled over into Northern Virginia from Washington DC Among southern statesVirginia ranked behind only Texas in the value of war contracts

In war industry jobs and in other jobs left open by men serving in the military the war opened up new fields for women African Americans also benefited especially after the federal governshyment proclaimed equal pay regardless of race for workers doing the same jobWhen many blacks left Virginia for employment in northern cities the war work transformed black Virginians from a rural to a largely urban peopleThe opening of the Pentagon in 1943 the worldrsquos largest office building symbolized the growing importance of the federal government to Virginiarsquos economy


ldquoWHAT CAN I DOrdquo After Pearl Harbor Virginians askedldquoWhat can I dordquo Many found the answer in volunteer war work Some assumed civilian defence functions as air raid wardens or plane spotshyters Others worked for the Red Cross rolling bandages and serving coffee and doughnuts to traveling servicemen and women

When I joined the Virginia National Guard I thought I was going to Virginia Beach Instead I went to Omaha Beach

mdashA Virginia veteran

A volunteer air raid warden employed by the Newport News Shipbuilding and Drydock Company

THE USO The United Service Organization (USO) provided a home away from home for servicemen and women on leave It was extremely active in Virginia because of the statersquos numerous military posts and naval basesThe USO was a consortium of the Jewish Welfare Board the National Catholic Community Service the National Travelersrsquo Aid Association the Salvation Army the YMCA and the YWCA It sponsored special parties dances games and sports for soldiers sailors and marines


THE WAR AT HOME AND IN SCHOOL World War II was called a total war because its prosecution involved all elements of American society and economy Conservation of resources became a civilian contributionThe motto was ldquoUse it up wear it our make do or do withoutrdquo Schools conducted drives to collect rubber scrap metal waste paper cooking fats and tin cans Rationing limited the consumption of rubber nylon sugar shortening butter liquor gasoline vegetables and meat

Left school-organized scrap rubber drive Below Boy Scouts in Gloucester collecting aluminum

Critical Thinking

During World War II many items were rationed and prices were fixed to prevent profishyteering Are these kinds of controls justified in a free enterprise system If so under what conditions


BOND DRIVES Only a small fraction of the war could be paid for by normal government revenueThe governshyment financed the war with loans from the American peopleAmericans were encouraged to put 10 percent of their income into buying war bonds

War Bond Rally in Harrisonburg 1944 by Evelyn Byrd Deyerle (Lent by the Deyerle family)


WORLD WAR AND AFRICAN VIRGINIANS Migration to the North was nothing new for African Virginians Since the Civil War blacks had been heading north by the thousands to seek betshyter jobs and relief from the Jim Crow lawsThe two world wars not only helped bolster this migration but also gave African Americans an opportunity to show their mettle and prove to the world that they deserved equal rights

In World War II Americans fought against enemies in Europe and in the Pacific who used ideas of racial superiority to justify aggressive expansionshyism This irony was not lost on black Americans who nonetheless answered the call to arms and performed bravely throughout the war fighting for the ldquoDouble Vrdquo (victory over the Axis powers abroad and victory over racism and Jim Crow segshyregation at home) In 1941A Philip Randolph of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters threatshyened President Franklin D Roosevelt with a march on Washington DC if salaries for blacks and whites in defense industries were not equalized Roosevelt responded by creating the Fair Employment Practices Committee which attempted to end hiring and wage discrimination in industries with government contracts

In the Museum

Tuskegee Airmen

One of the warrsquos most famous fighting units was the Tuskegee AirmenmdashAfrican American pilots who protected bombers on missions over Europe Clemenceau Givings a Virginia Union University gradshyuate was a member of the airmen He was killed on a bombing mission in 1944 Find his scrapbook and the telegram to his parents reporting his death

PRISON CAMPS IN VIRGINIA In mid-1945 there were 17000 German prisoners of wars (POWs) in twenty-seven different camps across Virginia In addition Japanese diplomats and their families from the Washington embassy were confined in Hot SpringsThe number of POWs in Virginia increased in 1943 after the North African campaign

Camp Lee and Camp Pickett each had facilities to hold about 1000 POWs who were required to work in war-related activities such as cutting plywood picking fruits and vegetables and workshying in factories POWs were also required to take classes that focused on democracy the US Constitution political parties and the American economy

In December 1946 in accordance with the Geneva Convention of 1929 the United States announced that it would pay $200 million to former POWs or their dependents for work done while in American camps


In the Museum

Identify the following people

1 Clemenceau Givings ____ As USArmy chief of staff during World War II he was called ldquothe organizer of victoryrdquo by Winston Churchill He attended the Virginia

2 Archer A Vandegrift Military Institute

____ He was the only officer from Comshy3 George C Marshall pany A of the 116th Infantry to survive

the D-Day invasion Company A was from Bedford which lost twenty-three of its sons that day

4 Lewis ldquoChestyrdquo Puller

____ A Charlottesville native he commandshyed the First Marine Division at

5 Douglas MacArthur Guadalcanal

____ Commander of the US forces in the 6 Jacob Morewitz Pacific he chose to be buried in

Norfolk his motherrsquos hometown

7 Ray Nance ____ A Newport News maritime attorney he probably saved the lives of eighty Jewish refugees aboard the Quanza

____ A Richmond native he was member of the Tuskegee Airmen

____ This West Point native led the First Marine Division at PeleliuWhen he retired he was the most decorated marine in history


Activities

World War II

bull As part of a class project develop a simulation for the Versailles Conference similar to the Model UN program Assume the identity of one of the conference participants and argue that nationrsquos position on such issues as territorial boundaries reparations and the League of Nations

bull Discuss American isolationism in the late 1930s and early 1940sWhy was there so little isolashytionist sentiment in Virginia

bull Building on some of the ideas in the exhibition discuss the ways ordinary Americans were involved in fighting World War II Find examples of these things in your community

bull Using Virginia as an example discuss the economic effect of mobilization on the home front How did this lead to social change

bull Find a Life magazine from World War II How is the war depicted in news articles Study the advertisements

bull Listen to President Rooseveltrsquos ldquoday of infamyrdquo speech in class and write a reaction paper

bull World War II has been called ldquoThe Good Warrdquo Was it a good war Why or why not

Saying goodbye at the train station


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K1 12 25 211VS7 US18 US19VUS7VUS14

KEY POINTS

















Critical Thinking

















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In the Museum

Tuskegee Airmen






In the Museum















Activities

World War II













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KEY POINTS

















Critical Thinking

















Critical Thinking








In the Museum

Tuskegee Airmen






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World War II

















Critical Thinking

















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In the Museum

Tuskegee Airmen






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Activities

World War II














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In the Museum

Tuskegee Airmen






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Activities

World War II























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In the Museum

Tuskegee Airmen






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World War II


















Critical Thinking








In the Museum

Tuskegee Airmen






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World War II












Critical Thinking








In the Museum

Tuskegee Airmen






In the Museum















Activities

World War II















In the Museum

Tuskegee Airmen






In the Museum















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World War II












In the Museum

Tuskegee Airmen






In the Museum















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World War II










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World War II










Documents

BECOMING AMERICANS AGAIN · BECOMING AMERICANS AGAIN The vast effort required to fight a global war had a transforming effect on Virginia. World War II unleashed forces that brought