US HomefrontDuring World War II

Sammy, Nikki, Ross, Samantha, Amanda

Pascack Hills High School

Ms. Jane Yeam, History

Economic Gains• Despite rationing and shortages, people in

America had money to spend• At the end of WWII, America emerged as the

world’s dominant economic and military power

• Defense industries boomed.• Average weekly pay rose 10% during the

war• Farmers prospered because of good

weather for growing crops during the 1940’s• Over 6 million women entered the world

force for the first time during WWII– Defense plants– Openings in journalism with men away

Population Shifts• Families uprooted

themselves to find work elsewhere

• Over 1 million newcomers went to California between 1941 and 1944

• Towns with defense industries populations doubled

• African Americans in the South left for the North in record numbers

Social Adjustments• Mothers struggled to raise children

alone• Children were used to being left alone• New families were created as lovers

rushed to get married before the man could be deployed

• GI Bill of Rights: Provided education and training for soldiers when they returned home as well as loans to buy homes, farms, or start new businesses– 7.8 million veterans attended

colleges under the GI Bill

Japanese Americans in Hawaii after Pearl Harbor

• The Japanese had tragic results during World War II.• After the attack on Pearl Harbor in Hawaii on December 7, 1941, people feared another Japanese attack.• The military governor of Hawaii, General Delos Emmons was forced to act.• Not wanting to do harm to the Japanese-Americans in Hawaii, he sent less than one percent of the state’s Japanese-Americans into internment camps.

West Coast’s Reaction

• On the West Coast, people feared another attack from the Japanese.• Japanese-Americans, even those born in the country, had to face

prejudice on the West Coast.• States such as California had a minority of Japanese citizens that had

to face the prejudice of the whites, yet they were not large enough counter their negativity.

• Newspapers and other media outlets negatively and falsely portrayed the Japanese to influence the audience.

• False rumors and stories were made about the Japanese.

Internment Camps

• On Ferbruary 19,1942, President Franklin Roosevelt signed order removing people with Japanese ancestors from California, part of Washington, Oregon, and Arizona.

• He stated that this was necessary for security of the country.• 110,000 Japanese-Americans were sent to internment camps that

were called “relocation centers” to separate them from the rest of the country.

• Relocation camps were located in California, Idaho, Utah, Wyoming, Arizona, Colorado, and Arkansas.

• Roughly two-thirds of the Japanese-Americans sent to the camps were Nisei, people born in America whose parents were Japanese immigrants.

• Thousands of Nisei had already joined the military to fight in the war.

Internment of Japanese Americans

• There were never any specific charges filed against Japanese Americans nor was any evidence of subversion found.

• Still, Japanese American families had to sell their homes, businesses, and belongings for less than their actual value to be placed in camps.

• Many Japanese Americans fought in courts and in Congress for justice, though their results were very discouraging.

• The U.S Supreme Court justified the governmental policy of evacuating Japanese Americans to camps by saying it was “a military necessity”.

Persistence of JACL• The Japanese American Citizens League (JACL) fought for the

compensation of Japanese Americans forced into camps by the American government.

• The JACL made some progress in 1965, when the Congress passed a policy of spending $38 million to those Japanese Americans who faced internment.

– This was less than a tenth of the actual losses that Japanese Americans faced, so the JACL was not satisfied yet.

• In 1978, the JACL fought again for a payment to every Japanese American detainee.

– Ten years later, a bill was passed by Congress and President Ronald Reagan ensuring $20,000 to every Japanese American detainee.

– In 1990, the checks were sent out accompanied by a letter written by President George Bush apologizing for the wrong and racism the government had imposed on these Japanese American internment victims.

Civil Rights Protest

• Thousands of Africans left to the South, and the majority moved to the midwest for better jobs

• Between 1940-1946, percentage of African Americans working in skilled or semiskilled jobs rose 14%

• However, constant discrimination

Civil Rights Protests

• James Farmer founded the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) in 1942 to confront segregation in the North

• Tidal Wave of racial violence in 1943• Conflict in June of Detroit- fighting for three days, fueled

by false rumors that whites had murdered a black woman and child and that black rioters killed 17 whites

• By 1945, 400 committees had been established by American communities to improve race relations

Tensions in Los Angeles• Mexican violence in 1943• “Zoot suit” was a style of dress by Mexican-American youths as a

symbol of their rebellion against tradition• Riots began with 11 sailors in LA reported they were attacked by

zoot-suit-wearing Mexican Americans• Mobs poured into Mexican Neighborhoods and grabbed zoot-

suiters• Riots lasted almost a week and resulted in the beating of hundreds

of Mexican American youth and other minorities• Mexican Americans still believed that their sacrifices in the war

would lead to a better future.