11 07 11 Preparedness and War at Home 1940 1945 1 Preparedness Campaign AMH2020 Notes for Exam 3 a To prepare for the growing war and conflict overseas the United States began to build the American war machine To prepare for any potential conflicts the United States government began the production of military vehicles ships and other equipment that might be needed a After the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941 the United State s urgency to enter the war 2 Problems Waging the War grew 3 Shortage of Workers a At the beginning of World War 2 the rising amount of labor shortages was a major concern The labor shortage resulted from many American industrial workers leaving their former jobs to join the military In result there was not enough workers to meet the industrial demands of the war b By 1943 unemployment was almost unheard of because of this shortage of workers If you wanted a job you could get a job America was considered to be at full employment meaning the unemployment rate was almost nothing This was a dramatic change from the 15 rate of unemployment seen in the late 30s c By the end of the war a large amount of American citizens were involved with military based industries d Labor reforms at this time began to fall by the wayside The government believed that these reforms were undermining the war efforts The past reforms that were instituted during the 1910s and 1930s were put on suspension by authorities for the duration of the war e To compensate for the lack of employees more women began to join the work force while most men left to fight Women moved into a variety of industries many working in factories while some took office positions i Rosie the Riveter was a cultural icon that represents women who took up industrial jobs to replace the men who went off to war Rosie represented strong and patriotic women who contributed to the war support Women made up 1 3 of the work force by 1945 ii After the war when the men came home some of the women maintained their jobs and this began the trend that it was acceptable for females to have positions in the work force This was a large social change that occurred throughout the period of World War Two f African Americans also saw success in the work industry during WWII Many of the important position jobs were formerly held by white men before the war but during the war many of these men left to take high positions in the military This created great opportunities for African Americans After the war many African Americans kept the positions to which they had gained during the war and in result contributed to social change and increased opportunity Old racist attitudes also disappeared during and after the war because many white and black men worked side by side at this time helping to break racial barriers g The government was concerned that because of the work shortage incomes would have to be raised to meet demands of the employees To prevent the increase of wages the government established the National War Labor Board in 1942 The goal of this board was to manage the nations labor supply in order to make sure industrial 4 Shortage of Raw Materials production went smoothly This labor board strived to avoid labor strikes and keep peaceful relationships between companies and laborers The Labor Board was able to create many regulations and laws similar to what the NRA had done a decade before One major regulation passed was to cap wages for industrial workers through the approval of the government This benefited industries and the government while it did not please the American workers a The shortage of raw materials became a huge problem for the American government and American industries In order to be successful in WWII the American Military required large sums of material that was not completely available b A rationing policy for raw materials was used to ensure materials for the military rather than the American people Ration cards were distributed which limited the amount of materials such as gasoline that a person could obtain They also rationed rubber and most ordinary people could rarely own any sort of rubber during this time The government also advertised to the American people that there was a need to conserve and recycle i A victory garden was an example of this form of recycling The government created a concept in which each American family should try to grow their own gardens for food This helped to create a feeling that everyone even if they weren t directly involved with the war was helping America to win the battle c During WWII the Roosevelt Administration wanted to create a planned economy like the NRA had fought for earlier in the 20th century Roosevelt did not trust industries to produce enough material for the war In result Roosevelt stepped in to enforce the transition from the production of normal goods such as cars and home goods to produce war materials i The War Production Board was created to enforce a planned economy to ensure that the US had everything they needed for the war The goal was to centralize organize and help produce goods for the war effort They also helped to allocate materials for specific industries For example the WPB helped the automobile industry transition from car production to tank and aircraft production instead This tactic resulted as a success 1 The WPB prohibited the production of nonessential consumer goods This was a downside of this movement 2 The WPB also dictated styles for civilian apparel in an attempt to conserve anything possibly needed for the war effort Clothing relied on fewer materials and rarely contained any form of metal i During WWII income taxes rose from 4 million in 1939 to 43 million in 1945 ii By the end of the war lowest earners were paying 23 of their income in taxes People with extremely high incomes had to pay up to 94 on taxes iii This new taxation scheme was very successful in funding the war iv Tax revenues on income only paid for about half of the war so the US created war bonds to help provide extra funds b War Bonds i War Bonds were a regular bond yet they were labeled as a war bond to pressure citizens into buying them The idea was that Americans who felt patriotic would provide their money to support the war 5 Funding the War a Taxation ii During the war around 85 million purchased war bonds With personal incomes only rising during this time and the lack of consumer goods to be purchased some Americans saw the only reasonable thing to do with
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