Ch 17 Section 4The Impact of the War

Great Depression 1930s – time of hardship,suffering and deprivation

World War II 1940s – time of opportunity, lots of jobs and money to spend (despiterationing and shortages)

Economic GainsWorking people –1.Unemployment fell to 1.4% by 19442.Paychecks rose by 70%3.People able to save money

Economic GainsFarmers–1.Had good weather (unlike 1930s Dust Bowl, etc)2.Improved machinery, fertilizer, rising crop prices3.Crop production increased by 50%4.Farm income TRIPLED

Economic GainsWomen1.Over 6 million women entered workforce (35% of workforce = women)2. 1/3 of jobs were in defense industry (better pay, more challenging work)3. More opportunity for women (some designed planes in Engineering Depts)

Population ShiftsThe War Triggered One of the Greatest Mass Migrations of Am History1.Millions of servicemen and women sent all over the world2.Americans suddenly uprooted themselves to seek work3.States with military bases/defense industries had large population gains (Conn., Maryland, Delaware, Florida, the Pacific Coast states)

Social Adjustments1. Mothers raised children alone2. Teenage juvenile delinquency3. Fathers returning from war had to readjust4. Huge marriage boom

The GI Bill of Rights (The Servicemen’s Readjustment Act)

1. provided education and training for veterans (colleges and tech schools)1. Provided federal loans for houses, farms and starting businesses for veterans Result: Millions who otherwise would never have been able to afford a college education or a house were able to improve their prospects after the war.

African-Americans in the Military• Military was segregated• African-Americans assigned menial tasks at first• Pressure from civil rights organizations forced the military to allow

blacks to serve in combat• The Buffaloes – 92nd Division, 7 Legion of Merit Awards, 65 Silver

Stars, 162 Bronze Stars• Tuskegee Airmen – won two Distinguished Unit Citations for its

outstanding combat against the German Luftwaffe

African-Americans at Home• Many African-Americans moved from the South to the

West Coast to get good paying jobs. • James Farmer – founder of CORE (Congress of Racial

Equality) 1942 Purpose: to fight racial urban segregation in the North - staged their first “sit-in” protest at a Chicago restauran 1943 – racial violence swept the country

1943 Detroit Race Riot• June 1943 – fight started between blacks and whites at a beach and then mushroomed when some nearby sailors got involved - Lasted 3 days because of rumors that whites had murdered a black woman and her child and rumors that blacks had killed 17 whites. - FDR sent federal troops into the city to restore order - 9 whites and 25 blacks died

Mexican-Americans in Wartime

• 17 Mexican-Americans won the Medal of Honor• 1943- The Zoot Suit Riots – Los Angeles; - 11 sailors reported that they were attacked by Mexican-Americans -two nights of violence between thousands of servicemen and civilians

- The city of Los Angeles outlawed the wearing of “zoot suits”

Japanese-Americans• Many young Japanese-American men whose families were

interned enlisted to prove their loyalty.• The 100th Battalion – 1400 Hawaiian Nesei (American-

born); fought in Africa and Italy; often referred to as “The Purple Heart Battalion” because 300 were killed and 650 wounded. Later they merged into the…

• The all-Nesei 442nd Regimental Combat Team – the most decorated combat unit of the war

Korematsu v. United States

• Supreme Court case• 1944 – The Court decided that the decision to evacuate

Japanese-Americans to interment camps was justified on the basis of military necessity.

Japanese-American Citizens League (JACL) – pushed the U.S. government to compensate those sent to camps for their lost property.In 1965 – Congress authorized $38 million (less than 1/10th

of their actual losses) for that purpose.In the 1980s - President Ronald Reagan signed a bill (The Civil Liberties Act of 1988) that promised $20,000 to every Japanese-American sent to a relocation camp. The checks were sent in 1990 with a letter of apology from President George H. W. Bush.)