Unit 5 – The World at War (WWII) Section 5 – The Homefront

The Students Will Be Able To (TSWBAT):

Identify the major accomplishments of American women during WWII

Understand characteristics of everyday life for Americans at home during WWII

Evaluate the US’s decision to send Japanese-Americans to internment camps during WWII

Key Words:

Internment camp

Income tax

War bond

Propaganda

Korematsu v. US

EQ: How was the American homefront affected by US entry into WWII? What key roles did women play? Was the US decision to create internment camps justified?

During World War II the Army Corps of Engineers needed to hide the Lockheed Burbank Aircraft Plant to protect it from Japanese air attack. They covered it with camouflage netting to make it look like a rural subdivision from the air.

Men went off to war; women worked in factories & the military Between 1940 and 1945, female

percentage of US workforce increased from 27% to 37%

350,000 women served in US Armed Forces

Rosie the Riveter

Symbol of women working in industrial jobs

“Rosie the Riveter” poster, encouraging women’s participation in the war effort

American Women in WWII Video http://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/american-women-in-world-war-ii

Rosie the Riveter Song https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=55NCElsbjeQ

“Double V” campaign (Double Victory) Victory against fascism abroad & against

discrimination at home

A. Philip Randolph

Executive Order 8802

June 25, 1941

Prohibited racial discrimination in the military

The first Federal action (not law) to promote equal opportunity & prohibit employee discrimination in the US.

A. Philip Randolph Addresses the National Negro Congress, Chicago, 1937

War cost = $330 billion Funding the War:

▪ New income tax ▪ By 1944 – nearly every employed person paid

income tax. (10% - 1940)

▪ War bonds

Office of Price Administration: Controlled wages and set prices

Rationing: Limited the amount of goods

someone can buy to save for the war

Victory Gardens

Office of War Information Supported the war effort

with films, documentaries, and other propaganda

Zoot Suit Riots (1943) – Off-duty sailors attack Mexican youth in LA Caused by racial tensions &

prejudice

Interment Camps

Japanese-Americans sent to internment camps (temporary imprisonment)

Small shacks, food shortages, & substandard medical care

Korematsu v. US (1944)

Fred Korematsu resisted internment camps

Sued and went to SC

Ruling from SC:

▪ Internment camps were legal

▪ Gov’t can limit rights during war time

For each song, listen carefully, write notes, and answer questions!

Discussion: Has the government done this since WWII? Do you think that this is effective? What do you think were the effects of this

type of music?

Review timeline Inquiry Round 1 – Government News Reel

(http://www.archive.org/details/Japanese1943)

Hypothesis A

▪ What were some of the reasons for internment offered in the newsreel?

▪ How does the newsreel portray internment? Is it positive or negative?

▪ Who do you think the audience was for this newsreel?

Inquiry Round 2 – Documents B & C

Hypothesis B

▪ Has anyone’s hypothesis changed? Why or why not?

▪ Do you find these documents more or less trustworthy than the government newsreel? Why or why not?

▪ Why is the date of the Munson report important?

Inquiry Round 3 – Documents D & E

Final Hypothesis – You must CITE EVIDENCE (Doc A) (Newsreel)

▪ Which of these documents do you think has a better explanation of Japanese internment? Why?

▪ Why were Japanese Americans interned during World War II?