United States Mobilization for

War & Homefront

• Neutrality Acts of 1935, 1936, 1937– Isolationistic influence

• Neutrality Act of 1936– “Cash and Carry”

• Selective service act of October1940– Peacetime draft– Conscientious Objection

• Lend-Lease Act 1941– Economic declaration of war on Germany

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Terms and Forms of

Aid to Allied powers

Newly Created Government Provisions

Robyn Weiner

New Government Agencies• Office of War Information (OWI) 1942– organized the distribution of war information to

the public to help create means of understanding the war

• War Production Board (WPB) 1942–Oversaw industrial transformation

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3eoE12ywDzA&feature=related

More Agencies• Office of War and Mobilization 1942– supervised efforts to distribute proper

materials for converted industries, regulated production of civilian goods, established production contracts, negotiate organized labor, and controlled inflation

• Woman’s Army Corps (WAC) 1943– provided secretarial workers, truck drivers,

instructors, and lab technicians

War Bonds: What are they?

• War Bonds are technically a personal loan to the US government

• They are used to remove money from circulation and in turn reduce inflation

• Offered in denominations $25 up to $10000, with limitations

• Sold at 75% face value

Erik Mahal

War Bond Specifics

• First called defense bonds until December 7 1941

• Many famous celebrities of the time were contracted by the government to sell War Bonds

• The celebrity campaign netted over $838,540,000 worth of bonds

• Was sold to FDR by Henry Morgenthau

War Bonds Unite a Nation

• Over 85 million citizens purchased war bonds• Totaling over 185.7 billion dollars• Sports teams events held special events • News Broadcasts (Kate Smith)• Civilian D-day when planes dropped posters• Norman Rockwell provided original art as

advertising

Propaganda in the U.S.

• Propaganda was believed at first to be useless by US government

• Robert E Sherwood and the Foreign Information Service determined that America needed to fight just as much with words

• Office of War Information than took over the Propaganda ideas

• Promoted US involvement, Military Enrollment, and War Bonds Sales

Utilizing the Radio

• John Houseman was the first producer of international US propaganda

• Very theatrical and intense until invasion of North Africa in 1942

• Tone was than calm news reporting rather than over the top

• Took more sobering stand point rather than alluding to enemy bestiality

• Germans maintained alluding method and back fired when war turned

Propaganda Posters

• Cheapest and easiest media to produce• Leaned more towards facts rather than

imaginative • Norman Rockwell, Ben Shahn and other

famous artists of the time were contracted the government for their unique art styles

• War Bond Posters were most abundent

War Bonds

Propaganda

Problems and Conflicts

• War contributed to increased prices and shortages in food, housing, gas, clothing, transportation– Standard of living decreased as a result– Increases in salary due to jobs created by the war did

not improve purchasing power of most citizens• Many Americans were unhappy that they had to

sacrifice so much– Wealthy lived luxuriously on products purchased on the

newly created black market

Jamie Campbell

Problems: Rationing• Wartime rationing: • Sugar: May 1942• Coffee November: 1942• Canned Goods: March 1, 1943 (Meat and butter later that month)–Meat: 28oz. per person per week– Butter: 4oz. per person per week

• Gasoline Rationing (May 1941):• Stickers distributed based on use of the vehicle (i.e. for workers

commute, on the job use, pleasure, and emergency vehicles)– Labled “A” through “E” to indicate usage and amount of gasoline

allowed for purchase• Led to suspicion and scandal

Conflicts: Companies reaping benefits of war?

• April 1943: the government declares 27 million workers "essential", forbidding them to leave their jobs

• Many union members who committed to a no-strike pledge held protests• Protests concerned workers’ safety and working

conditions • Many were “walkouts”