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Women working in "men's jobs"

Women on the Home Front

Japanese-Americans during WWII

Advertisements promoting women

Traditionally, women were supposed to remain at home and work around the house, but the Second World War altered the dynamic of women’s work forever. As men traveled off to battle, women were relied upon and advised to fill their shoes in conventional male jobs. Once the war took place, women were essential to the Allies’ success and victor, because they made up approximately one third of the wartime work force. Women were avid workers for the wartime production, helping to build and manufacture supplies just as efficiently as men. Of the females that took up work, 60% of them were over 35 years of age and half of them were married, proving that they were just as applicable for “men’s jobs” as men were. In 1942, the Women’s Army Corps (WAC) was formed and it created jobs for women in the army. Initially, 150,000 women joined the Corps and 57,000 of them were nurses. Back in the communities, women raised war bonds, helped tend and shelter troops, worked for civil defense, and pushed to ration food and supplies to keep the soldiers abroad healthy. Because of the war, the general population looked at females differently and realized they could help out too. The women of World War II helped change and improve every girl’s life to this day.

All throughout World War II and specifically after the attack on Pearl Harbor the Japanese population in America faced extreme discrimination and segregation. Just two months after the surprise bombing, FDR executed order 9066, which sent all citizens of Japanese descent to relocation, or internment camps. In fear that the Japanese in America would be loyal to their native country and that Americans would be a safety risk to Japanese-Americans, they were sent to Internment camps all across the Midwest-West coast. In the internment camps, the inhabitants were forced to live in close quarters and with little resources and supplies. The establishment of internment camps during WWII was a heated debate topic for many years to come and is considered arguably the greatest civil rights violation in American history. Despite the thoughts of the majority of the population, the director of the FBI, J. Edgar Hoover, objected the actions taken place by the US government. Across the entire country were signs of propaganda against the Japanese, depicting all of them as the evil enemy, which was a cause of the nationwide discriminatory nature. During and after WWII, Japanese-Americans affected the home front by showing how Americans have no right to segregate and discriminate innocent people and just how terrible our actions can be during a time of war.

Japanese Internment Camps

African-Americans during WWII

Anti-Japanese Propaganda

A. Philip Randolph

The war had a profound impact on the lives of African-Americans in multiple ways. During mobilization, there were 2.5 million African-Americans registered for the draft and there were one million soldiers that fought in the military, and World War 2 was the first American war in which black people were enlisted into the army. Aside from fighting in Europe and in the Pacific, many black activists were fighting on the home front for a “Double Victory”. Led by A. Philip Randolph, the “Double V” campaign was centered on fighting fascism in Europe and fighting discrimination in America. Randolph pushed FDR by proposing demands which focused on moving closer towards total equality among races. Other actions taken on the home front were the NAACP and CORE. The NAACP was an organization promoting equality and it grew to 500,000; CORE (Congress of Racial Equality) used civil disobedience to challenge discrimination and segregation. Because these organizations were set into place, more efforts for civil rights took place after the war ended. World War 2 gave the African-American community in the United States a chance to fight alongside white men and to finally prove to society that they are deserving of equal rights. African-Americans during WWII impacted the home front because of the work, support, and sacrifice they gave to defend our country.

Black soldiers enlisted in the army

Industrial Production

Employees working to produce weaponry and supplies

During the wartime of 1941 to 1945, the industrial production of the United States greatly impacted the home front by providing jobs for the people and supplies for the soldiers. Still working its way out of the worst depression in American history, the US actually benefited from the work that World War II indirectly provided. After America was attacked by Japan 1941, there was a complete conversion to war industry and production. This conversion was so intense and rapid that the United States’ production levels during World War II doubled the production of all the Axis Powers combined. Because the war demanded a generous amount of supplies, basically everyone on the home front was able to work and provide for the country. Amidst the war, production was building over 8,000 B24 bombers in total, 4,000 tanks per month, 4,500 planes per month, and one battleship could be built in just seventeen days, but this swift supply could not be done without the people on the home front. People could work for as much as eighteen to twenty-four hours a day, which would definitely allow them to supply food and shelter for themselves and their families. The industrial production during World War II impacted the American home front by providing jobs and support for the innocent civilians that faced immense hardship during the depression of the 30’s.

Production levels in the US were incomparable to levels of other nations.

Military Mobilization

Before World War II, the United States military was relatively small in size and soldiers, but as the war and home front kept pushing on, the army became a world power. In late 1939, the military had only 200,000 soldiers enlisted; in 1942, it was comprised of three million and in 1944 there was six million. During that six year time frame, the navy rose from 300,000 to 600,000 and the marines rose from 54,000 to 150,000. Also, the amount of Mexican soldiers in the army rose to 300,000, Native Americans rose to 25,000, and African soldiers got to as high as one million. In order to stimulate such large numbers, the Selective Service Act was put into place, which drafted men to enlist in the army. To accommodate the vast amount of soldiers, the military produced a substantial supply of weapons and materials with the help of the people and women on the home front and used those weapons to push the war closer to an end. After the war came to an end, the military power had already become dominant, but because the military mobilization demanded so much, the money saved to ration supplies for the war provided a boom of cash to the economy post-war. In total, the military mobilization impacted the home front by improving protection and the army’s size, providing jobs, and stimulating economic growth in years to come.

The Selective-Service Act being used.

American soldiers training

Mobilization & the Home Front during World War II

Paul Lowrie

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