Introducing
Your new presentation assistant.
Refine, enhance, and tailor your content, source relevant images, and edit visuals quicker than ever before.
Trending searches
This film produced by the Office of War Information offers an interesting look into the changing attitudes towards women and minorities during World War II. Why is this change in attitude significant to us today?
Targeted CA Content Standards:
11.7 Students analyze America’s participation in World War II
After the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, America found itself thrust into another World War. This would impact the United States at home, more commonly known as the "home front." Those who felt the impact the most were the Japanese-Americans interned at war relocation centers and the women and minorities who took up the call of duty to assist in military production.
After the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, anti-Japanese sentiment was at an all time high. Paranoia of Japanese immigrants encouraged President Franklin D. Roosevelt to sign Executive Order 9066, effectively ordering the evacuation and imprisonment of people based solely on their ethnicity. Over 120,000 Japanese-American men, women, and children would spend the next few years behind the barbed wire fences of internment camps, known as relocation centers.
World War II was not only a turning point for America on the global stage, but a turning point for America at home. During World War II, the government justified the imprisonment of innocent citizens in the name of safety. How does this violation of civil liberties relate to recent events?
Also at this time women and minorities were finally gaining access to occupations that had been previously unavailable or restricted to them. What effect did this have on the following generation?
As millions of men went into military service, the need for defense industry workers increased. In order to address this growing need, good paying defense industry jobs became available to women and minorities. Women become workers in jobs that had been only available to men, such as welders, electricians, and riveters.
Japanese-American internees lived in the WRA Relocation centers from 1942-1945. By the end of the war, not one internee was convicted of espionage or treason. This begs the question, was the imprisonment of 120,000 immigrants and United States citizens worth it?
Was there an alternative?
This iconic image of Rosie the Riveter was used in a government campaign to recruit female workers for the defense industry. According to History.org between 1940-1945 women in the U.S. workforce increased from 27% to 37%.