1. World War II:
Transitions on the Home Front
A brief economic and political overview

2. Transition to War
• While America declared neutrality until after the Japanese
bombed Pearl Harbor, steps were taken by President Franklin
D. Roosevelt to get the American economy and people ready
for a potential war.
• Congress passed the Selective Training and Service Act (first
peacetime draft) in 1940
• Draft Cards:

3. Transition to War
1. American had a policy of Isolationism
before Pearl Harbor. What is Isolationism?
2. Why did American change the
Isolationism policy?
3. What was the Draft?

4. Transition to War: Economic
• The government established in Aug. 1941 the Office
of Price Administration (OPA) to set maximum
prices and in December 1941, rationing took effect.
– Rationed items included: gasoline, tires, coffee, sugar,
meat, butter, canned goods, silk stockings

5. Economics
1. What was Rationing?
1. Why was there Rationing?
1. Name some Rationed items

6. Economic: Victory Gardens
The government encouraged people to grow their own food to help the war
effort and to supplement the rationed food supply.

7. Victory Garden Poster

8. Victory Gardens
• What was a Victory Gardens?
• Why did people have Victory Gardens?
• How did it help the War Effort?

9. Transition to War: Economic
• The government raised money by
increasing the number of people who paid
income taxes and through selling war
bonds.

10. War Bonds

11. War Bonds

12. Raising Money
• Name 2 ways the government raised money
for the war.

13. Transition to War: Political
• In his State of the Union Address on Jan. 6, 1941,
President Franklin D. Roosevelt outlined the natural rights
of mankind, which were obviously being abolished under
the Axis Powers. These natural rights were distilled into
four freedoms that he believed all people were entitled to.
(This is 11 months before Pearl Harbor is bombed by the Japanese.)
• Four Freedoms
– Freedom of Speech
– Freedom of Worship
– Freedom from Want
– Freedom from Fear
• Norman Rockwell interpreted these four freedoms in
pictures to help support the war effort.

14. Freedom of Speech

15. Freedom of Worship

16. Freedom from Want

17. Freedom from Fear

18. Beginning of War
• When these freedoms are infringed upon by the
Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7,
1941, Americans are mentally prepared to go to war.
Explosion of the
USS Arizona's
forward
magazines. This
occurred at 0806.
National Archives
#80G32637
Almost the same
instant caught by
another
photographer with
color film.
National Archives
#80GK13513

19. Pearl Harbor
A fireball engulfs the USS Shaw moments after an attack by Japanese warplanes on Pearl
Harbor, Hawaii, in December 1941.

20. Pearl Harbor bombing. California hit. Battered by
aerial bombs and torpedoes, the USS California
settles slowly into the mud and muck of Pearl
Harbor. Clouds of black, oily smoke pouring up
from the California and her stricken sister ships
conceal all but the hull of the capsized USS
Oklahoma at the extreme right., 1942.
Pearl Harbor: Destruction of the Pacific Fleet

22. Pearl Harbor: The Aftermath
• Casualties
US Army: 218 KIA, 364 WIA.
US Navy: 2,008 KIA, 710
WIA.
US Marine Corps: 109 KIA, 69
WIA.
Civilians: 68 KIA, 35 WIA.
TOTAL:
2,403 KIA, 1,178 WIA
KIA: Killed In Action
WIA: Wounded in Action
• For more information
on specific battleships,
documented photos,
Japanese pictures of
the bombing, etc. go
to:
http://www.de220.com/Pearl%20Harbor

23. War Declared
• On Dec. 8, 1941, FDR went before Congress and asked for
a declaration of war against Japan. He started his speech
by saying, “Yesterday, December 7, 1941-a date which
will live in infamy- the United States of America was
suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces
of the Empire of Japan.”

24. War’s Upon Us
• With the declaration of war, American production has got to get
moving!
• In 1942 the War Production Board (WPB) is created to increase
military production.
– Converted existing factories to wartime production
– Built new factories
– Recycled raw materials into different industries
• In 1943 the Office of War Mobilization (OWM) is created to
coordinate government agencies involved in the war effort.
– Determined amount of raw materials that could be diverted
to civilians.
• Ex. Nylon used for parachutes, not pantyhose. Fashion
styles changed, as fabric couldn’t be sacrificed to make
pleats or cuffs.
• Women are recruited to fill the positions men are leaving as
they go to war. The most iconic image is of Rosie the Riveter.

25. Rosie the Riveter

26. Rosie the Riveter, image by Norman Rockwell

27. Some Real “Rosie the Riveters”

28. “Rosies” in action

29. More “Rosies”

30. Women and Overall War Production
• From 1940 to 1944, 6 million new women joined the
workforce, most in clerical and service jobs.
• Women were paid less than men for the same work.
• African American women and women over 40 yrs old had a
harder time finding employers.
• Unemployment dropped from 14.6% in 1940 to 1.2% in 1944.
• Average weekly wages rose 65 percent, and manufacturing
workers saw their real income jump 27 percent.
• Earnings nearly doubled between 1939 and 1945.
• In 1940, government arsenals employed 22,000 workers and
by 1943, they employed 486,000.
• From 1940 to 1945 America built 300,000 aircraft; 88,000
landing craft; 215 submarines, 147 aircraft carriers, 952 other
warships, 5,200 merchant ships, 88,410 tanks, 6.5 million
rifles, and 40 billion bullets.

31. War Workers

32. WWII:
Transitions on the Home Front
• Due to pre-war/early war
economic and political
preparations by the US
government, Americans
were better able to deal
with the onset of war.
• These preparations
allowed civilians to more
effectively contribute to
the war effort, which in
turn helped soldiers. We
will look at the military
impact next.