U.S prepares for WWII

Americans Join the War Effort

Selective Service and the GI

Expanding the Military

  1. The Women's Auxiliary Army Corps (WAAC) was instituted by George Marshall
  2. Many women worked as nurses, ambulance drivers, radio operators, electricians, and pilots
  1. 5 million eager young men volunteered for military service.
  2. However, 10 million more were provided to fit the armed forces needs

Recruiting and Discrimination

  1. During the war , problems for minority groups grew.
  2. Many were not happy with the draft.

Dramatic Contributions

  1. Despite discrimination, more than 300,000 Mexican Americans joined the armed forces.
  2. About 1 million African Americans as well as 13,000 Chinese Americans served as well.

A Production Miracle

The Industrial Response

Labor's Contribution

Mobilization of Scientists

The Federal Government Takes Control

Economic Controls

Rationing

1.The OPA established a system of rationing for the troops.
2.Most Americans accepted rationing as a personal contribution to the war effort.

Roosevelt's response to the threat of inflation by creating the Office of Price Administration (OPA)

The Manhattan Project became the code name for research work that extended across the country .

  1. Within weeks of the shutdown in production , the nations automobile plants had been retooled to produce tanks , planes , boats , and command cars.
  1. More than 6 million of the new workers were women.
  2. Defense plants also hired more than 2 million minority workers.