U.S. and WWII UNIT 8 WWII- EUROPE AND AT HOME

U.S. and WWII UNIT 8 WWII- EUROPE AND AT HOME

America First Movement Many Americans at first did not want to get involved in WWII. Charles Lindbergh and the America First Movement spoke out against aiding or intervening in WWII. They thought it best to build up U.S. defenses and remain out of the European conflict.

Neutrality Acts The neutrality acts passed in the 1930s prevented the U.S. from intervening in conflicts in Europe. This type of legislation reflected a policy of isolation where the U.S. did not get involved in European affairs. President Franklin D. Roosevelt denounced what the Germans did, but he did not want to get involved in a possible conflict.

The U.S. Gets Involved However, after the battle of Berlin, FDR urged Congress to pass the Lend- Lease Act in 1941 to help Great Britain. This act gave the President the ability to send aid such as ammunition, tanks, airplanes, trucks, and food to countries being attacked by Axis Powers. Allowed FDR to give aid without violating the U.S. s official position of neutrality.

The U.S. Gets Involved August 1941, Atlantic Charter Signed by FDR and Churchill to strengthen their alliance. This document described the goals for the world when the war was over. They promised not to seek to add to the territory each country owned and set out ideas that would lead eventually to the United Nations.

U.S. Enters the Fight December 7, 1941, Japan attacked the U.S. naval base at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii. Japan thought that the attack would quickly cripple the U.S. and allow them to control the Pacific.

U.S. Enters the Fight The decision to attack Pearl Harbor had the opposite effect. The American people were now convinced that they should enter the war against Japan and the Axis Powers.

U.S. Enters the Fight FDR s Speech after Pearl Harbor Yesterday, Dec. 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. Four days after Pearl Harbor, Hitler declared war on the United States.

Mobilizing for War Before the U.S. could fight, it needed to get the country ready for war. 1940-Gov t began to increase military spending. This helped end the Great Depression by providing thousands with jobs making supplies for the military.

Mobilizing for War Factories were converted to produce military supplies. Wartime agencies controlled what factories produced, what prices they could charge, and how the nation s raw materials could be used. The government began rationing supplies to save material for the military.

Mobilizing for War German Submarines were sinking U.S. ships traveling to Europe. Shipyards built thousands of new ships to replace those being lost. Henry Kaiser built these liberty ships using assembly-line techniques.

Mobilizing for War Rosie the Riveter Factories needed workers since men were leaving to join the armed forces. Millions of women began to work in industrial jobs. Working women were represented by the symbolic figure known as Rosie the Riveter.

Mobilizing for War Women were sometimes treated poorly by the other male workers, worried about leaving children home alone, and often earned less than men. Gov t and others assumed that women would return home after the war and the soldiers would get their jobs back. However, many wanted to remain in the workforce.

Mobilizing for War African Americans also found more jobs in factories, but sometimes they still faced discrimination. The military also accepted many more African American men into the armed services even though they still sometimes fought in segregated units. Tuskegee Airmen were the first African American pilots to serve and fight in WWII.

War Bonds The Gov t asked people to buy war bonds to help pay for the war effort. Bonds could be purchased and redeemed later for a modest gain. Served as a loan for the gov t as people were encouraged to not cash them in until years after the war. Most saw buying bonds as a moral obligation to do their part in the war.

Propaganda: Fighting the Enemy on the Battlefield & on the Home Front

A Secret Weapon The Manhattan Project began a top-secret mission to build an atomic bomb. Physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer and other American scientists raced to develop this weapon ahead of the Germans who were also trying to create the bomb.