Mobilizing for Defense

Section 3

The United States government and industry forged a close working relationship to allocate resources effectively.

Businesses retooled from peacetime to wartime production (e.g., car manufacturing to tank manufacturing).

Ford’s Willow Run Factory Ford made one B-24 bomber every hour

Different government agencies set prices, negotiated with labor organizations, and rationed goods at home so they could be used in the war effort.

The federal government needed to control supply and demand. Rationing was introduced to avoid public anger with shortages and not to allow only the wealthy to purchase commodities.

To finance the war, the government raised the taxes on income that citizens had to pay and sold war bonds.

The federal government began issuing hundreds of billions of dollars in savings bonds to finance the greatest war effort in the nation's history.

From: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/10/07/AR2009100703681.html

President Franklin D. Roosevelt, who summoned patriotic Americans to "one great partnership," buying the very first.

From: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/10/07/AR2009100703681.html

But the bonds came with a catch: They wouldn't be paid off for 40 years, an unusually long time.

From: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/10/07/AR2009100703681.html

The speed limit was knocked down to 34 mph so as not to waste gas. Children saved pennies to buy government war stamps to help pay for the war.

Although many citizens volunteered for military service, the government used the draft to provide sufficient personnel for the war effort.

Nearly 1 million African Americans served in all-black units commanded by white officers. There were some African Americans who did not want to serve in the armed forces because of the harsh way they were treated at home, but they were in the minority. Many were dedicated to working for equal treatment in the services as well as at home.

The all-black unit known as the Tuskegee Airmen, also known as the Black Eagles, fought in North Africa and Italy, escorted heavy bombers, and destroyed or damaged 400 Axis aircraft.

Thousands of Japanese Americans served in segregated units. The 442nd Nisei Regiment became the most decorated military unit in United States history.

Many Navajo soldiers were “code-talkers” who sent vital messages in a code based on the ancient language of their people that the Japanese could not decipher.

• Women increasingly participated in the workforce to replace men serving in the military (e.g., Rosie the Riveter). Women also volunteered for and filled noncombat roles in the armed forces, including that of nurses.

The United States government maintained strict censorship of reports on the war. International communications, communications between government agencies, and the stories of reporters traveling with the troops were monitored and censored.