MinoritiesI. WomenII. African AmericansIII. Mexican-AmericansIV. Native AmericansV. Japanese Americans

I. WomenA. Rosie the Riveter (fictional icon during

WWII)1. Worked at a defense plant while her

boyfriend served in the marines2. used by the government to attract women to

the workforce3. Represented young, white, middle class

woman4. Patriotic

I. WomenB. Changes for Working Women

1. most before WWII that worked were single and young2. 82% of the population in 1936 believed married women shouldn’t work if their husband had a job3. By 1940, 15% of married women were working

I. WomenC. Types of Jobs

1. Teaching and Nursing were the most common professions for women2. Other jobs women had industries that produced clothing, textiles, and

shoes

3. MenHigher paying machinery, steel, and

automobile industries

I. WomenC. Types of Jobs

4. When men went off to fight in the war, many of these higher paying jobs opened up to women including working in airplane plants, shipyards as riveters, steelworkers, and welders

D. Recruiting Women Workers1. Office of War Information launched a recruitment campaign

I. WomenD. Recruiting Women Workers

2. Posters and advertisements told women that it was their patriotic duty to work for the country3. Number of working women rose from 14.6 million in 1941 to 19.4 million by 19444. Half of all women workers were over the age of 35 by the end of the war

I. WomenE. Benefits

1. New challenges and the ability to pay off debt2. The harder they worked to produce war supplies, the sooner their husbands, brothers, and sons would return home from war

I. WomenF. Jobs for African-American Women

1. Cleaning and childcare the most common forms of work2. Dealt with both gender prejudice and racial discrimination3. Those working in industrial jobs increased from 6.8% in 1940 to 18% in 1944

I. WomenG. Problems

1. Many supervisors were uneasy mixing the sexes together2. Women were still responsible for their kids at home and daycares were scarce3. National War Labor Board in the fall of 1942 said that women should receive equal pay for the same quality and quantity of work as men

I. WomenH. Post War

1. The government now tried to get women to return to their normal lives prior to World War II and men wanted the same upon coming home2. Some women accepted this role and others did not like it3. The government focused women’s roles on homemaking, cooking, and childcare.

II. African-AmericansA. Discrimination Continues

1. Jim Crow System still in effect2. Discrimination in employment, education,

and housing3. 1941-20% unemployment4. Couldn’t afford good housing Urban ghettos, neighborhoods where

members of minority groups were concentrated

50% of homes substandard (14% white)

II. African-AmericansB. Military

1. Troops segregated2. Made a mockery of wartime goals to fight overseas against fascism only to come back to the same kind of discrimination and racism

C. Divided Opinions1. 6 out of 10 whites felt African-Americans satisfied with current conditions

II. African-Americans2. FDR not willing to disrupt the war effort to promote social equality3. “Double V” CampaignVictory against Axis PowerVictory for equality at home

4. Congress of Racial Equality (CORE)Promote non-violent techniques to end racism

III. Mexican-AmericansA. Bracero (“workers”) Program

1. Shortage of farm labor led U.S. to seek workers from Mexico2. Both countries made an agreement that included transportation, food, shelter, and medical care for thousands3. More than 200,000 braceros worked on American farms between 1942-1947

III. Mexican-Americans4. Lived in Spanish-speaking neighborhoods called barrios5. Crowded conditions caused discrimination and tension among those communities

B. Zoot Suit Riots1. Long draped jacket and baggy pants with tight cuffs2. Slicked-backed haircut

III. Mexican-Americans3. Sailors roamed the streets looking for these “un-Americans” and humiliated and beat them up4. Many responded with riots and violence5. The army and navy stepped in and restricted soldiers off-duty access of LA

IV. Native AmericansA. About 25,000 Native-Americans joined the

armed forcesB. Many migrated to urban areas to work in

defense plantsC. 23,000 worked in war industriesD. New life adapting to the white cultureE. Some never returned to their Native

American roots after the war

V. Japanese AmericansA. Overview

1. Suffered worst discrimination especially after Pearl Harbor

2. 2/3 were Nisei (parents emigrated from Japan)

3. Majority of the Japanese population was centered on the West Coast

4. Many Americans believed there were Japanese spies everywhere

V. Japanese AmericansB. Japanese Relocation

1. Resulted from fears and prejudices2. FDR signed Executive Order 9066 establishing military zones and removing any or all persons from that zone3. Japanese people were relocated to internment camps (remote areas inland)

V. Japanese AmericansC. Four cases were brought before the

Supreme Court with all of them ruling that relocation was constitutional during wartime

D. Nisei Soldiers1. 20,000 served in the military2. 442nd Regimental Combat Team, which was made up of entirely Japanese Americans, won more medals for bravery than any unit in U.S. history

DROP THE BOMB!

The Atomic BombI. Iwo Jima and OkinawaII. The Manhattan ProjectIII. The Decision to Drop the BombIV. Japan SurrendersV. Alternate Options

I. Iwo Jima and OkinawaA. Two Islands in the Pacific where two very

bloody battles were foughtB. These two islands were the last ones

separating Japan from a mainland attackC. The United States suffered 25,000

causalities during the Battle of Iwo Jima and 50,000 casualties during the Battle of Okinawa

D. Many Kamikaze attacks

II. Manhattan ProjectA. In 1939, Albert Einstein (German refugee)

sent President Roosevelt a letter about a new bomb that could be built.1. He hinted in his letter that Germany had the capability to make this bomb2. Roosevelt in response to this letter organized a top secret project called the Manhattan Project

II. Manhattan ProjectB. Atomic Bomb

1. Split the nucleus of the Uranium atom2. Create a controlled chain reaction3. Particles releasing from the splitting of one atom would cause another atom to break. Etc..4. The belief was that the energy released when so many atoms were split would cause a massive explosion

II. Manhattan ProjectC. The atomic bomb was field tested on July 16,

1945 in the New Mexico desert1. The explosion shattered windows that were 125 miles away and left a huge crater in the earth.2. J. Robert Oppenheimer (who led the building of the bomb) quoted from the Hindu holy book, “Now I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds.”

III. The DecisionA. There were many mixed opinions from

military leaders, scientists, and government officials on whether or not the U.S. should drop the bomb on Japan

B. President Harry Truman decided to drop the bomb on August 6th 1945 on the city of Hiroshima and three days later on the city of Nagasaki

IV. Japan SurrendersA. Hiroshima

1. southern Japan2. Estimated 140,000 people died in the explosion or soon after from burns or radiation3. Survivors suffered horrible burns4. 90% of the city was destroyed5. After this the Japanese refused to surrender

IV. Japanese SurrendersB. Nagasaki

1. Even farther south than Hiroshima2. More than 150,000 people died3. Japan were stunned by these new developments and surrendered on August 14th

C. The death toll from these two cities was almost 300,000.

V. Alternate OptionsA. Full Invasion of the Japanese island after the

battles of Iwo Jima and Okinawa1. Many felt that this would cost numerous

American soldiers’ lives2. It would not be an easy victory because it was

believed that a majority of the Japanese would fight to the death

B. The Soviet Union declared war on Japan after the dropping of the first bomb.

Conclusion

C. Soviet Union issue1. Many people believed that the Soviet Union was going to be a huge threat to democracy following World War II2. Truman might have dropped the bombs to prove to the Soviet Union that the United States was still the superpower of the world