AP US History 7.9-7.10: World War II

What was the central economic effect of U.S. wartime mobilization during World War II?

War production eliminated mass unemployment and moved tens of millions of workers from low-productivity or unemployed work into industrial and military-related jobs. The United States reached full employment after entering the war in December 1941.

Military Keynesianism

The use of massive government military spending and federal contracts to stimulate economic activity and achieve full employment. During World War II, war spending approximately doubled the gross national product.

How did wartime cost-plus contracts affect American industry?

The government paid companies for their production costs plus a guaranteed modest profit rather than always awarding contracts to the lowest bidder. This encouraged rapid production, even when it involved inefficiency or higher costs.

How did wartime labor shortages change hiring practices?

Factories simplified tasks, trained inexperienced workers, and recruited groups previously excluded from many jobs, including married women, older adults, unskilled workers, and racial minorities in the North and West.

How did federal spending change during World War II?

Federal spending rose dramatically: by 1944, wartime government spending exceeded $40\%$ of GNP, compared with federal expenditures equal to about $3\%$ of GNP in 1929. War spending greatly surpassed spending on New Deal programs.

Lanham Act (Community Facilities Act of 1940)

A wartime welfare measure that provided federal funds to communities overwhelmed by defense-industry population growth. Funds supported housing, recreation, water and sanitation systems, hospitals, day-care centers, and schools.

What was the purpose of the Emergency Maternity and Infant Care program?

The EMIC program, created in 1943, provided free maternity care and medical treatment during an infant's first year for wives and children of enlisted personnel in the four lowest pay grades. It covered approximately $1.2$ million mothers and infants.

What benefits did the G.I. Bill provide after World War II?

The Servicemen's Readjustment Act of 1944 offered returning veterans housing, education, and unemployment assistance. These benefits helped expand the postwar American middle class.

Executive Order 8802 and the Fair Employment Practices Committee (FEPC)

Executive Order 8802, issued in 1941, prohibited racial, religious, color, and national-origin discrimination in defense-industry and government employment. It created the FEPC to receive and investigate discrimination complaints.

How did full employment affect income inequality during World War II?

Income inequality narrowed sharply in what is often called the Great Compression. High wages, overtime, union growth, rationing, and price controls improved the position of lower-income families relative to wealthy Americans.

What happened to real wages during the four years of World War II?

Real wages rose by approximately $44\%$. Overtime, expanding employment, and labor shortages produced especially large gains for industrial workers.

How did organized labor change during World War II?

Union membership increased by about $50\%$ between 1941 and 1945. The War Labor Board encouraged workers to join existing unions and promoted labor-management cooperation to avoid disruptions in war production.

What combination of policies did the federal government use to finance the war and limit inflation?

The government used high taxes, heavy borrowing, price controls, wage controls, and rationing. These policies limited the amount of money chasing scarce consumer goods.

How did federal income taxation expand during World War II?

Congress lowered the minimum income subject to taxation and reduced exemptions and deductions. By 1944, nearly all employed Americans paid federal income taxes, compared with about $10\%$ in 1940.

Office of Price Administration (OPA)

The federal agency responsible for imposing and monitoring price controls on many consumer products during World War II. Price controls helped prevent inflation and made rationed necessities more affordable.

Why was rationing introduced in the United States during World War II?

Rationing guaranteed households minimum access to scarce necessities and helped prevent inflation and hoarding. It also directed resources toward the military and Allied war effort.

How did the U.S. wartime rationing system work?

Households received ration books and coupons that authorized purchases of limited quantities of goods during specified periods. Local rationing boards classified households and issued the necessary books and stamps.

Which major consumer resources were rationed or restricted during World War II?

Gasoline, tires, meat, sugar, coffee, butter, clothing, shoes, fuel oil, canned foods, and other goods were rationed or restricted. Production of many durable goods, including automobiles and home appliances, largely stopped.

Why did gasoline rationing also conserve rubber?

The disruption of natural-rubber supplies made tires scarce. Limiting gasoline purchases reduced driving and therefore slowed tire wear, conserving rubber for military and essential civilian uses.

What was the approximate weekly gasoline allowance for many American households during World War II?

Many families were allocated about $3$ U.S. gallons, or roughly $11$ liters, of gasoline per week. This sharply curtailed nonessential driving, including sightseeing.

How did Americans shift consumption during the war?

The government encouraged citizens to save money and buy war bonds rather than spend on scarce consumer goods. This deferred consumption until after the war and helped finance military expenditures.

War bonds

Government securities sold to civilians to raise money for the war. Buyers generally paid about $3/4$ of a bond's face value and received the full face value after it matured.

Why did personal savings rise during World War II?

Wartime incomes increased while rationing and the suspension of durable-goods production limited opportunities to spend. Government bond campaigns and payroll deductions further encouraged saving.

What happened to unemployment during U.S. wartime mobilization?

Unemployment fell from about $7.7$ million in spring 1940 to $3.4$ million in fall 1941, $1.5$ million in fall 1942, and roughly $700{,}000$ in fall 1944. The draft and factory expansion created a severe labor shortage.

How did World War II change women's employment in the United States?

Millions of women entered defense manufacturing and other jobs traditionally held by men, including skilled and relatively well-paid positions. Women's share of the labor force rose from about $25.2\%$ in 1940 to $29.2\%$ in 1944.

Rosie the Riveter

A cultural symbol of women working in wartime factories, especially in manufacturing and aircraft production. The image represented both women's contribution to national defense and the temporary expansion of women's occupational roles.

Why did many women leave wartime industrial jobs after 1945?

Many munitions jobs ended when the war ended, factories closed or converted to civilian production, and returning veterans reclaimed positions. Social expectations also encouraged women to return to housework or traditionally female occupations.

How did the war affect American agriculture?

Agriculture faced labor shortages as workers entered military service or higher-paying industrial jobs, even though many farmers received draft exemptions. The government encouraged production through price and market controls, victory gardens, foreign contract labor, and prisoners of war.

Bracero Program

A U.S.-Mexican labor agreement begun in 1942 that recruited Mexican workers for agricultural jobs in the United States. Approximately $290{,}000$ braceros worked in American fields during the wartime period.

Victory gardens

Home, school, and community gardens cultivated by civilians to increase food supplies and reduce pressure on commercial agriculture. Children were often encouraged to plant, maintain, and preserve the produce.

How did World War II affect teenagers' education and employment?

Industries recruited teenagers to replace drafted workers, and the number of teenage workers rose from about $870{,}000$ in 1940 to $2.8$ million in 1944. High-school enrollment declined, prompting campaigns to encourage students to remain in school while working part-time when possible.

Victory Farm Volunteers

A U.S. Crop Corps program that recruited teenagers, commonly ages $14$–$18$, for agricultural work. At its peak in 1944, it included roughly $903{,}794$ volunteers.

How did World War II alter the relationship among labor unions, employers, and the federal government?

The need for uninterrupted production encouraged cooperation among unions, businesses, and government agencies. Both major labor federations expanded, while federal labor policy emphasized industrial peace and worker participation in unions.

What happened to consumer spending and economic growth during the war?

Consumer spending increased by nearly $50\%$, from about $61.7$ billion at the beginning of the war to $98.5$ billion by 1944, despite rationing. Real GNP increased about $40\%$ between 1941 and 1945, an average annual growth rate of approximately $8.4\%$.

How did the attack on Pearl Harbor change U.S. foreign policy?

The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, ended most remaining public support for isolationism and led Congress to declare war on Japan. Germany and Italy then declared war on the United States, bringing the nation fully into World War II.

Why did the United States move from isolationism to intervention before Pearl Harbor?

Although many Americans opposed entering another European war, German and Japanese aggression threatened the balance of power and U.S. security. Policies such as Lend-Lease and increasing aid to the Allies marked a gradual shift toward intervention.

Battle of Midway

A decisive June 1942 U.S. naval victory over Japan in the Pacific. American forces sank four Japanese aircraft carriers, halted Japanese expansion, and shifted the strategic initiative to the United States.

D-Day

The Allied invasion of Normandy on June 6, 1944, opened a major western front against Nazi Germany. The invasion enabled the liberation of France and helped lead to Germany's defeat in Europe.

Why did the United States use atomic bombs against Japan?

President Harry Truman authorized the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945 to force Japan's surrender and avoid the anticipated casualties of an invasion. Japan surrendered shortly afterward, though the decision remains historically and morally debated.

Japanese American internment during World War II

Executive Order 9066 authorized the forced removal and incarceration of approximately 120,000 people of Japanese ancestry, most of them U.S. citizens, from the West Coast. The policy reflected wartime racism and fears of espionage, despite limited evidence of disloyalty.

Double V campaign

A campaign promoted by African American newspapers during World War II calling for victory over fascism abroad and victory over racism and discrimination at home. It highlighted the contradiction between fighting for democracy overseas and denying equal rights in the United States.