Americans in Wartime
The United States government launched an aggressive propaganda campaign to maintain support for the war. Persuading the American public became a wartime industry, like making tanks and planes. The most effective use of propaganda appealed to our emotions. These posters tried to get a reaction out of American society by alerting them to the presence of an enemy. Intellectuals, artists, and film makers became an integral part of the wartime effort at home.
In order to pay for the war and ensure that our troops received the resources they needed to defeat the Axis Powers, the government placed restrictions on goods and encouraged Americans to support the war effort. To safeguard against rising prices and guarantee that the supply chain could keep up with need, our government controlled prices and production. Americans were required to ration certain goods and encouraged to plant victory gardens to combat food shortages. In addition, the government increased taxes and sold war bonds to help pay for the war.
World War II pulled the United States out of the Great Depression because production output created new job opportunities. Our troops were off fighting the war and an abundance of jobs were available. This demand for labor provided new opportunities for women to join the workforce. Women were needed in all industries including the military. Propaganda posters glorified and glamorized the roles of working women and their willingness to do their part for the war effort. Of all the pictures of working women during WWII, images of them in factories were the most common. Because women were seen as essential to the war effort at home, they were able to demand better pay and working conditions.
During World War II, racial restrictions and segregation were facts of life in society. The government was aware of the demoralizing effects of racial prejudice and its impact on the war effort. African-Americans had faced many obstacles in American society but the Second World War provided new opportunities. The "Double V" campaign sought victory over the enemy abroad (Axis powers) and victory over discrimination at home. The Fair Employment Practices Commission required employers that did business with the government to end discrimination practices in hiring. And even though they faced segregation in the armed forces, African Americans fought heroically in a number of arenas, such as the Tuskegee Airmen who fought valiantly as fighter pilots and bombers. Propaganda posters highlighted the participation and achievement of African Americans in society and the military.
Japanese Americans were viewed as suspicious in the wake of the Pearl Harbor attacks. President Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066 that authorized their imprisonment. They were required to sell what they could and relocate to internment camps throughout the western portion of the United States. These internment camps provided the basics for living but prisoners (which decades later the Supreme Court determined they were subjects of wrongful imprisonment) could form clubs and kids could go to school.