GDWW - Pearl Harbor Lesson

Pearl Harbor

Pearl Harbor and Its Aftermath

On the morning of December 7, 1941, the navy of the Empire of Japan launched a surprise attack on the U.S. Navy base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. Over 2,403 Americans were killed and 1,178 more were wounded, 21 ships were damaged, and 300 aircraft were destroyed. The Japanese attack took the United States officially into World War II.

One effect of America's entry into the war was alarm about the loyalty of Japanese Americans: 120,000 Japanese Americans lived in the United States, most of them on the West Coast. Fears of spies and sabotage led to prejudice and sometimes violence against Japanese Americans. In the name of national security, Roosevelt ordered all people of Japanese ancestry be moved from California and parts of Washington, Oregon, and Arizona to rural prison camps. Although most of the people imprisoned in these internment camps were Japanese Americans, there were also small numbers of German Americans and Italian Americans imprisoned under the same law, as well as hundreds of Native Americans from Alaska.

Mobilization

After Pearl Harbor, five million men volunteered for military service but more were needed to fight a total war. The Selective Service System expanded the draft, and ten million more men joined the ranks of the American Armed Forces. So great was the need of the military, a Women's Auxiliary Army Corps was formed to fill noncombat positions otherwise filled by men, freeing up the men for frontline duty.

The men needed tanks, planes, ships, guns, bullets, and boots. To equip the troops, the whole American industry was dedicated to supplying the military. More than six million workers in these plants, factories, and shipyards were women. With the men who once did these jobs now fighting overseas, women filled the void. "Rosie the Riveter" was a fictional character first drawn from a song and then used in widespread print campaigns to encourage women to join the industrial workforce. Women volunteered for this work even though they were only paid on average 60% as much as men doing the same jobs. It was the hard work of people and the industrial might of the United States that helped America win World War II.

As time went on, the war industry needed more raw materials. One way average Americans helped the war effort was through wartime conservation. Workers would carpool to work or ride bicycles to save gasoline and rubber. People participated in nationwide drives to collect scrap iron, tin cans, newspaper, rags, and even cooking grease to recycle and use in war production. Another way Americans conserved on the home front was through the mandatory government rationing system. Under this system, each household received a "c book" with coupons to be used when buying scarce items such as meat, sugar, and coffee. Gas rationing was also used to help save gasoline for military use. View the presentation on the Homefront during WWII below.

 

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