War on the Home Front
As America witnessed the disappointing aftermath of World War I and struggled through the Great Depression of the 1930s, a strong isolationism gripped the nation. Even into 1941 public sentiment remained strong against involvement in the wars spreading over Europe and the Far East. This attitude changed completely and irrevocably when Japan bombed Pearl Harbor. After President Franklin Roosevelt gave his famous speech to a joint session of Congress declaring December 7, 1941, “a date which will live in infamy,” Congress voted unanimously, except for one vote, to approve a declaration of war. America entered the war with a complete unity of purpose.
The war effort soon touched every strata of the nation’s economic and social life. The military draft had the most obvious and profound effect. By the end of the war more than ten million men were inducted into the armed forces. The absence of these men affected families and businesses in many ways. Women not only had to take care of their households, but they also had to take over many essential jobs. To attract women into the industrial workforce, a campaign was launched featuring “Rosie the Riveter,” an attractive, patriotic, and efficient assembly line worker. Eventually, more than three million women worked in war production plants.307
The war consumed vast amounts of the country’s agricultural and industrial output. Production of automobiles, houses, and appliances almost came to a halt, as assembly lines were turned over to tanks, trucks, ships, and ammunition. The Ford Motor Company created the world’s largest assembly line in Willow Run, Michigan, where the production of B-24 Liberator bombers reached 428 per month.
Ship construction was revolutionized under the leadership of Henry J. Kaiser. Abandoning the traditional keel-up procedure, Kaiser introduced a modular construction method where sections of a new ship were constructed away from the final assembly site. These large sections were then brought together and welded into finished ships. By the end of the war, sixteen U.S. shipyards had delivered 2,580 Liberty ships, the largest production run of a single ship in history.308 Overall, the United States increased its shipbuilding capacity by more than 1,200 percent, producing 5,200 naval and cargo vessels during the war.
By 1944 the War Department was consuming 40 percent of the gross national product, and many commodities such as meat, sugar, butter, coffee, gasoline, tires, and clothing were being rationed to the civilian populace. Ration books were issued with colored stamps worth different point values. Items were displayed on store shelves with labels indicating their cost in cash and ration points. A customer could make a purchase if he had enough stamps and cash, if there was something on the shelf. Gasoline was probably the most critical item with most people receiving coupons for three gallons per week. To supplement food supplies, Victory Gardens sprang up everywhere, as individual families joined the effort to feed the nation.
In spite of the hardships of the war, and perhaps to some extent because of them, there was a remarkable unity across the country. The entertainment industry vigorously supported the troops and the government’s War Bond campaigns. Churches rallied behind the war effort, as nearly every American was convinced of the moral rightness of the Allied cause. More than ten thousand chaplains were provided to the armed forces and countless ministries were initiated to support the troops at home and overseas. The nation’s leaders and citizens prayed for the safety of their loved ones and for victory in the greatest struggle in history. Never before or after has America been so united.