Wartime Migration • Many of the 15 million mobilized for the war chose not to return home after 1945 • War industries brought people to boomtowns like Seattle, Detroit, LA • In 1938 FDR called the South the nation’s “number one economic problem” • Received a disproportionate share of defense contracts • 1.6 million blacks left the South seeking jobs in the North and West • Race relations now be a “national” issue
Wartime Migration – Race Relations • Racial tensions increased over employment, housing, and segregated facilities • A. Philip Randolph (head of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters) threatened a massive “Negro March on Washington” in 1941 • Demanded equal opportunities for blacks in war jobs and in the armed forces • Result: FDR issued an executive order forbidding discrimination in defense industries • The war will embolden blacks to fight for equality (slogan “Double V” - victory over dictators abroad and racism at home)
A. Philip Randolph, 1942 & 1963
Wartime Migration • 1944 invention of the mechanical cotton picker – did the work of 50 people @ 1/8 the cost • South’s need for cheap labor disappeared • Some 5 million black tenant farmers and sharecroppers head north over next 3 decades • By 1970 half of all blacks live outside the South • War prompted the exodus of Native Americans from reservations • 1940 90% live on reservations • By 2000 half lived in cities w/ many in southern California
John Daniel Rust (1892–1954) inventor International Harvester Corporation producer
Federal Action and Labor • WMC (War Manpower Commission) – determined which industries needed manpower the most • The NWLB (National War Labor Board) • Limited wage increases • Allowed negotiated benefits such as paid vacations, pensions, and medical insurance • Kept unions stable by forbidding workers to change unions
Federal Action and Labor (cont’d) • Union membership increases from 10 million to 13 million workers during the war • Despite the no-strike pledges of most major unions, a rash of labor walk-outs plagued the war effort • Prominent strikers United Mine Workers led by John L. Lewis (Alabama) • Struck in Jan. 1943 – negotiations break down • May 1943 – FDR seized the mines & threatens to draft the miners (miners don’t give up) • November 1943 – some union demands met; miners win pay raise of $1.50 per day
The Smith-Connally Anti-Strike Act • Congress worried the Smith-Connally Anti-Strike Act (June 1943) • Authorized the government to seize and operate tied-up industries • Montgomery Ward (refused to recognize its workers’ union) – workers strike • NWLB ordered Sewell Avery (president) to negotiate with the union • Avery ignores the order and refuses to leave – soldiers carry him out • Government ran the company the rest of the war
Anti New-Deal chairman, Sewell Avery, had to be literally carried out of the plant by Guardsmen
Federal Action and Labor (cont’d) • The Smith-Connally Anti-Strike Act (cont’d) • Strikes against any government-operated industry were made criminal offenses • Govt. took over coal mines and briefly the railroads • Work stoppages only accounted for less than 1% of total working hours
Labor in WW2 • By 1944 nearly 18 million workers labored in war industries • More than 6 million were women • Reluctance at first to hire women • Thought they lacked the stamina of men or technical understanding of machinery • Thought they would be a distraction to men • Soon women were hired in record numbers • Earn only 60% as much as men • By war’s end 1 out of 3 workers are women
Labor in WW2 • Nearly 2 million minority workers hired during the war • Faced prejudice, at first, like women • Start of the war 75% of defense contractors simply refused to hire blacks • After Randolph’s threat to strike FDR issued Executive Order 8802 • Banned discrimination in all government agencies, job-training, and all companies doing business w/ the federal govt.
Labor in WW2 • FDR established the Fair Employment Practices Committee to ensure equal treatment amongst minorities • At war’s end 2 million blacks held jobs in aircraft factories, steel mills, and shipyards • In the North and Southblacks enjoyed more social acceptance and economic well-being
Discrimination Persisted • Armed Forces – official policy • have all-black soldiers or sailors commanded by white officers • In the navy – blacks could only be porters • Black soldiers on leave face segregation in the South • In the North whites resent competition w/ influx of blacks for jobs and housing
Japanese Americans Lose their Liberties • After Pearl Harbor US fear of a Japanese invasion – most Japanese lived in small identifiable communities along the Pacific coast (easy targets) • February 1942 defense officials labeled them “a menace to be dealt with” • FDR yields to pressure and gives War Department full authority to forcibly relocate thousands of Japanese families (2/3 native-born) • 110,000 uprooted to internment camps • Had to sell homes, businesses, and most possessions
Japanese Internment • 1,200 petitioned FDR to be allowed to serve – formed the 100th Inf. Battalion • One of the most highly decorated • 1944 Supreme Court upheld forced location as justifiable during war • 1945 families allowed to return • 1988 Congress votes overwhelmingly to formally apologize ($20,000 to each survivor)
The National Debt • To pay for the war, the government raised taxeswith the Revenue Act of 1942 • Raised the top personal-income-tax rate to 90% • Added lower and middle-income Americans to the income-tax roles • Also the government borrowed huge amounts of money by selling war bonds • Spectacular drives used movie stars and comic book heroes such as Batman and Dick Tracy to sell bonds and bolster patriotic spirit • The National Debt first begins to balloon because of World War II (not New Deal)
The Return of Prosperity • US economy grew during the war: • GNP rose from $91.1 billion (1939) to $213.6 billion (1945) • During 1942 alone, war production rose over 300% surpassing Germany, Italy, and Japan combined • Increase in production ends the depression • Farmers see a prosperity not enjoyed since WWI
