Loran Grant
2/17/12

America in World War II

At the time of WWII, America’s industry was strong and growing. American workers and citizens wanted to do what they could to help soldiers achieve victory during WWII. Robust American industry fueled by pure patriotism labeled American industry as one of the greatest contributions to the war effort. By 1942, America showed its great industrial strength by mass producing planes (Doc. 2). The majority of factories had been converted to war production after President Roosevelt’s Annual Message to Congress. He pronounces, “We must convert every available factory and tool to war production” (Doc. 1). The work was hard and the hours were long. As hours increased, men became tired and as the war effort increased, male workers became scarce. This scarcity of men led American women to step in. By the end of the war, 1/3 of the wartime workforces were women. This industrial boom also influenced African American workers to seek fairer employment and encouraged Mexican migration. African Americans sought fairer employment by joining organizations that promoted equal rights. As rural areas were being drained of their populations, the government created the Bracero Program. This program brought laborers from Mexico to work on American farms, which also greatly contributed to the war effort. By the end of the war several hundred thousand Mexicans had migrated here. Wartime is expensive on many levels; so many programs and plans are introduced to help with this expense. Throughout the war, American citizens’ patriotism fueled war production but patriotism does not cover the expense. Between 1941 and 1942, wartime production increased drastically (Doc. 5). In 1942, we had produced approximately seventy thousand artillery (guns), fifty thousand aircrafts, and almost thirty thousand tanks (Doc. 5). The war eventually cost us $330 billion, a much higher monetary contribution than any other country. In a mere six years, our nation’s national debt went from $42 billion to $269 billion. Because of this debt, American leaders introduced programs like war bonds and rationing. Americans bought war bonds to save income. Americans