Trace aspects of America's war
efforts on the home front and discuss manpower, gender roles, and financing US
participation in WWII.
When The United States
declared war after the Pearl Harbor attack, the nation was unprepared to wage a
world war .However, American’s efforts on the home front was one of the key’s element
to victory.
The financing of WWII
needed a transformation in the nation’s social and economic life. The economic
transformation
started by the conversion of industrial manufacturing to war production. This
mass production permitted to surpass the enemy on equipment and power. To cover
the war huge cost, Congress passed the revenue act of 1942. The act raised tax
rates and increased the number of taxpayers. While tax revenues permitted to
cover 45 percent of military costs, the government borrowed to cover the rest.
The social transformation consisted mainly on the gender roles. With more than
16 million men drafted, a shortage of civilian workers allowed more women to
enter the workforce. Over 6 million women entered the work force during the war
and allowed new tax revenues for the government. Finally, thousands of American
women served in the women’s army corps, navy, coastal guards, and the army air
force and in the volunteer emergency service.
The Japanese attack on
Pearl Harbor unlashed an unprecedented mobilization of America’s human,
economic and military resources to gain the war.