War on the Home Front!

Transcription

1 War on the Home Front 8th Grade U.S. History World War II American Propaganda During WWII 1. List all the different types of media where an American citizen might have seen war propaganda. 2. Click on the posters part of the different types of media and read the entry. Then, answer the following questions. a. How many different types of poster designs were created? b. What themes did most posters advertise? c. What types of locations were most posters advertised? d. Name the organization responsible for producing the propaganda posters. e. What was the major difference between American posters compared to other Allied nations?

2 f. How did the government choose the designs they would use for propaganda posters? 3. Click on the comic books and cartoons section of the table of contents. Then, answer the following questions. a. What famous cartoonist was against isolationism even before the attack against Pearl Harbor? b. What famous superhero was seen in comics attacking the German Westwall in the SS weekly newspaper Das Schwarze Korps? c. Who was the famous American cartoonist who displayed the grimmer part of military life in his cartoons? 4. Click on the movies section of the table of contents. Then, answer the following questions. a. Who did Hollywood use to replace the typical gangsters and spies in American movies during WWII? b. After the attack on Pearl Harbor, how did movies in Hollywood change? c. What major film, which won an Academy Award for Best Picture, followed the real life story of Vichy/Free French Forces? d. What was the earliest satirization (comedy/making fun) of an Axis government? Who was responsible for acting in this satire? e. What did George C. Marshall request of Frank Capra?

3 Victory Gardens 1. Before accessing the website, find the definition of a victory garden and write it below in your own words. 2. How did some WWII victory gardens start? 3. Where did some new gardens develop? 4. What were the five main goals of the National Victory Garden Program? 5. What benefits did people gain from growing a victory garden? 6. About how many people participated in the war garden effort in 1942? 7. Approximately how many garden plots were planted during the war? How many pounds of fruits and vegetables were grown each year?

4 Rationing (website) 1. Use picture 1. Why did most Americans decide to cut back during WWII? 2. Use picture 2. Where did the U.S. get most of its rubber prior to the war? What did the government ask people to turn in for recycling purposes? 3. Use picture 4. a. When did the U.S. finally impose a nationwide gasoline rationing program? b. How fast was the national speed limit? c. Why did the government impose a national speed limit? d. What were the A stamp gasoline ration coupons used for? Rationing (video) 1. Why did the U.S. Ration Board create rationing books? 2. How did rationing change the American attitude towards assessing their needs?

5 Women in the Workplace 1. Why were women needed in the workplace when America joined the war? 2. Click on the blue link for women have always worked. Read it, and answer these questions. a. How did most women work prior to industrialization? b. Why were women working outside of the home frowned upon during the Depression? 3. What fictional character was used as a propaganda campaign to promote the ideal woman worker? 4. About half of the women who worked in the factories during WWII were what? 5. Why was it hard to recruit married women with children to work? 6. How many women were in the workforce by the end of WWII? Rosie the Riveter Video 1. Was the concept of Rosie the Riveter really about one person? Explain. 2. How was Rosie first made famous?

6 3. What was Rosie a symbol of? Japanese-American Relocation Video 1. What law did President Roosevelt sign authorizing him to have the power to relocate Japanese Americans? 2. Roughly how many Japanese Americans were put into relocation camps? 3. What was the rationale for putting these folks in the interment camps? 4. How much of their personal belongings was an evacuee allowed to take with them to one of the camps? 5. Describe the camp s appearance (based on what you see and the personal testimony on the video). 6. Why were Japanese American soldiers extra motivated to help win the war? 7. How does the U.S. government repay the surviving Japanese Americans for their hardships well after the war was over?

7 Japanese-American Relocation Website Go to the website and click on the interview for Fumi Hayashi. Then, select reading section number 6 to answer the following questions. It is labeled Tanforan. **If you click on certain parts of the text, you can listen to Fumi while she speaks about the incidents. 1. What did Fumi pack in her suitcase? 2. Give details about Fumi s experience at Tanforan. 3. What happened to Tad s family, who Fumi would eventually marry? 4. Describe the food situation. 5. What kind of contact did Fumi have with the outside world? Now, click on Arriving in Topaz, which is selection number 7. Read or listen to the interview, and answer the following questions. 6. Why did Fumi feel like she had died when arriving at the camps?

8 7. Fumi never really had one experience which she finds hard to talk about. But what were her feelings towards the government? 8. How did Fumi feel about the loyalty oath they had to take? What about some others at the camp? Click on selection number 9 labeled Daily life in Topaz and answer the following questions. 9. What did Fumi miss the most while she was in the camp? 10. How did Fumi s view of the United States change after being in the camp? Why didn t she feel like it was necessary to get a diploma