95WORLD WAR II Part III: Document-Based Questions This task is based on the accompanying eight documents. Some of these documents have been edited for the purposes of this task. This task is designed to test your ability to work with historical documents. As you analyze the documents, consider both the source of each document and the author s point of view. Directions: Read the documents in Part A and answer the questions after each document. Then, read the directions for Part B and write your essay. Historical Context The United States entered World War II in December 1941. The nation then embarked on a full-scale mobilization of its resources. Millions of Americans participated in the war effort. This massive nationwide campaign affected nearly every aspect of American society. Task Using information from the documents and your knowledge of U.S. history, write an essay in which you answer the following questions: 1. How did Americans contribute to their nation s war effort during World War II? 2. How did participating in the war effort create new opportunities for certain groups of people in America? Part A: Short-Answer Questions Document 1 Children at an elementary school in Washington, D.C., March 1942: CORBIS 95
9WORLD WAR II (continued) 1. What are the children in the photograph doing? 2. What does this photo suggest about the U.S. war effort during World War II? 3. How might this photo have influenced those Americans who viewed it in 1942? Document 2 Statement by U.S. Representative from California, Jerry Voorhis, April 24, : As I read the casualty lists from my own state, I find anywhere from onefourth to one-third of those names are names such as Gónzales or Sanchez, names indicating that the very lifeblood of our citizens of Latin-American descent in the uniform of the armed forces of the United States is being poured out to win victory in the war. We ought not to forget that. We ought to resolve that in the future every single one of these citizens shall have the fullest and freest opportunity which this country is capable of giving him, to advance to such positions of influence and eminence as their own personal capacities make possible. 4. What did Representative Voorhis note about Californians who served in the military during the war? 5. What point was Voorhis trying to make with this statement?. What does Voorhis s statement suggest about the social situation in California before World War II? 9
97WORLD WAR II (continued) Document 3 Year Internal Revenue Collections by Tax Sources, 1940 1947 (in thousands of dollars) Total Individual Income Corporation Income Alcohol & Tobacco Manufacturers Excise Tax* Other 1940 5,322,77 982,017 1,147,592 1,232,137 447,088 1,513,937 1941 17,351,534 1,417,55 2,053,49 1,517,581 17,373 1,745,455 1942 13,029,915 3,22,800 4,744,083 1,828,957 771,902 2,422,172 1943 22,38,724,29,932 9,8,95 2,347,337 504,74 3,217,752 40,119,510 18,21,005 14,7,79 2,0,528 503,42 3,981,718 43,800,338 19,034,313 1,027,213 3,242,009 782,511 4,714,292 194 40,71,922 18,704,53 12,553,02 3,91,81 922,71 4,799,432 1947 39,108,273 19,343,297 9,7,757 3,712,524 1,425,395 4,950,300 *Manufacturers Excise Tax: a tax that manufacturers are charged for making certain products SOURCE: Statistical Abstract of the United States 7. What was the government s largest source of tax income in 1941? What was the government s largest source of tax income in 1947? 8. What does this table suggest about government spending between 1940 and 1947? 9. What does this table reveal about how World War II affected American citizens? 97
98WORLD WAR II (continued) Document 4 Address by Minnie L. Maffett, president of the National Federation of Business and Professional Women s Clubs, July 8, 1943: Every day more women are enlisting in the WAC [Women s Army Corps], the WAVES [Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service in the Navy], the Marines, the SPARS [Coast Guard], the WAFS [Women s Air Ferrying Squadron]; in civilian defense, in even greater numbers. In industry, women are replacing men in many new types of jobs in factory and plant. In government offices and war emergency departments, they are steadily increasing in numbers. On April 30, 1943, more than 891,000 women were employed in the executive branch of the government alone, some of them holding important professional jobs.... The list of professional women who are employed, both in Washington and throughout the country, is impressive. We have been able to send more than 450 women of professional grade into various departments where they are earning from $4,500 to $10,000 a year. Here we have made progress. Women are taking up many more unusual professions, especially in the fields of science, and are making good in them. The tremendous variety of the professional skills held by women and the great demand for women having specialized training is most impressive. Indeed, there are not nearly enough women to meet the demand that exists now, and which will certainly become greater as the war goes on. 10. What military organizations did women join during World War II? 11. How did civilian women contribute to the U.S. war effort? 12. How do you think women might have benefited from their wartime experiences? 98
Name Class Date 99WORLD WAR II (continued) Document 5 World War II in the Pacific Areas under Japanese control, 1942 Extent of Japanese control, June 1942 Extent of Japanese control, June Allied advance Atomic bomb target Major battle MONGOLIA Manchuria SOVIET UNION Kuril Islands Aleutian Islands (U.S.) INDIA CHINA Burma THAILAND French Indochina Bangkok Sumatra Malaya Singapore Indian Ocean Java Beijing Hong Kong South China Sea Philippines (U.S.) Borneo Sea of JAPAN Japan Korea Hiroshima (Aug. ) Tokyo Yellow Sea N Nagasaki (Aug. ) East China Sea Dutch East Indies Okinawa (April-June ) Iwo Jima (Feb.-March ) Philippine Sea (June ) Leyte Gulf (Oct. ) AUSTRALIA New Guinea W S Mariana Islands Rabaul 1943 Saipan (June-July ) Guam (July-Aug. ) Coral Sea E Caroline Islands 1943 Tarawa (Nov. 1943) Solomon Islands 1942 Midway (June 1942) 1943 New Britain (Dec. ) Guadalcanal (Aug. 1942-Feb. 1943) Coral Sea (May 1942) Wake Island (U.S.) Marshall Islands (U.S.) Gilbert Islands Ocean Eastern Solomons (Aug. 1942) Santa Cruz (Oct. 1942) Hawaiian Islands (U.S.) 13. In what year was the extent of Japanese control greatest? 14. What does the map reveal about the U.S. strategy against Japan during the war? 15. What does the map indicate about how the war against Japan ended? Explain. 99
100WORLD WAR II (continued) Document On June 25, 1941, President Franklin D. Roosevelt issued Executive Order 8802: WHEREAS it is the policy of the United States to encourage full participation in the national defense program by all citizens of the United States, regardless of race, creed, color, or national origin, in the firm belief that the democratic way of life within the Nation can be defended successfully only with the help and support of all groups within its borders; and WHEREAS there is evidence that available and needed workers have been barred from employment in industries engaged in defense production solely because of considerations of race, creed, color, or national origin, to the detriment of workers' morale and of national unity: NOW, THEREFORE, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the statutes, and as a prerequisite to the successful conduct of our national defense production effort, I do hereby reaffirm the policy of the United States that there shall be no discrimination in the employment of workers in defense industries or government because of race, creed, color, or national origin, and I do hereby declare that it is the duty of employers and of labor organizations, in furtherance of said policy and of this order, to provide for the full and equitable participation of all workers in defense industries, without discrimination because of race, creed, color, or national origin.... 1. Executive Order 8802 was a response to what national issue? 17. What policy did Executive Order 8802 establish? In what way was it limited in scope? 18. How did Executive Order 8802 change hiring practices in the defense industry? 100
101WORLD WAR II (continued) Document 7 United States Army veteran Jack Short describes his wartime experiences: Right after D-Day, early June, 44, I landed in Liverpool. It seems that a few days later we landed at Omaha Beach. As you looked up on the beach, you could actually see the making of GI cemeteries. That was your first shock, regardless of all the combat training you had.... You d go into areas where there were Germans and you d just keep going and going.... We just raced across Germany and ended just outside Leipzig. The war ended. The Germans had surrendered.... The war changed our whole idea of how we wanted to live when we came back. We set our sights pretty high. If we didn t have the war, in Poughkeepsie, the furthest you d travel would be maybe New York or Albany. But once people started to travel People wanted better levels of living, all people.... Fellas I had gone in the service with, five or six, we all had the same feeling. We all went back to school. One s an engineer today, another one s a pharmacist. We just didn t want to go back and work in a factory in the hometown. The GI Bill was a blessing. It paid for 99 percent of your college expenses and gave you money each month to live on. That s the best thing the government came out with after the war. Jack Short s Oral History of World War 2 The Good War: An Oral History of World War Two 19. On which continent did Jack Short serve during the war? How can you tell? 20. How do you think Short felt about his wartime experiences? 21. What does this passage reveal about how World War II affected American society? 101
102WORLD WAR II (continued) Document 8 U.S. Military Personnel During World War II: Draftees Examined 17,955,000 Rejected,420,000 Inducted 10,022,000 All Military Personnel, by Branches Army 11,20,000 Navy 4,183,000 Marines 9,000 Coast Guard 241,000 Total 1,353,000 SOURCE: Historical Statistics of the United States, ColonialTimes to 1970 22. Approximately what percentage of the draftees examined for service were rejected? 23. Draftees comprised approximately what percentage of all U.S. military personnel during the war? 24. Which branch of the military do you think most of the draftees entered? Explain your reasoning. Part B: Essay Directions: Write a well-organized essay that includes an introduction, several paragraphs, and a conclusion. In the body of the essay, use evidence from at least four documents. Support your response with relevant facts, examples, and details. Include additional outside information. Use a logical and clear plan of organization. Using information from the documents and your knowledge of U.S. history, write an essay in which you answer the following questions: 1. How did Americans contribute to their nation s war effort during World War II? 2. How did participating in the war effort create new opportunities for certain groups of people in America? 102