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Selective Trainging and Service Act
Congress authorized the first peacetime draft in the nation's history. The Selective Training and Service Act required all males aged 21 to 36 to register for military service. A limited number of men was selected from this pool to serve a year in the army -
Radio Adresses
Franklin D. Roosevelt addressed his concerns clear to the American people in a radio. He stated We must be the great arsenal of democracy. For us this is an emergency as serious as war itself. We must apply ourselves to our task with the same resolution, the same sense of urgency, the same spirit of patriotism and sacrifice as we would show were we at war. -
Four Freedoms Speech
Four Freedoms speech,” FDR shared his vision of what these troops would be fighting for: �We look forward to a world founded upon four essential freedoms. The first is freedom of speech and expression…. A A speech was said by FDR to inform what the troops would be fighting for, "The second is freedom of every person to worship God in his own way…. The third is freedom from want [need]…. The fourth is freedom from fear." — Franklin D. Roosevelt, State of the Union Message, -
The Office of Price Administration (OPA)
Worried that shortages would cause price increases, the government used tough measures to head off inflation. In April 1941, the Office of Price Administration (OPA) was established by an executive order.The OPA's job was to control inflation by limiting prices and rents. The OPA accomplished its main task, keeping inflation under control. The cost of living rose, but not nearly as much as it had in World War I. -
War Production Board
The government set up the War Production Board (WPB) to direct the conversion of peacetime industries to industries that produced war goods. It quickly halted the production of hundreds of civilian consumer goods, from cars to lawn mowers to bird cages, and encouraged companies to make goods for the war -
African American Troops
Nearly a million African Americans joined the military. Military authorities reluctantly gave African Americans the opportunity to fight. African Americans fought in separate units. One such group, called the Tuskegee Airmen, became the first African American flying unit in the United States military in the late 1940's. -
Norman Rockwell encourges men
Artist Norman Rockwell illustrated four freedoms in a series of paintings that the government distributed in poster form during the war. After the attack on Pearl Harbor, feelings of patriotism swept over the United States. Tens of thousands of men volunteered to serve in the military. -
James. F Bymes, Office of War Mobilization
In May 1943, the President appointed James F. Byrnes, a longtime member of Congress and a close presidential advisor, to head the Office of War Mobilization. The office would serve as a superagency in the centralization of resources. -
Smith-Conally Act
Congress passed the Smith-Connally Act in June 1943, limiting future strike activity. The most serious strikes occurred in the coal industry. The miners had watched industry profits and the cost of living soar while their wages stayed the same. -
Libery Ships
Henry J. Kaiser introduced mass production techniques into shipbuilding and cut the time needed to build one type of ship from 200 days to 40 days. The vessels that made Kaiser famous were called Liberty ships. They were large, sturdy merchant ships that carried supplies or troops.
