APUSH 33: American Pageant 17th Edition Chapter 33: America in World War II

Executive Order 9066

1942 action taken by FDR which allowed the Secretary of War to remove Japanese-Americans from their homes and into internment camps if they lived in designated military zones

Korematsu v. United States

1944 Supreme Court Case upholding the constitutionality of Japanese internment camps

War Production Board

Federal agency established in 1942 to oversee all aspects of war industry, including the allocation and procurement of raw materials, to maximize production and efficiency

Henry J. Kaiser

Shipbuilder dubbed “Sir Launchalot” due to his quick and voluminous production of warships during WWII

Office of Price Administration

Federal agency which rationed scarce materials, capped rents in certain areas, set price controls, and forced rationing of meat and butter

National War Labor Board

Federal agency created by FDR to mediate labor disputes to prevent strikes during wartime, and to control wage increases as a means of controlling inflation

John L. Lewis

Iron-willed boss of the United Mine Workers who frequently started strikes as a primary means of dispute

Smith-Connally Anti-Strike Act

1943 law allowing the federal government to take over factories plagued by labor disputes, criminalized strikes against government-run companies

Women’s Army Corps

Women’s branch of the US Army established during WWII which hired women in noncombatant roles, expanding women’s wartime roles past nursing

Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service

Women’s branch of the US Navy which was established during WWII and employed women in noncombatant jobs

US Coast Guard Women’s Reserve

Women’s branch of the US Coast Guard which was established during WWII and hired women in noncombatant roles, also known as SPARs

Bracero Program

1942 Agreement between the United States and Mexico which sent thousands of Mexican agricultural workers to the Western US to harvest crops, outlasted the war by over twenty years

A. Philip Randolph

Boss of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters who threatened a “Negro March on Washington” to protest for equality in the war industry sector

Fair Employment Practices Commission

Federal agency created to monitor compliance with FDR’s executive order which banned discrimination in the defense industry

Congress of Racial Equality

Nonviolent civil rights group founded in 1942 which sought to defeat dictatorship abroad and racism in the United States

Code Talkers

Native American soldiers who talked in their native languages over the radio to transmit military information so that Axis decoders would be unable to understand the information if intercepted

Office of Scientific Research and Development

Federal agency that funneled millions of dollars to universities for scientific research, establishing a technological connection between colleges and the government

Burma Road

Route linking Myanmar and China which US troops used to move munitions to Chinese general Jiang Jieshi, cut off by the Japanese

Bataan Death March

80 mile march for surrendering troops from Bataan to Japanese POW camps, known for its brutality

Battle of the Coral Sea

May 1942 naval battle in which Australian-supported Americans held back Japanese advances using only plane-to-plane combat, involved only aircraft carriers

Battle of Midway

June 1942 naval battle which halted Japan’s Pacific offensive using aircraft carriers, sunk 4 Japanese carriers

Bernard Montgomery

British general who repelled Rommel’s forces at El Alamein in October 1942

Enigma

German code that was cracked by Poland and England, allowed Allies to see location of U-Boats

Monte Cassino

Ancient Italian Monastery which was the center of the German defense of Italy

Dwight D. Eisenhower

US Army general who led an Allied coalition force to push the Axis out of North Africa, forced a surrender in May 1943, led US invasion at D-Day, future US President

D-Day

Massive invasion of France by Allied forces on 6/6/1944, involved storming the beaches at Normandy

1944 Election

FDR wins fourth term by defeating New York prosecutor Thomas Dewey 432-99 (26.6million-23 million popular votes)

Thomas Dewey

New York prosecutor who was a Liberal Republican, lost 1944 and 1948 elections

A.C. McAuliffe

Brigadier General who was the commander of the 101st Airborne Division, repelled german offensive at Bastogne, called German calls for surrender “Nuts”

Battle of the Bulge

German attack on American lines in the Ardennes forest in December 1944, stopped by outnumbered American troops, 8k American troops were killed

Victory in Europe Day

Celebrations on May 8th, 1945 after Germany surrendered unconditionally

Battle of Leyte Gulf

Series of three battles in October 1944 which was the largest naval battle of the war, saw Japan’s navy severely weakened

Iwo Jima

Japanese-held island between Japan and the Mariana islands that was crucial to refuel bomber returning from Japan, captured in March 1945, site of famous flag raising

Okinawa

Japanese island which the Japanese defended from caves, taken by the Allies in June 1945 after 50k Allied casualties

Potsdam Conference

Meeting in Berlin in July/August 1945 between Truman, Stalin, and Churchill which agreed to force Japan to surrender or be destroyed

Manhattan Project

American project to develop the atomic bomb, included scientists like Einstein and Oppenheimer

Hirohito

Japaneses emperor during World War II who was allowed to retain the throne as part of the surrender agreement

USS Missouri

Battleship which hosted Japanese surrender on September 2nd, 1945

Little Boy

Nuclear bomb dropped on Hiroshima, Japan on August 6th, 1945, killing 70k upon detonation and 60k of radiation poisoning

Fat Man

Nuclear Bomb dropped on Nagasaki, Japan on August 9th, 1945, resulting in 80k dead or missing people

Victory Over Japan Day

Celebrations when Japan began its surrender proceedings on August 15th, 1945

J. Robert Oppenheimer

Scientist who was key in developing the nuclear bomb, remarked about the destruction his inventions brought

ABC-1 Agreement

Agreement between Great Britain and the United States signed in March 1941 which stipulated that if the US entered WWII, they would coordinate planning with the British to protect the Commonwealth

Douglas MacArthur

United States Army general who conquered New Guinea and helped retake the Philippines from the Japanese when he returned, named General of the Army