AKs 39
WWII
AKS 39: Describe the impact of WWII on Georgia's development economically, socially, and Politically
AKS 39a Describe the impact of events leading up to American involvement in World War II to include the Lend-Lease Act and the bombing of Pearl Harbor.
Lend-Lease Act: In the 1930s, Congress had passed Neutrality Acts to keep the United States out of another war. One of those acts would not allow the president to sell weapons to any warring nation. In 1939, Roosevelt asked for and got a new law that allowed the Allied Powers to buy arms if they paid cash and carried them on their own ships. In 1940, Roosevelt gave Great Britain old weapons and traded fifty destroyers for British bases in the Western Hemisphere. In early 1941, when the British ran out of cash with which to buy American supplies, Congress authorized Roosevelt to lend or lease arms to them.
Pearl Harbor: To protest Japanese expansion in Asia and the South Pacific, the United States stopped exporting airplanes, metals, aircraft parts, and aviation gasoline to Japan. After Japan invaded French Indochina in 1941, Roosevelt seized all Japanese property in the United States. Badly needing the oil that Roosevelt had cut off, Japan decided to invade the Dutch East Indies (now Indonesia) in late 1941. The only force that could stop the Japanese was the U.S. Navy stationed at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. December 7, 1941: around 8:00 a.m., the air was filled with the sounds of machine gun fire and low level bombing. The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor was over by 10:00 a.m., but the damage to the Navy's Pacific fleet was incredible. All eight battleships in port were destroyed or severely damaged; more than 180 planes were destroyed. Over two thousand people were killed, and over one thousand were wounded. President Roosevelt called the attack a "day that will live in infamy." The U.S. declared war on Japan December 8, 1941; a few days later, Japan's ally Germany declared war on the U.S.. U.S. policy was victory in Europe first.
Pearl Harbor: To protest Japanese expansion in Asia and the South Pacific, the United States stopped exporting airplanes, metals, aircraft parts, and aviation gasoline to Japan. After Japan invaded French Indochina in 1941, Roosevelt seized all Japanese property in the United States. Badly needing the oil that Roosevelt had cut off, Japan decided to invade the Dutch East Indies (now Indonesia) in late 1941. The only force that could stop the Japanese was the U.S. Navy stationed at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. December 7, 1941: around 8:00 a.m., the air was filled with the sounds of machine gun fire and low level bombing. The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor was over by 10:00 a.m., but the damage to the Navy's Pacific fleet was incredible. All eight battleships in port were destroyed or severely damaged; more than 180 planes were destroyed. Over two thousand people were killed, and over one thousand were wounded. President Roosevelt called the attack a "day that will live in infamy." The U.S. declared war on Japan December 8, 1941; a few days later, Japan's ally Germany declared war on the U.S.. U.S. policy was victory in Europe first.
AKS 39b Evaluate the importance of Bell Aircraft
In Marietta, 30,000 men and women built B-29 bombers at the Bell Bomber Plant. A boon for Georgia's economy. The aircraft industry remains in Georgia to this day. Before Bell Aircraft was introduced, Marietta was a small rural town in Georgia's Piedmont region. This aircraft manufacturing plant transformed Marietta into a major industrial center of the state. Marietta had a prewar population of about 8,000 while Cobb County had approximately 38,000 citizens altogether and relied upon a cotton economy that was characteristic of much of the South at the beginning of the 1940s. Within four months of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, the Bell Aircraft Corporation broke ground in Marietta on its newest production facility. This massive plant would assist in the production and assembly of the most technologically-advanced bomber in the world, the Boeing Corporation's B-29 Superfortress.
The facility was completed in a staggering 54 weeks and was 3.2 million square feet in dimension, roughly the size of sixty-three football fields. The main building contained approximately 32,000 tons of steel as well as two parallel final assembly lines each a half-mile long. Bell equipped the main manufacturing facilities with air conditioning, a recent innovation that could only be found in premier movie theaters at that time. By the end of the war, the factory had produced 668 bombers and was the state’s single largest private employer during World War II, with more than 28,000 workers.
The facility was completed in a staggering 54 weeks and was 3.2 million square feet in dimension, roughly the size of sixty-three football fields. The main building contained approximately 32,000 tons of steel as well as two parallel final assembly lines each a half-mile long. Bell equipped the main manufacturing facilities with air conditioning, a recent innovation that could only be found in premier movie theaters at that time. By the end of the war, the factory had produced 668 bombers and was the state’s single largest private employer during World War II, with more than 28,000 workers.
AKS 39b Evaluate the importance of military bases to Georgia
Major military bases included Fort Benning in Columbus, Camp Gordon in Augusta, Fort Stewart and Hunter Air Field in Savannah, and Warner Robins Air Field near Macon. Airmen from Glynco Naval Air Station, near Brunswick, flew blimps along the southern Atlantic coast in search of German Submarines. Fort McPherson, in the Atlanta area, was a major induction center for newly drafted soldiers from all over the country. A military hospital, which had been used in WWI, was reopened in Atlanta. In nearby Clayton County, Fort Gillem, an army storage facility and railroad yard, began operation. In 1943, the Cobb County Airport became the Marietta Army Airfield. At Fort Oglethorpe, some of the 150,000 women who served in the WAAC (Women's Army Auxiliary Corp, later known as WACs) trained to become postal workers, clerks, typists, switchboard operators, code clerks, and drivers or aides. Thousands of Georgians were also employed in automobile and textile plants that were being used to produce military vehicles and uniforms. The Atlanta airport became an air base in 1941, and Delta Airlines named Atlanta the home of its fast growing fleet.
ASK 39b Evaluate the importance of Richard Russell
On June 27, 1931, Winder resident Richard Russell, Jr., succeeded Lamartine Hardman as governor. Richard B. Russell, Jr., used his experience as a former member and speaker of the Georgia House of Representatives to make some needed changes. One of his first acts was to combine 102 state offices into 17 agencies. In an equally daring political move, he combined the boards of trustees of state colleges and universities into one governing group--the Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia. During the creation of the new system, some colleges were closed while others were combined. Russell appointed Hughes Spalding, an Atlanta lawyer, as the first chairman of the board or regents. Russell tried to run the state like a successful business. His approach eased some of the problems brought on by the depression. In 1932, Governor Russell was elected to the U.S. Senate, where he served for the next thirty-eight years. Russell favored national military preparedness and states' rights. He served on the powerful Senate Appropriations Committee, which was responsible for funding government programs. He became a respected adviser to six United States presidents.
AKS 39b Evaluate the importance of Savannah and Brunswick shipyards
Building of Liberty ships at Brunswick and Savannah shipyards. President Roosevelt named the cargo ships "Liberty ships:" the ships were essential to the war effort. The first of Georgia's Liberty ships was launched in November 1942 -- the U.S.S. James Oglethorpe, which was sunk by a German submarine the next year. In all, eighty-eight Liberty ships were built in Savannah by 15,000 workers, many of whom were women. in Brunswick, over 16,000 men and women worked around the clock in 1943 and 1944 on six ships all at the same time. In December 1944, they set a national record by building seven ships in just one month. The crews even worked on Christmas Day and donated their checks for that day to the war effort. In all, Brunswick's shipyards produced ninety-nine Liberty ships. Both of Georgia's port cities can be proud of their tremendous contributions to the war effort.
AKS 39b Evaluate the importance of Carl Vinson
On of Georgia's most influential leaders, Carl Vinson is often referred to as the "father of the two-ocean navy." He served twenty-five consecutive terms representing Georgia in the U.S. House of Representatives, from 1914 to 1965. Vinson was a major influence in promoting a strong national defense. Alarmed by rising tensions in Europe, President Roosevelt and Vinson worked to increase the country's military readiness. Almost two years before Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor, Vinson maneuvered two important bills through Congress. One bill expanded the naval aviation system to 10,000 planes, trained 16,000 pilots, and established 20 air bases. The second piece of legislation eased labor restrictions in the shipbuilding industry and allowed faster construction of navy ships.
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AKS 39c Analyze the impact of the Holocaust on Georgians
The horrors of the Holocaust forced Americans to re-examine their policy of isolationism, but there was little effect on Georgia itself. As we learned earlier, Jews settled in Georgia early in its history. Most Jews lived in the larger cities and did non-agricultural work.
ASK 39d Discuss the ties to Georgia that President Roosevelt had and his impact on the state
One of the president's New Deal programs that did not work was the National Industrial Recovery Act (NIRA). It was designed to help workers by setting minimum wages, permitting them to organize unions, and allowing factories to cut back on production. In Georgia, this legislation mainly affected the textile industry. Although labor unions had been active in the North for many years, most manufacturers in the South had forbidden unions, and workers were not allowed to even discuss them. Those who did were often fired for being "trouble makers." Ended up causing textile workers' strike - Talmadge called out the National Guard. One New Deal program was more popular in Georgia and is still enjoyed today. As a result of the TVA, we now have Blue Ridge Lake (which was actually created in 1925), Lake Chatuga, and Lake Nottely. The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) was popular in Georgia in part because of its work at Camp Brumby with the Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park. The CCC also built many of the facilities: See CCC answer for list. The Rural Electrification Authority (REA) reportedly was a result of President Roosevelt's first night at Warm Springs, Georgia. He was sitting on the porch of his small cottage, trying to catch a breeze on a hot, sultry summer night. He noticed that no lights were showing from the neighboring farms. When he received his electrical bill at the end of the month, he saw that it was many times higher than what he paid at this mansion in Hyde Park, New York. Roosevelt never forgot that night, and on May 11, 1935, he signed into law the act creating the REA.