4/15 Assignment, Ch.12 Questions

   Cost plus contract: In times of war, there wasn't time for the government to bid on military equipment. Instead, they agreed to pay a company whatever it took to make a product, in addition they guaranteed a percentage of the costs as profit. As a result the faster a company made products the more the company made, the system was expensive but very effective.
   Reconstruction finance corporation: This was a government agency set up during the depression, they were permitted to make loans to companies to help cover the cost of converting to war production.
   What kind of factories did we use to make our tanks? Automobile companies started to make tanks, jeeps and trucks for the military in times of war. As a result, automobile production almost ceased.
   B-24 Liberator: One of Henry Ford's most ambitious projects. He created am assembly line for this enormous B-24 bomber. By the end of the war, he had created over 8600 aircraft.
   Liberty ship: The liberty ship was a basic cargo ship used during the war, these ships were welded instead of riveted. They were cheap, easy to build and a lot harder to sink.
   Problem with training for the troops: Basic training was too quick to learn anything useful or get much of a gain, the troops were often too physically strained to take anything out of it. One soldier yelled, "How do I load this thing?"
  "Double V" campaign: The campaign urged African Americans to support the war in order to achieve a double victory- a victory over hitler's racism abroad and America's racism at home.
   African Americans role in the war: At the beginning they had little influence and we're heavily segregated, but their efforts and willingness to fight for their country paid off. In 1948, Truman made the decision to fully integrate the military.
   Women's role in the war: Women were allowed in the army but couldn't participate in any combat. There were eventually regulations put in place that allowed women to be officers and eventually women gained an equal role in the army, or very close to it. In World War Two however, they served almost exclusively as aid and nurses to the men.