Economic Powerhouse
Shortly after the bombing of Pearl Harbor in 1941, the United States
took action by turning there factories into economic powerhouses .
took action by turning there factories into economic powerhouses .
Military Production
After the bombing of Pearl Harbor, the U.S planed to outproduce the Axis powers ( Italy, Germany, Japan). American factories were making the greatest war equipment in all of military history . The timing it took to make these products was extremely rapid. For example, a gun could be produced every 26 minutes, a tank was made about every 12 minutes, and a plane every 9 minutes. But the government didn't just make guns, tanks, and planes for free. To help with paying the costs of the war effort, the government introduced something called a War Bond . Americans could purchase a $25 War Bond for $18.75. The money would go towards the cost of producing products for the war . Even children could help out buy purchasing a War Bond booklet and paying a fee of .25 for a "War Stamp"( a stamp that you put into a collectors booklet). When I interviewed my Grandfather, he told me that he always carried his War bond booklet around as a child . Now $18.75 might not seem like a lot when it comes to the war, but millions and millions of people purchased these books and bonds, sharing the costs of the war effort.
By the end of the war, the U.S had mass produced a total of 300,000 planes 1, 88,500 tanks 2,8,165,600 warships 2, 38,090,300 merchant ships 2, and 38,116,100 people working as a manpower 2 . (Sources) 1)"Military Production during World War II." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation. Web. 8 Feb. 2015. 2) "Weapons and Manpower." Weapons and Manpower. Web. 8 Feb. 2015. |
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