The home front in World War II

Grade 11 Social Studies Worksheet - Building Confidence

Circle the best answer.

1. Read this first

   Use this

   Cards A to D, all summaries in our words, written today. Card A: On June 25, 1941, Executive Order 8802 banned discrimination in defense industries and created the Committee on Fair Employment Practice. It came after A. Philip Randolph and other Black leaders pressed for it and planned a march on Washington. Card B: Shipyards in Richmond, California, run mostly by the Kaiser company, built Liberty and Victory ships, with men, women and immigrants working side by side. Some three million women worked in war plants; by 1944, 16 percent of working women held war-industry jobs. Card C: Gasoline, butter, sugar and canned milk were rationed because they were needed for the war. Japan's capture of the Philippines cut off the main sugar supply, and its control of the Dutch East Indies from March 1942 to September 1945 caused a rubber shortage, so tires were rationed. Families received their first ration cards in May 1942. Card D: Coffee was rationed from November 1942 to July 28, 1943: at first one pound every five weeks for each person over 15. Rationing shared scarce goods and helped keep prices from rising fast.

2. 1.

   Card A is a summary of Executive Order 8802, written today. A student asks whether defense plants hired Black workers in large numbers afterward. Is card A enough, Ari asks?

   • No; card A reports what the order banned and why, not what employers did next
   • Yes; an order banning discrimination in defense industries shows that employers hired Black workers widely
   • Yes, together with card B, which shows men, women and immigrants working side by side at Richmond
   • Yes; the Committee on Fair Employment Practice it created enforced the ban, as card A confirms
3. 2.

   A student wants to know how families felt about rationing. Card C explains why goods were rationed. What would help more than card C, Esme asks?

   • A letter or diary from a family at the time, since card C gives reasons, not feelings
   • Card C itself, since goods needed for the war would have been accepted by families
   • A count of ration stamps used, since heavy use would show that families liked the system
   • Card D, since rationing that kept prices from rising fast shows that families approved of it
4. 3.

   Card C links sugar to the Philippines and rubber to the Dutch East Indies. Which claim does card C support, Jun asks?

   • Sugar was rationed after Japan took the Dutch East Indies, and rubber after it took the Philippines
   • Rubber was already short before Japan took the Dutch East Indies, which is why tires were rationed
   • Events in the Pacific explain the sugar and rubber limits, while other goods were rationed for war need
   • Events in the Pacific were the whole reason for rationing, since sugar and rubber both depended on Japan's moves
5. 4.

   Card D says coffee was limited to one pound every five weeks for each person over 15. Which claim does card D support, Kira asks?

   • Coffee was rationed from the first ration cards in May 1942, along with sugar and gasoline
   • A per-person limit shared scarce coffee and helped hold prices down
   • Rationing ended the coffee shortage, since coffee came off the list on July 28, 1943
   • The limit aimed to leave coffee to adults, since it applied to each person over 15
6. 5.

   Card A says Black leaders pressed for the order and planned a march on Washington. Which claim does card A support, Luz asks?

   • A march on Washington took place and forced the order, since the leaders planned it
   • The order came first, and Randolph and other leaders then planned a march in reply
   • Black leaders pressed for the order and planned a march; no march is reported
   • Randolph led the Committee on Fair Employment Practice after pressing for it
7. 6.

   A student says women's war jobs caused rationing. What do cards B and C show about how the two connect, Milo asks?

   • The jobs caused rationing, since war plants used up goods that were needed for the war
   • Rationing came first and created the war plant jobs, since ration cards began in May 1942
   • Both resulted from Japan's actions in the Pacific, which created new work and new shortages
   • Both came from the war's demands, but neither card says the jobs and the limits caused each other
8. 7.

   A student says the 1941 order opened Richmond shipyard jobs to Black workers. What do cards A and B allow, Noah asks?

   • The claim holds, since the Committee on Fair Employment Practice later enforced the order at Richmond
   • The claim holds, since the order banned discrimination in defense industries and shipyards built ships for the war
   • The claim fails, since card B lists men, women and immigrants, so no Black workers were there
   • Neither card says Black workers were hired at Richmond, so the claim goes beyond them
9. 8.

   Card C says goods were rationed because the war needed them. A student says card D gives the same reason for coffee. Do cards C and D support that, Pia asks?

   • No; card D shows coffee was rationed because Japan cut off the supply, as with sugar
   • Not as stated; card C gives war need for other goods, and card D gives sharing and prices
   • Yes; card C says rationed goods were needed for the war, and coffee was rationed in wartime
   • No; coffee was rationed later than the first goods, so it cannot have shared their cause
10. 9.

    A student divides card B's three million women by 0.16 and gets about 19 million working women. What should Ren say about that estimate?

    • It is too low, since the 16 percent covers just women who held shipyard jobs
    • It is too high, since 16 percent of three million, about 480,000, is the number of working women
    • It is a rough estimate, since the cards do not say both numbers match in year and group
    • It is exact, since the three million women make up the 16 percent of working women
11. 10.

    A family has two adults and two children under 15. A student says card D lets the family buy four pounds of coffee every five weeks. What should Tala reply?

    • One pound every five weeks, since a family shared a single ration
    • Two pounds every five weeks at first, since the limit counts the two adults, not the children
    • Four pounds is right, since card D gives one pound for each person in the family
    • Two pounds every five weeks for the whole time coffee was rationed, since the limit is given without a date