America Prepares for World War 2 | America's Call to Arms | WW2 Newsreel | 1941

● Please SUPPORT my work on Patreon: https://bit.ly/2LT6opZ ● Visit my 2ND CHANNEL: https://bit.ly/2ILbyX8 ►Facebook: https://bit.ly/2INA7yt ►Twitter: https://bit.ly/2Lz57nY ►Google+: https://bit.ly/2IPz7dl ✚ Watch my "Old America" PLAYLIST: https://bit.ly/2rOHzmy This World War 2 newsreel shows how factories and men in America prepared for war. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * America prepares for war: After the World War 2 began in Europe in 1939, people in the Americas were divided on whether their countries should take part or stay out. Most Americans hoped the Allies would win, but they also hoped to keep the United States out of war. The isolationists, wanted the country to stay out of the war at almost any cost. Another group, the interventionists, wanted the United States to do all in its power to aid the Allies. Canada declared war on Germany almost at once, while the United States shifted its policy from neutrality to preparedness. It began to expand its armed forces, build defense plants, and give the Allies all-out aid short of war. President Franklin D. Roosevelt called upon the United States to be "the great arsenal of democracy," and supply war materials to the Allies through sale, lease, or loan. The Lend-Lease bill became law on March 11, 1941. During the next four years, the U.S. sent more than $50 billion worth of war matériel to the Allies. In 1939, the United States had about 174,000 men in the Army; 126,400 in the Navy; 26,000 in the Army Air Corps; 19,700 in the Marine Corps; and 10,000 in the Coast Guard. At the height of its strength in 1945, the United States had six million in the Army; 3,400,000 in the Navy; 2,400,000 in the Army air forces; 484,000 in the Marine Corps; and 170,000 in the Coast Guard. In 1939, the United States had about 2,500 airplanes and 760 warships. By 1945, it had about 80,000 airplanes and 2,500 warships. The United States used draft laws to build their armed forces. The United States Selective Service Act became law on September 16, 1940. Thousands of women served in the Army`s Women`s Army Corps (WAC) and Navy equivalent WAVES, standing for Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service. Factories in the United States converted from civilian to war production with amazing speed. Firms that had made vacuum cleaners before the war began to produce machine guns. As men went into the armed forces, women took their places in war plants. By 1943, more than two million women were working in American war industries. In shipyards and aircraft plants, Rosie the riveter became a common sight. Officials discovered that women could perform the duties of eight of every 10 jobs normally done by men. Urgent requirements for war matériel caused many shortages in consumer goods. Most governments, both Allied and Axis, had to ration the amount of consumer goods each person could use. In the United States, rationed items included meats, butter, sugar, fats, oil, coffee, canned foods, shoes, and gasoline. Co