Quiz for Thinking Like a Historian:
Mobilizing the Home Front

Question

1. Which of the following groups did the U.S. government aim to reach in the advertisement depicted in source 1?

A.
B.
C.
D.
Correct. The answer is d. The U.S. government aimed this advertisement at American housewives, urging them to salvage their tin cans for use by industries producing weapons and ammunition.
Incorrect. The answer is d. The U.S. government aimed this advertisement at American housewives, urging them to salvage their tin cans for use by industries producing weapons and ammunition.

Question

2. Why did the U.S. Treasury Department create ads like the one presented in source 2?

A.
B.
C.
D.
Correct. The answer is c. This advertisement was intended to convince Americans to invest in their future by spending their savings on war bonds. It implied that by doing so, Americans would help to ensure an American victory, save their sons on the fighting front, and get a good return on their money in the future.
Incorrect. The answer is c. This advertisement was intended to convince Americans to invest in their future by spending their savings on war bonds. It implied that by doing so, Americans would help to ensure an American victory, save their sons on the fighting front, and get a good return on their money in the future.

Question

3. The U.S. Office of Price Administration poster (source 3) was intended for which of the following audiences?

A.
B.
C.
D.
Correct. The answer is a. The poster was intended to illustrate to consumers—and especially housewives who held the primary responsibility for shopping—that rationing was a fair system that would benefit everyone during the war years. It aimed to preempt both the hoarding of resources and resentment about the need to ration certain goods.
Incorrect. The answer is a. The poster was intended to illustrate to consumers—and especially housewives who held the primary responsibility for shopping—that rationing was a fair system that would benefit everyone during the war years. It aimed to preempt both the hoarding of resources and resentment about the need to ration certain goods.

Question

4. Based on the sources presented in this feature, a historian would most likely reach which of the following conclusions?

A.
B.
C.
D.
Correct. The answer is d. These sources suggest that the government did take measures to encourage the American public’s contributions to the war effort and that most Americans embraced activities such as salvaging, rationing, and victory gardens as ways that they could make valuable contributions to the war effort.
Incorrect. The answer is d. These sources suggest that the government did take measures to encourage the American public’s contributions to the war effort and that most Americans embraced activities such as salvaging, rationing, and victory gardens as ways that they could make valuable contributions to the war effort.