Louisiana Scandals & World War II study guide

  1. Louisiana Scandals—Long supporters following his death stole up to 100 million dollars from Louisiana taxpayers resulting in nearly 400 indictments of politicians and prominent citizens.
  2. Governor Richard Leche was highest official in Louisiana involved in scandals. Although he made many positive changes (free school supplies, elderly pensions, increasing teacher pay, and creating teacher retirement system), he was indicted for corruption ($450 thousand dollar salary, selling state vehicles, and Mafia kickbacks)
  3. LSU president James Monroe Smith stole 1 million dollars from the university.
  4. Sam Houston Jones (Anti-Long governor) campaigned on the promise of cleaning up state politics. He made many positive reforms as governor: abolishing payroll deduction of state employees, tripling number of students receiving free lunch, building more roads & hospitals, increasing teacher pay, and increasing spending on higher education.
  5. Governor Jones’ biggest accomplishment was civil service system which required government jobs to be earned by highest scores on a civil service exam.
  6. Hitler’s invasion of Poland started World War II. France and England were aligned against Germany and Italy. Although, France was soon occupied by Germany leaving England alone.
  7. President Roosevelt prepared United States for war by increasing the size of the army and training troops in simulated battles.
  8. Louisiana Maneuvers—military training exercise in western Louisiana during WWII
  9. At Camp Beauregard hundreds of thousands of soldiers were trained for battle. The training went so well that three more army camps were built in Central Louisiana. (Claiborne, Polk, Livingston). Government hired thousands of workers to build camps which helped Louisiana’s Economy.
  10. U.S. entered World War II when Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941.
  11. Japanese Americans were seen as potential spies and sent to detention camps such as Camp Livingston.
  12. Louisiana was crucial to the nation’s war effort.
  13. The military needed millions of gallons of fuel for its ships, tank’s, and airplanes. The oil industry in Louisiana was very helpful for the war effort.
  14. Baton Rouge served as one of the nation’s most important oil refining centers. It employed 10,000 people during the war.
  15. Lake Charles provided additional oil products and, along with New Orleans, served as a port for shipping goods overseas.
  16. Louisiana was also the scene of combat in WWII. German submarines, called U-Boats, prowled the Gulf of Mexico sinking tankers and other unarmed ships. Near the mouth of the Mississippi River, German submarines sank more than 30 vessels.
  17. American forces captured thousands of German soldiers. Many of these prisoners went to prisoner of war camps in Louisiana. The largest of the camps, which held more than 4,000 prisoners, was located in Ruston. Dozens of smaller camps dotted the state, and prisoners worked on Louisiana’s farms and plantations and in the timber industry.
  18. Andrew Jackson Higgins—
  19. He developed ships for the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps.
  20. His greatest contribution was designing the landing craft called Higgins Boats that could take soldiers and supplies to beaches.
  21. By the middle of the war, 92% of all U.S. Navy vessels were designed by Higgins, and most were built in New Orleans.
  22. Adolf Hitler called Higgins the “new Noah,” and Supreme Allied Commander Dwight D. Eisenhower declared he was “the man who won the war for us.”
  23. The families left at home had to adjust. Every aspect of society was geared to winning the war and supplying troops with the equipment they needed. Industries stopped making automobiles, washing machines, and other consumer products so they could produce warplanes, tanks, and machine guns.
  24. To ensure there were enough supplies for the soldiers, the government restricted the sale of certain products. Civilians were given ration books each month containing coupons that allowed them to buy a certain amount of gasoline, sugar, meat, tires, and other vital products.
  25. The war caused rationing and consumer shortages, but it also ended the depression because industries hired thousands of workers to make war goods.
  26. There was a labor shortage, so women stepped in and picked up the slack. WWII was the first time in our country’s history that large numbers of women began working outside the home.
  27. African Americans also benefited from the new jobs, but they still were not treated with equality. Those left at home still suffered under Jim Crow laws.