WORLD WAR II THE HOME FRONT 03 25 2014 I The Good War A Reasons abut Semitism in the US peaked in 1945 and it wasn t until the end justifiable war of the war that anti Semitism stopped Unity to some degree movies were released that showed Americans of all ethnicities working together Protestant catholic and Jewish pray together on a sinking ship Race relations allowed Even blood plasma was segregated Soldiers were angry that Germans could go places they were not Race riots in Detroit 1943 is the year that the unity Americans felt at the beginning of the war started fading away Anti Japanese Sentiment Atomic bomb Family Strains Labor Unrest WWII saw rising divorce rates and juvenile delinquency Seen as undermining the war effort John Lewis who led the labor unions during WWII was voted at the time to be one of the most hated man in America B Caveats and Qualifications II World War II as a Turning Point It canb e argued that WWII did more than the New Deal to heal the US Economhy A Big Government the depression soaring federal spending fuels economic growth and pulls us out of o Increasing nation debt by unpreceeded amounts by tens of billions of dollars o Taxes had to increase a lot Unemployment decreased to less than 1 Better wages and many people are making overtime Many more women and people of racial minorities were let into the Rationing had people paying off debt with their extra money Spending s were on race tracks and other events since tires and sugar and such kept people from spending money on these things economy B Regional Change South and West One fifth of the nation migrated in the time surrounding and during WWII Mass migration Sun belt o Military training camps and families moving o TN Valley authority see handout on new deal or return of prosperity o West coast was staging location for the war o During new deal Roosevelt administration put money into dams such as the Grand Hoover Damn And these dams were used to create electricity to build plants that generated aluminum and other things C Postwar Prosperity by the end of the war people had savings and began spending like crazy The us was the only major industrial economy 50 of the worlds gross national product was being generated in the US GI Bill o Passed largely in response to fear of falling back into the great depression At the end of WWI there was a lot of o Gave vets low interest loans for buying houses funding inflation businesses o Education of graduate school and university level education for soldiers was provided D Women s Roles Rosie the Riveter 1940 1944 1944 peak of womens employment MARRIED women in the work force for the first time outnumber single women in the work force Not much child care available so not a lot of young women were in went up the work force o Some factories had child care but this was not very common o In Britain and soviet union there was more childcare so that younger married women could enter the work force Women move into INDUSTRIAL manufacturing jobs which was at previously closed to them 463 increase in women producing things for aircrafts and other machinery for war Women were paid less than men for equivalent jobs and advanced As war ended fed gov encouraged people to leave the work force o Women were laid off in huge numbers o When it becomes a souvenir a women looks at her work ID slowly badge o Women moved back into the white collar jobs E The Civil Rights Movement discrimination did not end during WWII segreagation in the military and many rae riots but to some degree you can see it setting the stage for civil righs many African Americans moved out of the South where they were disenfranchised and could not vote to the North were there was still discrimination but they COULD vote and put pressure on democratic party to consider their needs Racism is turned into a national embarrassment as the US has so much attention after the war Increased black activism o VV Victory at war and Victory at home racism o Randolph was a black righs activist who marched on Washington FDR passes act to encourage NAACP membership increases during the war F Technological Advances G America s Emergence on the International Stage Italians had been fairly supportive of Mussolini and thought he was restoring the grandeur of Italy but once the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor they everyone was really brought to support the US 03 25 2014 03 25 2014