A Greatly Changed America Essay, Research Paper
In Europe Adolf Hitler was commanding the Nazi party to take over Europe along with Benito Mussolini, the fascist dictator of Italy. In the Pacific Ocean, Japanese war ships were on the move to expand their empire. The United States, a nation trying to stay neutral because of the huge number of deaths in World War I, decides to come to the aid of the world fearing a war on their own land. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt instates drafts, provides more money to the military, converts the nations industry to war-time production, and urges the populace to buy war bonds. This, in effect, changes the lives of millions over the face of the Earth. In World War II, many changes came over the United States including a change in society, increased production in industries, and a change in all Americans way of life.
The changes in society were numerous. A large change was with the family. Almost every father was out fighting for his country, leaving their families at home, because of the war-time drafts making all men between 18 and 40 years of age to enlist in the armed forces. Since no one was home to earn money for the family, this caused women to search for jobs. Women were doing jobs that men never would have thought a woman could do. This, in turn, left many children home by themselves without anyone to care for them. During World War II, the rate of juvenile delinquencies was skyrocketing. Another reason why women were taking jobs was for support for the war. The people of the United States really wanted to win the war and see their families reunited. And also because the men were over seas fighting in Europe and in the Pacific Ocean, blacks and minorities were eventually allowed to take jobs. But not before the elderly given jobs, teenagers and young children given jobs, and even the handicapped. Blacks were allowed to have jobs because there weren’t enough white people to fill all of the jobs that were necessary. Also after the war was won and men started coming back, the divorce rate went way up. As it turned out, many women felt obligated to the men to marry them, so they easily fell in love and almost immediately after that the men had to leave. When they returned they found that they didn’t know their wives and eventually they divorced.
Also during World War II, a large change came over the industries of the United States. Because the war needed weapons, ammunition, battleships, tanks, etc. quickly, Roosevelt started converting industry that made commercial products over to make war items. A lipstick-making factory would change almost overnight to making ammunition. Roosevelt also started many more factories because we were not only producing to supply the U.S. troops, but also to support England, the Soviet Union, and the free French. This helped out the United States greatly because after the war there were many new factories that could be converted right back over to making commercial products. And because of the many new factories, it produced many jobs. Women were the main force behind the industries in WWII. They were able to get high wages, and they found they could work overtime. This ultimately pulled the United States out of the Great Depression that lasted for almost 15 years.
The way of life for many Americans also changed. Many people, in support for the war, rationed everything they could to give to the troops. Recycling was a very popular way to give support without spending any extra money. People bought war bonds that gave the government money to pay for some of the war. Not only were many people in support for the war, there were many that were scared of sneak attacks by the Japanese or Nazis. So many of the cities that were on the coast held blackouts, where they boarded up their windows and turned off all lights outside. They thought that if there was going to be an attack it would be better that the enemy couldn’t see what they were attacking. Many people were against allowing blacks to work with whites and this caused many race riots. Later into the war they learned that blacks could do just as good work as whites so blacks were allowed to work.
The changes in America during the 2nd World War included changes in society, in industry, and in their way of life. Men were sent away to fight. Women were in a way forced to work in the quickly expanding industries. African American were integrated into the work force. Children were left at home to fend for themselves. All these changes were to stop three empires from taking over the world and enslaving millions. To stop them, many brave people died. American society, industry, and way of life were greatly changed by World War II.