World War II made a deep impact on the USA. Although no direct battles took place on the American soil, all phases of American life were affected by the war. The USA took extraordinary efforts to match tactics and strategy with the allies and waged war against the Axis powers consisting of Germany, Japan, and Italy. Within a matter of few years, the country turned into an "arsenal of democracy" producing and supplying the weapons used in the war. The country experienced a total overhaul of social and economic patterns that set a new trend of life in the USA (Unger and Tomes 2010). The Great Depression that took place in 1929 came to an end after the World War II. Undeniably, military expenditure made for the war efforts bolstered the defense production that boosted the country's economy significantly with a few million unemployed Americans returning to work to manufacture the war weapons required to protect the country. Apart from economic prosperity, the war also brought changes in several spheres of American life, including fashion. In order to reduce the use of cotton and wool, dresses were made shorter and the fashion of wearing cuffs, vests, pleats, double-breasted suits, and ruffles disappeared. The Great Depression stalled the process of urbanization, but the World War II catapulted the growth of urban cities with the number of city dwellers increasing sharply from 46% to 53% (Unger and Tomes 2010). This paper will discuss the impact of WWII on the USA in greater detail touching upon the changes the WWII produced in several aspects of American life.
During the WWII, the USA in the initial two years of the war fulfilled the role of a supplier of war machineries and weapons. The USA stayed out of the actual war until the attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii was made and helped the allied forces fight the Nazis by supplying guns, ammunitions, tanks, airplanes, military vehicles, food and clothing. The increased level of defense production caused the great African American immigration and opened up new jobs for people. The country, which was struggling under the Great Depression prior to the WWII, soon witnessed an economic prosperity and a total social and cultural shift that changed America completely.
In the wake of the WWII, new industries developed, the mass urban migration and lasting political, cultural, economic and social changes took place. Since the changes brought about by the World War II were as dramatic in the San Francisco Bay Area as those that took place during the Gold Rush a century earlier, the WWII is often referred as 'the Second Gold Rush', which makes a significant contribution to the development of California. Overnight, California from a sleepy enclave transformed into a busy mega state due to the WWII (Unger and Tomes 2010). The large agricultural industry of the state fulfilled the need of food raised during wartime. California also turned into a training center for the Marines, Army and Navy. With the increased boom of defense industry, California turned into a mainstay of defense production, manufacturing steel, weapons and airplane parts. Its shipyards manufactured more than 1,500 ships during the war and it produced more airplanes than any other state. Labor migration took place with thousands of Black Americans entering the state to join the defense industry (Unger and Tomes 2010). Housing industry, transportation and other associated businesses developed and metamorphosed California into what it is today.
The industrial boom during the WWII led to substantial de-skilling. The demand for unskilled workers who were capable of running the machines increased, whereas the demand for skilled workers decreased. The increased demand for unskilled workers led to a labor shortage and this demand removed the social barriers between whites, blacks, man and woman. Till 1941, the majority of the African American population was concentrated in Southern states, mainly in rural areas. However, the World War II initiated the process of the largest migration of African Americans that ever took place in the country's history. Within the next few years, the black population of the West increased by 33% with the majority of the new arrivals settling in coastal cities such as Washington, Oregon, and California (Unger and Tomes 2010). The booming defense industries hired most of the migrant black Americans. A few thousands of African Americans joined military bases and navy. However, the African American migration also led to an increase of racial tensions (Unger and Tomes 2010). The American Navy used the black Americans as servants, the Marines excluded their participation, and the Army made separate regiments for the blacks. With urban cities swelling with defense workers, the lack of transportation and housing worsened racial tensions further. The black leaders battled discrimination vehemently. In protest against the discrimination in defense industries, the NAACP held a march of 150,000 black Americans in Washington (Sioux 2004). Soon, Roosevelt made an executive order banning discrimination in defense industries and founded the Fair Employment Practices Commission (FEPC).
World War II made a huge impact on the Mexican population in the USA. Mexican Americans either volunteered for participating or were drafted in the US armed forces where they earned the highest number of Congressional Medals of Honor, of all the minority sections. Since the war brought about an industrial boom and increased defense production, the industries faced an acute shortage of labor (Unger and Tomes 2010). African Americans and women joined the industries, especially the defense industry, in droves to fulfill the labor shortage. However, the government in order to meet the labor shortage implemented the Bracero program, which set into motion the influx of legal Mexican workers in the USA.
In 1942, the Bracero program, which was intergovernmental agreement between the USA and Mexico, was mainly created with the intention of fulfilling the labor shortages in the low-paying agricultural industry. However, in practice, aside from agricultural jobs, Mexican workers were also employed in other industries. For instance, between 1943 and 1945, more than 100,000 contracts were issued to employ and import Mexican workers into the USA to work on the railroads (Unger and Tomes 2010). Though braceros were to be used by the employers only in the event of acute domestic labor shortage, in practice, many of the rules related to the program were ignored and the employers exploited the workers paying them low wages and making them work and live in substandard conditions. The workers had little touch with the general population and their access to legal aid, healthcare, and recreation was limited.
Zoot suit was fashionable attire popular among the young Mexican Americans in Los Angeles. However, since making the zoot suits required the use of wool, which was rationed during the WWII, the government imposed regulations to prohibit the manufacturing the zoot suits (Unger and Tomes 2010). However, bootleg tailors fulfilled the demand for zoot suits. However, the continuation of wearing the zoot suits was frowned upon and considered un-American. One serious incident of discrimination against the Mexican Americans was a riot called the Zoot suit riot. A dispute between an Anglo sailor and a Mexican American broke out into a full-blown riot with Anglo members of the armed forces joining hands with the civilians to attack and beat Mexican Americans wherever they were spotted (Unger and Tomes 2010).
In 1941, a minuscule portion of the American population consisted of people of Japanese ancestry. The majority of this population lived in Hawaii and the rest lived in the West Coast working as farmers and business people. In the wake of Pearl Harbor bombing, a widespread fear of Japanese troops to land on California surfaced and people began to allege Japanese Americans and Japanese aliens with conspiracy. Soon with government intervention, Japanese Americans in the West Coast were forced to relocate (Unger and Tomes 2010). The military authorities did not view Japanese aliens and Japanese Americans differently and subjected them to the same treatment. However, since other states were not willing to accommodate them, 100,000 Japanese Americans of the West Coast were forced to stay in internment camps spread across 7 Western states. In a cramped condition with one family designated to one room with nothing but light bulbs and cots, the Japanese American citizens, who did not commit any crime, were forced to consume bad food and endure the pathetic living condition in the camps. About 18,000 Japanese American youths were released from the camps to join the US Army (Unger and Tomes 2010). The Japanese American soldiers fought bravely in the war and what was more ironical of the whole situation was that while the sons risked and gave their lives trying to protect the USA, their parents languished in the concentration camps and received Purple Hearts for their deceased sons.
During and after the WWII, the migration of African Americans and the creation of the Bracero program led to an expansion of the population in California, which increased the demand for housing and transportation. Since this migrant population received lower wages, it was difficult for them to afford staying in the heart of the urban cities. Therefore, they preferred staying outside the cities where accommodation was cheaper. Before the WWII, streetcar suburbs, which was a residential community developed on the basis of the use of streetcar lines as the main mode of transportation, were common. However, after the World War II, the second generation suburbs manifested. The second generation suburbs were entirely self-contained with all the facilities of housing, schools, and parks located in the same vicinity (Unger and Tomes 2010). With the growth of suburbs, the concept of travelling long distances via railway and roads daily became a new trend.
During the WWII, as an increased number of men joined the military forces and left for war, women fulfilled the need of labor shortage and played an important role in the domestic war efforts. About 12 million women slogged in defense industries and provided support to other services including steel mills, shipyards, warehouses, hospitals, offices, and daycare centers (Unger and Tomes 2010). During the entire period war, women from various social strata took part in jobs such as operating cranes, riveting and welding. The regions that reflected these social changes more prominently were the Bay Area and the West Coast where the Second Gold Rush took place. The greatest number of women was employed in the numerous shipyards across the Bay Area. Women's representation in the US armed forces was also significant. By 1945, over 250,000 women worked in various units of the US armed forces (Unger and Tomes 2010). However, regardless of the jobs women did, they all fulfilled their traditional roles of wives and mothers.
In conclusion, the World War II brought many changes in all the spheres of American life. Overnight the country, which was still staggering under the Great Depression, turned into an "arsenal of democracy" and started supplying all war materials to the allied forces. The increased level of defense production brought labor shortage in order to fulfill which African Americans migrated in droves from Southern states to coastal states in the West, mainly California. The labor shortage also led to the introduction of the Bracero program, which initiated the migration of Mexican workers into the USA. California experienced the Second Gold Rush and an industrial boom that opened up jobs aplenty for the Americans and the country's economic health improved significantly. The WWII also brought social and cultural changes in the USA. Women who until then only played the traditional roles of housewives and mothers started coming out of homes and working in defense industries, armed forces, and other service areas. The situation of men going to fight war gave women the opportunity to establish themselves in the job market. The Pearl Harbor attack in Hawaii led to the internment of Japanese Americans who, because of their Japanese heritage, were subjected to discrimination and forced into living in concentration camps. The WWII also led to the growth of suburbs as low-paid workers unable to afford accommodation within the cities chose to stay outside the cities in bedroom communities, which later took the shape of suburbs. Thus, the WWII affected all aspects of American living and changed America into what it is today.
Works Cited
Unger, Irwin and Tomes, Robert R. American Issues: A Primary Source Reader in United States History. Pearson. 2010. Print.
