The Great Depression was the longest lasting economic decline in the history of the United States. After the stock market crash of October 1929, the Great Depression followed. The event caused Wall Street to go into complete dismay, and wiped out millions of banks. For the next decade, social fabric was changed as well as the role of government. For example, spending was lessened and investment was dropped.
As the men fought abroad, women on the Home Front worked in defense plants and volunteered for war-related organizations, in addition to managing their households. In New Orleans, as the demand for public transportation grew, women even became streetcar “conductorettes” for the first time. When men left, women “became proficient cooks and housekeepers, managed the finances, learned to fix the car, worked in a defense plant, and wrote letters to their soldier husbands that were consistently upbeat.” (Stephen Ambrose, D-Day, 488) Rosie the Riveter helped assure that the Allies would have the war materials they needed to defeat the Axis. Nearly 350,000 American women served in uniform, both at home and abroad, volunteering for the newly formed Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps (WAACs, later renamed the Women’s Army Corps), the Navy Women’s Reserve (WAVES), the Marine Corps Women’s Reserve, the Coast Guard Women’s Reserve (SPARS), the Women Airforce Service
The Great Depression lasted from 1929 to the early 1940’s. Jennifer Rosenberg says “…October 29, 1929, the day the stock market crashed and the official beginning of the Great Depression. As stock prices plummeted…Masses and masses of people tried to sell their stock… The stock market quickly became the path to bankruptcy” in her review of The Great Depression. Franklin D. Roosevelt won the election of 1932 and had a plan for the Great Depression called the New Deal. Rosenberg also stated that he “closed all the banks” and let them “reopen once they were stabilized”, made programs like the AAA (Agricultural Adjustment Administration), the CCC (Civilian Conservation Corps), and the WPA (Works Progress Administration) attempting to “help curb unemployment by hiring people for various projects”(Rosenberg).
Setbacks suffered by Americans in World War II The Second World War had a great impact on political, social and economical status of the United States. At the outset of the war, the United States was dormant and with the proceeding of the war, its involvement rose despite the unpreparedness of the military. During this time of war, the corporate government solved most of the production and labor problems. The United States joined the war in 1942 and had many recruits in the military with better war equipments. The war changed the United States in various ways; there were return wages and jobs were available leading to the growth of labor unions.
Name: XXXXXXXXX Email Address: XXXXXXXX Date: 10/25/2011 Question: Discuss the impact of World War II on the American home front. Note the war's impact on women, blacks, Mexican Americans, workers, farmers, Native Americans, and Japanese Americans. ===================================================================== The wartime economy brought about full employment and, in doing so, achieved what New Deal programs had been unable to do in the past. In 1940, there were approximately eight (8) million Americans unemployed. By 1941, however, unemployment was almost unheard of.
In August 1940, only seven thousand women joined but with crisis caused by Hitler and his U-boats, now there was a need for more women to join the land army. In 1943 there was a shortage of workers in the factories, so the government gave the women their choice to work in the factories or on land. The women mainly had two big roles work in the factory or on the land. Both were successful during WWII, earning the women more respect for their work. Because of WWII women got better jobs and were treated more
The move industry also benefited from the war by producing and selling over 2,500 motion pictures during and after the war. The Advertising Council was also formed during the war and conducted hundreds of campaigns in the interest of selling war bonds, gathering blood, conserving food, and to inspire people to enlist. Many of the unemployed that were mobilized were women. Many men were pulled away from their jobs as a result of the war effort, and women had to fill their spots in the work place to keep their families up and running. During this time child labor also increased, and the average family income rose 25% from 1941-1945.
Dellie Hahne, who worked as a nurse’s aid during World War II, once said, "I think a lot of women said, Screw that noise. 'Cause they had a taste of freedom, they had a taste of making their own money, a taste of spending their own money, making their own decisions. I think the beginning of the women's movement had its seeds right there in World War Two." (www.shmoop.com) After the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor in 1941, the United States officially entered World War II. Because of men and women leaving for war, many young women and once unemployed wives had to take over their roles back home and become the main supplier for everything.
Women Who Made a Difference January 9, 2012 World War II came after the women’s right to vote, which was a major accomplishment for women. But when the war started in 1941, the women in the military were nurses. WWII opened up opportunities for women that had never been available before. As the men were called up for duty, the women was left behind to care for families (Beasley, 2002), which meant they had to work and provide for their family. Most jobs were deemed a “man jobs”, but employers had to hire women to replace the men who went to serve.
WOMEN IN THE GREAT DEPRESSION UNDER THE NEW DEAL IMPORTANCE OF THE NEW DEAL The Great Depression was a tremendous tragedy that placed millions of Americans out of work. Under President Herbert Hoover, the U.S. economy broke down, and people blamed him for the great depression, but he spoke of optimism many times. With the election in 1932, Franklin D. Roosevelt won the presidency with a landslide. With President Roosevelt in office, all the banks were closed, and he started to establish new programs that remain known as New Deals. If I were living in the Great Depression, the New Deal under the rule of President Roosevelt would have helped me, although the place of a woman was known to be in the kitchen and tending to her husband and children during the 1930s.