World War II: A Defining Decade for America

Danielle Barlow
April 13, 2014
World War Two was a time for many continuing changes in America, a country in
desperate need of improvement. The Great Depression and the end of World War I left America
in shambles, the people desolate and the government in deep debt. President Roosevelts New
Deal began to help America rise from the ground up, but World War II greatly increased morale
and improved the economy. America had begun experiencing big changes both socially and
economically during and after World War I, but these changes began to appear more radically
and permanently during World War II, and continues to influence what America is today.
Before WWII, there were very strict gender roles women (and men) strongly adhered to.
These roles were slowly being altered and pressed, but the war brought on sudden changes for
women that revolutionized their rights. One of the biggest changes for the gender roles was in
the workplace. Hundreds of thousands of men were going away for the military, leaving their
prior jobs unfilled and left little workforce for the thousands of new jobs that needed to be filled
to supply war goods. Workers were needed twenty four hours a day, seven days a week. By mid
1942, labor shortages in Los Angeles reached near dire levels as the aircraft industry lost 20,000
workers to the military at the same time nearly 550,000 newly created defense jobs awaited
workers.
1
Because of this lack of workers, women were encouraged and enabled to start
working at factories doing the lighter work such as riveting, welding, sewing and assembly line
jobs. Women joining the workforce to support the war brought on the appearance of symbolic
images and propaganda like Rosie the Riveter, an image of a woman wearing her hair back, a

1
Escobedo, Elizabeth, From Coveralls to Zoot Suits the Lives of Mexican American Women on the World War II
Home Front (United States, University of North Carolina Press, 2013), 74.
collared shirt and saying We Can Do It that are still prevalent today. Rosie the Riveter
symbolized this massive change to traditional gender roles, with her less feminine clothing and
obvious strength and ambition. Like most big changes, the new appearance of women in the
workplace may have seemed threatening to men, or the womens families, so it was implied
that this change would last solely for the duration of the war and thereby any changes in social
position appeared less threatening to traditional racial and gender expectations
2
though we see
now that although it did indeed soothe worries, this was untrue as women are still a predominant
force in the American workplace.
Even beside the workplace, things were changing for women, new jobs provided wages
and an escape from traditional domestic confinement
3
Girls were wearing new clothes, even
pants, going out without the traditional chaperone (sometimes sneaking out), smoking, drinking
and pushing the limits on traditional womens stature. This seemed to be even more threatening
than women only working, again because it challenged what was normal for the time. Big
changes tend to be seen as threatening and dangerous. Many soldiers suggested that when they
returned from war, the women should quit their jobs, let the men do the supporting and return to
raising children and taking care of the home. Women did return to the mostly normal aspect of
being in the home and raising children, but still kept some of the newfound freedoms they had
gotten while the men were away.
Women were not the only social compartment that was changed by the war though; men
and women of all different races had a new beginning thanks to the desperate need of the

2
Escobedo, Elizabeth, From Coveralls to Zoot Suits the Lives of Mexican American Women on the World War II
Home Front (United States, University of North Carolina Press, 2013), 75.
3
Johnson, Michael, Reading the American Past: the Coming War on Women (Boston, Bedford/St. Martins, 2009),
204.
workforce and army for men. People of all races, mainly White, Mexican (who were considered
white by most standards), African-American and some Chinese and Filipino were being hired
side by side to work in the factories that began producing war goods. Some for companies that
had made or sold stoves (or likewise) which started making bombs and airplane parts to supply
the military. An African-American woman, Mexican woman and white woman might all stand
together to rivet and weld- this was entirely new to most Americans, as people were still
separated within their own racial communities, sometimes segregated forcibly or by law. While
working together may not have necessarily changed the way a person felt about another race or
even their racist tendencies, it began the destruction of segregation and many racial binds. Even
the government began to recognize the racial diversity that was needed to supply the demanding
workforce, and implemented the Committee on Fair Employment Practice which supported the
pursuit for on-the-job equity
4
These strides for job equity for women and other races forged a
huge path for civil rights, these people of all races and genders were willing to work to support
their country- through factories as well as fighting in the military, and demanded that they be
given a fair chance and freedoms in return. Throughout the next several decades these kinds of
steps led the way to a civil rights revolution that changed the way America is still today.
Many of the previously discussed aspects that were shaping America socially during this
decade also worked synchronously with economic characteristics of World War II. The economy
had its ups and downs with jobs, food, consumer companies, war goods, workers and rations,
some of those things still in effect today.

4
Escobedo, Elizabeth, From Coveralls to Zoot Suits the Lives of Mexican American Women on the World War II
Home Front (United States, University of North Carolina Press, 2013), 74.
One of the most important things that affected the U.S. economy during World War II
was the amount of laborers that were initially lost when hundreds of thousands of men joined the
army. There was an immense opportunity for work during the war, and until the women began
working, the jobs were unfilled. The government even implemented some makeshift factories
in high schools, where students could make the choice give up some classes to build war goods
and make some extra money to bring home to help their family. When those jobs finally did
become full, there would have been a huge boost to the economy, more production of goods to
be used and sold, and more wages being earned that could be spent by the people still at home.
Most girls and women began working to help with the war effort as well as to support their
families, and so many workers were needed that some companies had a Add a worker, win a
bond series where you could get a bond for a certain denomination for referring someone to
work for them. These bonds were used by the government to remove money from circulation,
decrease inflation and to fund the war; the bonds were worth seventy five percent of their face
value, which seems a little detrimental, but the citizens were pleaded with to buy them to support
the war effort, it was the patriotic thing to do. There were propaganda posters, magazine articles,
songs and marathon radio broadcasts to enlist peoples help with war bonds. By 1946 the amount
of bonds totaled to be about 185.7 billion dollars
5
, so needless to say, the people at home did
their part to raise money for the war.
Despite the boost in workers and income however, there were shortages of many
common items such as rubber, oil, some clothing supplies and gasoline necessitating the
initiation of rations. Tons and tons of steel were needed to produce goods such as grenades and
guns, and because of the massive production of these items there was a dire shortage, and so,

5
United States History, ND, April 12
th
, 2014, http://www.u-s-history.com/pages/h1682.html.
people were asked to donate any scrap metal, old tools or machinery or anything they had to be
used for materials. There was also a huge shortage of rubber, so people were also asked to give
up any rubber items they could such as coats, swim caps and especially tires. Tires were rationed
and closely monitored, which led to the rationing of gasoline. The gas wasnt so much in short
supply as the rubber from tires on the cars. People were asked to join car clubs or carpools to
and from work, to drive much less than normal and for no leisure and to go under 35 miles an
hour- all to preserve tires. There were different classes of gas rationing that applied to where you
worked, what you did and if you really had to drive. Now days, the U.S. doesnt necessarily have
institutionalized rationing, but people are still asked to drive only when necessary, and to drive in
carpools to preserve resources.
By the end of the war, people were holding steady jobs in the factories and were making
nearly double what they had started at, and nearly quadruple what the average person was
making on farms or making clothing. The war goods factories had a range of jobs, and the
employees were making anywhere from $1.00 to $1.20 an hour, where as the employees of fruit
packing plants or clothing manufacturers were making only around thirty cents an hour. These
improvements in wage greatly improved the livelihoods of the employees as well as the economy
the money was being put back into.
Throughout the era of World War II, there was a lot of movement and change in
perspective of the government as well as American citizens concerning the traditional roles of
genders and especially the different races. Huge strides were made toward the final movements
of civil rights when Mexicans, African-Americans and other minorities went to war to fight for
America and worked to help in the war efforts; after their sacrifice they expected fair treatment
and the rights they fought for. Women radically altered their place in society, and barriers of
gender and race were broken down. Economic changes were made as well, especially in that the
pre-war economy was not doing well, even with the efforts of Roosevelts New Deal, but after
the war the U.S. economy was fully repaired and strengthened. All of these changes and
movements, especially the classification of gender roles and races dramatically changed who is
considered an American. It is clear now that an American is a citizen willing to put in their all to
work together and support the country, work as hard as they can, and fight for the freedom
America stands for.

Bibliography
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