Shivam Patel

AP U.S History

January 3, 2011

     What was the affect of World War II on American society?

World War II was a huge war that caused countries around the globe to be involved.

When a war as great as World War II occurs, many changes take place within a country. So,

World War II definitely delivered social changes to America. It caused many people, and even

communities to change opinions. For example, after the bombing of Pearl Harbor occurred,

many people hated the Japanese; the hatred unified America. Even communists, who didn’t

support the war cause and thought the war was imperialistic for France, gave in. These pro-

Hitlerites even stopped being stubborn, and joined the country’s war program. The war also

united other immigrants and helped them assimilate rather quickly into American society. So, as

you can see, World War II had many changes on American society, and these changes,

ultimately, were beneficial.

When talking about how World War II affected American society, it is important to

mention the unity between the American people during this time period. And when talking about

unity, the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor must be mentioned. The bombing of Pearl Harbor

was a huge thing when it happened. On December 7, 1941, Japan did a surprise bombing in

Hawaii, on its naval base. This bombing infuriated the American people and made them hate the

Japanese. It also made the government suspicious of these Japanese- Americans, and later leads

to the passing of Executive Order No. 9066. This order “was both unnecessary and unfair, as the
loyalty and combat record of Japanese Americans proved to be admirable.” The only good thing

that came out of this was a united America.

There were also economic changes. These economic changes proved to be a great boost

to the American economy. This was because during the war, there was a great need for war

supplies. There was also a steady need for these supplies so the production rate was steadily high

too. This made the economy sky rocket. There was also the WPB or the War Production Board

which made sure that the American factories did make the things they were meant to. There were

40 billion bullets, 300,000 aircrafts, 76,000 ships, 86,000 tanks, and 2.6 million machine guns

made for the war. Also, there were many other industrial companies that started focusing more

on war goods rather than the goods they usually focused on. These economic changes count as

social changes as well. This was because the economy affects people by means of quality of

living, jobs, and the environment they’re put in, and many other things as well. So society and

population, ultimately, goes hand in hand with economy.

Even though the economy was going great, all of America actually wasn’t. Economy and

Society do go hand in hand; however, it doesn’t necessarily mean that when the Economy is

going well, so is the Society. This was clearly exemplified in America, during this time period.

For the reason that the major companies had begun to focus their main concerns on war goods,

and not their usual goods, problems appeared. These problems dealt with shortages of some

supplies and goods. That meant that everyday necessities were hard to come by. So, to solve this

problem, people were given ration books. These books contained coupons that people could use

to exchange for goods like food, and other things they needed. So if you think about this, you can

probably analyze that even though the American people made a good deal of money because of

the abundance of jobs, they really had no good place to spend the money on because of the
rations. This wasn’t the only thing that upset Americans. There were also other problems that

dealt with wages. There was a ceiling on wage increases, which means that people couldn’t pass

a certain boundary for raises. These caps on wages were passed by the NWLB, or the National

War Labor Board. There was also, in the June of 1943, the Smith Connally Anti-Strike Act. This

allowed for the government to take control of any industry where the workers were on strike. In

my opinion, the people that went on strike were selfish and ignorant. If the country is at war,

why would people want to be on strike? It would only make things worse. Also, there was an

abundance of jobs, if it’s anything the people should be whining about, it should be how things

had to be rationed, and how they couldn’t spend the money they made on the things they wanted.

So then, the government declared that “Strikes against any government-operated industry were

criminal offences.” So the strikes started to stop, and the American people started cooperating

better and committing themselves to the war.

There were also other changed in American society during this time. For example, many

blacks started moving out of the south and into the North. This movement was already happening

during World War I, however, during World War II it happened in larger numbers. So many

blacks were coming into the North from the South and some northerners didn’t exactly want

them there. Also, there was the role of women, you definitely can’t forget about a topic that

involves an active role of women. Women started joining the armed forces during the war, and

also worked in the factories. The role of women was huge in the war; 6 million women took the

roles of the men that went to war. The role of women also affected American society in another

way because of the building of daycare centers. Women usually stay home and care for the

children, but this time, it was different. It is important to give respect to Rosie the Riveter. Rosie

the Riveter was an icon that represented the women that worked in factories to produce
ammunitions and supplies for the war. Also, after the war, some females did remain in their jobs;

however the lot of them either quit to return to their families or were fired so the pervious male

workers could get their positions back.

So as you can clearly see, World War II had a great effect on American society. One

effect the war had was that it unified the people. Another effect it had dealt with economic issues

that made the economy flourish, and jobs abundant. However, the problem with that was the

issue of rations. The movement of blacks was also another effect. Another great effect of the war

dealt with the changing roles of women in society. World War II had a profound effect on

American Society.