The United States maintained a neutral position during the early years of

World War II because they were tired of European wars. From their
experiences in World War I, the U.S. felt that it was in our best interest to
evade World War II. We however, did support Great Britain and France.
Through the Lend-lease Act we could send arms and equipment to any
country whose defense was considered vital to the security of the United
States.
The United States ultimately became involved in World War II through the
bombing of Pearl Harbor. On December 7th, 1941 the Japanese attacked Pearl
Harbor killing more than 2400 Americans, damaging our battleships and
airplanes. This provoked us to declare war on Japan.
WWII doubled Americas gross national product and ended the Great
Depression. After-tax profits of American businesses nearly doubled, and farm
output grew by one-third. Two-thirds of the economy was directly involved in
the war effort. The government paid for these military expenditures by raising
taxes and borrowing money.
Due to a labor shortage women and African Americans were able to join the
industrial workforce. Women made up 36% of the labor force in 1945.
Executive Order 8802 was also issued at this time, prohibiting discrimination
in the employment of workers in defense industries or government due to
race. Mexicans were also discriminated at this time. The U.S. government had
brought thousands of Mexican laborers here under the Bracero Program in
order to meet war labor demands. Also under Executive Order 9066 Japanese
relocation was a problem. Many lost their businesses that had taken a lifetime
to build and were forced to leave their homes.
Some technological advances such as sonar and the atomic bomb were very
impactful. Sonar allowed the Allies to identify U-boat threats by Germany, and
the atomic bomb ultimately destroyed Hiroshima and Nagasaki and brought
closure to WWII.
America emerged as a superpower after WWII. With an undamaged
homeland, sole possession of the atomic bomb, victory as an Allied force, a
thriving economy, and a weakened Europe, America emerged as a great
nation after WWII.
At the Yalta conference FDR pressed for an agreement that guaranteed selfdetermination and democratic elections in Poland and neighboring countries.
Due to the presence of Soviet troops in those nations, FDR had to accept a
pledge from Stalin to hold free elections. However, Stalin wanted pro-Soviet
governments in Central and Eastern Europe.

Unit II: The Cold War

The United States was to ensure postwar global stability. This meant
maintaining the U.S.-Soviet alliance as the superpowers. The U.S. also
believed that they needed to uphold principles of collective security, selfdetermination, and free trade.
The paranoia over communism at home encouraged the Loyalty-Security
Program. This allowed officials to investigate any employee of the federal
government for subversive activities. Furthermore the House Un-American

Activities Committee (HUAC) was launched, which had largely publicized

hearings over communist infiltration in various industries such as the movie
industry. Senator McCarthys accusation of communists in our government
was also important.
America was justified in its involvement in the Korean conflict. As a former
Japanese colony, America had reason to occupy Korea as Japan had
previously used aggression against America. Our involvement shaped our
foreign policy by implying that America would press for self-determination
and free elections, however this also implied that America was greatly
influencing them with democracy.
With the launch of Sputnik, America went into high gear to catch up in the
Cold War space competition. Eisenhower persuaded Congress to appropriate
additional money for college scholarships and university research, as he was
concerned with falling behind in science and technology. The National
Defense Education Act funneled millions of dollars into American universities,
helping American institutions become the leading research centers in the
world.
Unit III: America in the 1950s
American global supremacy rested partly on the economic institutions
created at a United Nations conference in Bretton Woods, New Hampshire.
The World Bank was created to provide loans for the reconstruction of wartorn Europe as well as for the development of former colonized nations. The
International Monetary Fund was set up to stabilize currencies and provide a
predictable monetary environment for trade, with the U.S. dollar serving as
the benchmark. Also the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade established
an international framework for overseeing trade rules and practices.
American prosperity from the 1950s benefitted some and excluded others.
The Military-Industrial complex was a part of the prosperity. As permanent
mobilization took hold, science, industry, and the federal government
became intertwined. Federal spending pushed research for space, electronics,
and automobiles. With more spending in education due to the space race,
students and colleges benefitted. Also this permanent mobilization created
many jobs, where 1 in 7 people owed his or her job to the military-industrial
complex. Expansion into foreign markets also spurred growth for corporate
businesses. To staff these businesses, it required a huge white-collar army.
However, as the top and middle class converged, the bottom class remained
far behind, with 1/3 of the nation poorly paid, educated, and housed.
As some of these companies and corporate giants turned to mechanization
for improved efficiency, workers lost jobs as machines replaced workers. The
television and advertising also greatly affected Americans, with TV becoming
the principle mediator between the consumer and the marketplace. Also, with
increased home ownership, automobiles and home appliances were in high
demand, feeding our consumer culture at the time. Penicillin and a polio
vaccine was a major development in health.
As people moved to the suburbs, away from the downtowns which were the
centers of retail sales and restaurant dining, fast food and shopping malls
were introduced. Fast food brought cheap and convenient food similar to the

restaurants in the cities to the suburbs. Shopping malls brought stores and
retailers found in the downtowns of cities to the suburbs. However, as middleclass whites moved to the suburbs, an opposite stream of working-class
migrants, many of them African American, moved into the cities. This brought
an intensifying poverty and deteriorating living standards to the urban cities.
The baby boomers have been the darlings of American advertising and
consumption. When they were infants, companies focused on developing new
baby products such as disposable diapers to instant formula. When they were
toddlers, new television program, board games, fast food, and thousands of
different kinds of toys came to the market to supply these children. When
they were teenagers, rock music, Hollywood films, and a constantly marketed
teen culture with its clothing, music, hairstyles, and other accessories
bombarded teenagers. Middle class American teenagers on average had a
weekly income of more than $10, close to the income of an entire family a
generation earlier. Going to college became expected, as the parents of these
baby boomers were the first college-educated generation and placed a high
value on education.
Unit IV: Civil Rights, Part I