WORLD WAR II [1941-1945]
The New Deal's Shortcomings
- In 1939: U.S was still entangled in a relentless economic depression but there were considerable transformations like the vast federal spending, price regulations, job placement, the expansion of unions, greater access to home loans, social security for the elderly and disabled, and the public's restored confidence in their government.
- But ultimately such doings did little to bring prosperity to the American people.
- Across the board, little changed.
- By the end of the 1930s: 17% of the American work force remained unemployed; 30% still lived in poverty
- FDR's did not end the Great Depression
- War production for World War II pulled America out of the Great Depression
- World War II tuned America into one the two major world powers
REVVING UP A WARTIME ECONOMY:
- In late 1939: a full two years before the United States entered World War II, President Franklin D. Roosevelt determined it would be essential to capitalize time and money into national defense
- Roosevelt prudently and purposely prepared the country for a worst-case scenario
- By the spring of 1940: Roosevelt persuaded Congress to boost defense expenditure, increase the army, and enlarge the U.S. military air fleet
- Through billions of dollars in federal spending: he accomplished directing money into a peacetime draft, enhance wages for military personnel, propose sponsorships for defense manufacturing, and award loans to aid Great Britain and the Soviet Union.
- Attacks on Pearl Harbor in December 1941: the nation was gunned for the challenges ahead.
CAUSES FOR ECONOMIC PROSPERITY AND ECONOMIC DEPRESSION DURING WWII:
- Wartime manufacturing facilities bent a tremendous demand for labor
- War mobilization was a great cause to employ the unemployed America
- Employers were dying to fill positions as fast as possible to sustain production demands and desired to hire workers in masses
- Positions had to be opened to women and non-whites, those who had long been excluded from many skilled and high-paying industries.
- The demand for labor was so great all across the nation that proprietors had to offer high wages and other fringe benefits to lure potential laborers away from competitors
- Businesses just about pleaded for workers, presenting amazing incentives for instance medical care, immunity from the military draft, daycare facilities, and even paid maternity leave, a perk previously unimaginable
WARTIME CALIFORNIA:
The California coast became the primary focus of military-industrial production:
Built in cities such as Oakland, Richmond, Sausalito, Vallejo, San Pedro, Alameda, and Treasure Island in the San Francisco Bay:
Built in cities such as Oakland, Richmond, Sausalito, Vallejo, San Pedro, Alameda, and Treasure Island in the San Francisco Bay:
- New defense manufacturing plants
- Shipyards
- Aircraft factories
- Military bases.
- The government invested a whopping $8.5 billion in the golden state
- California became a haven for those wanting a more prosperous life
- With such an incredible incursion of migration, various problems surfaced
- City governments were principally not ready for the enormous quantity of new residents looking for housing and schools, wanting medical care and running water, and making waste.
- These regions were overwhelmed by the need for new construction and solutions to plumbing and sanitation nightmares.
A PENNY SAVED IS A PENNY EARNED:
- Wartime mobilization initiated the federal government to ask Americans to conserve, conserve, conserve
- Certain consumer products made scarce by the war, for instance gasoline, steel, rubber, coffee, butter, oil, and meat, were rationed in order to prevent shortages and ensure the availability of these items to all citizens, not just to the very rich
- While Americans had fewer products to buy, they were earning much more than ever before.
- Families were compelled to save money throughout the war years.
DOWNLOADS ARE BELOW. Enjoy! :
world_war_ii.docx | |
File Size: | 18 kb |
File Type: | docx |