WW2
Cards (15)
- Isolationism To WarAmerica concentrated on building up its economy and strong trade linksNeutrality Act banned selling weapons or giving loans to any country at warOctober 1937 - Quarantine speech states that countries should break off relations with nations that are taking other nations
- Isolationism to War1939 - America declared support for Britain and France as FDR feared that Germany would attack the US1939 - Cash and Carry Plan allowed foreign countries to transport it from the USA which created valuable production jobs at a time where unemployment was risingFDR gave Britain 50 warships in 1940
- Isolationism to War1941 - Lend Lease allowed America to lend Britain millions of dollars worth of weaponsUS struck a similar deal with Russia when Germany attacked it
- Reaction in AmericaMothers' Crusade and America First Committee held big anti-war demonstrations because they feared America would get dragged into a European WarMillions of jobs were found by building planes, battleships and tanksUnemployed men became trainee soldiers, sailors and pilots1941 - 5.5 million unemployed compared to over 10 million just 4 years before
- America + JapanJapan began to invade surrounding countries including China as they wanted food and raw materialsFDR vowed not to sell any oil or steel to Japan which angered them
- Pearl Harbour7th December 1941 - 183 Japanese bomber planes attacked pearl harbourThey destroy the fleet and kill roughly 2000 military soldiersJapan did this as they thought it would take America a year to rebuild their ships so they could easily create a South-east Asian empireNext day America and Britain declared war on Japan. Germany, Italy and Japan then declared war on the US making it a world war
- America at WarJanuary 1942 - War Production Board (WPD) adapted US industries to war production including The Ford Motor company converted to making B-24 bombsWPA fulfilled the needs of the US and allied armed forces by allowing the US to produce 86,000 planes and 7000 ships
- America at WarWar production significantly helped employmentMillions of women joined the workforceBy 1941 unemployment dropped to 670000Farmers prospered because they supplied food to the militaryTraditional industries such as coal, iron, steel and oil were all boosted by the demands of war
- Women before WW2Women worked in stereotypical jobs such as nursing or teaching
- How did WW2 benefit WomenWomen filled key roles needed to run the US society such as factory workWomen had access to skilled jobs that society had previously excluded them fromAround 350,000 women served in the armed forcesWomen who had a paid job had more disposable income meaning that they could buy more products which improved the economyThey also had more freedom
- How did Women not benefit from WW2There was still no equal pay in the USA and women were paid significantly less than for men doing the same jobWomen who had children found it very difficult to work both inside and outside the homeWomen in minority communities struggled to find employment. Those who had jobs faced discrimination
- Positive Changes to African Americans during WW2Fair Employment Practice Committee (FECP) led to companies improving their policies in relation to African American workersAround 1 million african americans fought in the warafrican americans had access to higher-paying jobs than those before the warAir force allowed african americans to train as pilots
- Negative continuities to african americansThe number of african americans moving to the north increased racial tensionsafrican americans were paid significantly less than white peopleMany african americans had lower-than-average living standards
- Positive changes to the economythere was an increase in demand for food for the home front and armed forces this helped the agricultural industry recoverWar production required the traditional industries of coal, steel and iron. These saw a boost in demandTax revenue went up from 4 million dollars a year to 42 million dollars a year
- Negative changes to the economyDomestic industries were changed to focus on war effortThere were fewer consumer products for people to buy in AmericaMost of the decrease in unemployment was temporary