World War II Impact on U.S. Economy and Society

Categories: Taxation

There were many effects of WWII on all countries but there were a variety of effects of WWII on the U.S.A. Although in the U.S some people often gloss over a few of the effects of WWII I am here to bring them to light. Many of these effects came with positives and negatives and although some people often generally saw the negative over the positive there were still triumphs that came with the war. One positive effect was that it brought America out of the great depression.

25 percent of people were jobless before WWII came along, but afterwards many businesses sprouted in growth and many more people were able to get jobs because of the amount of men that had to fight in the war. The war also helped a few individuals that later in their lives became famous such as Marilyn Monroe and Jackie Robinson.

During WWII there was the creation of the Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer used by the military, which was later shortened to the name computer later on in history.

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There was also less segregation because one African-American labor leader threatened to lead ginormous protest march if Roosevelt did not cooperate with his demands. Roosevelt was forced to make a law banning discriminatory employment in war-related work because he was afraid that the march would start a riot. The U.S also helped rehabilitate Japan which made them their allies instead of their enemies. Another positive effect was that women had more jobs and jobs that consisted of the type of work only a man would do back in the day.

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It also helped women realize their rights to work and their independence. One woman who was fired in 1945, for not being male, got her job back in 1976 because of the equal opportunities act. Iowa Public Television even interviewed a woman who worked during WWII and she said, I think they gave us a short indoctrination as to what we were there for, and then they took us right to the working area. I stayed in that same working area all the time that I was there. I think the patriotism came as it progressed, and I was thinking of going on into the service."

Which brings me to my next point, America became united with the idea of winning WWII which helped bring up moral and helped remind people of patriotism. Walt Disney even created animation shorts and war films that included subtle jokes that made fun of the Nazis and educated people of the war. In an article by Tijana Radeska The government looked to Walt Disney more than any other studio chief as a builder of public morale providing instruction and training the sailors and soldiers. (August 2, 2016). One other effect that can be considered positive (but can also considered negative at times, in different situations) is the creation of nuclear bomb, which added another weapon against the Nazis. More and more Americans were considered middle class a while after the war. The United States, the Soviet Union, China, the United Kingdom and France became the permanent members of this International Council which created global peace. There were also much higher wages after the war. Many Mexicans came to the U.S to help with agricultural work because of the Bracero program (To sum it up the Bracero program was, in the words of Wikipedia The Bracero Program from the Spanish term bracero, meaning "manual laborer" or "one who works using his arms" was a series of laws and diplomatic agreements, initiated on August 4, 1942, when the United States signed the Mexican Farm Labor Agreement with Mexico.) . This also resulted in migration from Mexico to the U.S which affected the population of Mexican Americans.

Although many positives came out of the war so did very many devasting things. There were also a lot of tragedies included with WWII. My first negative is that many people died and were wounded overall in WWII; about 418,500 died and 671,801 were wounded the U.S. My next reason was that nuclear bombs although at first were needed to keep all the Nazis at bay but after the war the Soviet Union and the U.S became enemies for decades. The U.S .There relocation camps that they set up for any Japanese or Japan-Americans who were living on the U.S after the Japanese bombed Pearl. Due to this, many Japanese citizens lost their homes and businesses. There were huge debates concerning any Japanese babies in America that were either born before or on the day Peral Harbor was bombed. The war also worsened America's economy. For example, since there was so much war spending there was more taxes. WWII was the start of personal tax income and was DEFINITLEY NOT the end. The income tax for much of the working American class increase from 1.5 percent to 15 percent, increasing the cost of living for many families. [Negative Effects on the U.S. Economy Caused by World War II by Ashley Seehorn; Updated June 25, 2018]. The U.S also gave many government contracts to larger businesses, that spent an average of $250 million dollars each day. This made many minor businesses to disappear for a while. After the war businesses that did stay sold normal goods again and terminated women that were working in the factories. Farmers suffered because farming became a bigger business so farmers that couldn't compete left their farms which was partly an after effect of Bracero program, which was created during WWII to increase agriculture growth so there wasn't inflation in food. There also was inflation which made products cost a lot more than they should have cost.

Although there were positive effects, they were shorter lived than some negative effects which were more long term such as inflation, taxation and debt. Due to the large draft of soldiers, children came into the work force and many child labor laws were violated and since there was war the violation of those laws were ignored. The spending deficit went from 9 billion to 98.5 billion. The funding of New Deal agencies reduced which included important organizations that fought discrimination in jobs and helped disadvantaged groups all throughout the U.S. Even though the numbers of jobs increased the wages went down during WWII which made 25 percent of all American workers made 64 cents or less an hour. The ability to help the poor and homeless were also reduced because of these reason two reasons.

Updated: Nov 01, 2022
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World War II Impact on U.S. Economy and Society. (2019, Aug 20). Retrieved from https://studymoose.com/world-war-ii-impact-on-u-s-economy-and-society-essay

World War II Impact on U.S. Economy and Society essay
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