The war also affected the black population on America, who shared in the wartime migration, but a higher standard of living and wealth was largely limited by racism. Blacks fought in the armed forces but were segregated from whites and were made to do service and construction tasks, and there was still a huge amount of racism and separation between blacks and whites.
Blacks were forced to press much harder for their rights, and, somewhat ironically, having fought and helped to defeat the nazi tyranny, returned to America to be denied their own basic civil rights. Towards the end of the war, it did become slightly better for the black community, but it was not extremely significant. The World War II was a reminder for many blacks of the inequality of American society, and a black soldier said, “Just carve on my tombstone, “Here Lies a black man, killed fighting a yellow man for the protection of a white man.”
There were changes to America’s economy as well during and after the war, and in particular, the war time boom. The biggest contributor to the victory in the WWII was industry, and industries that had been inactive were now “humming with activity”. Many factories were converted make war vehicles; such as tanks and flamers, and the Willow Run Factory was able to produce one B-24 bomber every hour. The prosperity went all through America’s society, and government spending rose dramatically from $9billion in 1940 to $98billion in 1944. Wages increased hugely all over the country from rich to poor.
Also, big businesses, especially those involved in the defence industry, became much more powerful, and surprisingly, military spending remained between 8 and 20 percent of GNP in the 40 years after 1945.
There were also changes to the politics of America, and the way they were run. The wartime president was Franklin D Roosevelt, and he was a democrat, but he met fierce republican opposition over his “new deal” policy, which was meant to drag America out of its wartime depression. In an attempt to counter the opposition, he ran in 1944 with a more conservative democrat – Truman – to “balance the ticket” because he had some more right wing views than Roosevelt. However, in April 1945, Roosevelt died, and Truman became president
Truman introduced the “fair deal” policy, which aimed to carry on Roosevelt’s work, but with less spending. The aims were to improve social security, provide full employment, increase the minimum wage, build more housing, and to secure employment for all races. However, some aspects of his “fair deal” fell through, and Truman also met fierce opposition for his racial equality ideas. However, he was re-elected in 1948, with a surprise victory over the republican Dewey, but his second ministry was a disaster with the failure of Korea, and corruption scandals within his administration.
One of the most significant changes was the new feel of the anti-communist threat. Fears of communism had been raised by the Maoist victory in China and the Korean War. President Truman had built up some of this to gain support for his Marshall Plan and the Truman Doctrine, but it was now rapidly getting out of proportion. Attorney General McGrath said in 1949, “They are everywhere…and each carries the germ of death of society.”
Another change was in taxes. The huge amount of government spending had led to high levels of federal taxation, and this feature, largely in income tax, still remains today, making it quite a significant change.
Overall, the WWII made a number of significant changes on American peoples lifestyle, socially, economically, and politically. Women’s roles had changed, there had been a wartime boom, and now there was a strong feel throughout America of a huge communist threat. This would eventually lead to McCarthyism where suspected communists were sought out, and put on trial without evidence, and even some Hollywood actors were put on trial.
