How did the war change life on the American home front?

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Figure false: Pitching in at Home
Figure false: This poster encourages women and children to contribute to the war effort by collecting scrap metal for recycling into weaponry. The poster highlights the middle-class prosperity of the war years, a sharp contrast to the hard times of the 1930s. Chicago Historical Society.

THE WAR EFFORT MOBILIZED Americans British allies. The wartime ideology that contrasted Allied support for human rights with Axis tyranny provided justification for the many sacrifices Americans were required to make in support of the military effort. It also established a standard of basic human equality that became a potent weapon in the campaign for equal rights at home and in condemning the atrocities of the Holocaust perpetrated by the Nazis.

CHRONOLOGY

1942

  • Congress of Racial Equality is founded.

1943

  • 242 race riots erupt in 47 American cities.

1944

  • GI Bill of Rights.
  • Roosevelt is reelected to fourth term.

CHAPTER LOCATOR

How did the United States respond to international developments in the 1930s?

How did the outbreak of war affect U.S. foreign policy?

How did the United States mobilize for war?

How did the Allies turn the tide in Europe and the Pacific?

How did the war change life on the American home front?

How did the Allies finally win the war?

Conclusion: Why did the United States emerge as a superpower at the end of the war?

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