Women On The Home Front Dbq Essay

World War II, in which the United States was involved from 1941 to 1945, was a welcome distraction from the widespread financial ruin of the Great Depression, despite the death and destruction that it caused. Many Americans, though initially reluctant to join the war for fear of becoming embroiled in an exclusively foreign conflict, became passionate supporters of the war effort after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. United through patriotism, millions of men and women of all races volunteered to serve in the military. Americans on the home front rallied around the war effort as well, contributing in a variety of ways, including taking jobs in defense industries, conserving food and resources, and recycling items for use in war production.

The war effort brought unity to a nation divided by widespread economic distress. More than 16 million Americans from all segments of the population enlisted in the military during the war, connected by a common thread of patriotism. Jerry Vooris, a Representative from California, noted that nearly one-third of the soldiers from his state were Latin-American (Document 2), while Minnie Maffett, the president of the National Federation of Business and Profession Women’s Clubs, observed that women were enlisting by the thousands in the Women’s Army Corps and related organizations (Document 8). Minorities proved to be especially vital to the war: the Tuskegee Airmen became the first African-American flying unit in the military, and Navajo “code talkers” transmitted secure radio messages in their native language for the Marines (Document 11). On the home front, Americans likewise rallied around the war effort, encouraged by government propaganda. Many took jobs in industries that fueled the war effort. Women, in particular, were encouraged to work in defense industries, with posters describing “Rosie the Riveter,” a fictional character representing the quintessential woman worker, and

Increased spending by the federal government, totaling about $321 billion, was used to ramp up war production. Escalating war production, in turn, virtually eliminated the massive unemployment that had plagued the nation during the Great Depression, as previously unemployed workers could either enlist in the military or take jobs in defense industries. In fact, unemployment decreased from nearly 15% in 1940 to an all-time low of 1% in 1944. At the same time, wages increased; adjusted for inflation, weekly wages in manufacturing rose by more than 50% from 1940 to 1945. As a result, many Americans were afforded the opportunity to save money and engage in leisure activities, and, indeed, many bought books and magazines, purchased recordings of popular songs, and made weekly trips to the movies, further increasing overall spending and the health of the economy. Moreover, these economic effects were especially encouraging to minorities: Maffett reported that women were earning as much as $10,000 a year, and called the increasing demand for women, particularly those with specialized skills, “most impressive” (Document 8), while William Townsend, an African-American labor leader, noted that unemployment among African Americans had reached record lows, “accelerat[ing] our pace toward economic democracy” (Document