While this chapter covers World War II it is important to look at some of the outcomes and civil rights movements caused by this war. Due to a looming war, Congress approved the first Peacetime Draft in October of 1940, President Roosevelt calling for a “great arsenal of democracy.” While 15 million Americans joined the military it should be noted that due to this draft not all of them were willing recruits. America gave up its last apprehensions to join the war completely after the attack on Pearl Harbor. Americans of all ethnicities flocked to defend our country. Sadly military units remained segregated but after this war no Military unit was ever segregated again. African Americans were put into units separate from other soldiers, echoing Jim Crow laws though out the military. Despite racism some of these units served above and beyond the call of duty …show more content…
Native Americans and Hispanic Americans were not segregated. This in part had to do with the vital work done by ethnic Units such as the Navajo “Code Talkers”, using Native American Codes; Allied forces were able to communicate without having their information decoded by Axis powers. The Rights of Women start to come to the forefront during this war as well. In America, women are for the first time entering the work force to replace the men fighting the war, and female soldiers begin to play a significate role in the military. Mostly their roles are that of vital Nurses but a handful are put into active roles as pilot escorts for non-combat supply and plane movements. On the Homefront the war also had an impact of the Gay and Lesbian community. Even though most groups kept silent due to persecution, large cities across the nation began developing vibrant gay and lesbian neighborhoods due to the Wartime migration. These areas become the centers for the gay rights movements of the 1960’s and