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Social Changes In The US Durring WW2 Essay

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Social Change in the United States
During World War II

As the possibility of a second World War arose people began to form opinions on the United States’ role in Europe. The general population disagreed on whether or not to get involved in the conflict with Germany. Some people believed in interventionism, the theory that the United States should do everything it could to support Britain without declaring war on Germany. Along with William Allen White they formed the Committee to Defend America by Aiding the Allies. Others supported the idea of isolationism, which said that the United States should defend itself first. The supporters of isolationism formed the Committee to Defend America First which …show more content…

Flocks of American men, outraged from the Pearl Harbor incident, voluntarily signed up for the army and navy. Those Americans who couldn’t join the armed forces helped the war effort by volunteering to grow their own vegetables in make-shift gardens. In 1941 the Secretary of Agriculture formally suggested the use of these “victory gardens”. The “victory gardens” were planted anywhere they could be, in such places as vacant lots and jails. The gardens soon accounted for 40% of the countries vegetables (Nash, 525).
To keep Americans informed during the war the government created the Office of War Information. The Office of War Information encouraged the newspapers, radio, and movies to help explain the current events and government policies. The media, however, needed no encouragement and movie makers were soon scrambling to copyright movies like: Bombing of Honolulu, Yellow Peril, and V for Victory. Comic strips were also being based on war. New characters like G.I. Joe and Dan Winslow of the Navy emerged at this time. Songs, advertisements from magazines and newspapers, billboards, and radio shows also picked up the war time trend.

The economic changes that took place during and because of the war were almost all positive. The country’s GNP (gross national product), the total dollar amount of all the goods and services

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