The Market: The Black Market During World War II

They did no more work than the other people in the village did. Their clothing, housing, food and mannerisms were the same as the people who owned them. European influence started to affect slavery in Africa and it was now becoming an enterprise rather than a legal system for punishment. Traders would come to Africa selling goods to these people, who did not have access to these goods before, in exchange for slaves. These traders would bribe chiefs of tribes to go out and capture neighboring villagers in exchange for goods, encouraging the kidnapping and enslavement of fellow Africans. "When a trader wants slaves, he applies to a chief for them, and tempts him with his wares." This was all a part of the European Triangular Trade. Goods were brought to Africa in order to trade with the Africans. Slaves were then shipped to the Americas to produce more goods to be sent to Europe in order start the whole trade cycle again.

During World War II propaganda posters where used to influence many peoples value, beliefs and behavior. The use of propaganda had a huge impact on the allied and axis power during this time. Both enemy’s used posters to get support from there government and families back home. Creating these posters encouraged people to save their materials so that most of the weapons could be used during the war. Propaganda it was a smart way to get people to degrade the enemy. Furthermore it was a great financial investment for America and its allies during the war. The poster I will address are what I found to be the most interesting and significant during this time.

The stock market crash, called Black Tuesday. Unequal distribution of wealth was a key factor during the time period as well. The day know as “Black Tuesday” was the day the stock market crashed. This led to the fall of stock prices, in fear, people sold their stocks and gathered the money they could. The people who didn’t, lost all of their stocks. Those who bought them on credit, they were now in debt. Investors lost a collective amount equal to the amount spent in WWI, that’s billions of dollars gone, approximately thirty-two billion dollars (32,000,000,000). As bad as the crash was, unequal distribution of wealth did not help. The rich saw an income increase of 70%, and the poor saw an increase of 9%. More than 70% of families earned less than $2500/year. Many of these families couldn't afford household products, such as the flood of overproduced goods. Only one out of ten families owned an electric refrigerator. One thing many people overlook when on the subject of the Great Depression is the president's influence on the situation. The two presidents during this time were Herbet Hoover and Franklin D. Roosevelt. Hoover was in office during the collapse of the economy, he didn’t believe in national relief, he believed in self-prevalence and self-help. His beliefs didn’t get the confidence of the people, in 1933, a fourth of working American’s were out of a job, that’s more than fifteen million people unemployed. Many people disliked Hoover, so when they needed to make a home out of paper, glass, tin, or whatever they could find, they named the towns constructed from these items “Hoovervilles”. They were found mostly on the outside of cities. Hoover's idea of self-reliance didn’t get him reelected, he lost to Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1933. Roosevelt brought forward a new strategy to take on the economic problems, it was called the New Deal. The New Deal was a series of actions him and his

During World War II the United States began to manufacture war materials to support its allies through lucrative government defense contracts as automobile factories like Ford and General Motors put aside their usual business operations and began to produce tanks and airplanes, shipyards too expanded their operations . The demand for war equipment naturally increased the demand for labor and as a result helped pull the American economy out of the grips of the Great Depression. Then as the unthinkable happened, on December 7, 1941, Japan bombed Pearl Harbor, which drew many young American men into the battlefield.

During the WWII era minority groups experienced some positive and negative economic changes. Before the war, the people in the United States had to experience the Great Depression. This was a time of poverty, starvation, and ultimate hardships. During the war,

Resources were lacking in all respects during the Holocaust. Scarcity of necessities made life in the ghettos tortuous, at best mildly tolerable. The ghettos were broken down in many ways. The plumbing was horrific, there was garbage everywhere especially in the streets, as well as human defecation. These conditions, as well as tight quarters made the ghettos a breeding ground for numerous diseases. Once the diseases started spreading there was no good way to stop it because the immune systems of many were compromised, as a result of the almost nonexistent rations of food they were provided. To remedy this many of the small children would squeeze through the barriers of the ghetto and find food. However, they did this at great risk because if caught there would be severe consequences, if not execution. In addition, winters were even worse, on account of the fact that many

During the war, manufacturing and production techniques evolved, becoming more efficient to meet the demands of the war effort. After, factories were once again utilized for commercial purposes, which combined with the new production techniques led to the mass production of goods. Mass production allowed huge stores to be filled with consumer goods and unprecedented inventory. Department stores in urban centers revolutionized retail and consumption for the middle class, female shopper. These “palaces of consumption” enabled consumers to purchase almost anything, all in one location, including groceries, clothing, and home furnishings. The more people bought, the more their peers bought, as there was a fear of being left out or made fun of for not being able to afford the same goods as everyone

In the 1920s and 1930s America saw a large growth in mafias & mobs, drug & Alcohol Trafficking, and the organization of crime were a result of the Prohibition.

There were rumors of the Japanese and Germans committing gruesome acts against children.” As a result of the war a collective effort was required to maximize war production, the U.S. enacted rationing on massive proportions. “Food, meat, gas, and shoes were rationed, as well as butter and lard. Families were given a certain amount of food stamps, and this was the only way to obtain food. Gas cards were also distributed and this allowed you buy a certain amount of gas each week. Whatever you could get with them was what you got; you had to wait until the next week to get more rationing stamps.” There were some ill effects of rationing, including the formation of black markets local to their respective communities. “The black market sold cigarettes, butter, sugar, canned goods, and other rationed supplies.”

When the citizens had bought all that they could buy, there was a decrease in demand. Suddenly, the industries had an excess of goods and no one to sell it to. At this point, the Fordney-McCumber Act began to cripple the economy of America. Other nations introduced high tariffs to boost their revenue and to spite the United States. Sadly for the United States, these high tariffs and low demand were instrumental in the depression that America experienced. When the stock market crashed on October 29th, 1929 or “Black Tuesday”, the united states, along with other nations were in economic turmoil and the widespread prosperity of the 1920s ended abruptly. The depression threatened people's jobs, savings, and even their homes and farms. During the heart of the depression, over one-quarter of the American population was out of work. For many Americans, these were extremely hard times. When Roosevelt was voted into office, he introduced the New Deal. While this plan tried to help the united states out of it’s isolationist rut, the second world war was the final solution. Mobilizing the economy for world war finally cured the depression. Millions of men and women joined the armed forces, and even larger numbers went to work in well-paying defence jobs.

The United States has been involved in many conflicts, but the World Wars are two of the major conflicts, which many people lost their lives. World War II, being the more recent war, is the war that the United States should have entered earlier than they have. The World Wars are two of the most violent wars we have had in the world, but World War II, was by far, the more hurtful war out of the two. World War II has violated many human rights, and has produced many social injustices to the people who have suffered during this war. Millions of people could have been saved from the Nazi’s lust for purity if the United States would have entered the war earlier than they have.

World War II happened during the time that women wanted more rights and wanted to be able to work. So when World War II happened, it created new job opportunities and women were able and willing to work. The war was fought between two alliances that was against each other, “the opposing alliances are now referred to as ‘The Axis’ and ‘The Allies’. The Axis group consisted of Germany, Italy, and Japan. The Allies group consisted of France, Britain, the U.S., the Soviet Union, and China. World War II was especially heinous because of the genocide of Jewish people perpetrated by the Nazis.” (Diffen LLC, n.d.d). World War II is known for being a brutal and long war that involved more than thirty countries. Also, some of the important things of

Eventually Jews and other ‘undesirables’ were sent to death camps, while others went to forced labour camps and used as slaves to produce materials for weapons in war, and a range of goods, such as shoes, clothes and good. These death camps

     United States entry into the war provided a temporary solution for many problems that had baffled New Dealers. The war, not the New Deal, triggered massive industrial

The exchange market was a form of an underground black market inside the camps. They would trade and sell necessities, such as shoe shine. Prisoners would sell their extra spoons and clothes for extra food and other supplies. Even though the Germans had knowledge of this exchange market, they never shut it down. They, in a way, seemed to encourage the selling and trading of the market, because of their rules such as the shoe shine. Some of the German guards would even take advantage of the market and get extra money on the side. However, if anyone was ever caught doing these types of exchanges, they would be executed. There was also another sort of exchange market amongst the civilians themselves. These non-Jew outsiders would come to the camp