Essay on Wwi Impact on Women and African-Americans

Prior to World War II, many women were unemployed, due to the Great Depression which had started a decade before. With men always getting preference for jobs, there were very few jobs left for women. Consequently, not only were many occupations were reserved for men, but men were also paid wages up to five times higher for the same task as women. Some states also barred married women from holding jobs. However during World War II, America produced at an efficiency which was higher than ever. This meant that the women had an increasing number of jobs. Jobs in the public sector opened up. Since 1939, women progressively changed the idea of patriarchy and the cliché thinking of an average woman in the United States to be a wife and mother.

Women were the primary victims of being mistreated in the factory work life right next to immigrants and of course people of another color. These women worked long and hard hours, often from the sun up to late at night after the sun went down just to have the money to do buy the basic necessities that their family may need. Women’s incomes were pretty low at the time, which is why they had to work for such a long period of the day. They also had very high expectations as they had to produce with no error for hours in during the day, they were expected to make 3000 stitches per minute or else they would be docked. Working environments were very cramped and the machines were not exactly user-friendly, so it is easy to see why they would want to begin progressive movements. Women began to group up after hours to talk about the complexities that go on around the workplace and sought out a solution to make the owners realize that their opinions do matter. After long talks amongst each other, the women decided to join together in a strike against the unfair treatment and conditions that the Triangle Shirtwaist factory provided them with. They all sat out of the workforce and were directly responsible for the

Prior to World War II women were seen as house wives, taking care of children and tending the gardens. Women generally accepted these roles because family was a prior economic unit. Even during World War I the contributions were housewife like, washing clothing, cooking, helping the wounded, sewing, knitting clothing, and etc. The images of women taking care of the home while men were off working were so nailed into the head that some states banned women from jobs. Once the war started to take place the war effort was so great men and women had to set aside gender roles for the sake of their countries being. Women left families, education, and other jobs to work the jobs men took on while they were off serving the country in combat, etc.

The American home front during World War II is recalled warmly in popular memory and cultural myth as a time of unprecedented national unity, years in which Americans stuck together in common cause. World War II brought many new ideas and changes to American life. Even though World War II brought no physical destruction to the United States mainland, it did affect American society. Every aspect of American life was altered by U.S. involvement in the war including demographics, the labor force, economics and cultural trends.

Due to both husband and wives working and people were able to purchase more goods for their home the economy began to rise after World War. The post-war reconstruction effort made the need for an expanded labour force urgent. In the late 1940s, the government launched campaigns to encourage women to enter or stay in the labour market, and encouraged the migration of workers from (former) British colonies to fill the labour shortages.The welfare state created many job opportunities in what was seen as ‘women’s work’. Jobs were available in the the newly created National Health Service for nurses, midwives, cleaners and clerical staff. Banking, textile and light industries such as electronics also expanded during this period and provided women with opportunities in clerical, secretarial and assembly work. Jobs were still strictly segregated by gender and routine repetitive work was categorised as women’s work for women’s lower wages (Striking,

Women worked in factories that had poor working conditions that were unsafe to workers. Unions, fought for safer and better working conditions for sweatshop workers. It brought the legislation to set factory safety standards and the fire codes. Many children worked for low wages to help at home. Jane Addams was a reformer for woman’s rights, ending child labor in Chicago helped improve life through self-help.

“The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of sex. Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.” (“19th Amendment”). The 19th amendment gave women the right to vote. Prior to this amendment, women had no say.

World War 1 had a big effect on the life of blacks. McWhirter says that “the war’s end the previous November had opened a broader marked for cotton; mills across the world need[ed] it for civilian clothes.” African Americans were moving in large numbers from the South to the North and Midwest in what is part of the Great Migration. Blacks wanted to escape the racism of the South. They were trying to run away from poverty, physical violence, and segregation. The war brought many job openings in the North, a great opportunity for the blacks to start a new life. Mcwhirter states that this led to “returning veterans had trouble finding jobs, since few factories were hiring and southern black migrants had filled many jobs.” So as African Americans migrated to the North, they began to fill empty jobs in the factory and railroad industries. White supremacists saw the increased competition for jobs, and resented the blacks for taking them. In fact, white

Women started to work to fill in for their husbands. Rosie the Riveter was a way of encouraging women to help work (Doc. 1). Her signature saying was, “We can do it!” (Doc 1) This helped tell the women that they can step it up and get jobs. Women drove trucks, repaired airplanes, and were nurses (OI). Before World War II, girls had never worked because men had always taken care of it. After World War II, women continued helping with jobs, and they still are today. To wrap it up, if women had not worked during World War II, they might not have jobs

Suddenly things just got a lot harder. Money, and work, and for the first time in history, women were the breadwinners of the household, and men were being fired from their jobs. Women often went unnoticed by society,

During WW2 the presence of men at home was to a bare minimum. The impact this had on women was felt throughout the nation. How women would be looked at would be changed forever. They had to uphold various positions that were usually held by men and reevaluate their roles as homemakers. Their lives at home had changed; they were no longer the primary care giver. They also joined different parts of the military. Due to men being away at war during WW2 women were forced to participate in the workforce, which would change their view of their position in society.

The Effect of World War II on American Women America entered the 2nd World War in December 1940 after the Japanese Air force attacked American war ships at Pearl Harbour in Hawaii. They fought alongside Britain and France against Nazi Germany and her allies. Although many American soldiers were injured and killed in the war, the impact on Americans back home was generally positive, as the US was too far away from Europe to suffer from bombing etc. America was far better off than it had been before.

Middle class young women, replaced men in administrative jobs and entered nursing, and women became drivers, secretaries and clerks. Many women also served in the armed forces to allow

In 1920, women won the right to vote and they were gradually moving into the male-dominated labor force, but gender roles were not changing much. Due to the World War II draft, many women entered the labor force and even helped run the country. Upon the return of the veterans, many women were forced back into their homes. However, the opportunities for women were broadening and some women began making careers for themselves outside of the home. The 1960’s saw many feminist movements and in 1963 the Equal Pay Act was passed by Congress which enticed more women to get out of the house and into better careers.

A number of reasons brought about the movement of African Americans to northern cities from the south. First and perhaps a clear reason is the African American annoyance of Jim Crow disfranchising system in the South. Secondly, a large numbers of African Americans were forced to leave their homes and families in the south in their search for a better life following the depressed cotton market as well as the natural disasters that reduced many black land-owner to sharecropping or tenant farmers trapped in vicious cycle of indebtedness. From a positive perspective, the massive military conscription that occurred during WWI caused labor shortages, particularly in the northern region of the United States. These labor shortages appeared to be an opportunity that offered African American for employment in steel, shipbuilding, and automotive industries, meat packing factories, and also in plants that specialized in ammunition production (Cengage MindTap, n.p.).