Essay Sample on Impacts of World War II to United States Homefront

Introduction

The involvement of the United States (the U.S.) in World War II (1939 -1945) had several social, political, and economic outcomes to the country. Both positive and negative impacts resulted from this war. The effects of the second world war shaped America we know today. For instance, it helped the U.S. to get out of great depression (Cole and Ohanian 11). It did so by reinventing its industries to produce goods needed for the war, which created jobs opportunities for many jobless Americans a move that kick-started the economy. The U.S. also become a superpower, together with the Soviet Union overthrowing the previous superpowers the likes of France and Germany.

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America's participation in World War II had significant consequences on its economy and the workforce. The U.S. was still grappling with the great depression when it joined the conflict. Its unemployment rates were, as a result, hovering at around 15 percent. But when the U.S. joined the conflict unemployment rates fell (Harper 88). This transformation relates to the retooling of Americans factories to produce goods to support the war followed by the deployment of men to war, allowing factories to enlist women to join the assembly lines (Cantor & Land 317-332.) The existing factories produced war materials instead of consumer goods. Also, he U.S. constructed more factories to produce war materials. By the end of 1941, the GDP of the U.S. had doubled due to those developments. Therefore, the war had a positive impact on the U.S. economy.

The U.S. involvement in World War II led to a change of Americans' social lives. This came because of emergence of several ideas. Since America was suffering from great depression, many of its citizens were unemployed. According to Sherry, the increased need for war materials led to people being deployed onto the assembly lines reducing the unemployment rate (26). The increase in production helped to revive the economy after the heavy tolls suffered during the great depression.

Since the government sent many men to the battlefields, women worked in the production lines. Before the war, women could not work in factories in the U.S. Only men could work there as women stayed at home. During the wartime, men went to the war zones to fight, leading women to be deployed in the assembly lines (Calder, 276). Allowing women to work in industries led to a cultural revolution for women learned to work on their own and become independent a culture that was, early on, not available. These women also sought workplace autonomy after the war, having tasted the freedom of working in the male-reserved workplaces. Therefore, the American society changed for the better because allowing women to take jobs that only men could do previously, was one step towards gender mainstreaming.

Conclusion

The U.S. became a superpower together with the Soviet Union after it victorious entry and contribution to the conflict. The U.S. was, therefore, able to even set up naval bases in Europe. It also led to the decolonization of many countries for colonizing countries became weak. Overall, the war unified Americans and amplified political cooperation with several of its allies (Sherry 273). In conclusion, it is arguable that the World War II had a positive impact on the U.S. at large.

Work Cited

Calder, Angus. The people's war: Britain 1939-1945. Random House, 2012.

Cantor, David, and Kenneth C. Land. "Unemployment and crime rates in the post-World War II

Cole, Harold L., and Lee Ohanian. "The Great Depression in the United States from a neoclassical perspective." (1999).

United States: A theoretical and empirical analysis." American Sociological Review (1985): 317-332.

Sherry, Michael S. In the shadow of war: The United States since the 1930s. Yale University Press, 1995.