GCSE · History · AQA · Spec 8145

Second World War impact on America

In 1939, 9.5 million Americans were out of work. Then a war the USA didn't join until December 1941 changed its factories, farms and jobs, and who did them.

History · The USA at war

One war, many channels: draw the web

Seven changes, one war. Pick a factor, pick what it led to, and add the arrow. Try to find at least six links before you compare with the lesson's web. Which factor ends up with the most arrows coming out of it?

  1. Allied orders: Cash and Carry, then Lend Lease
  2. 16 million Americans in the armed forces
  3. Rearmament: industry switches to war production
  4. Demand for food, fuel, raw materials and medicines
  5. US GDP more than doubles
  6. Unemployment falls sharply
  7. Women and African Americans move into new jobs
Add a link

No links yet.

Exam line: Strong explanations join two factors in one sentence: 'Over 16 million Americans were in the forces, so the government encouraged women into the workforce.'

History · Rewind to 1935

When did America really join in?

When each step happened

1 · Earliest6 · Latest

  1. The USA joins the war after being attacked by Japan

  2. Lend Lease: Britain gets US weapons and supplies free of charge

  3. Neutrality Acts ban US loans, then US arms sales, to countries at war

  4. Roosevelt calls the USA the 'great arsenal of democracy'

  5. Congress amends the neutrality laws; Cash and Carry lets Britain and France buy US weapons

  6. Lend Lease is extended to the Soviet Union

Watch out: Easy mistake: assuming the USA did nothing until it was attacked. It stayed out of the fighting until December 1941, but its factories were working for the Allies long before.

History · The scale of the boom

How big was the boom?

In 1939 about 9.5 million Americans, 17.2% of workers, had no job. What was the unemployment rate by 1945?

Your estimate

10%

0%20%

Life on the home front: the government steps in

Two measures, two different jobs. Censorship controlled information; rationing controlled supplies.

History · Opportunity and inequality

Did the war bring real change?

The claim

The Second World War brought real change for women and African Americans in the USA.

Place each piece of evidence to load the balance. Mark the strong ones — they count double.

  1. The number of women in work rose from 12 million in 1940 to nearly 19 million in 1945, and women made up 36% of the workforce by 1945.

    Evidence 1: does it support or challenge the claim?

  2. Women took on traditionally male engineering work: women in shipbuilding rose from 36 in 1939 to 200,000 by 1942. About 350,000 women also joined the armed forces, serving as mechanics, drivers, switchboard operators and nurses.

    Evidence 2: does it support or challenge the claim?

  3. Many African Americans found wartime jobs at higher wages. A protest planned in Washington DC in 1941 led to the FEPC, and within a year African American employment in defence industries had increased.

    Evidence 3: does it support or challenge the claim?

  4. As the war went on, the Air Force accepted African American pilots and the services trained black officers.

    Evidence 4: does it support or challenge the claim?

  5. Women were still paid less than men for the same work, and women in the forces were excluded from combat.

    Evidence 5: does it support or challenge the claim?

  6. African Americans still tended to be paid less than white Americans for the same work, and many employers were less willing to hire them: one aircraft manufacturer employed only 10 African Americans in a workforce of 30,000.

    Evidence 6: does it support or challenge the claim?

  7. About 1 million African Americans served, but in segregated units. Black sailors were at first confined to ships' kitchens, and black officers never commanded white soldiers.

    Evidence 7: does it support or challenge the claim?

  8. Jim Crow laws stayed in place in the South throughout the war. The Double V campaign, from 1942, won wide African American support but little immediate change.

    Evidence 8: does it support or challenge the claim?

Exam line: A strong judgement names what changed AND what stayed the same, then decides which weighs more.

History · Your turn to write

Explain two ways

Explain two ways in which the Second World War affected the US economy. [6 marks]

0 words · your answer stays on this page and is not sent anywhere.

Exam line: Name it, link it, prove it. Do that twice and you have a developed answer.

WHAT YOU'VE LEARNED

A quick recap of today's lesson.

How one war rebuilt the American economy, and who it did and didn't set free.

What you need to know

  • The USA stayed out of the fighting until December 1941, but Cash and Carry (from November 1939) and Lend Lease (from March 1941) meant aid and rearmament began first.
  • The War Production Board (WPB), from January 1942, converted industry to war production.
  • Wartime demand reached food, fuel, raw materials and medicines, so farming and new industries grew too.
  • Unemployment fell from 17.2% in 1939 to 1.9% by 1945, because of rearmament jobs and over 16 million Americans in the forces.
  • Censorship (from 1939) and rationing (from 1941) gave the government more control of daily life.
  • Women and African Americans found new work, but they still faced unequal pay and discrimination.

The big picture

The Second World War transformed the US economy. Allied demand, the needs of the armed forces and the switch to war production more than doubled GDP, and unemployment fell to under 2%. On the home front the government took more control through censorship and rationing. Women and African Americans gained new work and higher wages, but unequal pay, segregation and Jim Crow laws continued.

Key points

1American aid began before America fought: the neutrality laws were amended in 1939, and Lend Lease followed in 1941.
2GDP more than doubled between 1939 and 1945, driven by Allied demand and the needs of the US armed forces.
3Over 16 million Americans in the forces helped cut unemployment and led the government to draw women into work.
4The government controlled information through censorship and supplies through rationing, with rations set by need.
5Wartime opportunity was not equality: pay gaps, segregated units and Jim Crow laws continued.

Worked example

Problem

By the end of 1944, over half of Lend Lease aid was fighting equipment, 21% was fuel, machines and raw materials, and 13% was food and other farm products. Use these figures to explain why the war's economic impact reached beyond the weapons makers.

⚠ Watch out

Treating new opportunity as equality. Women and African Americans got more jobs and higher wages, but women were still paid less than men and African Americans less than white Americans for the same work. Segregated units and Jim Crow laws continued throughout the war.

🧠

Memory hook

Arsenal before army: America's factories went to war in 1939–41, its soldiers in December 1941. Then follow the 16 million. They needed supplying, and with them away women were drawn into work. But opportunity is not equality.

✓

Check yourself

Cover the page. What did Cash and Carry allow, and from when? What were the two reasons unemployment fell? And name one thing that did NOT change for African Americans.

Flashcards

(14)
What did the Neutrality Acts of 1935 and 1937 ban?
US loans to countries at war (August 1935) and US arms sales to countries at war (May 1937).
Cash and Carry
From November 1939, after Congress amended the neutrality laws, Britain and France could buy weapons from the USA.
'Great arsenal of democracy' (Roosevelt, December 1940)
The USA would manufacture and supply the weapons and goods other countries needed to fight and win the war.
Lend Lease
From March 1941 the USA supplied Britain with weapons and other supplies free of charge; extended to the Soviet Union in October 1941. About $50 billion of aid in all.
When and why did the USA join the Second World War?
December 1941, after it was attacked by Japan, two years after the war began.
War Production Board (WPB)
Created January 1942 to convert industry from peacetime to wartime production (e.g. Ford made bomber planes instead of cars).
Why did US GDP more than double in the war?
Lend Lease demand from the Allies, and the needs of the US armed forces.
Two reasons US unemployment fell
Rearmament created jobs in manufacturing and agriculture, and over 16 million Americans served in the armed forces.
How did the war help the pharmaceutical industry grow?
Antibiotics were in high demand to treat injured soldiers; two million doses of penicillin were mass-manufactured in the USA in 1944.
Why was there censorship from 1939?
To keep sensitive information from the enemy and maintain morale. Newspapers and radio needed approval to report on topics like production and the weather.
Why was there rationing from 1941, and how was it shared?
To guarantee supplies for the war. Every American got ration books, and rations reflected need (e.g. more fuel for police, more food for pregnant women).
Rosie the Riveter
A fictional character used in government propaganda to encourage women into the workforce.
FEPC
Fair Employment Practise Committee, set up after a protest was planned in Washington DC in 1941. It could not force firms to change, but could recommend refusing government contracts to firms that discriminated.
The Double V campaign
From 1942: support for the war for freedom and democracy abroad, plus a second victory against discrimination at home. Wide African American support, but little immediate change.

Tap any card to flip it, or use Study as deck to go through them one at a time. In the full lesson these run as a spaced-repetition deck — you rate each card Hard, Good or Easy and the tricky ones keep coming back until they stick.

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