World War II creates a serious labor shortage as the armed forces take more than 15 million men and women from the civilian workforce. This shortage of manpower solidifies the position of labor unions. Although labor unions pledge not to strike if a...
Native Americans volunteer for military service or work in defense plants during World War II. Historian Clifford Trafzer recalls the remarkable contributions of a small elite corps of Native Americans know as the "code talkers." They developed a me...
World War II initiates a second great migration of blacks from the rural south to the industrial north as blacks seek jobs they had been previously been denied. A. Phillip Randolph, head of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters, threatens to march...
Military service is an important integrative device, however, mixing is not going on across certain racial lines. During the war, white soldiers are not allowed to receive black blood, training bases in south are entirely segregated, and northern bl...
The most decisive contribution the U. S. makes to the war is industrial production. The country becomes the arsenal of the Allies producing 49% of the world's goods and services. With so many millions of soldiers away women and minorities became a m...
The economic problems that plagued the nation in the 1930s disappear. World War II stimulates growth and development in newer industries-electronics, chemicals, and petroleum--and cures the problems of older industries as well. Government spending h...
After the Japanese bomb Pearl Harbor, the United States becomes more involved in the war effort. The United States must make a decision to either help the Allies fight the Nazis in Europe, or defend their honor by engaging in a war against Japan in ...
During World War II, women are drawn in increasing numbers into the workforce and into roles once denied to them. Historians who have studied this period conclude that the workforce remains segregated, although some categories of employment switch o...
Mexican-Americans serve as soldiers and factory workers during World War II, statistically receiving more Medals of Honor than any other single group. Tens of thousands of Mexicans cross the border looking for work, some as undocumented immigrants, ...