Amy T Peterson, Valerie Hewitt, Heather Vaughan, et al
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them everything their parents had been deprived of for so long. Although
many young women temporarily left the work force to begin families,
overall, married women’s labor force participation continued to rise after
the war and has been rising ever since.
INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENTS
Although Europe had been embroiled in WWII since 1939, the United
States had remained neutral in the conflict through the early years of the
conflict. By summer 1941 Poland, China, France, Denmark, Norway,
Great Britain, and the Soviet Union had all become victims of German,
Italian, and Japanese aggression. As the War escalated, the United States
found it more difficult to remain neutral as other nations were devastated.
FDR worked with the U.S. Congress to revise the neutrality act to allow
the United States to sell millions of tons of war material to Britain under
the Lend-Lease Act of 1941.
By December 1941, the United States was provoked into the war
when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, a U.S naval base. Germany
declared war on the United States three days later. The U.S. entry into
the war transformed it into a truly global conflict.
By 1945, the war that had dominated the political, social, and eco-
nomic worlds for the better part of five years began its close. The war had
The 1940s
49
destroyed many of Europe’s cities, and both civilian and military casualties
had mounted. In April 1945, after the Soviets invaded Germany, Adolph
Hitler committed suicide in his bunker. Grand Admiral Karl D€onitz
became the new leader of Germany, but German resolve evaporated with
the loss of Hitler. The German forces in Berlin, Italy, northern Germany,
Denmark, The Netherlands, and France surrendered in May 1945.
Although the Germans had given up the fight, the Japanese continued
their attacks. In August 1945, Harry Truman, who assumed the presi-
dency after FDR’s death in April, ordered a decisive attack on the Japa-
nese to try to bring about a swift end to the war. U.S. bombers dropped
nuclear bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in Japan, which devastated
the cities and killed or injured 225,000 people. (Lenman 1995, pp. 420,
650). In addition, tens of thousands suffered and later died from the radi-
ation. The Japanese surrendered six days later.
The closing year of the war also set the stage for the Cold War that
would dominate world relations for the next few decades. British Prime
Minister Winston Churchill, U.S. President Franklin Roosevelt, and Soviet
Premier Joseph Stalin met in Yalta in February 1945. During the conference
they agreed to give Stalin control of Eastern Europe, but he did not allow
free elections in his newly acquired land. As a result, Americans and the
British grew hostile toward Russia, and hostility grew into the Cold War.
European economies were devastated as a result of WWII, so the
leading allied countries considered various plans to restore order to inter-
national monetary relations. Twenty-nine countries created the Interna-
tional Money Fund (IMF) in December 1945. The institution was
designed to oversee the international monetary system, promote the elimi-
nation of exchange restrictions relating to trade in goods and services, and
support the stability of exchange rates. It approved its first loan on May
9, 1947, of $250 million to France for postwar reconstruction. (Yeager
1976).
The Nuremburg Trials, which were conducted from 1945 to 1949,
attempted to serve justice in the crimes that Nazis inflicted on Jews,
Catholics, homosexuals, and others they deemed as ‘ undesirable.’’ The
media coverage of the trials brought the unspeakable crimes into public
consciousness. Americans responded to the atrocities with a shift toward
conservatism and patriotism.
Postwar U.S. foreign policy marked a distinct break from the isolation-
ism that characterized the country before the war. U.S. President Harry
Truman described the new strategy as the Truman Doctrine in a speech
on March 12, 1947. He defined it by casting the United States as the
‘ world’s policeman.’’
50
POLITICAL AND CULTURAL EVENTS
Nearly four years after WWII many European countries, the United
States, and Canada were still fearful of attacks from other countries. In
April 1949, they created a military alliance called the North Atlantic
Treaty Organization (NATO). The member countries agreed to come to
the defense of any other member country that was being attacked by an
outside country.
ETHNICITY IN AMERICA
Jim Crow laws, a set of state and local laws in the American South,
allowed ‘ separate, but equal’ treatment and accommodation for African
Americans and whites. ‘‘Separate, but equal’ meant that African Ameri-
cans and whites had separate schools, public bathrooms, and entrances to
buildings. Invariably, the accommodations for African Americans were in-
ferior to those of whites. After WWII, the Civil Rights Movement to
eliminate these laws began to gain momentum. The U.S. Supreme Court
began to rule some of these laws as unconstitutional. For example, the
courts deemed segregation in interstate transportation was unconstitu-
tional in 1946 in Irene Morgan v. Virginia.
The sacrifice of African Americans during WWII brought renewed
scrutiny to their treatment. Section 4(a) of the 1940 Selective Service Act
clearly banned discrimination based on race or color. Even though the
U.S. military was fighting against a racist dictator, Hitler, President
Roosevelt refused to integrate the armed forces, believing it would under-
mine military discipline and morale during a time of national crisis. Dur-
ing the war, the Marine Corps excluded African Americans, the Navy
used them as servants, and the Army created separate regiments for them.
In 1948, President Truman abolished racial segregation in the U.S. armed
forces.
African-American women fared better than their male counterparts
in the military. The Federal Nurses Training Bill prohibited racial bias
in selection of candidates for nurses training, which allowed thousands of
African-American women to enroll in the Cadet Nurse Corps. Many of
them reached officer ranks, and the remarkable contributions of the more
than 59,000 women in the army nurse corps helped to keep the mortality
rate among American military forces very low (Willever-Farr and Para-
scandola, n.d.).
Native Americans played a unique role during WWII: they became
the secret weapon that assisted the Marines in taking key Pacific holdings
from the Japanese. Their secret was the Navajo language; its complexity
made it the perfect unbreakable code. Race friction was not commonplace
The 1940s
51
in the Marine Corps. The men worked together and depended on each
other (Paul 1973).
The concept of racial purity espoused by the Nazis disturbed many
Americans. Congress passed the Alien Registration Act of 1940, which
encouraged noncitizens to become citizens. The initi
ative was a success,
with almost 1 million people acquiring citizenship between 1943 and
1944. The country’s ideal was to merge the ethnicities into a single Ameri-
can society, but nonwhites were not welcomed into this ideal.
Although Mexican Americans were encouraged to serve in the mili-
tary during the war, they tended to be given menial positions. In 1943,
racial tensions flared when a group of white soldiers heard a false report
that a Mexican American had beaten a white sailor. The ensuing violence
was named the Zoot Suit Riots, after the distinctive suits worn by young
Mexican Americans and African Americans. When there was a labor
shortage for field workers in 1942, the U.S. government allowed thou-
sands of Mexican immigrants to cross the border to work on farms in the
southwest.
Regardless of ethnicity, anyone who served in the armed forces could
take advantage of the G.I. Bill. The bill provided money for education,
and 8 million veterans took advantage of the bill and went to school
rather than return directly to work. Education and professional status
were now available to all ethnicities and income levels, but many schools
had admissions policies that discriminated against women and blacks.
R E F E R E N C E S
Abbott, B. 1973. Changing New York: New York in the Thirties. New York: Dover.
Andrist, R. K., ed. 1970. The American Heritage History of the 20s & 30s. New
York: American Heritage Publishing Co., Inc.
Baker, P. 1992. Fashions of a Decade: The 1940s. New York: Facts on File.
Barlow, A. L. 2003. Between Fear and Hope: Globalization and Race in the United
States. Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield.
Berkin, C., Miller, C. L., Cherny, R. W., and Gormly, J. L. 1995. Making Amer-
ica: A History of the United States. Boston: Houghton Mifflin.
Gordon, L., and Gordon, A. 1987. American Chronicle. Kingsport, TN: Kingsport
Press, Inc.
Kurian, G. T. 1994. Datapedia of the United States, 1790–2000. Lanham, MD:
Bernan Press.
Matanle, I. 1994. History of WWII, 1939–1945. Little Rock, AR: Tiger Books
International.
McKay, J. P. 1999. A History of Western Society. New York: Hougton Mifflin.
52
POLITICAL AND CULTURAL EVENTS
Murrin, J. M., Johnson, P. E., McPherson, J. M., Gerstle, G., Rosenberg, E. S.,
and Rosenberg, N. 2004. Liberty, Equality, Power: A History of the American
People, Vol. 2 since 1863. Belmont, CA: Thomson.
Perrett, G. 1982. America in the Twenties, A History. New York: Simon and
Schuster.
Reeves, T. C. 2000. Twentieth Century America: A Brief History. Oxford: Oxford
University Press.
Zinn, H. 1995. A People’s History of the United States. New York: Harpers
Perennial.
3
Art and Entertainment
In the first decade of the 1900s, art and entertainment had more in
common with the previous century that it did with the next decades.
Technological advances had a profound effect on the first half of the
twentieth century. Not only did it shape the media being used, but it
shaped the artists as well.
The artists working in the first decade used a realistic style and subject
matter. They glorified American landscapes whether they were mountains,
plains, or shining seas. They also used gritty urban life as subject matter
and were subsequently scolded by critics who dubbed these compositions
as ‘Ash Can’ art.
Refinements in photographic technology allowed ordinary people to
own and easily operate a camera. Americans captured their lives and the
landscapes and people around them. Documentary photographers became
more prevalent and captured images of the less-glamorous side of Ameri-
can life.
Literature in the 1900s often included a moral message or a reflection
of societal values. Horatio Alger stories were a popular example of this
type of literature. The hero would begin the story in a desperate position,
but through his hard work and good values, he would achieve success.
Reformers also used literature to disseminate their messages.
Popular music in the first decade of the century was a break from
the past. Ragtime music emerged, and dance halls became a favorite
53
54
ART AND ENTERTAINMENT
entertainment spot. Theater was a widespread pastime in urban areas,
whereas traveling and regional groups frequented rural areas. Vaudeville,
operettas, and comedies were popular genres.
In the 1910s, realism was still a widely used artistic style, but cubism
emerged on the scene. Its two-dimensional geometric compositions were a
strong contrast to other styles. Photographic technology made additional
advances, allowing advances in motion pictures. The first full-length pic-
ture was released during this decade, and the concept of the ‘ movie star’’
was created.
The audiences for art widened over the decade. Musical theater drew
large audiences, and literature became more widely available. In the case
of literature, the wide dissemination drew criticism of literary subject mat-
ter and a call for censorship. Ethnic music, although it had existed before,
saw a wider distribution than in previous decades.
The 1920s were fertile with artistic movements, including art deco,
Bauhaus, cubism, Dadaism, and surrealism. These movements permeated
nearly all art forms from paintings and sculpture to architecture and liter-
ature. By the end of the decade, this generation of artists had thoroughly
broken with the past.
The Jazz Era began during the 1920s by starting in small clubs. By
the end of the decade, the style had been incorporated into big bands and
was on its way into mainstream popularity in the 1930s. Energetic danc-
ing to this fast-tempo music dominated dance halls.
Motion pictures made their leap to ‘‘talkies.’’ Although some actors
saw their careers vanish because their voices did not fit their portrayals,
the new technology set the stage for the popularity of musicals in subse-
quent decades. Stars existed in every genre, and movie studios generated
enormous publicity campaigns to keep their stars in the limelight.
During the 1920s, radio had emerged from its infancy. More and
more households acquired a radio, not just for newscasts but for concerts,
comedy and drama programming, and the incredibly popular sporting
events.
Art deco and surrealism continued to remain popular in the 1930s.
Art deco especially fit in with the minimalism brought on by the Great
Depression. The Depression also renewed the artistic interest in rural
America and regionalism. The United States witnessed an influx of Euro-
pean artists who fled as Adolph Hitler’s aggressions intensified.
By the mid 1930s, big band music was mainstream and requisite in
dance halls. Technological innovations in music recording and radios
helped publicize new music styles and new artists. By the end of the dec-
ade, radio programming became stable, and advertisers were a staple in
The 1900s
55
/> most popular programs. FDR reached out to Americans via the radio in
his fireside chats.
Despite the economic hardships of the decade, movies continued to be
a popular attraction. American audiences visited the movie theater as of-
ten as they could, often weekly. The demand and interest in stars kept the
movie studios’ publicity machines going. The United States Motion Pic-
ture Production Code was enacted during this decade and imposed tight
moral restrictions on movie studios.
In the 1940s, artists embraced Modernism, and some, such as Jackson
Pollack, used Abstract Expressionism. The arts became more introspective
and focused on the individual, whether it was created by a visual artist,
musician, or writer.
During WWII, big band music remained popular, and it served as a
reminder of home to the troops abroad. Increasingly, vocalists were fea-
tured in compositions and became popular in their own right. After the
war, Bebop and Cool Jazz emerged as new musical styles.
Radio matured and nearly every American household owned a set. By
the end of the decade, the new medium of television had taken hold. Af-
ter the war, Americans could afford to purchase these new entertainment
luxuries. As more sets were purchased, programming increased.
Movies were in their golden age during the 1940s. Movie stars gen-
erated huge public interest, and high-caliber movies were being produced
every year. Musicals became extremely popular, and the most bankable
stars could sing, dance, and act. In addition, Hollywood generated numer-
ous comedy shorts, serials, and animation shorts. At the beginning of the
century, no one could anticipate the interest that movies would generate
by the 1940s.
T H E
1900S
ART MOVEMENTS
One of the most famous artists of this period was Charles Dana Gibson.
Arguably, his most famous creation was ‘‘the Gibson girl,’’ a young girl
with her hair in curls, shirtwaist blouses, and simple skirts. She became a
model for many young women in the first two decades of the twentieth
century. The Gibson girl was an illustration of the ideal American
woman, admired by working women as well as her wealthier sisters. She
was not obviously a suffragette, nor a temperance advocate slinging an axe
in a saloon.