World War 2 Dbq Analysis

I.S.234 Sarah .C. Gerard Class 803 4-25-10 DBQ ESSAY FINAL DRAFT When World War 2 began, millions of American men left to serve oversea. As a result, businesses and industries at home needed a new supply of workers. World War 2 increased and decreased opportunity and power for other Americans in many different ways. With the huge wave of men leaving, the government urged women to replace them in certain positions. By women filling these certain positions, it made them more knowledgeable and gave women a fantastic chance to do a variety of things they may not have done before. For example, in Document 1, The Women Worker U.S. Department of Labor, Women’s Bureau, 1942 had stated: ‘” Men called to go to war have actually have been replaced by women in types of works they would not formally do. They include taxi drivers, bank tellers, electricians and operating service stations. Even a southern city reports a women manager of a parking lot.”
Although women’s opportunities were good and increased, African Americans f still faced rough times.
For them, it was like nothing had really changed. The Great Migration that began during World War 1, continued as African Americans moved to northern cities to find jobs. But in most cases however, they still received lower pay than white workers. They also were restricted in the jobs that they were hired to work in. The Tuskegee Airman which were African American pilots who trained at the Tuskegee Army Air Field in Alabama had still faced segregation. They were hassled and treated unfairly by their generals. But by the accomplishments of the Tuskegee Airman, they had the opportunity of showing that black people could do technical and courageous things and could do them as well as or better than white
folk. Japanese Americans faced a different type of prejudice during World War 2. Because of the attack on Pearl Harbor, some Americans started to look at them with fear and suspicion. They had no evidence to support these fears though. So President Roosevelt took precaution and allowed the government to begin the process of internment which meant forcable relocation and/or imprisonment. About 115,000 Japanese Americans evacuated from their homes and were held in isolated internment camps and of which half were children. Because of the great number of men who left to serve in World War 2, it left many opportunities and changes for many Americans. Good and bad, these changes left tears, pain, happiness and even distress. But regardless, each American had to work hard.