Major Domestic Effects of WWII

Major (lasting) Domestic Effects of WWII.

1. Liberals and reformers gave priority to military spending over social and economic reform. 2. Provided an excuse to abolish segments of the New Deal. 3. Rise in federal deficit 4. Put the poor "back in their place." 5. Increase in the reach and power of the federal government and the presidency 6. The "Military-Industrial Complex." 7. Further solidification of the "Corporate State." 8. A more urban and technological society.

1. Liberals and reformers gave priority to military spending over social and economic reform. Congress rolled back reform legislation during wartime. Many factories instigated a longer working day to boost industrial output. The federal government made anti-trust legislation a low priority. In order to combat the labor shortage, federal inspectors ignored laws regulating the employment of children and women. With very little public outcry, the number of high school dropouts increased significantly. (Topped 50%!) During the war, the teenage workforce grew from 1 million to 3 million. About 1 million of these new workers had dropped out of high school.

Furthermore, few Americans challenged the internment of Japanese-Americans. In February 1942, the United States government forced the relocation of all Japanese-Americans from the West Coast, a region that Roosevelt and other American political and military leaders considered vulnerable. The government established ten internment camps in Arkansas, Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Utah, and Wyoming, which held a total of 100,000 persons of Japanese ancestry, many of whom were United States citizens. After his reelection in 1944, Roosevelt canceled the evacuation order and the government closed the camps.

2. Provided an excuse to abolish segments of the New Deal. Conservative politicians had fought against these agencies for years, but now that FDR was focusing on winning a war instead of reforming society, they could slash funding for the CCC, WPA, and National Youth Administration (NYA). Congress had always intended these programs to help those Americans who suffered job discrimination, even during favorable economic conditions, so their demise was especially hard on African-Americans, women, and the elderly.

3. Rise in federal deficit. As military costs escalated, so did the federal deficit. At the same time, social expenditures plummeted. Senate liberals, for example, introduced legislation to broaden the coverage of Social Security and another bill to provide comprehensive national health care. Congress, however, often ignored such measures in favor of military investment.

4. Put the poor "back in their place." With the elimination of many New Deal programs, poverty increased, even with rising wages, for many Americans. One committee reported that 20 million Americans were on the border of subsistence and starvation. 25% of all employed Americans earned less than 64 cents an hour, while skilled workers often earned $7 or $8 an hour. 5. Increase in the reach and power of the federal government and the presidency. From 1940 to 1945, the number of civilian employees working for the federal government rose from 1 million to nearly 4 million (see graphic). At the same time, Washington's expenditures grew from $9 billion to $98.4 billion. The war also accelerated the growth of executive power. At war's end, the President and his advisors, more than Congress, seemed to drive the nation's domestic and foreign agenda. Furthermore, the Supreme Court refused to hear cases that challenged this increase in executive authority.

6. The "Military-Industrial Complex." Although the phrase itself didn't come into use until years later, the phenomenon of the "military-industrial complex" had its roots in World War II. A systematic relationship arose between big business and the military's expenditures on defense. During the war, the average daily expenditure on military contracts was $250 million, which inflated American industrial capacity. Small companies disappeared as two-thirds of government contracts went to the hundred largest corporations.

7. Further solidification of the "Corporate State." World War II also helped to solidify the strength of organized labor and to cement the intimate relationship between big business and big government so that all three groups exercised power to shore up the corporate state. Although that nation's farm population declined 17% between 1940 and 1945, better weather, improved fertilizers, the adoption of modern farm machinery, and the consolidation of small farms into large agri-businesses actually increased agricultural production in the United State.

8. A more urban and technological society. The federal government expanded its role in research and development in a wide variety of projects, from the manufacture of artificial rubber to the construction of the atomic bomb. The nation also became more urbanized, as the six largest cities got two million new inhabitants and 15 million Americans moved from rural areas to the cities.

Notes courtesy of:

Stanley K. Schultz, Professor of History William P. Tishler, Producer 1999 Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System