Their Eyes Were Watching God

America's participation in World War II changed America in many ways. From 1939 to 1945, America's involvement in World War II changed economy due to high demand of war support, allowed women to have more opportunities, and different ethnic groups gaining their freedom and equality through wartime tolerance.

At World War II's prime, which was the biggest involvement of soldiers ever, back home in America greater opportunities opened up for people. The national government had been changed and FDR started incorporating federal agencies to keep up with the wartime production. Agencies such as, War Manpower Commission, the War Production Board, and the Office of Price Administration were used to help America. The fixed wages and prices of manufacturing in America demanded for more people to be hired. As a result of World War I the number of federal workers in agencies rose from 1 million to 4 million, which allowed America's unemployment rate to drop from 12% to 2% from 1940 to 1943.

In cities the production of war materials and vehicles forced the government to hire more civilians in order to produce enough products to send over seas. Factories that were previously used for making automotive vehicles were now transformed into war production machines that produced jeeps, tanks, and trucks for the army. The assembly lines were getting faster and national product rose. "By 1944, American factories produced a ship every day and a plane every five minutes. The gross national product rose from $91 billion to $214 billion during the war, and the federal government expenditures amounted to twice the combined total of the previous 150 years" (pg915). A large amount of federal funds that gave billions of dollars to highly populated cities to produce war vehicles created new industrial centers that thrived post-war.

Even though the federal government was able to create large booming industries during the war, there was still a shortage of workers since more than 15 million men were overseas fighting. The Office or War Production encouraged women to work in factories to replace the jobs left by men. During 1944, working women in industries made up one-third of the labor force along with 350,000 who served in supplemental military units.

America's involvement in WWII also changed Americans outlook on race and different ethnic group