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1929-1945
In the Great
Depression of the 1930s, Americans endured the greatest economic
crisis in the nation's history--at its worst, more than a quarter
of the work force was unemployed. Like the American Revolution and
the Civil War, the Great Depression was one of the defining experiences
of the nation. In a way that the Progressive movement was never
able to achieve, Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal programs to put
Americans back to work began to reshape the public's attitudes toward
government. It expanded the regulatory power of the federal government
and the government's role in the economy. And it focused new attention
on the plight of workers, women, racial minorities, children, and
other groups.
However, only the mobilization that followed America's entry into
World War II finally brought an end to the Depression. Though the
Allies and the Axis Powers had been at war since 1939, the United
States remained neutral until the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor
on December 7, 1941. World War II solidified America's role as a
global power. It also ushered in numerous social changes, including
the movement of women into previously male-only jobs. And it established
the reform agendas that would occupy the United States for the remainder
of the 20th century. Yet while the United States was defending democracy
against totalitarian aggression, it was denying the civil liberties
of interned Japanese Americans and the civil rights of racial minorities.
The country emerged from World War II a very different nation, with
new enemies to confront abroad and new challenges to face at home.
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