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On December 7, 1941 the Japanese
attacked Pearl Harbor, bringing the United States into
the global conflict known as World War II. The impact
of this war was felt by civilians as well as soldiers,
as the nation transformed itself from a peacetime to
a wartime economy. For some, the war brought opportunity;
for others, it brought a challenge to their patriotism
and a curtailment of their rights as citizens. And,
when the war ended, the map of the world had been redrawn,
both physically and diplomatically. The dominance of
Europe in world affairs had ended and two new superpowers—the
Soviet Union and the United States-- had emerged. The
American domestic landscape changed as well: the postwar
years saw the reinvigoration of an African American
civil rights movement, the rise of anti-communist hysteria,
and, by the 1960s, a new challenge to the status quo
by American youth.
In this issue, leading scholars explore the war years
and their aftermath. In “America’s Depression,
America’s War: A Study in Contrasts,” Professor
David M. Kennedy analyzes the role that war mobilization
played in ending the Great Depression, and reminds us
of the differences between an economic crisis and a
military crisis. Professor Allan M. Winkler gives us
a vivid description of “The World War II Home
Front,” taking us into the homes and factories
of the 1940s. In their essay, “Every Citizen a
Soldier: World War II Posters on the American Home Front,”
William L. Bird Jr. and Harry Rubenstein, Curators at
the National Museum of American History, Smithsonian
Institution, provide an expert analysis of the visual
propaganda that spurred support for the war. Professor
Julie Des Jardins examines the tragic impact of the
war on America’s citizens of Japanese origin.
In “From Citizen to Enemy: The Tragedy of Japanese
Internment,” she shows us the difficulties facing
not only those who lived through internment but also
those who sought to honor their memory. With his essay,
“Patriotism Crosses the Color Line: African Americans
and World War II,” Professor Clarence Taylor reminds
us of the role African American soldiers played in the
conflict—and the role their military service played
in shaping the racial politics that followed in peacetime.
Taken together, these essays help us appreciate the
complexity of mobilization for modern warfare and drive
home the impact of events on the world stage upon domestic
affairs.
As always, History Now provides you with lesson
plans for elementary, middle and high school classes.
And Mary-Jo Kline provides a wealth of resources, on
the web and in the libraries, that can be used to create
your own lessons on the war. Don't miss the
interactive feature for this issue: a slideshow of World
War II propaganda posters, brought to you by our contributors
from the National Museum of American History.
We wish you all happy holidays and hope you will turn
to History Now again in March of 2008 when
we will devote the issue to biographies of women, famous
and little known, whose lives illuminate our American
past and whose deeds helped shape our history.
Carol Berkin
Editor, History Now
Carol Berkin is Presidential Professor of History
at Baruch College and The Graduate Center, City University
of New York. She is the author of several books including
Jonathan Sewall: Odyssey of an American Conservative,
First Generations: Women in Colonial America, A Brilliant
Solution: Inventing the American Constitution,
and Revolutionary Mothers: Women in the Struggle
for America's Independence.
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