The Unfinished Nation: Chapter 28 America In A World At War

Chapter 28 Main Themes:

1. The initial American strategies for fighting the European and Pacific fronts, and the military engagements that characterized the first half of the war.
   
   
2. The profound effect of World War II on the American economy, and the attempts by the Roosevelt administration to stabilize the wartime economic boom.
   
   
3. The impact of the war experience on organized labor and minorities at home.
   
   
4. The development of advanced technologies during the war and their impact on the course of the conflict.
   
   
5. The events leading to Allied victory in Germany and Japan, culminating in the fall of Berlin and President Truman's decision to use the Atomic Bomb.

A thorough study of Chapter 28 should enable the student to understand:

· The efforts of the federal government to mobilize the nation's economy for war production.

· The critical importance of the vast productive capacity of the United States in defeating of the Axis.

· The effects of American participation in the war on the Depression and on New Deal reform.

· The changes that the wartime involvement brought for women, labor, and racial and ethnic minorities.

· The contributions of the United States military to victory in North Africa and Europe.

· The contributions of the United States military to victory in the Pacific.

· The historical disagreement over President Truman's decision to drop the atomic bomb.

GLOSSARY:

“Centrimetric Radar” WWII radar innovation in which narrow beams of short wavelength were used to make radar more efficient and effective than ever before.

Braceros Mexican contract laborers, given a pass to enter the United States during WWII to address the wartime labor shortage.

Free French French military forces that refused to recognize the legitimacy of the German puppet French government at Vichy. Under the principal leadership of Charles de Gaulle, Free French forces fought on the side of the Allies.

Issei Japanese immigrants.

Nisei The American-born children of Japanese immigants.

Pachucos Mexican-American street gangs that arose in Los Angeles during WWII.

Zoot Suit Distinctive fashion popular with Mexican-American youths during WWII, involving long, loose jackets with padded shoulders, baggy pants tied at the ankles, long watch chains, broad-brimmed hats, and greased, ducktail hairstyles.