World War II officially began on September 1st, 1939 when Germany invaded Poland, but the United States didn 't join the war until Japan 's attack on Pearl Harbor on December 11th (Pearson, 684). Prior to the attack on Pearl Harbor, the United States Congress passed the Neutrality Acts, which restricted trade with nations at war, this act was created to keep the U.S. out of the war that didn 't directly affect the country. One of the policies of the Neutrality Acts was "cash and carry", this policy allowed a warring nation to purchase non-war related goods as long as the goods were paid for in cash and were carried by their own ship (Pearson, 687). Other countries also tried to remain peaceful, Britain and France tried to negotiate with Germany
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In the fall of 1944, the Japanese used these tactics to slow American progress on land as well as sea. On land Japanese soldiers fought to the very last man, forcing American troops to rout every individual Japanese soldier (Pearson, 705). In order to counter this method, the United States used flamethrowers to force the Japanese out of caves (Pearson, 711). At sea Japanese pilots crashed their planes into the ships. The first use of this tactic was during the Battle of Leyte Gulf; during this battle, the kamikazes flew their planes into six American ships. This attack damaged five ships and sunk the other (Pearson, 705). By the end of the war, 120 ships had sunk and 9,073 sailors were either killed or wounded (Thomas, 1). Another suicide tactic used by the Japanese at sea was the use of suicide torpedoes; eight of these torpedoes were launched, but only one was able to hit its target (Thomas, 1). Approximately 400,000 United States troops were killed, and around 700,000 were wounded by the end of the war. The United States suffered minimal loss compared to the other countries that fought in the war; the total deaths in the war was above 70 thousand, over half the casualties were civilian (Dockswell, …show more content…
These objects couldn 't even be purchased by the rich a century prior to the war, the American lifestyle was improving. In the year 1950, Americans purchased three quarters of appliances purchased worldwide. The result of purchasing these appliances was an increase in consumer debt, in 1946 consumer debt was at 8.3 billion dollars, this number rose to 56.1 billion dollars in the year 1960. Even with this rise in debt, the economy benefited from the drop in the unemployment rate. Prior to the war, the unemployment rate was approximately 20 percent, after the war, unemployment rate dropped around two percent (Dockswell, 11). After the war, the middle class grew and workers demanded higher wages and more benefits. House ownership also increased, in 1944 only 44 percent of Americans owned their homes; in the year 1960, 60 percent of Americans owned their house (Pearson, 757). This increase was due to the GI Bill of Rights, the returning veterans from World War II were offered low interest loans and the government constructed what new suburban developments required (Pearson, 757). The roads and highways that Eisenhower created for evacuation, became a fast and reliable way to get to work and run errands (Pearson, 758). This convenience influenced the popularity of suburbs to grow; by the
In the fall of 1944, the Japanese used these tactics to slow American progress on land as well as sea. On land Japanese soldiers fought to the very last man, forcing American troops to rout every individual Japanese soldier (Pearson, 705). In order to counter this method, the United States used flamethrowers to force the Japanese out of caves (Pearson, 711). At sea Japanese pilots crashed their planes into the ships. The first use of this tactic was during the Battle of Leyte Gulf; during this battle, the kamikazes flew their planes into six American ships. This attack damaged five ships and sunk the other (Pearson, 705). By the end of the war, 120 ships had sunk and 9,073 sailors were either killed or wounded (Thomas, 1). Another suicide tactic used by the Japanese at sea was the use of suicide torpedoes; eight of these torpedoes were launched, but only one was able to hit its target (Thomas, 1). Approximately 400,000 United States troops were killed, and around 700,000 were wounded by the end of the war. The United States suffered minimal loss compared to the other countries that fought in the war; the total deaths in the war was above 70 thousand, over half the casualties were civilian (Dockswell, …show more content…
These objects couldn 't even be purchased by the rich a century prior to the war, the American lifestyle was improving. In the year 1950, Americans purchased three quarters of appliances purchased worldwide. The result of purchasing these appliances was an increase in consumer debt, in 1946 consumer debt was at 8.3 billion dollars, this number rose to 56.1 billion dollars in the year 1960. Even with this rise in debt, the economy benefited from the drop in the unemployment rate. Prior to the war, the unemployment rate was approximately 20 percent, after the war, unemployment rate dropped around two percent (Dockswell, 11). After the war, the middle class grew and workers demanded higher wages and more benefits. House ownership also increased, in 1944 only 44 percent of Americans owned their homes; in the year 1960, 60 percent of Americans owned their house (Pearson, 757). This increase was due to the GI Bill of Rights, the returning veterans from World War II were offered low interest loans and the government constructed what new suburban developments required (Pearson, 757). The roads and highways that Eisenhower created for evacuation, became a fast and reliable way to get to work and run errands (Pearson, 758). This convenience influenced the popularity of suburbs to grow; by the