Chapter 19, sec.3, Critical Thinking #5

Do you think that the war had a positive or a negative effect on American society? Think About:
• how the propaganda campaign influenced people’s behavior
• the new job opportunities for African Americans and women
• how the government controlled industry

I think the war mostly had a positive effect on American society. The propaganda campaign influenced peoples behaviors and made people pro-war. When the US declared war on Germany because of the submarine attacks on civilians, the majority of the US population was already pro-war. Even though there discrimination towards Germans who were US citizens, if the majority of the nation was not pro-war there may have been more riots and or disturbances in society. Since the was significantly decreased European immigration and a large amount of men were over seas fighting there were many job opportunities. Job's that were normally reserved for men were now open to women, and many African Americans were moving to cities in the north and were given job opportunities. This helped lead to less segregation and women gained the right to vote. The govenment also had a larger control on industry and its production and sales. Because of this the US's economy grew very greatly.