Women’s Army Corps—borrowed techniques from professional advertisers to “sell” a romantic vision of war to Americans

World War II affected nearly every aspect of life in the United States, and America’s racial relationships were not immune. African Americans, Mexicans and Mexican Americans, Jews, and Japanese Americans were profoundly impacted.

There could be no cooperation between the United States and the Soviet Union

Confronted by both the benefitsand the ravages of industrialization, many Americans asked themselves,“What Would Jesus Do?” In 1896, Charles Sheldon, a Congregationalminister in Topeka, Kansas, published In His Steps: What Would JesusDo?

In1890, New York City journalist Jacob Riis published How the OtherHalf Lives, a scathing indictment of living and working conditions in thecity’s slums. Riis not only vividly described the squalor he saw, he docu-mented it with photography, giving readers an unflinching view of urbanpoverty. Riis’s book led to housing reform in New York and other citiesand helped instill the idea that society bore at least some responsibilityfor alleviating poverty.

XII. equal rights and the new Deal

Events such as the Triangle Shirtwaist fire convinced many Americansof the need for reform, but the energies of activists were needed to spreada new commitment to political activism and government interference inthe economy. Politicians, journalists, novelists, religious leaders, and ac-tivists all raised their voices to push Americans toward reform.

Protestant Christianity at the endof the nineteenth century. It emphasized the need for Christians to beconcerned for the salvation of society, and not simply individual souls.Instead of just caring for family or fellow church members, social gos-pel advocates encouraged Christians to engage society; challenge social,political, and economic structures; and help those less fortunate thanthemselves.