The New Deal and World War II

President Roosevelt believed that democracy had failed in other countries because of unemployment and insecurity. In the early 1930s, he proposed a “New Deal” to end the Great Depression.
 The New Deal included many programs. Bank accounts were insured. New rules applied to the stock market. Workers could form unions to protect their rights.
The government hired people to plant trees, clean up waterways, and fix national parks.
The government provided flood control and electric power for poor areas. The Social Security system helped the poor, disabled, and elderly.

Many Americans were uneasy with big government, but they also wanted the government to help ordinary people. These programs helped, but they didn’t solve the economic problems. The United States remained neutral while Germany, Italy, and Japan attacked other countries.
As Japan conquered territories in China and elsewhere in Asia, it threatened to seize raw materials used by Western industries. In response, the United States refused to sell oil to Japan.
When the United States demanded that Japan withdraw from its conquered territories, Japan refused. On December 7, 1941, Japan attacked the American fleet at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. The United States declared war on Japan. Because Germany and Italy were allies of Japan, they declared war on America.

Japan refused to surrender even as U.S. forces approached the Japane
se home islands. Some Americans thought invading Japan would cause larger numbers of U.S. and Japanese deaths. When the atomic bomb was ready, President Harry S. Truman decided to use it on two Japanese cities— Hiroshima and Nagasaki—to bring the war to an end without an invasion.

World War II was finally over in August 1945.