Introduction

The decade known as the “Roaring Twenties” ended abruptly on October 29, 1929, when stock prices on the New York Stock Exchange collapsed. After the “Wall Street Crash,” the economy of the United States spiraled into recession — a period of lost jobs, lowered wages and prices, bankruptcies, and bank failures. In the worst years of this Great Depression, a quarter of all American workers had lost their jobs, and millions more faced part-time hours and reduced salaries.

North Carolinians were hard hit by the Depression, though many, especially farmers, had never shared in the prosperity of the 1920s. But they found ways to get by — helping one another, making do with less, moving in search of work, and accepting charity. The programs of President Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal helped, and the State of North Carolina took the opportunity to make some reforms, including new limits on child labor. But, as is often the case, not all of these “reforms” had effects of which later generations would be proud. The State Eugenics Board, formed in the 1930s, subjected thousands of North Carolinians to forced sterilization because they were considered unfit to bear and rear children.

The nation was still working its way out of the Depression when World War II broke out. Tensions had been building for years in both Europe and Asia, and Americans watched nervously, hoping to remain out of the conflict, as German troops overran most of the European continent in 1940. But Japan, wanting to expand its empire into Southeast Asia and the Pacific, attacked the U.S. naval base at Pearl Harbor in December 1941, and the United States was forced into the war.

During the next four years, 3.5 million Americans served in the armed forces. Arming, feeding, and supplying them strained the nation’s farms and factories. North Carolinians, like other Americans, fought in Europe, North Africa, and the Pacific. Those at home watched for German submarines off the Outer Banks, built military bases and prisoner-of-war camps, worked longer hours, endured rationing, grew victory gardens, collected scrap metal, and saved pennies to by war bonds. World War II was truly a total war, making demands on every man, woman, and child in the country.

When the war ended in 1945, North Carolinians had new expectations. The war had brought jobs and prosperity, a trend that everyone — in cities and farms alike — wanted to continue. African Americans who served and fought in the military wanted new rights and opportunities; so did women who replaced fighting men in factories. Men who had seen the world were no longer content to live out their lives in small towns. And though everyone cheered the war’s end and hoped for peace, new international realities placed new expectations on the winners. Those expectations would shape the postwar era.

Key questions

As in the rest of this digital textbook, you’ll have the opportunity to explore the experiences of various people firsthand, through primary sources. In this time period — especially for World War II — we’re able to provide a tremendous range of sources. These include oral histories and other personal accounts (in print, audio, and video), documentary film, newsreels, speeches, music, contemporary magazine articles, letters, maps, photographs, and even a military training manual. From these raw materials and background readings, you’ll answer questions like these:

Why did the Great Depression occur, and why was it so bad?
What was the New Deal, and what impact did it have?
What reforms did North Carolinians make in their economy, government, and society in the 1930s?
What is eugenics, and why did North Carolina begin a program of eugenics that lasted until the 1970s?
What was life like during the Great Depression?
Why did World War II happen, and how was it fought?
What was the war like for the soldiers, sailors, and airmen who fought it?
What impact did the war have on North Carolina?
What contributions did North Carolinians at home — including kids and teenagers — make to the war effort?