LIBERTY, EQUALITY, POWER

The concept of power was certainly the focus of the war years. Military conquests by the Axis powers and the way they often ruled their new territories were visible examples of raw brutal power. In the United States, the tremendous industrial, scientific, and military expansion that had taken place would continue to affect future generations’ expansion of power. The development of the atomic bomb with its tremendous destructive capability demonstrated the power of modern science.

Most Americans sincerely believed they were fighting the war not only for their own liberty but also for that of the world. This idealism was portrayed frequently in nostalgic wartime propaganda and culture. The wartime experience produced some new expectations about liberty that remained after the fighting was over. The emphasis on the fight for liberty fostered the belief that equitable participation in society was possible for most groups. At the same time, Japanese Americans were deprived of their liberty when they were relocated without due process or any apparent justification.

The nation’s record on equality was mixed at best. The increase in employment opportunities for women, African Americans, Native Americans and Mexican Americans faded at the end of the war when they were expected to relinquish their newfound economic independence to returning veterans. Women frequently were portrayed as sexual commodities, not as social equals. Violence erupted between African Americans and whites as the irony of fighting for a country that denied them equality became apparent to black veterans. Increasingly, Americans of all backgrounds realized that racial grievances had to be addressed. The war for the American way of life carried many meanings. The war years forced some to consider a new definition of liberty in the modern world.