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The Great Depression and World War II
1929 - 1945

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Beyond the toll it took on the nation, the Great Depression helped to shape modern-day America, especially in expanding the role of government in citizens' everyday lives. The circumstances of the Depression spurred President Franklin Delano Roosevelt's New Deal initiatives that included the Works Progress Administration, Civilian Conservation Corps, Farm Security Administration, and the Social Security Administration to assist the unemployed, farmers, and the elderly.

World War II helped not only to bring the nation out of the Depression, but also put the United States on the world stage as a superpower. Unlike previous administrations, both Roosevelt and President Harry S. Truman placed the United States on a path to leadership in worldwide conflicts and reform movements. The war changed the role of women as they entered the workforce while American men went to war. Events such as the bombing at Pearl Harbor, liberation of concentration camps, the use of atomic bombs, and the rise of the Soviet Union as a superpower shaped future American foreign policy.

Learn more in the National U.S. History Content Standards

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Virginia Superintendent of Public Instruction Report, Teacher Census Excerpt, 1930

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