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1 The Collision Of Cultures
2 Britain And Its Colonies
3 Colonial Ways Of Life
4 The Imperial Perspective
5 From Empire To Independence
6 The American Revolution
7 Shaping A Federal Union
8 The Federalist Era
9 The Early Republic
10 Nationalism And Sectionalism
11 The Jacksonian Impulse
12 The Dynamics Of Growth
13 An American Renaissance: Religion, Romanticism, And Reform
14 Manifest Destiny
15 The Old South
16 The Crisis Of Union
17 The War Of The Union
18 Reconstruction: North And South
19 New Frontiers: South And West
20 Big Business And Organized Labor
21 The Emergence Of Urban America
22 Gilded-age Politics And Agrarian Revolt
23 An American Empire
24 The Progressive Era
25 America And The Great War
26 The Modern Temper
27 Republican Resurgence And Decline
28 New Deal America
29 From Isolation To Global War
30 The Second World War
31 The Fair Deal And Containment
32 Through The Picture Window: Society And Culture, 1945–1960
33 Conflict And Deadlock: The Eisenhower Years
34 New Frontiers: Politics And Social Change In The 1960s
35 Rebellion And Reaction In The 1960s And 1970s
36 A Conservative Insurgency
37 Triumph And Tragedy: America At The Turn Of The Century

The March on Washington (1941)

Overview How did African Americans secure economic opportunity during World War II?

The outbreak of World War II revived the U.S. economy as American workers produced wartime goods for the Allies. African Americans hoped that they too would share in the return to prosperity by finding employment in the defense industries, just as they had during World War I. A. Philip Randolph asked President Roosevelt to ban racial discrimination in defense industries. Fearing that the issue of race might lead to divisions with in American society even as he was trying to unite Americans in preparation for war, Roosevelt declined. Randolph shrewdly planned a March on Washington, a move that would bring the nation's racial inequities public attention. Roosevelt backed down and issued an executive order that ensured African Americans access to defense industry jobs.
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