The Great Depression (1929–41) had plunged millions of Americans into poverty. Although New Deal programs had helped many, at the beginning of World War II (1939–45) 40 percent of all American families were living in poverty. The desperate conditions of the Depression left a deep impression on the people living through it. Their personal suffering during the Depression prepared them to endure the mandatory restrictions on food, clothing, and other items that were needed to help the war effort of the 1940s. Americans rallied behind their soldiers and grew their own vegetables in "victory" gardens. They.....
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