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theses

This Thesis examines the role World War II had on the assimilation of Second Generation New Immigrants. I will accomplish this by examining the changes in internal and external perception that attended this population from their parent’s arrival in America in the early 20th century through the immediate aftermath of the Second World War. Numerous events factored into the shaping of New Immigrant assimilation, but none played so large a role as World War II. New Immigrants willingly and effectually joined the war, proving, by the understanding of racial theories at the time, their fitness to enter mainstream American culture. This project was significantly enhanced by government policies such as the GI Bill, which, by providing college education and housing loans, enabled many New Immigrants to enter the middle class in the suburbs and the creation of a Judeo-Christian tradition, which allowed Catholics and Jews to practice as religious equals to Protestants. The physical dispersal of New Immigrants across America for training and deployment helped veterans realize that they were citizens of a much larger United States than they had previously indwelled, increasing their citizenship of the country. The sum of these factors is that in the aftermath of the Second World War many New Immigrants began to enter into mainstream American, recasting their distinguishing cultural marks as an aspect of their identity rather than a totalizing category.

ETD_7405

doi:10.7282/T3M32Z02

M.A.

Includes bibliographical references

by Nicholas Shand Turner

ETD graduate

The author owns the copyright to this work.