Q: How did the Great Depression impact California?
A: Large-scale unemployment, bank failures, and foreclosures.
Q: How did state politics change during the Depression?
A: The economic downturn renewed the call for political reform.
A: Upton Sinclair (a reform candidate) ran unsuccessfully for governor on a platform for political change.
A: The Utopian Society promoted economic and social reform.
A: The Townsend Plan favored pensions for the aged and a graduated income tax.
Q: What swelled California’s population during this Depression-era?
A: Dust Bowl migrants added more than 350,000 to the population.
Q: How did U.S. entry into World War II change California?
A: California became the “defense center” of the nation.
Q: Following the attack on Pearl Harbor, what happened to Japanese-Americans in California?
A: Most were relocated from coastal areas to inland detention camps (1942).
A: The Japanese were forced to sell their homes and businesses on short notice at huge losses.
Q: What marked the post-war era?
A: Huge defense contracts following the war fueled economic prosperity.
A: Hundreds of thousands of armed-forces personnel migrated to California.
A: Pollution and water became political issues.
