Hello everyone! I apologize for the late WW2 effects, the last week was quite busy for me with 30 hours of work and 30 hours of school work. Today I bring you the second to last WW2 effects, New Jersey! Between the states unique accent, and culture, New Jersey sets itself apart from other East coast states, and it certainly did in WW2 as well. I hope you all learn something new, and of course, enjoy! New Jersey Pre-WW2 New Jersey was the 3rd state to be admitted to the Union in 1787, and through the turbulent decades following the new nations independence, New Jersey and it's people helped develop and create the nation we know today. Oddly enough, New Jersey was the last of the "Northern States", to abolish slavery in 1804. That would be the last time really that New Jersey would be the last to do something, whether it be good or bad. Thomas Edison, the man who created the light bulb, did most of his research and living in New Jersey, as a result, New Jersey was the first state to use electricity, more specifically in Jersey City. New Jersey hosted the first Miss America Pageant, and the first drive in movie theater in 1933. New Jersey was also among the first of the 13 colonies to economically rely on shipbuilding and banking, rather than agriculture. While New Jersey was steps ahead of it's fellow states when it came to economics and technology, New Jersey 's ideas on race and religion were obsolete to say the least. Race relations in New Jersey was among the worst in the North, and radical groups such as the KKK and anti-Semites were prevalent in the state. Despite the division and hatred within the state, future events would force the situation to change, or at least evolve. WW1 brought the state together in a way unseen before, along with a period of prosperity that even the most positive of economists of the time wouldn't have predicted. New jersey became a beacon of wealth and affluence, and this showed with the construction of casinos in Atlantic City and Jersey City. The state enjoyed an abounding amount of wealth, and quickly climbed the ranks to be one of the richest states in the U.S.......and then 1929 came around. With the beginning of the Great Depression, the prosperity and happiness of New Jersey left almost overnight. Poverty replaced prosperity, and apathy replaced affluence......it was a dark time for New Jersey, a dark time that would forge and make the next generation, the generation that would fight in the deadliest conflict the world had, and has ever seen..... New Jersey WW2 New Jersey prided itself on it's shipbuilding prowess, which makes sense considering the contribution the state made to the U.S Navy in WW2. Even before WW2, New Jersey made warships for the First World War, and the following two decades. New Jersey had also acquired an impressive industrial capability across the state, Newark being the center of industry in the state. When WW2 came to the U.S in 1941, New Jersey had already been working overtime since 1940 to build liberty ships and other military supplies for Lend Lease, making the transition to full mobilization much faster and more efficient. New Jersey underwent and immediate transformation due to the increase in job openings and cash flow into the state, and the departure of the states young men going to fight in the war. "The Curtiss-Wright Corporation in Paterson built 139,000 aircraft engines, more than any other firm in the country. Shipbuilders in Camden and Kearny built one-fourth of all the destroyers delivered to the Navy; the Bethlehem Steel and Todd Shipyards in Hoboken built or repaired over 8,000 ships. Overall, an estimated one million workers were in war-related industries which produced some $12 billion in military orders, the fifth highest of all states. From 1939 to 1945, largely due to war production, employment in the state doubled."(NJ History). New Jersey played a large role in the housing and training of troops from across the country. Nearly 1.3 million American soldiers went through Fort Dix, a basic training camp, which would be converted into a reception center for troops returning to civilian life after the war. Fort Monmouth, headed by the Army signal Corps trained 21,000 troops in military communications, and it's engineers were crucial in developing the first backpack FM radio. McGuire Army airfield also housed and trained close to half a million servicemen during the war, specializing in Observation and Liason training. When the war came to an end in September of 1945, 10,372 of 500,000 New Jersey servicemen gave their lives in the conflict, the 8th highest toll of the 50 states. New Jersey Post WW2 New Jersey would carry the momentum it had gained during the war through the 50's to once again become one of the wealthiest states in the U.S. New Jersey is currently the second most affluent state in the U.S, with 20 fortune 500 companies calling the state home. The state's population went from 4.5 million in 1940 to 9 million today, and the population itself is not the racially and religiously divided hot spot as before. After the Civil Rights movement in the 60's, New Jersey became a much more tolerant state. New Jersey will continue to prosper and succeed for decades to come. New Jersey - Wikipedia New Jersey History: World War II Newark in the 1930's The Atlantic City boardwalk in the 30's, with the 3rd Miss American pageant in the background Thomas Edison, a New Jersey icon An aerial view of the Hoboken shipyard Propaganda poster for Fort Dix post war........pretend the M14 is an M1 Newark today Atlantic city today This is the kind of Miss America I care about........ Middletown Garden Beautiful Patterson falls NHL New Jersey Devils.......
New Jersey was the 'Hollywood' of the US before cheaper land out West moved the industry to where it is today. Lots of Revolutionary War history in NJ too. Washingtons Headquarters in Morristown, Jockey Hollow where I used to live is where the Revolutionary Army spent the worst winter of the war. That TV show about Washingtons Spies takes place all over NJ. Crossing of the Delaware River was into NJ as well. So lots of war history there prior to WW2. I was not aware of the production in NJ during the war - though it does make sense as Newark is still extremely Industrial (and the negative view most people have of NJ, though it is highly ill representative of NJ).
The Land was cheaper out west before motion pictures were invented. The movie companies moved west, because Edison tried to control the entire film business, which he could do because he had most of the patents for the budding industry. As such, he could sue or threaten production companies on the east coast. Time and distance made this much harder to do thousands of miles away.
Thank you for bringing NJ in the Revolutionary war up, I wanted to add that in, but I didn't want to get overly sidetracked. A lot went on there that's for sure! I'm also glad you learned something new! All of the bad things I've heard about New Jersey is about Atlantic City, and the people's aggressive attitude, the latter is mostly stereotypical hogwash........
The US Navy had a sizeable presence in New Jersey during WW2. U.S. Naval Activities, World War II, by State [New Jersey]
Thank you for the added info Takao! The Navy did indeed have a large presence their, that isn't surprising, but the scale as to which the Navy was present there is incredible.
