World War II metamorphosed the lives of all its civilians in many ways, but American women, African Americans, and Japanese Americans in particular found their lives strengthened or oppressed. For starters, women suddenly found themselves faced with demand in both the military and private sectors, which afforded them the opportunity to demonstrate that they were competent at self-management and equally valuable in the workforce. Second, African Americans were empowered by the idea that Americans were defending the basic human rights of others, so they defended their own resulting in victory and further empowerment. In a sad conclusion, Japanese Americans have been deprived of their constitutional rights and normal lives for many years. We begin this exploration with the lives of American women. World War II afforded women opportunities never seen before in American history, which allowed them to demonstrate that they could manage themselves and were entitled to equal opportunities in the workforce. For starters, World War II, with many men in the military and an increased demand for labor, left many jobs vacant that would have been filled by men. This meant that women were effectively pulled away from their gender-stereotyped jobs, from domestic work, and actually encouraged to enter the workforce; an essay from Private Lives/Public Moments describes the circumstances well: “In wartime the stigma associated with employment for married women evaporated. Women were not only tolerated in the paid workforce, but were actively recruited to take “men’s jobs” as a patriotic duty, to keep the war economy booming while the men went off to fight.” (Horse, 141). Furthermore, even at the conclusion of the war, as women were… at the center of the charter… and the rights of both women and African Americans presented by World War II installed a new sense of what they were capable of. achieving as American citizens, while unfortunately Japanese Americans found themselves deprived of their rights and lives as American citizens. For starters, women showed America that they were equally valuable workers and fully capable of self-management that would lead them in the years to come. Likewise, African Americans were granted equal pay in the defense industry, which gave them greater vitality and a new drive to demand greater equality in the years to come. In a dishonorable contrast, Japanese Americans found that their lives were immensely degraded from their previous situation and would be for years to come due to the fact that their jobs, their education, their homes, their normal lives family and basic American rights are lives taken from them..