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Post War America
The effects of this era can still be seen today:The middle class represents the a large segment of the American population. Television is a popular form of entertainment for many Americans.
Characteristics of Postwar Economy
Increase consumer spending
Higher prices
Rising Inflation
Labor unrest
Republican Congress
PassesTaft-Hartley Act–
Outlawed closed shops
Servicemen’s Readjustment Act of 1944/GI Bill of Rights
Provided veterans with a free college education at a cost of $14.5 billion
Veterans Administration guaranteed $16 billion in loans for veterans to buy homes, farms and small businesses
Election 1948
Harry S. Truman– Democrat
Civil Rights, return of economy
Strom Thurmond– Dixiecrat
Segregation
Thomas Dewey–Republican
Attacks “high tax”Truman & labor strikes
“Give ‘em hell Harry!”
•Henry Wallace-Progressive
•Against Cold War
Election 1948
http://www.caller2.com/2000/november/09/today/contribu/8712.html
Truman’s Fair Deal
Fair deal legislation Fair deal programs not enacted
Increase in minimum wage to 75¢/ hour
National health insurance
Expansion of Social Security system—10M
more served
Farm subsidies
National Housing Act—low income housing
Federal aid to schools
Civil rights legislation
Truman’sFair Deal
Election of 1952—The Candidates
Democrats—Adlai E. Stevenson
– Witty, eloquent and courageous – Governor of Illinois
Republicans—Dwight D. Eisenhower
Dynamic Conservatism– Conservative with Economy;
liberal with human beings– “I like Ike”– War hero– Grandfatherly
Peace Prosperity and Progress
Election of 1952 Highlights
“Checkers speech”—Nixon accused of profiting from a secret slush fund set up by wealthy supporters
– TV in politics Eisenhower pledges to visit
Korea to end the war Republicans charge that
Democrats are “soft on communism,” the growing power of the federal government & alleged bribery & corruption in Truman administration
Truman approval rating at 23% in 1951
The Fifties Family
The Baby Boom (1946-1964)
– ~65M babies born
Women – Focused themselves on
family – Number of working
women actually increased
Baby BoomBaby BoomIt seems to me that every other It seems to me that every other young housewife I see is pregnant.young housewife I see is pregnant. -- British visitor to America, 1958-- British visitor to America, 1958
1957 1957 1 baby born every 7 1 baby born every 7 secondsseconds
Baby BoomBaby Boom
Dr. Benjamin Dr. Benjamin SpockSpock
and the Anderson and the Anderson QuintupletsQuintuplets
People purchased more items on credit Wanted to keep up with the Jones’s
Growth of Consumerism
ConsumerismConsumerism1950 1950 Introduction of the Diner’s Introduction of the Diner’s
CardCard
All babies were potential consumers All babies were potential consumers who spearheaded a brand-new market who spearheaded a brand-new market for food, clothing, and shelter.for food, clothing, and shelter. -- Life -- Life Magazine (May, 1958) Magazine (May, 1958)
ConsumerismConsumerism
The Culture of the CarThe Culture of the Car Car registrations: 1945 Car registrations: 1945
25,000,00025,000,000 1960 1960 60,000,000 60,000,000
2-family cars doubles from 1951-2-family cars doubles from 1951-19581958
1956 1956 Interstate Highway ActInterstate Highway Act largestlargest public works project in American public works project in American history! history!
ÅCost $32 billion.Cost $32 billion.
Å41,000 miles of new highways 41,000 miles of new highways built.built.
1959 Chevy 1959 Chevy CorvetteCorvette
1958 Pink 1958 Pink CadillacCadillac
The Culture of the Car The Culture of the Car
First McDonald’s First McDonald’s (1955)(1955)
America became a more similar America became a more similar nation because of the nation because of the automobile.automobile.
Drive-In Drive-In MoviesMovies
Howard Howard Johnson’sJohnson’s
Suburbia
Levittown, NY– planned residential communities– Track homes– Escape from the
“crime” of the cities– GI Bill helped finance
the homes
2A. Suburban Living2A. Suburban Living
$7,990 or $60/month with no down $7,990 or $60/month with no down payment.payment.
Levittown, L. I.: Levittown, L. I.: “The American “The American Dream”Dream”
1949 1949 William LevittWilliam Levitt produced produced 150 houses per week. 150 houses per week.
2A. Suburban Living:The New “American Dream”
2A. Suburban Living:The New “American Dream”
1 story high1 story high
k 12’x19’ living 12’x19’ living roomroom
k 2 bedrooms2 bedrooms
k tiled bathroomtiled bathroom
k garagegarage
k small backyardsmall backyard
k front lawnfront lawn
By 1960 By 1960 1/3 of the U. S. population 1/3 of the U. S. population in in the suburbs. the suburbs.
Suburban LivingSuburban Living
SHIFTS IN POPULATION SHIFTS IN POPULATION DISTRIBUTION, DISTRIBUTION,
1940-19701940-1970
19401940 19501950 19601960 19701970Central CitiesCentral Cities 31.6% 32.3% 31.6% 32.3% 32.6% 32.0% 32.6% 32.0%SuburbsSuburbs 19.5% 23.8% 19.5% 23.8% 30.7% 30.7% 41.6%41.6%Rural Areas/Rural Areas/ 48.9% 43.9% 48.9% 43.9% 36.7% 26.4% 36.7% 26.4%Small TownsSmall Towns
U. S. Bureau of the Census.U. S. Bureau of the Census.
Little Boxes written and sung by Melvina Reynolds (1962)
Little boxes on the hillside,Little boxes made of ticky-tacky,Little boxes on the hillside,Little boxes, all the same.There's a pink one and a green oneAnd a blue one and a yellow oneAnd they're all made out of ticky-tackyAnd they all look just the same.
And the people in the housesAll went to the university,where they were put in boxes,and came out all the same.And there's doctors and there's lawyersAnd business executives,And they're all made out of ticky-tackyAnd they all look just the same.
And they all play on the golf-course,And drink their Martinis dry,And they all have pretty children,And the children go to school.And the children go to summer campAnd then to the university,Where they are put in boxesAnd they come out all the same.
And the boys go into business,And marry, and raise a family,in boxes made of ticky-tacky,and they all the look the same.There's a pink one and a green oneAnd a blue one and a yellow oneAnd they're all made out of ticky-tackyAnd they all look just the same.
http://support.neosys.com:999/family/users/simon/files/Music/Little%20Boxes%20-%20Pete%20Seeger.mp3
The Attack of the Sprawling City
Families wanted to live in neighborhoods
The Interstate System caused beltlines around cities
EFFECT= Suburbs, EFFECT= Suburbs, increase traffic, increase traffic, country reliant on the country reliant on the AUTOMOBILEAUTOMOBILE
Cityville
The American Suburb
Technological Breakthroughs
Computers began– Calculators
Polio epidemic– 1952 58,000 cases
occurred– Dr. Jonas Salk
developed a vaccine
10A. Progress Through Science10A. Progress Through Science
1951 -- 1951 -- First IBM Mainframe First IBM Mainframe ComputerComputer
1952 -- 1952 -- Hydrogen BombHydrogen Bomb Test Test
1953 -- 1953 -- DNADNA Structure Discovered Structure Discovered
1954 -- 1954 -- Salk VaccineSalk Vaccine Tested for Tested for PolioPolio
1957 -- First Commercial 1957 -- First Commercial U. S. U. S. NuclearNuclear Power Plant Power Plant
1958 -- 1958 -- NASANASA Created Created
1959 -- Press Conference of the 1959 -- Press Conference of the First 7First 7 American Astronauts American Astronauts
10C. Progress Through Science10C. Progress Through Science
UFO SightingsUFO Sightings skyrocketed in the skyrocketed in the 1950s.1950s.
War of the War of the WorldsWorlds
Hollywood used aliens as a Hollywood used aliens as a metaphor metaphor
for whom for whom ????
10D. Progress Through Science10D. Progress Through Science
Atomic AnxietiesAtomic Anxieties::
““Duck-and-Cover Duck-and-Cover Generation”Generation”
Atomic TestingAtomic Testing::
1946-1962 1946-1962 U. S. exploded 217 U. S. exploded 217 nuclear weapons over nuclear weapons over thethe Pacific and in Nevada. Pacific and in Nevada.
Pop Culture in the 1950
Pop Culture– Television
By 1957 80% of American homes had TVs
Shows depicted the middle class
The Typical TV Suburban Families
The Typical TV Suburban Families
The The Donna Donna Reed Reed ShowShow1958-1958-19661966
Leave It Leave It to Beaverto Beaver1957-19631957-1963
FatherFather Knows Knows BestBest
1954-19581954-1958
The Ozzie & Harriet The Ozzie & Harriet ShowShow
1952-19661952-1966
Television – The WesternTelevision – The WesternDavy CrockettDavy Crockett
King of the Wild King of the Wild FrontierFrontier
The Lone RangerThe Lone Ranger(and his faithful(and his faithfulsidekick, Tonto): sidekick, Tonto): Who is that masked Who is that masked man??man??
Sheriff Matt Sheriff Matt Dillon, Dillon,
GunsmokeGunsmoke
Television - Family ShowsTelevision - Family Shows
I Love I Love LucyLucy
The The HoneymoonersHoneymooners
Glossy view of mostly Glossy view of mostly middle-class suburban life.middle-class suburban life.
But...But...
Social Winners?... AND… Social Winners?... AND… Losers?Losers?
And now the feature presentation…
Brought to you in TECHNICOLOR
Adhered to the conformity
African Americans were in stereotypical roles
Pop Culture– Rock’n’Roll
Rock’n’Roll was the music of teens
Spoke of sweethearts, high school, and break ups
“Music of the Devil”
Pop Culture– Rock’n’Roll
Rock’n’Roll brought integration issues to the foreground
1950s Counter Culture
The Beat Movement– literary and artistic movement that criticized conformity
Believed– Am culture was empty,
Am politics were meaningless, & Am life was sterile
Allen Ginsberg’s HOWL, and Jack Kerouac’s ON THE ROAD defined the mvmt
Society Changes
New Corporate CultureNew Corporate Culture:: “The Company Man” “The Company Man”
1956 1956 Sloan Wilson’sSloan Wilson’s The Man in The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit the Gray Flannel Suit
The Organization Man showed the disapproval with individuality
The flipsideNot all Americans were the “Nelsons”
Michael Harrington wrote The Other America
– Showed what he saw in the hidden, poor communities.
– Hardest for AfAm, Hispanics, and Appalachia
“Tens of millions of Americans are, at this very moment, maimed in body and spirit, existing at levels beneath those necessary for human decency. If these people are not starving, they are hungry, for that is what cheap foods do. They are without adequate housing and education and medical care.” -- from The Other America
The flipsideNot all Americans were the Nelsons
Left out of the Economic Boom
Single Mothers
Rural America
Elderly
Minority Groups
Inner City Residents
The flipsideThe decline of the Inner Cities
“White Flight” to the suburbs left the inner cities in shambles
Urban renewal often tore down more than it erected
The flipsideJuvenile Delinquency
Btw 1948-1953 delinquent crimes rose 45%
1,000,000 Delinquents calculated that 1 M youths would commit crime in 1955
– That was Correct! Reasons:
– Poverty, lack of religion, TV, movies, comic books, busy parents, racism, rising divorce rate, anxiety over military draft, rebelling from conformity, alcohol and drugs
Review: Use the graphic organizer to list the causes and effects of the economic boom of the 1950s.
Boom
Causes Effects
Class Writing Assignment
Write an article for a magazine such as Better Homes and Gardens describing changes the American family underwent during the 1950’s.
Summary
Economy
GI Bill provides loansConsumer spending More Ams own homes
Truman’s Civil Rights Bill doesn’t passEisenhower cuts back New Deal
Population
Patterns
Population booms# of working women
“White Flight”Many poor remain in cities in cities, creating economic problems
Signs of Prosperity Signs of Inequality
Summary
Science, Technology, &
Medicine
Breakthroughs– polio vac, antibioticsImprovements in communication, transportation, electronics
Many poor in cities/ rural areas have limited access
Popular Culture
New music, radio, cinema, and literatureTV replaced radio
Minorities not depicted on TVPromoted stereotypes
Signs of Prosperity Signs of Inequality
Review QuestionsAnswer the Following questions on your paper…
1. What were two reasons for the economic boom of the 1950s?
2. What caused many Americans to move to the suburbs in the 1950s?
3. Which groups pf Americans found themselves left out of the boom?
4. What factors led to the rise in juvenile delinquency and why?
5. Harry S. Truman was a Democrat, and Dwight D. Eisenhower was a Republican. How were the domestic agendas of these two presidents different? How were they similar?
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