America in the 1950s: The Affluent Society

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America in the 1950s The Affluent Society

• Key Questions
• Was the 1950s a golden age when all Americans
  were happy?
• The 1950s saw the USA experience a great period
  of prosperity.
• The USA emerged from WW2 as the richest country
  in the world.
• There was almost full employment.
• Many Americans experienced a real improvement in
  their standard of living, which was the
• best in the world.
• Many more Americans lived in new suburban
  housing and enjoyed a wider range of
• consumer goods like new cars and TV sets.
• What problems were the in the American way of
  life?
• Black, Hispanic and Native Americans did not
  share in the growing affluence.
• Black Americans did not enjoy the same civil
  rights as white Americans. They could not
• vote and suffered from segregation into
  separate schools, hospitals and even washrooms.
• These groups suffered from lower wages, poorer
  housing and lived in greater poverty.
• Health care was not free in the USA, as it was
  in the UK and other European countries.

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America in the 1950s The Affluent Society

• Page 62 63 notes.
• The 1950s was a period of prosperity for many
  Americans.
• There was a baby boom. Between 1945 and 1960
  population rose by 40 million.
• Better-off Americans moved into newly built
  suburbs, with shopping malls.
• Inner-cities declined into places where poorer
  people lived.
• 73 of families owned a car by 1956.
• During the 1950s the GNP doubled (twice as much
  wealth generated).
• Shopping for new consumer goods fuelled the
  growth of wealth.
• The average standard of living was three times
  higher than in the UK.
• By 1960, 90 of homes had TV sets. Most stations
  were commercial.

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America in the 1950s The Affluent Society

• Page 63 Questions
• 1. Explain what consumerism means
  (Shopping section on page 62).
• Write about what Americans bought
  (Source B).
• Explain how ownership of these
  consumer products changed peoples lives in the
  50s.
• 2. Either do the graph, or copy out the
  section from Source B.
• Use Source B to look up the of car ownership in
  1956. What was 73 of 30 million?
• This requires a longer answer, where you provide
  a balanced answer (for and against the idea that
  ALL AMERICANS were better off) and provide
  supporting reasons.
• Describe the ways in which SOME
  Americans were better off (suburbs, malls, cars,
  TVs etc.) Explain which groups were not
  better-off (Black, Native and Hispanic) and why.
• Look for the list just above the questions on
  page 63.
• Dont forget diet!

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America in the 1950s Poor Americans

• Page 64 to 65 Notes.
• In 1959, 22 of Americans were living in poverty.
• Many of these were Black Americans.
• The poorest areas were in the southern states. In
  Mississippi 60 lived in poverty.
• Many elderly people did not have pensions and
  lived in poverty.
• Many Americans could not afford medical
  treatment, or insurance to pay for it.
• The inner-cities often became areas of
  deprivation and neglect.
• Communist countries used this poverty to
  criticise the USA.

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America in the 1950s Poor Americans

• Page 65 Questions
• These statistics prove that between 1950 and
  1962, White Americans had
• roughly twice / three / four times the
  income of Black Americans. This proves
• that the average family of Black Americans could
  not have shared in the consumer boom of this
  period. They would have probably lived in poorer
  housing and have poorer diet and medical care.
• Source I was written in 1952. It set the poverty
  line at 2,000 / 3,000 / 5,000 pa.
• The people who would be affected by
  this were (write a list from the source).
• Source J is a communist cartoon that criticises
  American affluence.
• It shows a poor man looking at a
  poster that shows . (write a list from the
  source).
• The American capitalist is saying
  .. (copy this from the blurb).
• The point that the source is making is
  ... .
• Where would the government have got the money
  from to help the poor?
• What would tax payers have felt about
  their money going to help the poor rather than
  having a new car? What would factory owners have
  felt about this. Would it have made a difference
  that many of the poor were black and that they
  didnt have a vote?

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America in the 1950s Religion in the Fifties

• Page 65 to 66 Notes.
• Church and synagogue attendance grew to 65 of
  adults in 1960.
• This may have been as a result of ears caused by
  the Cold War and its atomic bombs.
• Religion was seen as a defence against communism.
• Church membership gave people a sense of
  community.
• Eisenhower called God the supreme being.
• In God We trust added to currency in 1954.
• Religious organisations employed modern
  bill-board,
• TV and radio advertising.
• Billy Graham (televangelist) crusades.
• Religion seen as the moral defence of the
  affluent
• (well-off) society.

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America in the 1950s Religion in the Fifties
Billy Graham preaching in England in 1954
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America in the 1950s Religion in the Fifties

• Page 66 Questions
• The growth of affluence helps to explain the
  increase in church membership because many of the
  newly affluent Americans lived in new suburbs /
  towns. Membership of a church gave these people a
  sense of belonging to a community / team.
• Many Americans were concerned about
  the spread of communism / capitalism. They
  thought that it would destroy their poor /
  affluent lifestyle. Religion was seen as a
  defence against the spread of communism.
• Well-off people probably wanted moral or
  religious support for their way of life, because
  they would have felt the need to explain their
  wealth, when so many people were poor.
• In communist countries religion was
  allowed / banned. By calling communists anti-God
  / for God, wealthy Americans could say that God
  favoured / disliked capitalist affluence. It gave
  them moral justification to enjoy their poverty /
  wealth.
• It failed to explain why many religious
  Black Americans lived in poverty
• in such a wealthy country.

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America in the 1950s A womans place in the
Fifties

• Page 66 to 67 Notes.
• Immediately after WW2 many women stopped working.
• More women returned to their traditional role a
  homemakers.
• Marriage was seen as what every woman should
  aspire to.
• Once married, women were expected to devote all
  their energies to looking after their husband and
  children an to running the home.
• During the 1950s more women returned to work to
  pay for new consumer goods.
• Return to work was made possible by labour saving
  devices, like refrigerators and washing machines.
• Women usually worked for lower wages than men.
• They worked in traditional womens jobs in
  offices and shops.
• Very few were able to follow a career.

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America in the 1950s A womans place in the
Fifties

• Page 67 Questions
• Source K helps to explain the role of women in
  the 1950s, because it is taken from an article in
  Life magazine that describes the ideal woman
  in 1956. It describes the ideal woman as being
  able to
• (write a list from source K there
  are at least 14 accomplishments!)
• In addition to all this, she brings
  off with the most spectacular success .
• It is clear that in 1956 Life
  magazine felt that a womans place was in the
  home / out at work. She would not have had time
  to go out to work!
• I think source L is / is not biased, because it
  is / is not critical of the role of women in the
  1950s. My evidence is because it lists all the
  things that women did in a good / bad way. For
  example it talks about how many High School girls
  were more / less interested in getting a husband
  than a qualification. It goes on to say the only
  womens movement led to the wedding chapel /
  workplace.
• 15. Do not do this question.

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America in the 1950s Young Americans

• Page 67 Notes.
• During the 1950s American teenagers had lots of
  money to spend.
• Spending power rose from 10billion in 1950 to
  25bilion in 1959.
• 75 of High School boys aged 16 to 17 had cars.
• Cars, alcohol, music and teenage fashion fuelled
  teenage rebellion.
• 1956 Elvis Presley became a phenomenal success as
  Rock and Roll music was universally adopted by
  teenagers as their own.
• Films like Rebel without a cause starring James
  Dean offered role models.
• Music and fashion copied by teenagers around the
  world.
• Adults criticised, but owned the record, movie
  and TV companies that made money.
• Shocking adults, rebelling and protest were key
  elements of youth culture.
• Caused by Second World War. Adults wanted to
  settle down to a quiet life after Depression and
  War, teenagers craved excitement.
• Teenagers had the money to spend and the leisure
  time to enjoy it.
• Some teenagers dropped out by becoming
  Beatniks.

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America in the 1950s Young Americans

• Page 67 Questions
• Why might adults have resented the teenagers
  purchasing power?
• Why might poorer teenagers have
  resented the purchasing power of richer ones?
• Why might Black or older Americans have
  resented the money spent by teens?
• Why might non-US teenagers have
  resented the purchasing power?
• What did US teenagers have that most teenagers
  all over the world not have?
• The evidence of this chapter helps to explain the
  popularity of President Eisenhower because for
  many Americans, Eisenhowers presidency was a
  period of growing prosperity.
• Many Americans were experiencing a
  higher standard of living than they had ever had
  before. They had better housing and more consumer
  goods like ..
• The 1950s also saw a return to the traditional
  values associated with the home. Many more women
  returned to becoming full time housewives. They
  ..
• The greater prosperity was also shared
  by young Americans who .