POSTWAR CONFIDENCE AND ANXIETY 1945-1960 Chapter 26

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POSTWAR CONFIDENCE AND ANXIETY 1945-1960Chapter
26

• How did social and economic changes after World
  War II affect Americans?

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An Economic BoomSection 1

• How did the nation experience recovery and
  economic prosperity after World War II?
• Vocabulary
• -demobilization productivity
• -GI Bill of Rights Taft-Hartley Act
• -baby boom Fair Deal

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Standards

•  
• SSUSH21
• The student will explain economic growth and its
  impact on the United States 1945-1970.
• SSUSH21.a
• Describe the baby boom and the impact as shown by
  Levittown and the Interstate Highway Act.
• SSUSH21.b
• Describe the impact television has had on
  American culture, including the Presidential
  Debates (Kennedy/Nixon, 1960), news coverage of
  the Civil Rights movement.
• SSUSH21.c
• Analyze the impact of technology on American life
  including the development of the personal
  computer and the cellular telephone.
• SSUSH21.d
• Describe the impact of competition with the USSR
  as evidenced by the launch of Sputnik I and
  President Eisenhower's actions.

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An Economic Boom
The Nation Recovers From War   Main Idea When
World War II ended, Americans worried that the
economy would fall back into depression, but
ultimately there was economic growth. Truman
Overcomes Huge Obstacles Main Idea When Truman
entered office he struggled with labor problems
and southerners who wanted to avoid passing civil
rights reforms, but he still managed to achieve
reforms while in office. Eisenhower Charts a
Middle Path Main Idea Politically, Eisenhower
took the middle road as President and the United
States had one of the most prosperous times in
the twentieth century during his term.
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The Nation Recovers From War

• GI Bill aids returning soldiers
• Baby Boom fills classrooms
• Converting from a wartime economy inflation and
  strikes
• U.S. dominates the world economy
• Technological progress boosts productivity
• Government spending supports growth

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Reading Skill Understand Effects
NOTE TAKING
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Birthrate, 1940-1960
CHART
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PM TRANSPARENCY
Progress Monitoring Transparency
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Truman Overcomes Obstacles

• Grappling with Congress and Labor
• -Taft-Hartley Act (outlawed the closed shop)
• Angering segregationists Congress rejected
  recommendations to reform civil rights
• Truman upsets Dewey in Election of 1948
• Truman proposed the Fair Deal

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Trumans Domestic Policies

• Moving to a Peacetime economy
• Taft-Hartley Act 80-day cooling-off period
• Fair Deal 21-point program
• Republican Congress
• Election of 1948 Truman defeats Thomas E. Dewey

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The Presidential Election of 1948
GRAPH
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Desegregation of the Armed Forces

• Truman desegregated the Armed Forces and Civil
  Service Employees

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Eisenhower Charts a Middle Path

• Ike defeated Adlai Stevenson in the Election of
  1952
• World War II general
• Did not repeal existing New Deal programs, such
  as Social Security and the minimum wage
• Created the Interstate Highway system
• Spent federal money to improve education
• Prosperous, peaceful and tranquil time

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Dwight Eisenhower

• Talented diplomat
• Nixons Checkers Speech
• Wins election in 1952 and 1956
• Modern Republicanism conservative when it
  comes to money, liberal when it comes to human
  beings.

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Suburbs and Highways

• Baby boomers
• Suburbs GI Bill
• Interstate Highway Act, 26 billion to build
  40,000 miles of limited access highway

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The Postwar Economy

• Economic Prosperity in the years after World War
  II brought many changes to American life.

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The Mood of the 1950sMany Americans enjoyed the
stability and prosperity of the 1950s, while some
young people began to rebel against their
parents society
People have more free time to pursue
entertainment and fun
After depression and war, Americans value
prosperity and security
New books and rock and roll challenge values of
the time
THE 1950s
Many young people stay in school, rather than
leaving early and finding jobs
Women are expected to work at home, raise family
and help husband
Many experience new found commitment to religious
beliefs and practices
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Demand for Civil RightsAfter WWII, African
Americans began winning important victories in
the battle for civil rights
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A Society on the MoveSection 2

• What social and economic factors changed
  American life during the 1050s?
• Vocabulary
• -Interstate Highway Act AFL-CIO
• -service sector Sunbelt
• -California Master Plan franchise business
• -franchise business multinational
• -informational industry corporation

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A Society on the Move
Americans Move to the Suburbs Main Idea
Millions of Americans moved to the suburbs, where
new housing developments established ideal
communities to raise families. Eisenhower
Interstate Highway System Main Idea Eisenhower
authorized the funding of an interstate highway
system, which helped to connect major cities,
making the move to suburbs possible and
increasing the travel industry. Migrating to the
Sunbelt Main Idea Western and Southern states
saw a rise in population as Americans moved there
for jobs and Latinos migrated there from Mexico
and Cuba. The American Economy Changes
Focus Main Idea After World War II, Americans
shifted from mostly industry jobs to service
jobs. This trend also led to a rise in
franchises and multinational corporations and a
decline in trade unions.
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The American Dream

• Characterized by a home in the suburbs and a car
  in the garage, came true for many people in the
  postwar years

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Car Ownership
GRAPH
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Americans Move to the Suburbs

• Suburbs attract young Americans developers such
  as William Levitt built homes FHA provided
  low-interest loans GI Bill provided low-interest
  loans for returning service men and women
• Car Culture
• Interstate Highway Act built for defense and
  travel

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The Interstate Highway System
TRANSPARENCY
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Levittown
TRANSPARENCY
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Migrating to the Sunbelt

• Sunbelt- Name given to the southern and western
  states
• Appealing climate and jobs in defense industries
• Latinos, including many Cubans escaping Castros
  regime, moved to the Sunbelt
• Impact of migration California became large and
  Northeast and Midwest lost political power

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Reading Skill Identify Causes and Effects
NOTE TAKING
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American Economy Changes Focus

• Service sector grows information industries
  ENIAC, first computer
• Entrepreneurs start businesses franchise
  businesses
• American corporations go multinational
• Unions consolidate their gains AFL-CIO
• -Most white-collar workers did not join unions
• -Corruption in the Teamsters Union

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Changes in the Workforce

• By 1956 a majority of American workers held
  white-collar jobs
• Growth of the service industry
• Blue-collar workers saw improved working
  conditions
• American Federation of Labor and Congress of
  industrial Organizations merged into the AFL-CIO

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Businesses Reorganize

• Per capita income, the average income per person,
  increased from 1,526 to 2,788
• Conglomerates, a large corporation that owns many
  smaller companies that produce entirely different
  goods and services
• Franchises, the right to open a restaurant using
  a parent companys brand name and system

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Consumer Credit Grows

• Credit cards, used to charge goods and services
• Diners Club, 1950
• American express
• BankAmericard (VISA)

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Educational Opportunities Expand

• Government provides funding for education
• Education is Democratized California Master
  Plan called for three tiers of higher education
  research universities, state colleges, and
  community colleges
• Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka -1954
  segregated schools declared unconstitutional

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Reading Skill Identify Main Ideas
NOTE TAKING
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Brown v. Board of Education

• May 1954 Supreme Court declared that separate
  but equal was no longer permissible in public
  education
• separate facilities are inherently unequal
• Struck down Plessy v. Ferguson , 1896

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Mass Culture and Family LifeSection 3

• How did popular culture and family life change
  during the 1950s?
• Vocabulary
• -consumerism Benjamin Spock
• -median family income rock-and roll
• -nuclear family Elvis Presley

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Mass Culture and Family Life
The Culture of Consumerism   Main Idea New
products in the marketplace and an increase in
income led to a rise in consumer spending in the
1950s. Family Life in the Fifties Main Idea
In the 1950s, traditional families, which were
described at the time as a mother who stayed
home, a father as the breadwinner, and children
at the focus, became the center of
society. Television Takes Center Stage Main
Idea Televisions were purchased quickly by
Americans, expanded the mass national culture,
and had a huge impact on Americans and
society. Rock-and-Roll Shakes the Nation Main
Idea Building on traditional African American
rhythm and blues music, Elvis Presley helped to
spread the popularity of rock-and-roll to youth
in the 1950s.
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Culture of Consumerism

• Median family income rose to 5,417 during the
  1950s
• Buying new conveniences
• Home appliances
• By 1953, 90 of all households owned a television

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Technology Transforms Life

• Television
• Computers-transistors
• Nuclear Power
• Advances in Medicine

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Technology Challenge

• Soviet Union launched Sputnik in 1957
• Americans afraid of nuclear attack
• National Defense Education Act of 1958

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Family Life in the Fifties

• Nuclear family many women stayed home
• By 1960, 1/3 of women worked
• Children are the focus of the family
• Dr. Benjamin Spock, Common Sense Book of Baby and
  Child Care
• Religious revival
• Improved healthcare for baby boomers

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Comfort and Security

• Youth culture
• Resurgence in religion Billy Graham
• Mens roles
• Womens roles Betty Friedan

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Television and the American Family
TRANSPARENCY
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Rock-and Roll Shakes the Nation

• Drawing on African American Roots
• Attracting a wider audience
• Elvis Presley

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Poodle Skirt, Bobby Sox, Saddle Oxfords
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Reading Skill Identify Main Ideas
NOTE TAKING
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Baby-Boom Kids
INFOGRAPHIC
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Dissent and DiscontentSection 4

• Why were some groups of Americans dissatisfied
  with conditions in post-war America?
• Vocabulary
• -beatnik urban renewal
• -inner city termination policy

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Dissent and Discontent
Critics Reject the Fifties Culture Main Idea
Many intellectuals, artists, and other social
critics complained about the conformity of
American society after World War II. Rural and
Urban Poverty Main Idea During suburban growth,
those in urban and rural areas, especially
African Americans suffered from overcrowding,
crime, and poverty. Other Americans Face
Injustice Main Idea Puerto Ricans, Mexicans,
and Native Americans were some of the minorities
who suffered hardships in housing, employment,
and other areas of life.
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Critics Reject Fifties Culture

• Objecting to Conformity criticized advertising
  and loss of individualism
• Beats reject middle-class life beatniks
• Refused to conform to accepted ways of dressing,
  thinking, and acting
• Disliked materialism of fifties

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Challenges to Conformity

• Films Rebel Without a Cause
• Books The Catcher in the Rye
• Music Rock and Roll Elvis Presley
• Beat Generation stressed spontaneity and
  spirituality, challenged traditional patterns of
  behavior

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Rural and Urban Poverty

• Cities suffer a decline loss of middle class in
  cities
• Urban renewal projects government cleared large
  tracts of older housing and built freeways and
  developments to revitalize downtown areas
• Poor forced to seek housing in overcrowded
  neighborhoods
• Rural poor suffer

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Other Americans Face Injustice

• Puerto Ricans
• Mexicans
• Native Americans termination policy (sought to
  end tribal government and to relocate Native
  Americans to the nations cities terminated
  federal responsibility for the health and welfare
  of Native Americans
• Stressed assimilation

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The Struggle for Equality

• Truman supported civil rights
• Congress refused to act
• Truman ended discrimination in hiring federal
  employees
• Truman ordered an end to segregation in the armed
  forces

• Jackie Robinson first African American in pro
  baseball
• Played for the Brooklyn Dodgers
• 1947, leagues most valuable player
• Opened the way for other African American athletes

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Reading Skill Identify Main Ideas
NOTE TAKING
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Poverty in the United States
GRAPH
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Native American Relocation
TRANSPARENCY
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