Postwar America: The Return to “Normalcy” Politics and the Rise of Suburbia

Postwar America: The Return to “Normalcy”

Politics and the Rise of Suburbia

Postwar Politicss and Partisan Turmoil: Elections

• 1944: Democrats controlled Presidency and both houses of Congress

• 1946: In off year elections for 80th Congress, Republicans took control of Congress for 1st time since 1932 (split government)

• 1948: Truman won election in his own right. Democrats regained control of 81st Congress.

• 1952: Dwight Eisenhower elected President (1st Republican in 20 years). Republicans regained narrow control of 83rd Congress.

Result of Split Government

• Shifting legislative initiatives, partisan rivalry and vetoes

• Points of consensus: Prosecuting the Cold War

• Points of conflict: Domestic agenda and continuation and advance of New Deal

The Cold War at Home

• 1947: Federal employees required to take loyalty oaths

• 1947: HUAC investigated Hollywood for subversion

• 1949: Federal prosecution and conviction of Communist Party leaders under the Smith Act

• 1949: Alger Hiss convicted of perjury• 1950: Rosenberg’s charged with spying for Soviet

Union. Convicted and executed in 1953.• Internal Security Act of 1950

The Cold War Abroad

• Reinstitution of draft: 1947

• Marshall Plan

• North American Treaty Organization

• National Security Act

Republican Legislative Initiatives

• Taft Hartley Act limited the power of unions: 1947

• Tax cuts: 1947

• Constitutional amendment limiting presidents to 2 terms: 1947

Democratic Legislative Initiatives

• National Health Insurance: proposed 1948 (failed)

• National Housing Act supported urban renewal: (1949)

• Expansion of Social Security to workers not previously covered

• Increase in Minimum Wage

Challenging Jim Crow

• Truman differentiated his administration from the Republicans during 80th Congress:– Truman desegregated the federal workforce

(1948)– Truman desegregated armed forces (1948)

Beyond Partisan Politics

• Normalcy for most Americans…– Securing and keeping a good job– Finding decent housing– Returning to private life and leaving the great

crises of world politics behind

• And the Question: How?

Planning the postwar future…

• Where would the most promising jobs be?

• What parts of the country would prosper?

• How would people live?

• …Lessons from the past…

Before the Depression…

• 1880-1930: Dramatic growth of urban America. Economy based on manufacturing and commerce

• 1890: Closing of the frontier. Farming was no longer a growth industry for newcomers and young people migrated to cities.

• Immigrant migrations of 1880-1930 were primarily to urban areas

• Black migration out of South to northern cities began in 1910 and continued to 1930.

If past was prologue….

• Cities would again be the place to be.– There was pent up demand for manufactured

goods produced by industrial centers.– Cities had grown dramatically during war

years. – Cities were the center of culture, entertainment

and nightlife.– Cities had public transit systems and related

services.

Could the cities continue to expand?

• Problems on the horizon:– Crowded housing– Deteriorated infrastructure and housing after 15

years of depression and war– Congested transportation– “Corrupt” political machines

Solutions to the Housing Shortage

• Suburbia: Build new housing at the periphery of cities

• Suburban models in 1945:– Middle class bedroom suburb: residential

community with transportation to center city (auto or rail)

– Working class industrial suburb with jobs within walking distance or near transit

Pre 1945 Suburban Development

• Developer acquired open land and built new housing

• Upon completion residents could vote to:– Annex to city to acquire public services (water,

sewage, schools, amenities)– Remain independent and build services

• Both models existed

Post 1945 Suburban Development

• New model: Working class or lower middle class, bedroom or car culture suburb– Small houses– Mortgages supported by the Federal Housing

Administration or Veterans Administration – Modest but prosperous suburbanization

• An end to the previous pattern of expanding urban integration.

The Levitt House and its Occupants

From Potato Farm to Bedroom Suburb: Levittown, New York

Levittown after construction

Levitt became a national leader

Life in early Levittown

Life in early Levittown

The House

Floor Plan: Four rooms plus bath

Floor Plan: Four rooms plus bath

Suburbanization in Milwaukee in 1950s

• An initial exception to national trends

• Milwaukee continued to annex adjacent land in 1950s

• The “Suburbanization” of new housing and industrial development took place both within the city and in new suburbs

Milwaukee 1945

Milwaukee, 1950s

Current Milwaukee

Neighborhoods

Milwaukee County and its Suburbs

National Patterns

• End of Annexation as an urban growth strategy– In Wisconsin, the Oak Creek Law 1956.

• Milwaukee’s last annexation was 1960• Legal segregation by race, religion, national origin

in the national housing market led to building of segregated cities and suburbs

• Black and white rural migration to cities replaced departing suburbanites

New Migrants to Milwaukee,

1945

Birth of the Black Community