Chapter 26Postwar confidence and Anxiety

1945-1960Page 880

Section 1An Economic Boom

• Returning soldiers and American public nervous of postwar economy will return to depression levels

• A. Nation Recovers from war– Demobilization- sending hope the army– 12 million returning home– Still kept army larger than ever- new policy?

Changes

• GI Bill of Rights- help returning veterans adjust to normal life- money till find jobs or money for school

• Baby boom- more children being born- 4.3 million in 1957– Had to wait to have children during GD and WWII

Economy

• People saved money during war, now want goods

• Too much money chasing too little goods- deflation

• Productivity booms- U.S. 6% of world pop. Now producing 50% of goods

• Marshall plan and world economy had need for that much production- most of Europe destroyed

Obstacles

• Wages did not rise with prices- workers go on strike

• Truman vetoes Taft Hartley Act twice- still passes- outlaws closed shops

• Truman also takes on Civil Rights- desegregates the army

• Suggests Civil Service Reforms• Splits Democrat Party

Election of 1948

• Truman should lose• Democrats split 3 ways– Truman– Thurmond– Wallace

• Republicans run Thomas Dewey- should have been a shoe in

• Truman won in a narrow upset victory

Truman years continued

• Focused on reform legislation called the Fair Deal- continued New Deal

• However, Congress shot down most of his ideas

• Korea was the final death nail in his career

Eisenhower

• Elected in 1952• Popular war hero• Ran against Adlai Stevenson • Most known for the Interstate Highway

System• And education reform• Very prosperous under his presidency

Section 2A Society on the Move

• After WWII, with the growth of Suburbs and the auto industry, people were moving to the Sunbelt and out of the cities

• A- Suburban growth• William Levitt devised way to create cheap,

affordable homes quickly• Levittowns

• Americans could afford these homes- low payments and cheap interest

• Automobiles allowed people to travel more• Car ownership skyrocketed- 26 to 60 million in

15 years

• Eisenhower’s Interstate Highway Act created 41,000 miles of Highway

• People traveled more- State Parks, Disney Land

Sunbelt

• People also moving to Sunbelt- South and West

• Air conditioning made life their more appealing

• Those areas gained more representatives in Congress

Economy

• Booming in 50’s and 60’s• More people going to white collar jobs- ex.

Information Industries• ENIAC??• More women are working• 1960, les than 10% live on farms• Franchise Businesses?• Multinational Corporations?

Education

• National Defense Education Act allows more people to go to college

• College attendance up from 15% to 40% by 1960

• California Master Plan?

Section 3Mass Culture and Family Life

• The cultures of the 1950’s centered on consumerism, conformity, and nuclear family standards

• A. Consumerism– Median family income rose during 50’s– American buying more goods• Labor saving appliances• TVs!!• Shopping is now a hobby

B. Family Life

• TV portrayed the ideal nuclear family- father-bread winner, mother-homemaker, at least 2 children

• Benjamin Spock’s “Common Sense of Baby and Child Care”- can’t spoil a kid

• Must provide lots of love and care

C. Religious revival

• Religion on the rise as Americans stress their difference to the communist

• Dollar Bill• Pledge of Allegiance

• D. Health care– Dr. Jonas Salk- Polio vaccine– Penicillin and antibiotics more common

E. Television

• Almost all Americans own a TV• Candidates use to advertise for campaigns • Theater attendance down• I Love Lucy• Mickey Mouse Club• Leave it to Beaver

F. Rock and Roll

• Rock and Roll a way of non-conformity• Music originated in rhythm and blues tradition

of AA’s• Chuck Berry• Elvis Presley• B.B. King

Section 4Dissent and Discontent

• Not everyone had the “50’s ideal life” Some would benefit while others missed out

• A. Critics• Many believed conformity of 50’s ruining

individuality of U.S.• The Lonely Crown• The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit• Beatniks?

B. Rural and Urban Poverty

• As many people leave cities, inner cities decline into poverty and crime

• Michael Harrington- 50 million Americans in poverty

• Urban renewal tried to fix inner cities, but often led to concentrated poor in one area or evicted poor into other crowded areas

• Many rural poor suffering as well as farming in more and more industrialized

C. “Other Americans”• 1. Puerto Ricans- many migrated during war,

no segregated in poorest inner city communities

• 2. Mexicans- Braceros program brought migrant workers to U.S. Often mistreated and under paid- couldn’t complain or deported

• 3. Native Americans- termination policy meant to assimilate, but further threw natives into poverty