The Postwar BoomThe Postwar Boom2727CHAPTERCHAPTER

Overview

Time Lines

Transparencies

Chapter Assessment

Postwar America

The American Dream in the Fifties

Popular Culture

The Other America

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SECTION 2

SECTION 3

SECTION 4

THEMES IN CHAPTER 27

The Postwar BoomThe Postwar Boom2727CHAPTERCHAPTER

Economic Opportunity

Women in America

Science and Technology

“Never before so much for so few.”

Life magazine, 1954

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Expanding Democracy

The Postwar BoomThe Postwar Boom2727CHAPTERCHAPTER

What do you know?

• What are your impressions of the people, events, popular culture, fashions, and problems of the 1950s?

• On what sources do you base these impressions?

• Which sources do you think are most accurate? Why?

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Time LineTime Line2727CHAPTERCHAPTER

The United States

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1954 Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka ruling orders the desegregation of public schools.

1957 President Eisenhower backs integration of public schools with federal troops.

1947 Congress passes anti-union Taft-Hartley Act.

1948 Southern Democrats called Dixiecrats form States’ Rights Democratic Party.

1949 National Housing Act calls for urban renewal.

Time LineTime Line2727CHAPTERCHAPTER

The World

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1960 War begins in the Congo.

1949 China becomes Communist under Mao Zedong.

1948 UN mandates creation of the nation of Israel. Mahatma Gandhi is assassinated in India.

1952 Mau Mau Revolt shakes Kenya.

1956 Soviets suppress Hungarian uprising.

1950 Korean War begins.

1959 Vietnam War begins. Fidel Castro comes to power in Cuba.

Postwar America1

Learn About

the social, economic, and political readjustment of the United States following World War II.

To Understand

the new prosperity and rising conservatism.

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Postwar America1 HOME

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Key Idea

As Americans try to put the nightmare of World War II behind them and begin rebuilding their lives, the economy booms and the country becomes more conservative.

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Postwar America1

Assessment

What are some of the key events relating to postwar America?

SUMMARIZING

1

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1946 1947 1948 1952

•Postwar unemployment

peaks.•Strikes break out.•Republican Party

controls the House

and Senate.•Truman appoints

Committee on Civil Rights.

•Congress passes

anti-union Taft-

Hartley Act.

•Truman integrates

the armed forces.• Dixiecrats form

States’ Rights

Democratic Party.• Truman wins

presidency.

•Eisenhower wins

presidency.

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Postwar America1

Do you think Eisenhower’s actions reflected his philosophy of dynamic conservatism?

DRAWING CONCLUSIONS

Assessment1

• the definition of dynamic conservatism• Eisenhower’s civil rights policies• Eisenhower’s accomplishments on other domestic issues

THINK ABOUT

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Postwar America1

Assessment1

If you had voted in the 1952 presidential election, would you have cast your ballot for Governor Adlai Stevenson or General Dwight D. Eisenhower?

MAKING DECISIONS

• each candidate’s background and political experience• the previous presidents• Republicans’ criticisms of Democrats• Eisenhower’s running mate

THINK ABOUT

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The American Dream in the Fifties2

Learn About

the material comforts that many Americans enjoyed in the 1950s.

To Understand

the benefits and costs of pursuing the American dream.

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The American Dream in the Fifties2 HOME

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Key Idea

Many Americans find their dream of material comfort and economic prosperity realized. But some find the cost too high.

The American Dream in the Fifties2

Section Assessment2

What were some examples of specific goals that characterized the American dream for suburbanites in the 1950s?

SUMMARIZING

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THE AMERICAN DREAM

•Man is the breadwinner who works at a white-collar job.•Woman takes care of home and children.

•Two or three children•Close family ties•Single-family home in suburbia•One or two cars•Television

•Conformity•Material goods = success

Values Home/Family Work

The American Dream in the Fifties2

Section

Do you think that the life of a typical suburban homemaker during the 1950s was more like a dream come true or a living nightmare?

FORMING OPINIONS

Assessment2

• the homemaker’s responsibilities• job opportunities for women

THINK ABOUT

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The American Dream in the Fifties2

Section Assessment2

In what ways do you think that the current environmental consciousness is related to the “throwaway society” of the 1950s?

RECOGNIZING EFFECTS

• the purchasing habits of 1950s consumers• the effects of planned obsolescence • today’s emphasis on recycling

THINK ABOUT

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Popular Culture3

Learn About

television, radio, movies, literature, and music in the 1950s.

To Understand

how mass popular culture reflected middle-class values and how some subcultures dissented from those values.

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Popular Culture3 HOME

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Key Idea

Mass popular culture booms, largely because of television. While the media generally reflect mainstream middle-class values, a vital counterculture flourishes.

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Popular Culture3

Assessment33

Who were some of the idols of popular culture in the 1950s? What art form were they associated with? What were their major accomplishments?

SUMMARIZING

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Personality Art Form Accomplishments

Lucille Ball

Edward R. Murrow

Alfred Hitchcock

Sidney Poitier

Elvis Presley

Jack Kerouac

television star of I Love Lucy

television host of Person to Person

movies director of thrillers

movies actor

music rock ´n´ roll star

beat novelist and author of On the Roadliterature

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Popular Culture3

In what ways were the rock ´n´ roll musicians and the beat poets of the 1950s similar and different?

COMPARING AND CONTRASTING

Assessment33

• the values the musicians and poets believed in• people’s reactions to them

THINK ABOUT

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Popular Culture3

Based on what you learned about television of the 1950s, do you agree with Newton Minow’s statement that “Television is . . . a vast wasteland”?

FORMING OPINIONS

Assessment33

• the types of shows that appeared on television• the way characters were portrayed and the values they expressed

THINK ABOUT

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The Other America4

Learn About

the existence of poverty in the United States in the 1950s.

To Understand

the other side of the American dream.

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The Other America4 HOME

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Key Idea

Many Americans suffer from poverty and racial discrimination despite unprecedented economic prosperity in the nation.

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The Other America4

Assessment4

What were some of the common problems faced by African Americans, Mexican Americans, and native Americans during the 1950s?

SUMMARIZING

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African Americans

Native Americans

Mexican Americans

inadequate housing

limited job opportunities

poverty

limited social mobility

few advocates among mainstream public

second-class citizenship

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The Other America4

Do you think that urban renewal was an effective approach to the housing problem in inner cities?

FORMING OPINIONS

Assessment4

• the goals of the National Housing Act of 1949• the claims made by some critics of urban renewal

THINK ABOUT

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The Other America4

Assessment4

Which major population shift—“white flight,” migration from Mexico, or relocation of Native Americans—do you think had the greatest impact on society? Why?

DRAWING CONCLUSIONS

• the impact of “white flight”• the outcome of Operation Wetback• the effects of the termination

THINK ABOUT

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Chapter 27 Assessment

1. How did the GI Bill of Rights help World War II veterans make the transition to civilian life?

2. What domestic and foreign issues concerned voters during the 1952 presidential election?

3. What similar legislative measures did Presidents Truman and Eisenhower push through Congress?

4. What shift in employment trends had occurred by the mid-1950s?

5. How did life in the suburbs provide the model for the American dream?

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Chapter 27 Assessment

6. What strategies did radio stations use to counteract the mass popularity of television?

7. How did the values of the beatniks differ from those of mainstream America of the 1950s?

8. How did African-American performers influence American popular culture in the 1950s?

9. How did many major cities change in the 1950s?

10. What obstacles to improving their lives did Native Americans face in the 1950s?

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