AMERICA in the ’50s

Provided college for returning World War II veterans (commonly referred to as GIs)

THE G.I. BILL

Millions of GIs bought homes, attended college, started

business venture, or found jobs

Provided one year of unemployment compensation

THE G.I. BILL

VA Mortgages paid for nearly 5 million

new homes, by making homes

affordable with low interest rates and 30

year loans.

Between 1945 and 1954, the U.S. added 13 million new homes to its housing stock

President Franklin Roosevelt signs the GI Bill in 1944

The Baby Boom

From 1945 -61 more than 65 million children were

born

Contributing factors:The end of wars led to more

young couples getting married G.I. Bill encouraged growth of families by offering generous benefits for home purchases

This period became known as the Baby Boom

The American birthrate exploded after World War

II.

Pop culture glorified pregnancy, parenthood and large families

The Taft-Hartley ActThe federal law that

greatly restricting the activities and power

of labor unions

Closed shops illegal (Businesses could hire non-union workers)

No more jurisdictional strikes and secondary boycotts.

Truman and Civil RightsOne of the major acts Harry

Truman made as president was in when 1948 Truman

made an executive order to end segregation in

the armed forces

Truman also asked Congress to pass a civil

rights bill that would make lynching a federal crime

ELECTION of 1948

Thomas Dewey

Harry S Truman Strom Thurmond

Many people didn’t think he would be re-elected

Truman angered many Southern Democrats by

NOT supporting segregation

People were so sure that Truman would lose that one headline even incorrectly said that Dewey had won

Historians view the Election of 1948 as the greatest election upset in American history

Southern Democrats leave national party in response to Truman's support for Civil Rights

Strom Thurmond – South Carolina Senator, runs for president as a Dixicrat

Dixicrats were Southern Democrats who backed racial segregation and limiting the voting rights of African Americans. The party was also known as the States Rights Party.

Thomas Dewey, New York’s Governor, runs for the Republicans

Truman appeared to lose – but appeals directly to the people, citing the “Do-nothing Republican Congress” and wins the Election

ELECTION of 1948

Truman’s “Fair Deal”Truman said that all

Americans had the right to expect a “fair deal” from the government

What did the Fair Deal do? It increased the minimum wage

Expansion of Social Security benefitsNational Housing Act was passed to provide funding to

build low-income housing

“The buck stops here.”

-- Harry Truman

Chapter 22, Section 2A Society on the Move

Suburbs = The American Dream Affordable

single-family housing

Good schools Friendly

neighbors like themselves

The New York

suburb of Levittown was the

first modern suburb

New highways, affordable automobiles, low gasoline prices

A safe, healthy environment for children

Interstate Highways BuiltThe Federal Highway

Act was passed in 1956

This was the largest public works program in American history.

Law called for the building of 40,000 miles of interstate Interstate roads in DFW are I-20, I-30, I-35 and I-45

First McDonald’s

(1955)

America became a more homogeneous nation

because of the automobile.

Drive-In Movies

Holiday Inn

The Automobile Culture

Movement to the SunbeltAmericans were

attracted to the Sunbelt (southern and western states) because they offered new defense industry jobs. The invention of air-conditioning also made living in these states easier.

However, population growth increased tensions between groups. There was also greater pollution in

these areas.

Changes in the EconomyDuring the postwar

era, many Americans found jobs in the service

sector as opposed to manufacturing.

Industries that experienced growth: information, franchises. Many companies also became

multinational– doing business around the world.

Chapter 22, Section 3Mass Culture and Family Life

Increased ConsumerismAfter the war,

American incomes rose, leaving more money to be spent on the emerging

conveniences of the time period–

appliances and cars especially.

The New American FamilyFamilies focused on unity. Women were encouraged

to stay at home and raise the children, while the husband was the primary breadwinner. There was

also an increased emphasis on religion and morality.

Birth of television

Shows like I Love Lucy and The

Honeymooners were the

most popular TV

shows of the ’50s

By 1957, there were about 40 million television sets in

use and TV became an important source of

information

Pop Culture of the 1950sFather Knows Best1954-1958

The Ozzie and Harriet

Show1952-1966

Leave it to Beaver

1957-1963

Birth of Rock ’n RollIn the 1950s, many teenagers

rebelled against the middle-class suburban values,

particularly conformity and wanted to be unique. It was during this period that many

youths turned to new and unconventional styles of music.

Soon white artists began making music that was based on African American rhythm and blues.

This form of music became known as rock ‘n’ roll and it became wildly popular with the nation’s teenagers.

Elvis Presley

The King of Rock ’n Roll

Presley’s extraordinary popularity established

rock ’n’ roll as an unprecedented mass-market phenomenonHis reputation as a

performer endured up to his death in 1977 at the

age of 42. Graceland, his home in Memphis, is now a public museum visited by upwards of 600,000 people annually.

Chapter 22, Section 4Dissent and Discontent

The Generation GapMany parents viewed rock ’n’ roll as

loud and dangerous.The music was banned in some

communities.

The music united teens in their own world and helped to create what

became known as the generation gap.The generation gap was the cultural separation between children and their

parents.

The Beat Generation

The major works of Beat writing

are Allen Ginsberg's

Howl, William S. Burroughs's Naked Lunch

and Jack Kerouac's On

the Road

Members of the Beat Generation were referred to as “beatniks” and set the stage for the rise of the counter-culture and hippies during the 1960s

The Beat Generation was the cultural movement of the 1950s

when young people – often writers – ditched society’s normal standards

for new ways of thinking

The War on Poverty

“America needs to build a ‘Great Society.’ I am declaring a war on poverty.”

-- Lyndon B. JohnsonUniversity of Michigan, 1964

In his book The Other America, Michael Harrington showed that many Americans lived in poverty in the U.S.

The book influenced the thinking of both John F. Kennedy and his

successor, Lyndon B. Johnson, as they both made the elimination of

poverty a major goal.

Problems Faced by MinoritiesMinorities

continued to face unemployment and

discrimination. Mexican migrant

farmers were exploited and lived in poor conditions.

The U.S. gov targeted Native Americans and cut off healthcare and other services.