Chapter 36 and 37 PART TWO_45-60 postwar US_ppt_APUS

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- _{Postwar America – Economic Uncertainty}

and Boom!

- _{Government supports continue!} - _{Standardization of the workforce}

- _{Mechanized economy - Consumerism!} - _{Domestic Policies - Truman and Eisenhower} - _Culture

- _{Traditional family roles}

- _{New technology – cars, TV} - _{Valuing Conformity!}

- _{Counter culture: Rock N Roll, the Beat}

Movement

- _{The “Other” America}

Period 8: Chapter 36 & 37 Part

TWO – Postwar America

(1945-60)

All babies were potential consumers who spearheaded a brand-new market for food, clothing, and shelter.

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THE 1950s:

“Anxiety, Alienation, and Social Unrest” ??

“Conservatism, Complacency, and Contentment”

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Postwar America – Immediately After

the War

• _{Vets are released – Where do all}

these people live???

• _{Housing shortage –}_{Levittowns or}

suburbs were created (residential areas outside the city).

• _{Divorce rates rise due to gender}

struggles – women want to work and have freedoms.

• _{War is over - jobs eliminated, wages}

decrease and inflation is not regulated.

• _{What does this look like????}

• _{What does the government do???}

Truman

$7,990 or $60/month with no down payment.

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Postwar America – Then…

• _{Government spending continues! (left over from the}

war and Great Depression).

• GNP doubled between 1945 and 1960 – WHY?

• _{High government military spending.} • _{Monopoly over international trade.}

• _{GI Bill -}_{provided education and training for vets to}

get good jobs and gave them good loans for housing and businesses.

• _{HUGE farm subsides – leads to the new economic}

power in the “Sun Belt.”

• _{Leads to new political power in the south…}

when was the last time this was the case???

• _{Americans wanted to buy goods due to going without}

during the war - used savings to buy goods – workers are needed for the production of these goods –

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Truman as President – Domestic

Activity

• _{More Post war worker issues - Strikes increase due to higher prices and}

lower wages.

• _{Republicans won the senate and house in 1946 and passed the}

Taft-Hartley Act (overturned right for unions under the New Deal – vetoed by Truman but 2/3 vote passed it).

• _{Unions respond – tried to unionize the south (Operation Dixie).}

• _{Unions membership peak in 50’s and then slowly declines from that}

point forward.

• _{War time factories sold to private sector to create jobs (}_{Employment Act of}

1946).

• _{Along with GI Bill, this significantly helps vets!}

• _{1948 election –Truman runs with opposition from Republicans and}

Dixiecrats (Southern Democrats) – Truman’s campaign wins.

• _{Est. the}_{Fair Deal}_{– extension of the New Deal – most were}

implemented.

• _{Victories: increased min. wage, extension of Social Security, rural}

electrification, farmer supports, presidential succession est.

• _{Losses: Civil rights Act, No education bill, repeal of Taft-Hartley Act.}

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Eisenhower as President – Domestic

Activity

• _{With the Korean War stalemate, fear}

of communism, and McCarthyism, Truman loses support – Rep’s

nominated Dwight Eisenhower (“I like Ike”)/Nixon for presidency.

• _{Eisenhower is immensely popular –}

war hero, “Washington-esque”, very mainstream policies.

• _{Eisenhower’s style –}_Modern

Republicanism or “Dynamic

Conservativism” – conservative with money and liberal with human issues (ex. Help those in need and a cut in taxes) – very popular!

• _{Is this sustainable???}

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Standardization of the Workforce

• _{Most American men worked as white}

collared workers – sales, etc. for big businesses.

• Franchises became popular (many locations with different owners) –

McDonalds!

• _{Businesses made an effort to create}

conformity among workers same!

• _{All homes look the same, all workers act}

the same – repressed individuality.

• _{Automation increased – factory workers}

(blue collar jobs) eliminated.

• _{1956 – more white collar than blue}

collar jobs in US.

• _Computers_{developed (IBM)!} • _{Corporate consolidation grows!}

• _{½ of companies are corporations and}

produced 53% of income.

• _{Military contracts drive this!}

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Consumerism and Mechanization!

• _{Everyone wanted to buy, buy, buy! –}

appliances, TVs, lawn mowers, cars, etc.

• _{Producers encouraged consumption}

with planned obsolescence –

products designed to wear out or break…would then have to buy more.

• _{Shopping centers grow}

throughout the Suburbs!

• Bought products on credit (first credit card in 1950 - Diner’s Club).

• _{Advertising was used to convince}

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1950’s Families

• _{Baby boom}_{– vets return home and birth rate skyrockets}

(1940’s to early 1960’s) – height was 1957 – largest generation in the nation’s history.

• _{Standardization}_{of Culture – increased pressure to conform}

into a specific family image.

• Middle class home is seen as the best in the 50’s (Stay at home mom, 2 kids, dad is breadwinner) – this should be AWESOME, the American dream!.

• _{Children are seen not heard.}

• Increase in religious activity (1940 to 1960 church membership doubles) - Televangelists are born!

• Catholic Bishop Fulton Sheen – “Life is Worth Living”

• Rev. Billy Graham – ecumenical message: warned against evils of communism.

• Effect on Teenagers (first time this word has ever been use in US) – social constraints on children and need push to fit the mold leads to a rise in delinquency.

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1 story high

12’x19’ living room 2 bedrooms

tiled bathroom garage

small backyard front lawn

By 1960  1/3 of the U. S. population in the suburbs.

95% of suburbs were white – “white flight”

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Women of the 1950’s

• _{A vaccine for Polio was discovered, child}

care was emphasized.

• _{Women glorified as housewives, but}

most are bored, dissatisfied, and isolated.

• _{Number of women working grew, but}

were in nurturing positions.

• _{Experienced strict gender roles driven by}

the cult of domesticity (mom stay at home).

Truman

The ideal modern woman married, cooked and

cared for her family, and kept herself busy by joining the local PTA and leading a troop of Campfire Girls. She entertained guests in her family’s suburban

house and worked out on the trampoline to keep her size 12 figure.

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Women’s Role… Are they Happy?

“Over and over again, stories in women's magazines insist that women can know fulfillment only at the moment of giving birth to a child. They deny the years when she can no longer look forward to giving birth, even if she repeats the act over and over again. In the

feminine mystique, there is no

other way for a woman to dream of creation or of the future. There is no other way she can even dream about herself, except as her

children's mother, her husband's wife.”

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New Technology – CARS!

• _{Car sales increase due to inexpensive gas}

– cars are also necessary for suburb living.

• _{Two car garage houses are being built.} • _{1945-60 – car registration more than}

doubles!

• _Automania_{– creation of roads to link}

schools, jobs, homes, and shopping.

• _{Created the}_{Interstate/National Highway}

Act – 41k miles of expressway (easier transit for trucking goods, further suburb development, and vacation industry

boom.

• _{Ex. Disneyland in CA becomes a huge}

vacation destination.

• _{Caused pollution, traffic, decline in public}

transportation (creating an economic gap in society).

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New Technology – Television

• _{Mass Media explodes! –}

reach large audiences.

• _{TV –“ I love Lucy”, News}

reporting, “The Mickey Mouse Club”, TV Guide and Dinners.

• _{Idolized White}

America and

stereotyped suburb homes and the Wild West.

• _{Movies went to color and}

grew in spite of the TV (3-D and Drive-In

movies). Eisenhower

Leave It to Beaver

1957-1963

Father Knows Best

1954-1958

I Love Lucy The Honeymooners

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Science Fiction in the Movies

UFO Sightings skyrocketed in the 1950s

.

War of the Worlds

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• _{Non-conformity groups formed}

the Beat Movement (beatniks) – artists, poets.

• _Ex._{Jack Kerouac}_{– On the}

Road – search for authenticity.

• _{African Americans express}

themselves through music.

• _{Rock n’ Roll}_{– dominated by}

Afams but listened to by all young generations.

• _{Chuck Berry, Elvis Presley –}

very controversial but popular.

• _{Inspired by Jazz - Black}

community still were considered inferior and separate.

Conformity Backlash! – Counter

Culture

Eisenhower

“a pack of oddballs who celebrated booze, dope, sex, and despair”

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• _{White Flight –}_{Middle class}

whites moved out to suburbs leaving the poor to the cities.

• _{Conditions worsen for inner}

cities – leads to urban renewal (money to help urban areas).

• _{Mexicans flocked to America for}

short-term jobs and ended up staying – fought for rights and against discrimination.

• _{Native Americans reservations}

were terminated and were to be dispersed among mainstream Americans.

• _{Unable to find jobs (huge}

disaster and the Termination Policy was abandoned).

The “Other America”

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SHIFTS IN POPULATION DISTRIBUTION,

1940-1970

1940 1950 1960 1970

Central Cities 31.6% 32.3% 32.6% 32.0%

Suburbs 19.5% 23.8% 30.7% 41.6%

Rural Areas/ 48.9% 43.9% 36.7% 26.4%

Small Towns

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