Transcript Life at Home

Life at Home
The United States in the 1950s
War time to Peace time Economy
• Following WWII, Americans prospered due to an
expanding economy stimulated by America’s
involvement in the war.
– Think About It: Why would America have
prospered from the war?
FROM
TO
Reasons for Rapid growth in the
economy
• The rationing of consumer goods
was over
• Businesses converted from
production of war materials to
consumer goods.
– Think About It: WHAT is a
consumer good?
• Americans purchased goods on
credit
• The workforce shifted back to men,
and most women returned to family
responsibilities
Reasons for Rapid growth in the
economy
• Labor unions merged and
became more powerful
– Workers gained new
benefits and higher
salaries
• As economic prosperity
continued and technology
bloomed, the next
generation of women reentered the workforce in
larger numbers
Harry Truman and Civil Rights
• “We shall not, however,
finally achieve the ideals
for which this nation was
founded so long as any
American suffers
discrimination as a result
of his race, or religion, or
color, or the land of origin
of his forefathers.”
• Desegregates the military
– Korean War is the first war
where men of different
races fight side by side in
the same units
Women’s Rights
• Women continued to work, even
after men returned from War
(because of a booming
economy)
• Eleanor Roosevelt Expands
women’s rights
• Evolving role of women
– Expected to play supporting role in
the family and home while
working outside of the home
The GI Bill
• After the war ended,
Congress passed the
Servicemen’s
Readjustment Act (known
informally as the GI Bill)
which allowed veterans to:
–
–
–
–
–
Attend college
Receive specialized training
Set up businesses
Buy homes
Obtain unemployment and
health care
• Helped by government
funds ($$)
The GI Bill
• This allowed men
who, previously, had
not had the money or
ability to go to college
or buy a house to now
do so.
– “2,250,000 veterans
received part of their
college education from
the GI Bill”
Baby Boom
• Families grew in the
1950s , increasing the
U.S. population by
20%
– War is over
– Higher Incomes
– Better Health Care
• Affects lives of
women, the economy,
and education systems
Suburban Expansion
• Economy balances out and begins to boom
– Economic growth leads to suburban expansion
• 75% of new home construction took place in the suburbs in
the 1950s
– More affordable
• Cars became a necessity
– Development of the modern highway system –
now people could commute back
and forth to work in their cars
Consumer Society
• Americans begin to buy more things that
they “want” using Credit.
• Television
– 6.5 million sets produced annually in the 1950s
•
•
•
•
Mickey Mouse Club
American Bandstand
I Love Lucy
Leave it to Beaver
The Red Scare
• Americans became
consumed with the idea
that communism would
infiltrate the United States.
• Paranoia led to mistrust
of neighbors and
increasing accusations
(most without merit) of
Russian spies in the U.S.
• House Un-American
Activities Committee 1947
“Duck and Cover”
• As defense against what was seen as an
impending nuclear attack by the Soviet
Union, Americans were taught to “duck
and cover” to protect themselves from the
explosion
– Safari Montage clip
McCarthyism
• In the 1950s, a United
States senator named
Joseph McCarthy
claimed he had a long list
of “proven” communists
• One by one, people were
called to Congressional
hearings before McCarthy
and accused of being
communist
– Many of those accused had
no evidence against them
“Are you now, or have you ever
been, a member of the
Communist Party?”
• Millions of Americans watched the hearings
unfold on television
• As time went on, the hearings became increasingly
hysterical and absurd
– Salem Witch Trials
• Eventually, McCarthy crossed the line – he
accused a respected member of the Army of being
a communist and the hearings ended
– McCarthy was censured in the Senate
Think About It
• Why do you think McCarthy was able to
gain so much power? Does this remind you
of any other time in history?
Sources
•
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/6/6d/Birthratechart_stretch.PNG/525px-Birthratechart_stretch.PNG
http://www.english.ucla.edu/ucla1960s/6061/gibillatharvard.gif
http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/hiss/chambersHUAC.jpg
http://www.constitutioncenter.org/timeline/flash/assets/asset_upload_file454_12230.jpg