CHAPTER 27 The Postwar Years at Home

SECTION 1 Section 1 The Postwar Economy

I. Understand that following WWII rapid economic growth encouraged businesses to reorganize. A. Per Capita Income – average income per person ~ $2, B. Conglomerates – large corporation that owned varied companies

I. Understand that following WWII rapid economic growth encouraged businesses to reorganize. C. Franchises – the right to own a small business that is supported by a large parent company 1) Many unique stores, with ties to the local community were replaced with franchises. 2) Ray Kroc – McDonald’s

II. Describe how technology advances transformed life in the United States. A. Television 1) T.V.s help spur economic growth through advertisements. B. Computers 1) Computers became used mainly because they became smaller and faster 2) transistor – a tiny circuit device C. Nuclear Power 1) Atomic energy used to generate electric power D. Medicine 1) Dr. Jonas Salk – polio vaccine 2) Antibiotics

III. Explain how changes in the working lives of Americans influenced the growth of suburbs, highways, and consumer credit. A. Growth of the service industry (white-collar) B. Suburbs 1) Baby Boom – enormous jump in birthrate ( ) 2) G.I. Bill – veterans received low-interest mortgages 3) William J. Levitt – mass produced houses 4) 1956 Interstate Highway Act – transportation for work, leisure, and evacuation C. Consumer Credit 1) Credit cards were easy and convenient to use

Section 2 The Mood of the 1950s

I. Explain why most Americans valued comfort and security during the 1950s. A. After depression and war, Americans wanted security. B. Youth 1) “Silent Generation” – entertainment and fun with conformity in style C. Resurgence in Religion 1) Billy Graham – evangelist, crusades

II. Describe the expectations about the proper roles of men and women. A. Men – go to school, get a job, and support wives and children, earn money B. Women – support husbands, children, manage households 1) More women held paying jobs for own money and image

III. Identify some ways in which people challenged conformity in 1950s. A. Rock and Roll – a style influenced by teens B. Beatniks – “Beat Generation” 1) Spontaneity and spirituality 2) Sexuality and drugs 3) Jack Kerouac - leader

SECTION 3 Section 3 Domestic Politics and Policy

I. Describe Truman’s domestic policies as outlined in his Fair Deal. A. Peacetime Economy 1) Government lifted price controls, prices rose faster than wages. 2) Strikes oa) Truman tried to draft strikers into the army ob) Taft-Hartley Act – anti-labor legislation B. Truman’s Fair Deal 1) Aimed to extend the New Deal’s goals 2) Government need for economic justice oa) higher minimum wage ob) national health insurance oc) housing assistance

II. Describe how Truman won the Election of A. Unlikely to win because he lost the support of much of his own Democratic Party. B. “Dewey Defeats Truman”

III. Explain the highlights of Dwight D. Eisenhower’s Republican presidency. A. Formula for victory in ) Korean War 2) Communism 3) Corruption B. Richard Nixon 1) V.P. running mate 2) “Checkers Speech”

III. Explain the highlights of Dwight D. Eisenhower’s Republican presidency. C. Eisenhower as President 1) Modern Republicanism approach to government o a) cut spending o b) reduce taxes o c) balance budget 2) Supported Big Business D. Technology Challenge 1) National Defense Education Act – focus on science and math as a response to Sputnik

SECTION 3 Section 4 Demands for Civil Rights

I. Describe the progress made in the struggle for equality during the Truman years. A. Truman’s Actions 1) After the war, African American civil rights movements accelerated 2) Truman ordered an end to discrimination in the armed forces. B. Jackie Robinson 1) Served in the army during WWII 2) Broke the color barrier in professional sports

II. Understand such highlights of the 1950s as the Brown decision, the Montgomery Bus Boycott, and the confrontation in Little Rock. A – Plessy vs. Ferguson 1) “separate but equal” B – Brown vs. Board of Education 1) “separate is unequal”

II. Understand such highlights of the 1950s as the Brown decision, the Montgomery Bus Boycott, and the confrontation in Little Rock. C. Montgomery Bus Boycott 1) Rosa Parks 2) Martin Luther King, Jr. 3) Generation of African American leaders

II. Understand such highlights of the 1950s as the Brown decision, the Montgomery Bus Boycott, and the confrontation in Little Rock. D. Resistance in Little Rock 1) Integration – forced bringing together of different races 2) Eisenhower used the Arkansas National Guard to enforce school integration

III. Describe how other minorities began to follow the example set by the African American movement. A. Mexican Americans 1) Community Service Organization – peaceful protest B. Native Americans 1) Success of the civil rights movement of 1950s largely by-passed Native Americans 2) Poverty, discrimination, little representation