The U.S. and the Cold War

Soldiers return and Education GI Bill (Servicemen’s Readjustment Act) –$ for attending college and trade schools –Promoted economic and cultural growth End of Great Depression and WWII and prosperity of 50’s created the baby boom Sputnik called for an increase in education (National Defense Education Act) Kids could stay in school longer and women could attend college

Suburbanization GI Bill gave federal loans to buy homes and start businesses Automobile was made more available Federal Defense Highway Act (Eisenhower) White flight Race issues continue laying the ground work for race riots in the 60s

Consumer Culture Goods that were unaffordable during the Depression or were rationed during WWII were now attainable Baby boom products High demand = more jobs = economic boom Defense industry created new jobs

“White Collar” and TV White collar and not blue collar jobs were created With more $ came more products and more advertising TV, billboards and expanding print mediums became popular ways to advertise “Buy now, pay later” = credit cards

Reemergence of Religious Conservatism Consumer culture created a secularization of society Supreme Court rulings had outlawed prayer in public school, allowed abortion (Roe v. Wade), the civil rights movement (Brown v. Board of Education, Morgan v. Virginia, and Sweatt v. Painter) and the women’s movement Fundamentalist televangelists (later created the Moral Majority and the Christian Coalition to help politicians)

Changes for Women Displaced from wartime jobs by returning veterans Many returned to roles of wife and mother and became major consumers of the household Media glorified the role of homemaker Suburbanization created isolationism and consumerism was unfulfilling

Changes for women (cont’d) By % of women held jobs outside the home Limited to: nursing, teaching, domestic service, social work, retail sales and secretarial work Few were managers and they were paid less then men The Feminine Mystique by Betty Freidan