1. 27:1 Postwar America

2. 1944 GI Bill of Rights Help assimilating 10 million soldiers back into civilian life. Job priority College Tuition & living expenses 1 year unemployment Federally guaranteed home loans

3. GI Bill of Rights Federally backed loans for housing Created a Social Revolution-Large numbers of “common people” could afford to buy their own homes.

4. Levittowns Surburbia Mass Produced Houses Large planned suburban communities

6. GI Bill and Education Free Tuition for college Better paying jobs Rise of middle class Able to send their kids (baby boom generation) to college, etc.

7. 1946 Elections Republicans take over Congress – Truman tough on strikers – Shortage of consumer goods during WWII – inflation

8. Truman supports Civil Rights Wanted: anti lynching laws, no poll taxes, equal economic opportunity Issued: Executive Order to integrate the military

9. 1948 Presidential Election Dixicrats – Southern democrats opposed to Truman’s emphasis on civil rights – Split the Deomcratic Party

10. 1948 Presidential Election Truman wins despite division in Democratic Party.

11. 1952 Presidential Elections Problems for Democrats: – Stalemate in Korea – Labor unrest – Inflation – McCarthyism

12. 1952 Presidential Election “I like Ike” Eisenhower’s Platform – Tough on communism – Shrink Federal government

13. Nixon’s “Checker’s Speech” Illegal campaign contributions? Use of TV – 58 million viewers – Saved campaign

14. Modern Republicanism Middle of the road politics Avoiding controversial issues

15. Eisenhower and Civil Rights 1954 Brown v. Board of Education overturns Plessey 1955 Rosa Parks Beginning of the Civil Rights Movement

16. Jackie Robinson Breaks the color barrier in Pro-sports Brooklyn Dodgers 1 st African American inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame

17. 27:2 American Dream in the Fifties

18. Baby Boom 1946-1964 Spouses reunited People had good jobs, houses, and money Young couples married Medical advances

19. Salk Vaccine Dr. Jonas Salk Polio

20. Dr. Spock Common Sense Book of Baby and Child Care Childrearing practices 2 nd best selling non-fiction book of all time?

21. 50’s Women Women Happy in Suburbia?? Rise of Women’s Equality Movement (NOW)

22. Ike’s Interstate Highway Act Military Purpose Increased mobility Rise of Suburbia Booming Car Industry

23. Technological Wonders Air conditioning – Increased urban development, more skyscrapers – Changed housing styles Ranch Lowered ceilings Smaller windows Eliminated “sleeping porches” – Rise of Sunbelt Cities

24. Consumerism New products Planned obsolescence Credit cards/installment plan Advertising