1. Section 2 Chapter 13
Major Question, “What social and economic factors changed American life during the 1950s?

2. Where did people move in the 1950s?
40 Million Americans moved to suburbs. Rural areas lost population. People left cities too!

3. Why were people attracted to suburbs?
Shortages existed in urban housing.
People got married after WWII, and wanted homes. People, like William Levitt, built affordable homes built from the same plan. These homes could be built in weeks, and paid for using an installment plan. Levittowns existed in PA and NJ.

4. What other factors helped build suburbs?
Government built highways, the Federal Housing Administration gave out loans, and war veterans used their GI Bill Benefits to get loans.

5. How did car ownership change people’s lives?
Car ownership increased from the 1920s to 1950s. Cars had a lot of chrome and looked like jet planes. Businesses develop around the car (fast food, drive-ins, malls).
Car Numbers: (26 million)
1960 (60 million)

6. What is the Eisenhower Interstate Highway System?
The Interstate Highway Act of allowed federal funds to build multilane expressways. This was the largest money spending project since the New Deal. It also boosted the vacation industry (go to Disney).

7. What is the Sunbelt?
It is the area of the Southern and Western U.S. People migrated to these areas in the 1950s. California became the largest state (no longer NY).

8. Why did people go to the Sunbelt?
The area had good climate and people got jobs in defense industries (electronics and aerospace).

9. What impact did migration have on the U.S. ?
Cities and places in the Eastern U.S. lost political representation in Congress. Growth of suburbs caused problems like traffic jams, smog, and water shortages.

10. How did the economy change in the 1950s?
More people found jobs in the Service Sector (businesses that provide services). Examples: healthcare, banking, and insurance. Manufacturing jobs decreased over time in the U.S.

11. What job trends occurred?
One area was information industries. They built and operated the first computers (example: ENIAC a huge early computer). They did many jobs once done by people.
The number of women workers continued to increase. Farming declined as a job.

12. What is a Franchise Business?
A company sells its products, or services, through people who own a branch of company locations on their own. Examples include: Holiday Inn and McDonald’s.

13. What is a Multinational Corporation?
Are companies that produce, or sell, their goods all over the world. These grew in the postwar world. Examples include: IBM, Coca Cola, and General Motors.

14. What is the AFL-CIO?
It is a union that was created in the 1950s by joining two different unions, the AFL (skilled workers) and CIO (unskilled workers). Unions began to decrease in size, and they lost some power after WWII.

15. What opportunities developed because of changes in Education?
The amount of high school and college graduates increased. Congress passed the National Defense Education Act to provide money to prepare American students to become scientists (COLD WAR).

16. What opportunities developed because of changes in Education?
California attempted to make it easier for people to become educated. They created the California Master Plan at this time. It created three levels of higher education for citizens: research universities, state colleges, and community colleges. Many states did similar things in the area of education.