1. 19.1 – Postwar America

2. Readjustments 9/45 – 8/46 – 10m+ released from military GI Bill – helps return to civilian life – Education, unemployment, access to loans (homes & farms) Big # of returning veterans = housing crisis – Leads to mass-produced houses – cookie cutters – Move to the suburbs

3. Readjustments (c.) Family – Tensions caused by war = rising divorce rate – Women reluctant to leave jobs & return home Economy – Transitions back to peacetime levels – Millions laid off & unemployment increases – Prices skyrocket: supply < demand – Incomes fall as production falls

4. Recovery Economists predict a postwar depression = doesn’t happen – Consumer’s needs War & rationing led to savings = money to spend Economy booms: Home & Car sales explode Demand > Supply = new jobs Cold War & Marshall Plan keep defense spending high = even more jobs

6. Challenges War brought turmoil = conservative swing Harry Truman takes over for FDR Challenges – 1) Communism – 2) Returning economy to strong peacetime role Many workers face higher prices & lower wages = strikes – Truman threatens to draft workers = unions give in 1946: Republicans gain control of both houses

7. Civil Rights Truman supported civil rights – Creates a civil rights commission Congress refuses to pass commission’s measures 7/1948: Truman orders the integration of the armed forces Also ends the discrimination in the hiring process of government positions African Americans could not be banned from neighborhoods

8. 1948 Election Many blamed Truman for inflation & strikes Dixiecrats form in protest of Truman – Nominate Strom Thurmond Democratic party in disarray Republican: Thomas E. Dewey Truman works hard to get re-elected (“whistlestop campaign”) Truman upsets Dewey & Democrats control Congress

10. The Fair Deal Extension of the New Deal – Proposed a compulsory health insurance & crop- subsidy for farmers Measures defeated by Congress Successes: – Minimum wage is raised, social security is extended, low-income housing projects approved

11. The Middle Road Truman’s popularity fell due to the Korean War & threat of communism Republicans nominate Dwight D. Eisenhower for 1952 (wins) “Modern Republicanism” – Money = Conservative; Humans = Liberal – Avoids controversy Ike struggles w/ civil rights = new era – Brown v. Board of Education – Rosa Parks incident