1. Living in America 1946-1965 Week 9 Notes

2. 1940s: The Fair Deal President Truman tried to carry on the legacy of FDR with his domestic agenda: The Fair Deal 1.Continue and expand social security 2.Gov’t investment in public housing 3.Support GI Bill to support returning soldiers Truman also uses executive action to de-segregate the armed service.

3. 1950s: Consumer Boom The post war economy continued to boom based on European and Asian demands for goods. 1.GI bill allowed vets to get higher paying jobs 2.Americans use new purchasing power a. Cars b. TV 3. Americans move to suburban neighborhoods a. Levittown, NY

4. 1950s: Eisenhower Domestic Agenda After the 1952 election new president Dwight Eisenhower makes investments… 1.Interstate Highway Act: Creates system of government created roadways 2. National Defense Education Act: Invest in math and science education after Russians launch first satellite in 1957: SPUTNIK

5. 1950s: Civil Rights Progress The 1950s was also the turning point in the Civil Rights Movement…. 1.1954: Brown v Board of Ed makes school segregation illegal 2.1955: Montgomery Bus Boycott Successful 3.Non-violent movement stages marches and sit ins across the south 4.Malcolm X leads nation of Islam in Black Nationalism movement

6. Brown v. Board of Ed 1954 Supreme Court rules that the idea of “separate but equal” is unconstitutional 1.Reverses the court’s ruling in Plessy v Ferguson 2.Court however does not give guidance or timelines for how to de-segregate schools In Little Rock Arkansas in 1957 President Eisenhower calls in US Army to help Little Rock 9 integrate Central High

8. 1960s Kennedy’s America Americas first Catholic President beat Richard Nixon in the election of 1960s (first TV Debate) 1.Kennedy began to work on passing a Civil Rights Act banning all discrimination 2.Kennedy started NASA promising to put a man on the moon 3.Kennedy created Peace Corps to get Americans to volunteer to help in poor and developing countries 4.Kennedy was shot and killed Nov 22, 1963 in Dallas Texas

10. 1965 The Great Society President Lyndon B Johnson worked to pass a series of domestic items known as the great society 1.Civil Rights Act: 1964 (Bans discrimination) 2.Medicaid/Medicare (Health Care for elderly and poor) 3.Public Housing Programs (Low income housing) 4.Head Start (Pre school programs in low income neighborhoods)