1. 29
Affluence and Anxiety

2. The Postwar Boom 1945–1960: Rapid economic growth
1960: Fear of another depression wanes

3. Postwar Prosperity Stimuli to consumer goods industry:
Baby boom – young married couples after WWII began having 3-5 children
Population shift to suburbia – new homes, factories producing mass quantities of appliance and tv sets, supermarkets emerge
Auto industry increases to many 2 car families
Increased defense spending – electronic devices added to planes and ships
Increase in capital investments - $10 billion per year
Employment expands – 60 million

4. Postwar Prosperity: Lingering Problems
Agricultural overproduction, low prices – rural regions like the Plains states failed to share in the general affluence
Older industrial areas declined – steel industry fell behind, New England factories decline
1957–1958: Recession slowed decade’s economic growth
7% unemployment rate

5. Life in the Suburbs Suburbia inhabited by middle class
Characteristics of suburbs
Dependence on the automobile – highways and expressways allowed for commute to cities, bus rides,
Family togetherness – new kitchens/appliances, vacations, tv
Traditional feminism discouraged
Entrance of more women into workplace stimulated new feminism – by the end of 1950’s 40% of American women and 1/3 of married women had jobs outside of the home
Leads to a new demand of equality in the 1960s

6. The Good Life? Consumerism the dominant social theme of the 1950s
Quality of life left Americans anxious and dissatisfied

7. Areas of Greatest Growth
Church membership- flourished in the new communities – 3 separate segments – Protestant, Catholic, Jewish
School attendance – increase the number of school age children – million in grades 1-8
Overwhelming need for more resources leads to demand of federal aid
Nature of education – progressive education – focus on traditional academic subjects
Desirability of college education – 3.6 million by 1960
Television watching – 40 million tvs inside homes and 500 stations – commercials, quiz shops, soap operas

8. Critics of the Consumer Society
Social critics of suburban culture
John Keats – “The Crack in the Picture Window” – identical boxes with occupants who have lost their sense of individualism in their obsession with material goods.
William Whyte – “The Organization Man” – perceived a change from old Protestant ethic with its emphasis on hard work and personal responsibility to a new social ethic focusing on the team with the goal of belongingness; result: stifling conformity and loss of personal identity
David Riesman – “Lonely Crowd” – Americans were constantly adapting their behavior to conform to social pressures
C. Wright Mills criticized corporations – stated that white collar workers outnumbered blue collar workers – corporation deprived office workers of their own identities –assembly line dehumanizing the workplace
Jack Kerouac, “Beat” artists promote counterculture – long hair, bizarre clothing, known for sexual promiscuity and drug experimentation – seen as dropouts from sensible society

9. The Reaction to Sputnik
1957: Russians launched Sputnik
American response
National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)
National Defense Education Act—upgrade the teaching of science
Sense of failure, declined by 1960

10. Farewell to Reform Spirit of reform waned in postwar years Reasons:
Growing affluence reduced sense of grievance
Americans eager to enjoy their new prosperity

11. Truman and the Fair Deal
Truman’s New Deal goals:
Expansion and reform of farm price-support program, broadened Social Security, increase in the minimum wage, repeal of the Anti-Union Taft-Hartley
Fair Deal attempted to expand New Deal
Medical Insurance for all Americans – designed to provide a comprehensive solution to the nation’s health problem.
Revived and strengthened Fair Employment Practices Commission (FEPC) to open up employment opportunities for African Americans
Federal aid to education – help states meet demands of post war baby boom

12. Truman and the Fair Deal
Fair Deal failed
Doctor’s lobby convinced people that insurance plan was “socialized medicine”
Southerners opposed FEPC and aid to education- they wanted more local control especially over segregation
Truman’s achievements
Consolidated Roosevelt’s reforms – didn’t allow for conservatives to undo reforms like Social Security
Set the agenda for future attempts to expand New Deal

13. Eisenhower’s Modern Republicanism
Eisenhower left New Deal intact
Raised minimum wage and expanded Social Security
Created Department of Health, Education, and Welfare
1954: Democrats regained Congress
Weakened Eisenhower’s relations with Congress – had to rely on Lyndon B. Johnson (Senate Majority Leader) & Sam Rayburn (Speaker of the House)
Result: Modest legislative record
Extended social security benefits to more than 7 million Americans – raised minimum wage to $1 an hour, added 4 million workers to those eligible for unemployment benefits

14. Eisenhower’s Modern Republicanism
1956: Highway Act created interstate highway system – appropriation of funds for 41,000 mile interstate highway system – connect major cities
Stimulated the economy
Shaped metropolitan growth patterns
Overall, Eisenhower years were politically moderate

15. The Interstate Highway System

16. The Election of 1956

17. The Struggle Over Civil Rights
Cold War prompted quest for American moral superiority
Legal discrimination against African Americans challenged U.S. self-image – US denounced Soviet Union for its human rights violations but still had second-class status of African Americans
African Americans expected more in postwar America – segregation in the South went from bad to worse.

18. Civil Rights as a Political Issue
Truman’s civil-rights legislation failed
1948: African American vote gave Truman his margin of victory
Civil rights made part of the liberal Democratic agenda
Truman integrated the armed forces- navy and air force immediately complied, army resisted until needs for Korean War

19. Desegregating the Schools
1954: Brown v. Board of Education
Segregated schools unconstitutional
Desegregate “with all deliberate speed”
Massive resistance in Deep South
Pupil placement laws – assign students to schools based on their scholastic aptitutde
Multiple stalling techniques
1957: Eisenhower’s actions
Federal troops sent to Little Rock, Arkansas
to prevent integration – 270 armed troops turned back nine black students , federal judge ordered the guards removed, black students entered the school and a mob of 500 white students surrounded the building.
Students finished the year with armed guards, school was shut down for 2 years, when it reopened it had 3 AA in attendance.
Commission on Civil Rights established

20. The Beginnings of Black Activism
NAACP: Pressed for civil rights in courts
1955: Martin Luther King, Jr. led Montgomery bus boycott – Rosa Parks
1956: Southern Christian Leadership Conference directed at anti-segregation
Sit-ins protested segregation laws
1960: Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee

21. Restoring National Confidence
American people more optimistic in 1960 than in 1950
Fear of economic depression waned
Fear of Cold War continued
Growing recognition of incompatibility of racial injustice with American ideals