1. Today’s Objective
We will identify and describe the events that led to widespread prosperity in the United States during the 1950s.

2. Prosperity of the ’50s
SEs: 14A, 17B, 26E, 27B

3. Today’s Product
I will create a bubble map identifying and describing five things that helped to make America a prosperous place in the 1950s.

4. Taking Care of Veterans
Following World War I, U.S. war veterans were promised a bonus they never received, leading to the Bonus Army debacle during the Depression.

5. Taking Care of Veterans
To avoid the same type problems after WWII, in 1948 the government passed the Servicemen's Readjustment Act, also known as the G.I. Bill.

6. THE G.I. BILL Provided college for returning war veterans
Gave GIs one year of unemployment
It helped re-acclimate returning GIs to civilian life and boosted the economy.

7. Truman and Civil Rights
One of the major acts Harry Truman made as president was when he issued executive order to end segregation in the armed forces in 1948.

8. Truman and Civil Rights
Truman also asked Congress to pass a civil rights bill that would make lynching a federal crime.

9. ELECTION of 1948
Southern Democrats leave national party in response to Truman's support for Civil Rights.

10. ELECTION of 1948
Strom Thurmond – a South Carolina Senator – runs for president as a Dixicrat.

11. ELECTION of 1948
Dixicrats were Southern Democrats who backed racial segregation and limiting the voting rights of blacks. The party was also known as the States Rights Party.

12. ELECTION of 1948
Truman angered many Southern Democrats by supporting integration
Many people didn’t think he would be re-elected
Harry S Truman
Thomas Dewey
Strom Thurmond
Some were so sure that Truman would lose that one headline even incorrectly said that Dewey had won
The Election of 1948 is considered the greatest election upset in US history.

13. ELECTION of 1948

14. Truman’s “Fair Deal”
Truman said that all Americans had the right to expect a “fair deal” from the government
“The buck stops here.”
-- Harry Truman
What did the Fair Deal do?
It increased the minimum wage
It expanded Social Security benefits for many Americans
National Housing Act was passed to provide funding to build low-income housing

16. Interstate Highways Built
The Federal Highway Act was passed in 1956
This was the largest public works program in American history.
Law called for the building of 40,000 miles of interstate
Interstate roads in DFW are I-20, I-30, I-35 and I-45

17. Interstate Highways Built
The building of Interstate highways made traveling across the nation – and within large cities – much easier for many Americans.

18. The New York suburb of Levittown was the first modern suburb
Suburbia in America
The interstate highway system helped to inspire the growth of suburbs in the 1950s
Suburbs are places outside the city where many white-collar workers live
The New York suburb of Levittown was the first modern suburb

19. Suburbs = The American Dream
Affordable single-family housing
Good schools
Friendly neighbors like themselves
New highways, affordable automobiles, low gasoline prices
A safe, healthy environment for children
13 million homes built in the 1950s – 85% were suburban

20. Suburbia in America
One negative factor of urban sprawl was that more traffic led to more air pollution (often called smog) and less green spaces.

21. The Baby Boom of the ’50s
The American birthrate exploded after World War II.
From more than 65 million children were born
This postwar period became known as the Baby Boom

22. The Baby Boom of the ’50s Contributing factors:
The end of wars led to more young couples getting married
G.I. Bill encouraged growth of families by offering generous benefits
Pop culture glorified pregnancy, parenthood and large families

23. Technological Breakthroughs

24. Medical Breakthroughs
Medical advances of the ’50s:
antibiotics to fight infections
new drugs to fight cancer, diabetes and heart disease
polio vaccine developed
Jonas Salk developed the vaccine that prevented polio. Not long after, the threat of polio would almost completely disappear

25. ‘In God We Trust’ became the official motto of the U. S
‘In God We Trust’ became the official motto of the U.S. in 1956; the motto can be found on U.S. coins dating back to the 1860s and paper currency since 1956.

26. Today’s Objective
We will identify and describe the events that led to widespread prosperity in the United States during the 1950s.