Period+5+Post-WWII-1950s

=Historical context:=

The late 1940s and 1950s was a new age for American society. The United States had just come out of the Depression as well as one of the largest wars in the history of the world. The world was still in shock with the latest weapon that science had created, the atomic bomb, and it was **President Truman's** decision to drop it, ending the war. Truman was the President who led the United States after Franklin Roosevelt died and helped pass major legislation to help the soldiers returning from the war. Before Roosevelt died, he signed the **G.I. Bill** into law. This new piece of legislation provided servicemen returning from World War Two with college or vocational training and one year of unemployment compensation. With the amount of money that people had increasing and many veterans not having places to live, many veterans bought homes in places called **Levittowns.** Levittowns were neighborhoods made up of cheap houses that only cost one hundred dollars to buy. Levittowns were massive development of house, and many of the developments were built near urban areas. Developers would buy previously owned farmland for low prices and develop these Levittowns. Because the developments were so closed to the city, they were called Sub-Urban areas, and where they really took over, people called it **suburbanization.** With the economy on the rise and people gaining money, a class developed between the rich and the poor. The new class was called the "middle class," and many people fell into that category. Middle class people had a surplus of income that they were not spending on living expenses, a luxury that almost nobody had during the great depression. With the surplus of money, people started buying things that they didn’t necessarily need but items that they wanted. People wanted to spend their hard earned money and the movement for people to start buying was called **consumerism.** Consumerism had a massive impact on society. Many people bought television sets for their homes as well as refrigerators, automobiles, and other houses hold appliances. The television was one of the most important things that people bought. Televisions spread ideas and depicted the perfect people who were all alike. Many people wanted to be like the characters on television and everyone was exposed to the exact same ideas, causing **conformity.** Many former soldiers moved into the suburban areas and married. The new family’s had children and a massive increase in the birth rate occurred, called the **baby boom.** With the introduction of cars to many people, sitting **President Eisenhower** established the **The Federal Highway Act of 1956** as one of his many legislations that he passed during his eight years in office. This new act spent twenty five billion dollars to build new roads all over the nation.

= **__Highway Act of 1956__**  =

In 1956, an act was passed that would be the biggest national construction project in the history of the United States. This act, or Federal Highway act of 1956 as it was soon called, was the mass construction of an interstate highway network all throughout the continental United States. This act was a direct descendent of the original highway act of 1938, constructed by Franklin Delano Roosevelt during the Great Depression, in order for the mass creation of jobs in such a considerable unemployed nation. This notion, however, came at a dark time in history. The US was about to jump into World War 2 and join the allied forces, so conception of an interstate highway network was simply implausible given the nation’s new issue. In 1944, as the allies were starting to turn the war and victory seemed inevitable, the Highway act of 1944 was passed, finalizing Roosevelt’s original vision. It called for 40,000 miles of a “National System of Interstate Highways” according to sector 7 of the composed act. In 1953, and 6,500 miles of finished highway later, Eisenhower gained the presidency. Being a World War 2 veteran, he saw the advantages of an interstate highway network. His experience traveling from Washington DC to San Diego on a cross-country convoy and his experience over seas and observations of the German autobahn highway influenced him to expand and enforce the highway acts of the era. On January 7th, 1954 during Eisenhower’s State of the Union address, he made it clear to the public ad his administration he was turning his attention towards the national highway issue saying it is “ to Protect the vital interest of every citizen in a safe and adequate highway system." Eisenhower’s words in congress about the highway bill were not very liked due to government and state funding issues, which caused serious disagreement between congressmen. In 1954 and 1956 two Highway bills were denied by congress, but this strong financial disagreement would soon come to a final end and in 1956 and forever changed the physical infrastructure of America, and as well as the lives of every working American. During his 1956 State of the Union address, his revisit of the act rekindled debate in the newly elected congress, in which after vigorous argument between parties and branches, the act was finally signed for the fiscal years of 1957-1969. It called for a 25 billion dollar budget, in which in each state the government would pay for 90% of the construction fees and the state the other 10%. This revolutionary act also increased the original 40,000-mile construction plan into a 41,000-mile construction plan. This simple and seemingly straight-forward act had a much more abstract history altering scheme, for the first time in history of the entire eastern hemisphere, a country’s infrastructure was finally connected by a vast network of easily accessible highways, forever changing the United States of America and it’s entire working population. This was the grandest construction feat in US history at the time, and is definitely one of the most impacting acts, in this history of the US, infinitely changing history to come.


 * [[image:http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/publications/publicroads/06mar/images/wein1.jpg width="400" height="301" caption="The Bureau of Public Roads developed an exhibit in 1957-one of many over the years-to let the public know about the 'controlled access Interstate System being built under the Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956.' Left to right, Robert M. Monahan, special assistant for public affairs; Federal Highway Administrator Bertram D. Tallamy; Harold C. Wood, Sr., of the Motion Picture and Exhibits Section; and Assistant Commissioner for Research E. H. 'Ted' Holmes. The Bureau of Public Roads developed an exhibit in 1957-one of many over the years-to let the public know about the 'controlled access Interstate System being built under the Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956.' Left to right, Robert M. Monahan, special assistant for public affairs; Federal Highway Administrator Bertram D. Tallamy; Harold C. Wood, Sr., of the Motion Picture and Exhibits Section; and Assistant Commissioner for Research E. H. 'Ted' Holmes."]] ||
 * **The Bureau of Public Roads developed an exhibit in 1957-one of many over the years-to let the public know about the "controlled access Interstate System being built under the Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956." Left to right, Robert M. Monahan, special assistant for public affairs; Federal Highway Administrator Bertram D. Tallamy; Harold C. Wood, Sr., of the Motion Picture and Exhibits Section; and Assistant Commissioner for Research E. H. "Ted" Holmes. The Bureau of Public Roads developed an exhibit in 1957-one of many over the years-to let the public know about the "controlled access Interstate System being built under the Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956." Left to right, Robert M. Monahan, special assistant for public affairs; Federal Highway Administrator Bertram D. Tallamy; Harold C. Wood, Sr., of the Motion Picture and Exhibits Section; and Assistant Commissioner for Research E. H. "Ted" Holmes.** ||

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XBEgxp69WLc This is a link to the video footage of the first interstate highway opening in 1956.

= = = = = = = = = = =Levittowns=



With the development of the middle class after World War II ended, many people did not have places to live. Many veterans and middle class people moved to neighborhoods called Levittowns (see image above), otherwise known as suburbs in the modern day. The original Levittowns were built by William and Alfred Levitt, and each house sold for around one hundred dollars. The Levitts were forced to buy up massive amounts of undeveloped land to begin construction, which was not their original plan. Building these homes only took one day, but they were not the highest quality homes. In the video below, a home is being built in a day which is a very short amount of time for a house. Many veterans moved into these houses when they returned from world war two, as well as people who received financial aid from the government. Many of these homes still stand today and in some cases, the original people who bought the houses in the 1950s still live there.

media type="youtube" key="xDfKk3tejFE" height="390" width="480"

Above is a video of workers building a house in a Levittown

=**President Eisenhower**=

President Eisenhower became the president of the United States after the war. He negotiated military strength and he tried to reduce the strains of the Cold War. Eisenhower urged that the United States and Russia show each other their military blueprints and “provide within our countries facilities for aerial photography to the other country”. In 1955 Eisenhower had a heart attack but by 195 6 he was recovered and got re-elected for a second term. Eisenhower’s domestic policy included him taking the middle ground and continuing most of the New Deal and Fair Deal Programs, he also emphasized a balanced budget. When the desegregation of schools started, Eisenhower started to send troops to Little Rock, Arkansas to make sure that everything went according to the orders of the Federal Court, with that he also ordered to make sure that the Armed forces are completely desegregated. “There must be no second class citizens”. Before Eisenhower left office he urged the necessity of maintaining a good military strength.

=**Baby Boom**=

Baby boom was a social issue that took place in the 1950s. A baby boom refers to the increase of the births after WWII. Baby Boomers is a term that is used to define the people that were born between 1946 and 1964. There are about 76 million boomers in the U.S. Also after WWII marriage rates rose sharply and they reached all time highs. People began to get married at younger ages and reached all-time highs.

= **Consumerism** =

Consumerism dominated the post World War II/1950’s era. The society became accustomed to the mass production and mass marketing. Advertising was one of the major influences at the time offering cars, bank loans, and many other things. People enjoyed being able to buy what they wanted, and achieving a better life. Big houses were bought in the suburbs along with household appliances. The people also demanded less from there government during this time. Before they knew it, flashy cars, television, and many other items were considered the norm.

Above is a picture of a 1950 Cadillac =Suburbanization = This term originated during the 1950’s and really describes the change in society as we know in today. It means the colonization of vast towns outside major cities. Essentially suburbanization is the format and structure of neighborhoods as we know them today. Outside every major city lies a vast network of interconnected small suburban towns; the term ‘suburban’ comes from the overall term “suburbanization”. The causes of such a social revolution were mainly in part due to the mass consumerism of cars and the introduction of newly formed interstate highways. The highways introduced a new easily accessible method of transportation to get to cities and out of state or county jobs. This essentially created a need for small towns to be formed outside major cities. From this phenomena, came an expanding car market and the entire consumerism aspect that followed, meaning each person had to have a car, and preferably flashy. The introduction of neighborhoods also created competition between neighbors on a variety of different home accessories such as cars and electronics. Suburbanization also meant that neighborhoods consisted of roughly the same social class, so it was interconnected via similarities, and from this formed a vast friendly connection all through that suburb universal throughout every suburb across the newly structured America.  =G.I Bill =

The G.I bill (Servicemen’s Readjustment Act) was a bill that provided college or vocational education for returning World War II Veterans, along with one year of unemployment compensation. This allowed for many loans to be given to returning soldiers to start businesses and buy homes. The bill was signed by FDR on June 22, 1944.

=Harry S. Truman=

Harry S. Truman started off as a captain in the field of artillery during World War I. He was then elected a judge of the Jackson court in 1922. Then, he became a senator in 1934. Truman assumed presidency in 1945 when FDR died. When he first took office, he was very uninformed about the war topics. “Boys, if you ever pray, pray for me now. I don’t know if you fellas ever ad a load of hay fall on you, but when they told me what happened yesterday, I felt the moon, stars, and all the planets had fallen on me” said Truman on his presidency. He made the final decision to drop the A-bomb on Japan during WWII. He soon developed his own. He presented to Congress a 21-point program, proposing the expansion of Social Security, a full-employment program, a permanent Fair Employment Practices Act, and public housing and slum clearance.



=Conformity=

The 1950s were a time of conformity in the United States. Many soldiers came back after fighting in World War two and restarted the lives, which they left behind. Most men married, got a job, and moved into a home in a Levittown. Many people purchased the same things with their money such as a television, a refrigerator, and a car. The invention of the television spread ideas to all people about what to do and wear. People followed these ideas blindly and ended up living the exact same life style as the people around them. During the second Red Scare, many people were afraid not to conform to the others around them. The Red Scare was the fear of communism and many people who were different were accused of being communist. Many people were afraid to not conform for the fear of being accused and their reputation tarnished, so everyone led the exact same lab.

Below is a commericial which spread ideas of conformity in the 1950s media type="youtube" key="PcfvbRo4CnM" height="390" width="480"

__**Analysis**__ The 1950s were right after WWII so people were still trying to get back into things America at this time was pretty prosperous. The role of the government was changing during this time period. They started to get more involved with the lives of the people in the country. The domestic policies that were created during this time period helped to shape America. When he was elected, **President Truman** proposed the expansion of social security and also he came up with the Fair Employment Practices Act. **President Eisenhower** also did things to change the role of the government by trying hard to make segregation of African-Americans and whites end his terms as president were considered more hands off. The government also passed a bill known as the **G.I. Bill** (servicemen’s Readjustment Act) that protected the veterans who served in the war. The 1950s were a good year for America. Unemployment was low and the economy was growing.

__** Links **__ __** [] **__ __** [] **__ __** [] **__ __** [] **__ __** [] **__ __** [] **__ __** [] **__ __** http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/publications/publicroads/06mar/07.cfm **__