LIFE IN THE 1950’S

Presidential Programs• GI Bill• Helped Veterans establish businesses, build homes, and go to

college

• Closed Shop• Taft-Hartley Act• Forced owners to only hire union workers • This was considered illegal

• Right-to-work Laws• Union Shops• Required workers to join unions

• Fair Deal• Truman’s plan • Expanded social security and helped with minimum wage

American Abundance• Growth of the Suburbs• Simple and Similar looking homes• Outside of the city limits• Various reasons for leaving the cities• Wanted to escape the crime and congestion of the city

• Created an opportunity for a better life

• Symbolized the American Dream

• Baby Boom• 65 million children were born between 1945-1961• After the war military families started to expand• GI Bill allowed people to buy homes • Magazine and popular culture glamorized pregnancy and

growing families

Changing Workplace• White-collar jobs• Working in an office

• White Shirt and tie were the typical dress

• Blue-collar jobs• Factory workers that work

denim shirts

• Multinational Corporations• Corporations that have

locations in many countries• Added a cheaper labor pool

• Franchises• Running one or more stores of a

chain operation

Scientific Advances• Electronics• Transistor • Allowed the radio to become portable rather than a large piece of furniture

• Computers• Used to make calculations of the US Army

• Jet planes• Started using lighter parts such as plastics

• New wing designs created more fuel efficient planes

• Medical Miracles• Creation of new antibiotics• Radiation and Chemotherapy were introduced as ways to help with

cancer• Creation of CPR• Jonas Salk• Created injectable vaccine for polio

New Mass Media• Rise of Television• Comedy, Action, and Adventure

Shows• I Love Lucy

• Starred Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz

• Games Shows were introduced

• Hollywood• Movies became less popular

• 3-D movies and large screens drew people back to the theaters

• Radio• Started broadcasting music,

weather, and news

• Radios reached people in their cars

Music and Poetry• Rock ‘n’ Roll• Loud and Heavy beat that was

good for dancing

• Elvis Presley • King of Rock ‘n’ Roll

• Danced in a new way that families did not all approve of

• The Beat Movement• Beatniks

• Talked about the values of American culture and the struggles that came with conformity

• African American Entertainers• Struggles to be accepted in the

music world

The Other Side of American Life

Poverty amongst the Prosperous • Poverty Line• Imaginary line that reflects the amount of money people need

to make to receive government assistance• 30 million people lived below this line

• Urban Renewal• Trying to fix up inner-city developments• Tore down old housing and created new high rise buildings for

the poor.• These building created an environment for violence.

• People were evicted when they started to make more money

People Groups

• Racial discrimination in hiring and firing• First to get fired from good jobs and

the last to get hired

• Made about 51% of what Caucasian people made for the same jobs• Denied decent medical care

• Bracero Programs• Brought about 5 million people

from Mexico

• Worked on farms and ranches in the Southwest

• Lived in shacks• Made very little money

African Americans Hispanics

People Groups

• Poorest Ethnic group in the nation• The Government tried to

assimilate Native Americans into American culture• Termination Policy• Removed the separate rules

that applied to Native Americans

• Lost farm land

• Crowded living spaces when people moved to the city

• Life expectancy rates drop

• New York to Georgia• Coal mining brought in revenue

to the region• Machines made it easier to mine

• People lost their jobs, and started to move to the city to look for new work

• Less doctors per thousand people than other regions• People suffered from malnutrition

• Infant death rate was high

• School systems suffered• Considered worse than the inner-

city schools

Native Americans Appalachia

Juvenile Delinquency• Criminal Behavior of young

people was on the rise.• 45% increase in youth crimes• Stereotypes of teens started

to form • Not all teens were involved in

such behaviors

• Not clear reason why the crime rate had increased• People blamed movies,

television, comic books for the rise of youth delinquency.

• Divorce rates were on the rise, and parents were getting busier.