Post war social policies shaped:
Sent millions of veterans to college using the GI Bill
Linked US to high speed interstate highways
Growth of suburbs & Sunbelt
Disrupted regional isolation
Emerging national middle-class culture
Attend college, marry young, have a large family, live in suburbs, start a business
American dream
Centered on family, comfort, consumption, & common culture
Critics called it “conforminism”
Rural poverty
Cities became impoverished bc of rich Americans moving to Suburbs & black & white southerners, Mexicans, Puerto Ricans, & Native Americans moving to cities
Race divisions
African Americans face racism & discrimination still
Civil Rights movement
1955 Montgomery bus boycott launched it
Fed gov protected civil rights of American Americans
Desegregation: Brown v. Board of Education
Domestic achievements: Truman
Modest; Restricted from expanding new deal bc of conservative congress; focus on foreign policy
Domestic Achievements: Dwight D. Eisenhower 1952
First republican in 20 years
Seeking balanced budget, reduced taxes, & lower levels of gov spending; foreign policy
Economic boom (lasted 20 years after war) brought prosperity
25-1 Shaping Postwar America
Goals
Reintegrate veterans, homes for young families, transform wartime economy to peacetime, deal with new global balance of power,
A. The Veterans Return
1945-1947: Nearly 15 million servicemen returned home after WWII on an individual basis, with priority given based on service scores
Homecomings were joyful but also caused anxiety abt how veterans would adjust to civilian life & the jobs available (civilians feared entitlement)
Time magazine 1945: reassured readers that the veterans are not civilian haters who will become violent if they don’t get everything they want
Concerns included veterans' mental health issues like PTSD and possible crime linked to their reintegration.
National Mental Health Act 1946
Movie The Best Years of Our Lives: Depiction of 3 veterans struggling to adjust
Economic impact of demobilization: War machines slowed; factories lay off workers; (so how would returning veterans get jobs?)
B. The GI Bill (Servicemen's Readjustment Act of 1944)
Aimed to save economy with unemployment benefits; stop veterans from needing jobs
Signed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt, it provided veterans benefits like college tuition, job training, unemployment benefits, and low-interest home loans.
About 2.2 million veterans attended college due to this bill, increasing the educated workforce.
Discrimination: Implementation by local & state agencies allowed for discrimination against racial & ethnic minorities & homosexuals; AA faced it especially in the south
Inclusivity: Admission quotas limiting Jewish students disappeared; Black Colleges grew; Americans become more well-educated improving economy
Ex. Syracuse University
Educated Americans: Social mobility; less provincial; middle-class culture
C. Economic Growth
After initial layoffs post-war, the economy quickly boomed thanks to increased consumer spending.
More demand for cars and household goods helped drive recovery and innovation & growth of corporations global dominance (ex. General motors)
Technology improved farming with new crop types and fertilizers; farm size increased
D. Suburbanization
Many white families moved to suburbs for affordable housing and better living conditions (ex. Levittown)
Housing mass production: (1947) William Levitt used assembly line methods for homebuilding (Only 1 in 28 houses identical by shifting exterior designs & colors)
Easier to move bc of:
Federal Housing Administration (FHA): gave loans and highways that let families commute to city jobs easier
Highway Act: interstate highway system
Help commerce & military mobilize quickly
Helped workers commute from far away to jobs in central cities
“White flight”: Families left integrated neighborhoods, hurting urban diversity
E. Baby Boom
The post-war period saw rising marriage and birth rates, peaking in 1957, leading to the “Baby Boom.”
This increased demand for goods and services, boosting the economy.
The era also highlighted lifestyle competition between the U.S. and the USSR during the “kitchen debate.”
F. Inequality in Benefits
Inequality from: Selective Service Act & white families’ investments grew on homes but not for AA (bc of discriminatory policies)
The GI Bill favored white male veterans, leaving women and minorities with fewer benefits.
For example, 50% of white veterans got home loans, while only 2% of Black veterans did due to discrimination.
Efforts like the proposed Fair Housing Act in 1968 aimed to equalize these disparities but faced resistance.
25-2 Domestic Politics in the Cold War Era
A. Truman’s Domestic Challenges (approval rating (1945-46): 87%-32%)
WW2 to Beginning of Cold War; major foriegn policy; attempted to mantain New Deal
1944 Second Bill of Rights: Roosevelt promised right to employment, health care, education, food, and housing (welfare); Truman tried to mantain it
Full Employment Act: aimed to increase minimum wage & aimed to guaranteed work to all who are able & willing thru public sector employment
Only did (bc blocked by Congress):
Council of Economic Advisers: helps president prevent economic downturns
Gov active role in economy
Post-war inflation: dealt with it reaching over 20% in 1946, and labor strikes in coal and rail
His attempts to uphold New Deal policies were challenged by a conservative Congress (ex. Full Employment Act)
B. Taft-Hartley Act (1947)
Strikes and demands for better wages created tension between workers and companies (bc of inflation from wartime price controls & struggles for food)
Unions shut down industries
Democratic party seen as responsible
Truman threatened to enlist strikers in the military
Taft-Hartley Act A 1947 law: passed over Truman's veto; undermined some of the pro-labor provisions of the 1935 Wagner Act & restricted the power of labor unions.
Supporters: Pro-business Republicans & conservative Democrats
Outlawed "closed shops" (which required all to join the union if a majority of them favored a union shop).
Limited the power of labor unions, reversing many pro-labor laws.
Mandatory cooling-off periods before strikes, aimed at protecting national interests.
Restricted union political activities and certain practices, changing future labor dynamics.
C. 1948 Election
Republican party candidate: Thomas Dewey
Progressive Party: Henry A. Wallace
friendly relations with the Soviet Union, racial desegregation, and nationalization of basic industries.
Democratic Party: Truman
Pro-civil rights
States' Rights Democratic Party (the Dixiecrats): segregationist Strom Thurmond
Truman unexpectedly won re-election, gaining support from African Americans for his civil rights stance.
Campaigned in Harlem & Northern AA voters
His slogan, "The Buck Stops Here," showcased his commitment to tackling corruption.
The election exposed conflicts within the Democratic Party, including challenges from conservative Dixiecrats.
D. Truman's Fair Deal
Truman introduced the Fair Deal in 1949, promoting civil rights and social welfare to combat post-war inequalities for poor, elderly, & AA
Anti-lynching bill, national healthcare, federal aid for education, housing assistance, and raising the minimum wage but faced strong opposition in Congress.
National Housing Act (1949): for affordable housing.
Met great resistance by southern conservatives in congress
Medical Association: denounced his health insurance plan as "socialized medicine,"
Roman Catholic Church: opposed aid to education because it would not include parochial schools.
Response to troops in Korea:
Reservists & National guardsmen: didn’t want to go to duty
Americans stockpiling sugar, coffee, and canned goods-thus causing
Inflation
1951: approval rating 23%
E. Eisenhower's Dynamic Conservatism (1952)
Eisenhower appealed to both democrats and republicans (was republican)
Eisenhower’s Dynamic conservatism: reducing spending while also supporting human rights programs.
His administration increased Social Security benefits and education funding, favoring scientific studies.
Education funding motivated by Cold War fears (Russian success with Sputnik)
He aimed for balanced budgets while maintaining support for social welfare thu Cold War pressures
F. Growth of the Military-Industrial Complex
Bc of: Three recessions (in 1953-1954, 1957-1958, and 1960-1961) & the tremendous cost of America's global activities: the Republican administration turned to deficit spending
Eisenhower's presidency saw increased defense spending, leading to a military-industrial complex & too much on federal budget
Military Industrial complex: In his exit speech, he warned abt continuing the trend of only investing in a strong military & called for balance between defense & social needs.
Nobody dared to criticize the gov: Americans glorified America as perfect & expressed anxiety against the threat of Communism bc of the Cold War
25-3 Cold War Fears and Anticommunis
Fear abt the war & communism enabled trampling on civil liberties, suppression of dissent, & persecution of Americans
Communism Red Scare: Americans violently feared communism & believed US was being too soft on Soviet Union
A. Espionage and Nuclear Fears
Fears of the USSR led to concerns about spying and nuclear war, especially after the hydrogen bomb and Korean War (1950-1953).
Ex. Top secret project Venona found Soviet telegraph cables
Gov kept evidence of persecution for spies secret; made gov seem unreasonable & excessive
Fear of nuclear war: events like the launch of Sputnik, Rosenberg trial, & new Soviet nuclear bomb heightened fears of communist infiltration
People prepared for potential nuclear attacks with civil defense drills and bomb shelters (even in schools)
Life magazine: featured backyard fallout shelters.
B. Politics of Anticommunism
The House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) investigated alleged communist threats, leading to fear and accusations, particularly in Hollywood.
These events created a culture of mistrust affecting many sectors of society.
Anticommunism united both political parties, exemplified by the McCarran Internal Security Act of 1950, which imposed controls on subversive activities.
C. McCarthyism (1949)
Red Panic
HUAC targeted university professors for communism
Demanded lists of textbooks, loyalty oaths for faculty
Professors reduced controversial material, protested, & CIO expelled unions for communism
Senator Joseph McCarthy’s claims about communists in the government fueled political hysteria and fear
His accusations led to civil rights abuses and a culture of paranoia.
Followers: labor union officials, religious leaders, media, politicians
Ex. (bootlack at Pentagon questioned by FBI bc he gave $10 to a defense fund for the Scottsboro boys who had a communist attorney)
Women in New York: called communists by New York World Telegram for wanting to continue wartime daycare programs
The backlash against his tactics led to his censure by the Senate in 1954, showing the limits of McCarthyism.
D. Anticommunism in Congress
Most public figures thought it was risky to resist Mcarthyism & Democrats supported it
Internal Security (McCarran) Act (1950) - required members of “Communist-front” organizations to register with the g ov & prohibited them from holding gov jobs or traveling abroad; bipartisan support
Communist Control Act - made membership in the communist party illegal
Democrat Hubert H. Humphrey: chief supporter
Anticommunism was fueled by controversial trials of Americans accused of being Soviet spies
Congressman Richard Nixon: HUAC member; accused former state Dep official Alger Hiss of espionage; convicted for lying abt contracts with Soviets
Ethel & Julius Rosenburg: arrested for passing atomic secrets
There was evidence abt Rosenburg but it wasn’t revealed & used in the trial until Cllinton
E. Waning of the Red Scare
McCarthy used headline sensational accusations before deadlines to prevent reporters from verifying his claims
Despite unreliability, newspapers widely feature him
Mcarthy condemned for sullying the dignity of the state after accusing the US army of protecting communists & being exposed for falsehood; ending his career as a communist hunter
Joseph Welch intervened & exposed him of being wrong
25-4 The Struggle for Civil Rights
US social movements against discrimination were motivated by wanting support from AFrican & Asian third world neutral countries
Opponents of civil rights movement: called it communistic
FBI & local law enforcement agencies: used Cold War fears to claim legitimacy as they investigated civil rights activists
A. Black Political Power
Truman: supported civil rights for political & moral reasons; against racial riots by KKK;
Executive order: Established President’s Committee on Civil Rights
Executive orders: End discrimination in fed gov
1: “Fair employment” policy in fed jobs
2: End segregation in military quickly without affecting morale
Military finally complied later by Korean War
Media & public opinion became less negative abt civil rights
The mid-20th century saw increased activism among African Americans for civil rights, led by organizations like the NAACP, SNCC, and CORE promoting voting rights and fighting segregation.
Leaders like W.E.B. Du Bois and Martin Luther King Jr. gained national visibility for their advocacy.
B. Legal Victories
Northern state legislatures: prohibited employment discrimination
NAACP Legal Defense & Educational fund: national success; Thurgood Marshall; resisted “separate but equal” using literal interpretation
Gave AA admission to formerly segregation schools
Smith V. Allwright (1944): Outlawed whites-only primaries held by Democratic party in southern states
Morgan v. Virginia (1946) - struck down segregation in interstate bus transportation
Shelly v. Kraemer (1948) Court held racially restrictive covenants (private agreements with white homeowners not to sell to blacks) illegal to be enforced
Landmark Supreme Court cases like Brown v. Board of Education (1954) deemed school segregation unconstitutional, weakening Jim Crow laws.
Desegregation was ruled that it had to be gradual
Legislative victories such as the Voting Rights Act (1965) energized and unified civil rights efforts.
But segregation still remained (ex. 1951 bombing murder of NAACP Florida state director & his wife)
Despite rulings, local resistance often obstructed progress, as seen in events like the Little Rock Nine in 1957, requiring federal intervention for desegregation.
C. Montgomery Bus Boycott
Civil rights in both North & South but mostly South
Rosa Parks: The Montgomery Bus Boycott (black women & civil rights organizations sparked by her arrest) began after her arrest in 1955 for not giving up her seat.
Martin Luther King Jr. became a leading figure advocating for nonviolent protest & civil disobedience, mobilizing support through this boycott.
Montgomery bus boycott: AA rallied in churches, sang hymns, & prayed the nation would overcome segregation & discrimination; persistent despite city officials harassment tactics
The boycott's success led to a Supreme Court ruling against bus segregation, inspiring further activism.
D. White Resistance
Communities in border states: quietly implemented school desegregation
Southern moderates: gradual rollback of segregation
KKK: White violence increased (ex. Emmett Till: took offense to the way he spoke to a white women & murdered him)
White Citizens’ Councils: Resisting desegregation; From Business & Professional ppl; called “uptown KKK”; used economic power to resist
Ex. State laws taht paid private-scshool tuitiion fro white children who left public schools to avoid integration & refused funding integrated schools
FBI director Edgar Hoover: Warned of communism among civil rights
Northern cities: persistence grew; AA in cities increased drastically
Stores & factories refused to hire AA
Race riots against AA moving to neighborhoods (ex. Cicero, Chicago 1951)
Chicago: very racially divided (U.S. Commission on Civil Rights 1959 proclaimed it as segregated)
E. Federal Authority vs States' Rights
Eisenhower: avoided civil rights actions but disapproved of segregation
Wanted local desegregation; against compulsory by law & to maintain Southern relations
“The Southern “C: Manifesto”: condemned Brown Decision as above court’s power & violating states rights & condemned states that resisted forced integration lawfully
Federal efforts to enforce civil rights often faced resistance from Southern states, notably during the University of Alabama's integration crisis in 1963 involving George Wallace
Events such as the Little Rock (The high school rejected integration & attacked black students) integration highlighted tensions between federal and state authority
Federal power against segregation
President Eisenhower responded with federal troops to uphold court decisions, showcasing the federal government's commitment to civil rights.
The following year Faubus closed all public high schools
Civil Rights Act: Created US Commission on Civil Rights to investigate a voting rights act passed three years later (was not fully effective)
1957 Christian Leadership Conference: Martin Luther King Jr. became the first pres of it
25-5 Creating a Middle-Class Nation
American society more inclusive (broad middle-class & suburban culture
Class, ethnicity, religion, & regional divisions less important
Least economic inequality between wealthy & middle class in past 100 years
New suburbs: Diverse ppl cooperated to build communities, schools, churches
Spread of knowledge: Middle-class Americans used national media rather than regional or ethnic traditions for advice on matters for life
Consumption opportunities: teenage culture, suburban ranch-lifestyle
A. Prosperity for More Americans
Economic boom caused by consumer spending; production increased to meet demand
Gov spent money into defense industries making jobs
Tax rates: High on rich Americans (91%); funded defense industry
Weapon dev & airforce spending: required educated scientists, engineer, & white collar workers; expanded professional middle class
Transistor Invention 1950s: Computer revolution & transistor radio; affected youth culture; caused by gov funded research
Both gross national product and per capita income soared during the economic boom from 1946 to 1962.
Labor relations & management increased economic prosperity
United Auto Workers & General motors: provided workers health insurance, pension plans, & guaranteed cost-of-living adjustments
COLAs: protect wages from inflation
1950 agreement “The Treaty of Detroit” (named by Fortune magazine) gave GM workers a contract with regular wage increases for productivity
Unions became less demanding for benefits
Union families became middle class
B. Sunbelt & Economic Growth
Sunbelt & southern growth
WWII defense industry plants & military training camps channelled federal money to the South (South’s economy was weak)
Postwar: Defense spending (aerospace) shifted economic dev from Northeast & Midwest to South & southwest Sunbelt
Gov actions: tax breaks from oil companies, siting military bases, awarding of defense & aerospace contracts Agribusiness, Oil industry, real estate, recreation
Foreign investment
Industry attraction: right-to-work laws (outlawed closed shops), low taxes, low bills
Populations in Sunbelt cities increased & ppl migrated
C. A New Middle-Class Culture
Middle class white collar workers increased drastically (bc of union workers getting middle-class incomes & veterans doing manager & professional jobs)
Majority of families incomes were middle class
Working class culture decreased & became assimilated into middle class
AA weren’t represented in middle-class prosperity
Middle-income AA, Latinos, & Asians participated in middle-class culture
D. Whiteness & National Culture
National middle class culture enabled by:
More homogenous American population
Immigration restrictions in 1920s reduced diversity in 1950s
Asia, Africa, & Latin America (allowed Europeans)
Europeans became American-washed after generations
Suburbs
Migrants of diff backgrounds came together & mixed cultures & communities
Alaska & Hawaii: Brought diverse Native, Asian, & Pacific ppl to US population
America small towns & urban ethnic enclaves: homogenous & intolerant of cultural innovation; ppl moved from there to suburbs
E. Television
Taught Americans how to be middle class & their behaviors:
National mass media
Ex. Women magazines: Gave American recipes from national brand name products to replace ethnic dishes
Television
Almost half of Americans had TV’s by 1953 & 90% by 1960
Suburban families on TV: showed middle class family behaviors, roles, & solving crisises with wisdom & humor (nobody yelled or hit)
Ex. Andersons (Father Knows Best) & Cleavers (Leave it to Beaver)
Most ppl watched the same networks (ABC, CBS, NBC)
TV economics: Corporations that bought advertising avoided offending consumers & losing sales
AA were underrepresented in TV bc of their little population percentage & weak economic influence
Black musician Nat King Cole was popular on NBC TV but not sponsored
TV enabled a homogenous, white, middle class culture
Suburban Expansion and Economic Growth
The post-war economic boom fostered a middle-class lifestyle, marked by home ownership and consumer spending.
Suburban communities like Levittown reshaped American life by providing families with space and comfort.
Housing and infrastructure development supported this shift toward suburban living, altering societal norms.
F. Consumer Culture
Ppl used consumer choices to express themselves & to connect with other middle-class Americans
Cars: Americans spent a bunch of money on cars; Consumer debt rose
A rise in goods like appliances & cars drove economic growth fueled by mass consumption and advertising
F. Religion
Membership in Christian churches doubled between WWII & 1960s
Americans seeking comfort from war with religion
Mass media: Preachers (ex. Billy Graham) made national congregations from TV audiences & preached promising salvation with Cold War patriotism
Churches community: Welcomed newcomers, celebrated life rituals, supported sick & old communities
25-6 Men, Women, and Youth at Midcentury
Homes & families: Offered good life & comfort
Ppl got comfort from private life instead of public engagement
Family & home commitment increased
Social Pressures emphasized gender roles & limited men & women
A. Marriage & Famlies
Media representations reinforced the nuclear family model, emphasizing conformity and familial stability
Most Americans married young
From fears that Premarital sex would ruin the woman’s reputation, impregnate the woman, or psychologically damage her
Americacns formed families of three when they were young
Birth control (condoms): widely used for couples who wanted to limit children
Most married couples wanted a large family
Like TV, most children had married parents; very little children born outside of marriage; divorce rates increased in 1960 then decreased in 1980s
B. Gender Roles in 1950s Families
Traditional gender roles defined men as breadwinners and women as homemakers.
Economic & social structure & cultural values determined what choices were available to men & women
White families lived in middle-class comfort on just the husband’s salary easily (not African American families)
Women urged to stay home to take care of children
Childcare experts (ex. DR. Benjamin Spock 1956 Baby & Child Care): Articles insisted women’s roles
Social pressures & discrimination limited women’s career and educational opportunities (hiring discrimination)
American schools & religious institutions benefited from womens’ volunteer labor
Until movements like second-wave feminism emerged from critiques like Betty Friedan's "The Feminine Mystique" (1955).
C. Women in Work
Women disillusionment from ideal family life
Women felt isolated from world experiences
Belief in finding emotional satisfaction in private life put pressure on marriages & family relationships
Women managed both job & family responsibilities & worked part
Women worked part-time for family goals (not for independence)
Number of women in workforce who were married increased
Working woman discrimination
Hiring Ads were segregated on gender & wage gap was high
Women were restricted to lower level (kinda domestic) jobs
Talented women were suppressed
Modern Vfloman: The Lost Sex: Explained ambitious women & feminists were envied by men
Textbooks & magezines warned women against competing with men & undermined career women as manly women
Law & medical schools had barely any women
D. Crisis of Masculinity
Academics & media critics described masculinity crisis
Sociologist William H.Whyte: Explained postwar corporate employees became organization men, conformists, & non-individualists & non risk-takers
Women’s desire for security blamed for restricting men’s adventurousness
Cold War arguments: Nation’s future at risk if masculinity isn’t back
Male condemnation in magazines for not conforming to husband, father, & breadwinner standards (despite those being blamed for masculinity crisis)
E. Sexuality
Consequences for sexual misconduct was severe
Pregnant women outside of marriage & homosexuals hated by friends & family, expelled from schools, & jailed
Americans broke sexual rules
Director Aflfred Kinsey: Sex Research at Indiana Uni; half of womenwho rebuked premarital sex had it & 37% men had homosexual relations
Sexual Behavior in the Human Male (1948) & Sexual Behavior in the Human Female (1953):
Chicago Tribune: Called Kinsey a menace for insulting women
F. Youth Culture
Caused by stability & prosperity
Youth subcultures:
White, Middle Class, Suburban youth, Black, Urban teens, White working class
Youth culture customs influenced from peer groups & national media teen magazines, movies, radio, advertising & music
“Baby boom” youth communities populated schools
American corporation & advertising
Teen targeted products were big industries (ex. Slinky, barbie, Disney)
Teen economic influence was strong (movies & hollywood especially)
The Cool and the Crazy, Senior Prom, James Dean's Rebel Without a Cause.
Movies made teens copy delinquency, fads, & fashions
Movies showed theories of sexuality & masculinity
Music
Bill Haley and the Comets, Chuck Berry, Little Richard, and Buddy Holly, Elvis Presley
Rock and roll symbolized rebellion against traditional values.
Inspired by African American rhythms & blues
AA music replaced by whites for cover versions
Increased extra money led to unique styles and youth spending trends centered around figures like James Dean and Elvis Presley.
Adult worries
Kids would go too far sexually
Juvenile delinquency (crime rates rose after WWII)
Courts blamed it on youth culture: comic books
Youth consumer culture fit into adult consumer culture
G. Challenges to Middle Class Culture
American counterculture: Beats
Beat writers rejected both middle-class social decorum and contemporary literary conventions
Jack Kerouac: author of On the Road
Beats supported freedom from life demands; sexual freedom & drug use
Allen Ginsberg: “Howl” 1956: Angry incantational poem; put on an obscenity trial; American publishing became broader
Mainstream press: made fun of beats; denounced their Americanness
25-7 The Limits of the Middle-Class Nation
Critics condemned Middle-class culture as conforming, homogenous, & ugly consermism
A. Critics of Conformity
Books
John Keats's The Crack in the Picture Window (1957): Ppl abandoned individuality for consumerism
D. Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye
Norman Mailer's The Naked and the Dead
Best sellers
David Riesman's The Lonely Crowd (l 950) & William H. Whyte's The Organization Man (1955) criticized the rise of conformity in American life
Magazines (ex. Ladies’ Home Journal & Readers Digest) & Movies (Invasion of the Body Snatchers) criticized suburban conformity & homogeneity
Critiques were elitist & antidemocratic
Complained distinctions among ethnic groups & socioeconomic classes declined in importance
But Americans were healthier, happier, & richer
These critiques laid the groundwork for the counterculture movements of the 1960s, seeking broader societal change.
B. Environmental Degredation
The mid-century consumer lifestyle led to environmental problems like pollution, degradation, & waste of out-of-date products .
Bc ppl commuted far most used cars causing pollution
Water taken from nature for Sunbelt cities (pools, golf courses)
Fast industrial growth (steel mills, generators, car engine caused pollution) raised concerns for long-term ecological viability, signaling future environmental movements.
Defense Contractors & farmers: Worst pollutors
Nuclear weapon facilities poisoned soil & water
Agriculture used pesticides & chemicals (ex. DDT)
Few ppl understood consequences of economictransformation
US post industrial economy where providing goods & services to consumers is more important than producing
Union membership grew bc most jobs created were not in heavy industries for blue collar workers but in union resistant white collar jobs
Productivity increased by technological advancements & automation
Pushed ppl out of blue collar jobs to growing & less paid service jobs
Increased awareness of these issues set the stage for groups advocating for conservation, such as those inspired by Rachel Carson's "Silent Spring" (1962).
C. Ongoing Racism
Suburbs North & South racially segregated (Americans had little contact with other races) bc of segregation & unequal racial distribution in towns
Americans disregarded race & didn’t see AA as middle class
Poverty: ⅕ poor ppl were of non-white; ⅔ lived in uneducated households or ¼ with single women; ⅔ under 18 & ¼ over 65
Social security payments helped elderly but many weren’t covered & medical costs increased poverty
D. Poverty in an Age of Abundance
Wealthy whites settled in suburbs; poor ppl in inner cities
AA from south & Latin Americans moved to inner cities for better lives & opportunities
Strong economy & low employment rate increased their living standard
Discrimination: limited their advancements; crowded & bad housing; poor schools
Fed Aid programs for middle class made poor lives worse
Ex. National Housing act of 1949: Made a decent home for every American family available; cleared slums making poor ppl lose their homes
Agribusiness Rural poverty: Pushed tenant farmers & owners of small farms off land
Farmer population declined bc of mechanization
Former farmers moved to north & then got urban poverty
West & Southwest: Mexicans as cheap labor under bracero program
Mexicans legal & undocumented
Native Americans
Super low income
Eisenhower termination fed policy: Reversed Indian Reorganization Act of 1934; allowed Natives to terminate their tribal status & remove reservation lands from fed protection that prohibited their sale
(Ex. Klamaths lived on a reservation rich in ponderosa pine & accepted termination selling their shares); way of life collapsed
Native Americans left reservations to cities for jobs & new lives
Most Americans after Great Depression & WWII enjoyed prosperity, economic security, & middle class postwar & were unaware of struggles
Their baby boom children would notice racism & poverty & fight it