Key Concepts

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Chapter 19

• Key Concepts

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• The U.S. changes from a wartime economy to a
  peacetime economy.
• Early 50s saw a limited amount of housing.
• Many defense workers were laid off of their jobs.
• Returning veterans added to the unemployment.
• Congress eventually put back controls on wages,
  prices, and rents.
• Economy began to improve on its own.
• A demand for consumer goods increased.
• During the war, many of the goods that people
  wanted were not being made.

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• Americans began to buy cars, appliances and
  houses.
• The Cold War increase defense spending and
  employment.
• Truman faced a number of problems right after the
  war Labor unrest Steel workers strike, coal
  miners strike, railroad unions threatened to
  stop rail traffic.
• Racial violence in the South.
• Congress passes bill to increase minimum wage,
  extend Social Security, and give financial aid to
  cities.

4

• American hysteria concerning communism.
• 50s saw an increase in white-collar jobs.
• Large companies offered well paying and secure
  jobs to certain types of workers.
• Businesses rewarded loyalty rather than
  creativity.
• Americans enjoyed the benefits of a booming
  economy.
• The baby boom caused a reuniting of families and
  growing prosperity.
• Medical advances were wiping out childhood
  deseases.

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• The baby boom created a need for more schools and
  products for children.
• The role of women as homemakers and mothers was
  glorified in the media.
• Some women were bored and felt alone at home.
  Consequently, by 1960, 40 of mothers worked
  outside of the home.
• Americans had more leisure time.
• Easy credit for buying cars and cheap gasoline
  led to a boom in the auto industry.
• In 1956, the U.S. began to build a better,
  nationwide highway network.

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• By the mid 1950s, nearly 60 of Americans were
  in the middle class.
• White people moved out of the cities.
• Inner cities were populated with mostly poor
  people.
• There was a rise in consumer buying.
• American businesses flooded the market with new
  products.
• With the introduction of credit cards, people
  began to buy more goods, but private debt grew.
• The 1950s became known as the advertising age.

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• Mass media includes radio, television, magazines,
  and newspapers.
• In 1950, 9 of homes had a TV. By 1960, 90 of
  homes had a TV.
• The 1950s was called the Golden Age of
  Television.
• At first, all TV shows were broadcast live.
• Television reflected the values and attitudes of
  white suburban America.
• Values reflected on TV in the 50s were secure
  jobs, material success, well-behaved children,
  and conformity.

8

• Beat movement, rock n roll, and jazz influence
  subcultures in America.
• Prosperity did reach all Americans.
• One out of every four Americans were poor.
• Cities lost taxes, quality of schools declined,
  and the quality of transportation and other
  services declined because of white flight.
• Minorities could not afford to buy new homes.
• The federal government allowed braceros to come
  in from Mexico to work the American farms.

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• Braceros stayed illegally.
• The federal government wanted the Native
  Americans to have control over their own affairs.
• 1953, the federal government stopped the
  financial support of Native Americans.
• Native Americans did not have the skills to
  succeed in the cities many were forced to live
  in.
• Discrimination is widespread effecting African
  Americans, Native Americans, and Mexican
  Americans.