Objectives:

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Objectives
Section 2 The Affluent Society

• How did President Eisenhower try to manage the
  nations problems?
• How did the workforce change in the 1950s?
• What was suburban life like during the 1950s?
• What was early television programming like?
• How did trends in popular culture reflect larger
  social changes among teenagers in the 1950s?

2
Eisenhowers management
Section 2 The Affluent Society

• attempted to be conservative in regard to money
  and liberal in regard to people
• expanded some programs and cut others
• Modern Republicanism- accepted public sector
  welfare responsibility (New Deal Initiatives)

3
Workforce changes in the 1950s
Section 2 The Affluent Society

• Automation increased productivity but reduced
  manufacturing jobs.
• Service positions expanded, creating more
  pink-collar jobs.
• Corruption caused support for unions to decrease.
• Corporate mergers created new white-collar jobs.
• Expansion of the Middle Class (Household Incomes
  3000.00-10,000.00)

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SECTION 2
The Affluent Society
Question How did the workforce change during the
1950s?
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SECTION 2
The Affluent Society
automation increased productivity and decreased
manufacturing jobs
expansion of service positions created new
pink-collar jobs
Changes in the 1950s Workforce
corporate mergers created new white-collar jobs
corruption decreased support for unions
6
Suburban life during the 1950s
Section 2 The Affluent Society

• many identical communities
• centered around the family
• consumerism
• conformity

7
Levittown, Pennsylvania

• Planned communities built on agricultural land
  outside major cities.
• Mass production of homes. Specialized teams of
  workers would complete one task and move to the
  next home.
• Homes all looked alike.
• Made home ownership available to more people
  Average cost 10,000
• Beginning of suburban sprawl
• No African Americans were allowed to purchase
  homes in the original Levittowns

8
Early television programming
Section 2 The Affluent Society

• Grew from a few thousand to46 million households
  in the 1950s.
• corporate-sponsored (e.g.General Electric
  Theatre)
• Can you think of any examples of
• dramas
• quiz shows
• situation comedies
• sports
• variety shows

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Popular culture and social changes
Section 2 The Affluent Society

• Satire in magazines and comic books and rebel
  characters in fiction expressed confusion and
  anger.
• Rock n roll foreshadowed civil rights
  challenges.
• Challenges social standards
• Minority performers challenged racial boundaries
• Fear that the new mass-media inspired youth
  culture would cause juvenile delinquency

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Show video Suburbia