Happy+Days



That's a great question, don't you think? We will answer it in class on Thursday in a (hopefully) fun activity, but to prepare, we should do a little background reading and watching. R**ead "The Fifties" in __Creating America__ (28-3, pp. 800-803), read over the ABC-CLIO links posted below, and w****atch the videos below.**  CONCERNING LIFE IN THE FIFTIES FOR CLASS ON THURSDAY. WE WILL USE IT TO WRITE SOME DIALOGUE ...**
 * FOR HOMEWORK, CREATE A LIST (IN YOUR ONLINE NOTEBOOK) OF POSITIVES AND NEGATIVES

[|The Cold War at Home] / [|The Economy Booms] / [|The Sky is the Limit] / [|Boom-Time for Babies and Houses]  Positive:
 * Eisenhower, once President, expanded Social Security, increased the minimum wage for workers, created the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare.
 * Congress passed the Highway Act of 1956, provided 32 billion to build 41,000 miles of highway
 * United States grew by 30 million people. This increase was mostly because of a baby boom, a sharp increase in the United States birthrate following WWII.
 * Baby Boom spurred the growth of suburbs. Then, to serve the suburbs, movie theaters, shopping center, and restaurants sprouted up.
 * Because of suburbs, cars sales exploded. Few busses or other forms of public transportation existed.
 * The movement of people to the sunbelt increased the population of the warmer states of the South and Southwest
 * Parents were now satisfied that their children were in a pleasant and safe atmosphere.
 * Popular magazines, films, and television programs praised women for their role of the housekeeper
 * The Economy was booming. Americans filled their homes with dishwashers, washing machines, clothes, dryers, and vacuums.
 * Hollywood cranked out westerns, musicals, and romances
 * Rock and Roll became a big hit
 * U.S. industry responded not only to American consumer demand but also to demand around the world. By 1952, the United States was supplying 65% of the world's manufactured goods
 * Government programs like the GI Bill offered low-cost housing and education loans to returning servicemen, which brought college education and home ownership to more Americans
 * Demand for schools, shops, and retail businesses meant an increase in service jobs. Many more Americans joined the middle class as they obtained homes, education, and disposable income
 * Technological advances had allowed the creation of a plethora of goodies, and television advertising. By 1949, Americans were buying 250,000 televisions a month
 * American sciences of many kinds blossomed during a time of great economic prosperity. Organizations such as the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis sponsored huge medical research projects
 * Doctors began to use antibiotics more often in the treatment of disease. This made many previously life-threatening conditions relatively easy to treat.
 * Living in the suburbs was made possible by the fact that more and more families could afford automobiles
 * A housing bill passed in 1948 made 30-year mortgages available to new home buyers. In addition, the bill allowed veterans to buy houses with no down payment. This gave thousands of struggling new families a chance to own their own homes.

Negative: > >
 * In 1957, one out of every five Americans lived in poverty
 * Immigration from Mexico increased greatly. Many crossed the border illegally and other came through the government.
 * New types of music, and especially rock and roll, took away from poetry and writing.
 * In 1947, a congressional committee called the House UnAmerican Activities Committee (HUAC) was hard at work, targeting the film and television industry. The producers, writers, actors, and actresses involved in the media had to be monitored
 * The HUAC's most visible tactic was a "blacklist." Names of suspected communists were placed on a list. No one in the industry would dare hire people whose names were on the list
 * Separate but equal was still the standard in schools and public facilities, but separate was emphasized more than equal. The burgeoning civil rights movement brought some of these problems to light, and changes began to be made to attempt to correct the inequalities
 * Fear of Soviet Union was successful atomic bomb
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif,Verdana;">The Red Scare, a wave of panic form fear of a Communist revolution
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif,Verdana;">"MacArthy Period"