Post-War America

1. Post-War America U.S. History Scotts Hill High School Coach Stroup

2. New Domesticity • The period following WW2 was a time of great change—as well as a national wish to return to peacetime normalcy • Television, TV dinners, box cakes, & life in the suburbs became hallmarks of a new domesticity fueled by renewed consumerism • Production of consumer goods increased as the United States geared down its war production • As in the post WW1 era, technological advances changed the way work was done in the home

3. New Domesticity • A baby boom increased the population by almost 20% during the 1950s • American workers experienced higher incomes, & the “American dream” came to include a family w/ a house in the ever-expanding suburbs • Large, suburban housing developments offered inexpensive cookie-cutter homes to returning GIs & their new families • America shifted from urban centers to sprawling suburban environments

4. New Media • More Americans stayed home to watch television instead of going out to shows or nightclubs • In 1950, approximately 4 million homes had a television • By 1960, 45 million homes had tvs • The 1960 presidential brought candidates Senator John F. Kennedy & Vice President Richard M. Nixon into America’s homes thanks to the wonder of television • 70 million viewers watched the first televised presidential debate

5. New Media • Recovering from a knee injury, Nixon looked worn, sickly, & tired next to the tan, fit, charismatic Kennedy • Though individuals listening to the radio declared Nixon the winner, television viewers believed Kennedy had won this first of four televised debates • Some 50% said the tv debates influenced their vote on election day • Politicians took notice of the power of television

6. New Media • Television showed the images of snarling police dogs & powerful fire hoses used against the demonstrators—including the images of children washed across the streets from the impact of rushing water • The country was appalled

7. Tennessee’s Influence on Music • Tennessee popularized country music on a national scale through the Grand Ole Opry—which was a radio program broadcast on Nashville’s WSM • DJs such as Ralph Emery spun country records through the night & helped make the Grand Ole Opry the longest running radio program in history • Memphis also contributed heavily to the music world through Sun Studios & Stax Records • Artists such as Elvis Presley recorded rock n’ roll @ Sun Studios & the world listened

8. Tennessee’s Influence on Music • Stax Records was a label that featured many artists such as Otis Redding & helped to expose soul music to the country & make it popular nationally

9. Expanding Horizons • Federal postwar initiatives offered some Americans opportunities to expand their horizons • Millions of former soldiers went to college on the GI Bill—which paid tuition for servicemen after the war • Congress passed the National Interstate and Defense Highway Act (or Federal Aid Highway Act) in 1956 • Deemed to be “essential to the national interest,” the act created a nationwide system of highways that allowed for easier & more extended travel & aided in the suburbanization of the United States

10. Expanding Horizons • Family vacations on the road became an American pastime, & roadside motels & sightseeing spots sprung up along highways—helping Americans further enjoy their longtime love affair w/ cars

11. Segregation Continues • As much as 1/3rd of the population lived in poverty in 1949 • Farmers faced declining farm prices • Sharecroppers in the South were particularly affected • African Americans & other ethnic minorities continued to migrate to northern cities for better work & quality of life • As African Americans, however, moved to the cities, whites left for the suburbs

12. Segregation Continues • Businesses soon followed, chipping away at urban financial bases & taking essential jobs w/ them • American became increasingly segregated as populations stratified in cities & suburbs • Racial segregation also intensified • Jim Crow laws that began in the South after Reconstruction mandated “separate but equal” • “Separate but equal” was an overstated misnomer • African Americans did not enjoy the same living standard, educational and career opportunities, public access, or facilities that whites did

13. Segregation Continues • Blacks had to pay poll taxes & take literacy tests before voting • Jim Crow laws created a maze of hurdles intentionally designed to keep African Americans from fully participating in American society, & fully exercising their civil rights

14. Changing Gender Roles • Although American women were crucial to the war effort, after WW2, they experienced changing gender roles • After years of working jobs left vacant by men during the war, as well as jobs created by the war effort, women were commonly expected to leave the workforce & focus on domestic life as wives & mothers • In the 1950s, the average marrying age for women fell to 20 years old

15. Changing Gender Roles • Women who went to college often dropped after marrying, or worked to support a husband who went on to further his education • Around 40% of already working women remained in the workforce • They were relegated, however, to what was seen as a woman’s job—such as that of nurse or secretary • Furthermore, women in the workforce did not earn as much money as men did for doing the same job

16. Changing Gender Roles • A clean house, neat appearance, & well-behaved children were stereotypical female assets • Women’s roles were reflected back to the population through mythical, idealized housewives on television sitcoms & domestic images in advertising • There was no popular alternative female image—like the flapper after WW1 • Though the emphasis on the nuclear family offered some Americans a sense of comfort, many women began to feel dissatisfied • Such dissatisfaction boosted the women’s movement in the 1960s

17. Space Race • To many, the launching of Sputnik I in 1957 made the U.S. seem far less advanced in technology & science—and thus less of a superpower—than its Cold War enemy, the Soviet Union • President Dwight D. Eisenhower’s political rivals pointed fingers @ the president for the country’s scientific failings • Eisenhower & his staff worried about the unseen military advantages of the USSR’s Sputnik

18. Space Race • Bolstered by the success of Explorer I, in January 1958, Congress passed the National Aeronautics & Space Act—establishing NASA—w/ the goal that the United States become a leader in space exploration • Public schools responded by placing greater emphasis on math & science instruction during the space race between the democratic/free-market U.S. and the totalitarian/communist USSR • Television brought the wonders of space travel into America’s homes & schools

19. Space Race • Americans watched in awe as Neil Armstrong took a American’s—and humanity’s—first step on the moon on July 20, 1969 (Apollo 11)

20. Television in the 60s • Families gathered the television in the early evening hours to watch their favorite programs • While the people had once gathered @ the home of a neighbor lucky enough to own a radio, televisions became a common fixture in homes as the country moved in the 1960s

21. Educational Changes • Education also underwent changes, aside from the G.I. Bill • Several educational theorists—like Rudolph Flesch, Arthur Bestor, and Robert Hutchins—sought to revamp public schools & university curricula to better teach reading skills, improve schools’ sense of community, & incorporate the classical Western philosophical tradition • Navy Admiral Hyman Rickover wrote about the need to improve math & science

22. Educational Changes • Mathematics & science were strengthened in school curricula w/ the onset of the Cold War under the National Defense Education Act, as the fear of Soviet domination in technology became more widespread • Often, these curricula were geared toward the most gifted students, in order to groom them for public or private research and service to the country

23. Questions • How did public education change after the National Defense Education Act? • How did the National Interstate and Defense Highway Act affect the American landscape? • What did marriage, family, and consumption of real estate and goods have in common?