Us History-1940′S And 1950′S Essay, Research Paper

Introduction

One of the first thing staff Sergeant Samuel Goldenberg did when he returned from the Second World War was to make love to his wife Eve. One of her first questions was whether he had been unfaithful. Sam told her that only one man in his entire unit didn’t fool around.

The postwar booms: Business and Babies

Baby Boom

The baby boom was both a cause and an effect of prosperity. It was natural for the birthrate to soar immediately following a war; what was unusual was that it continued to do so throughout the 1950s the annual total exceeded 4 million, reversing the downward trend in birthrates that had prevailed for 150 years. Births began to decline after 1961, but continued to exceed 4 million per year through 1964.

Military Spending

The third cornerstone of the postwar economic boom was military spending. When the Defense Department was established in 1947, the nation was spending just over ten billion a year on defense. Beginning with the Korean War in the early 1950s, defense spending skyrocketed.

The Computer Revolution

The microchip facilitated the shift from heavy manufacturing to high tech industries in fiber optics, lasers, video equipment, robotics, and genetic engineering. Sales of office and business equipment reflected the growth in technology based production. In 1965, almost three billion worth of computing equipment was sold; by 1970, the figure had almost doubled to 5.7 billion.

Union Workers’ Benefits

The postwar economic boom was good for unionized blue collar workers, many of whom won real increases in wages, sufficient to enjoy a middle class lifestyle that previously had been the exclusive province of white collar workers, businesspeople, and professionals.

DDT

Among the country’s worst polluters were defense contractors and farmers. Nuclear processing plants that produced plutonium for atomic bombs also produced radioactive waste with a half-life of two thousand years. Refuse from nuclear weapons facilities at Hanford, Washington, and at Colorado’s Rocky Flats arsenal polluted soil and water resources for years.

The Growth of Suburbs

Housing Boom

Government funding helped these new families to settle in the suburbs. Low interest GI mortgages and Federal Housing Administration mortgage insurance made the difference for people who otherwise would have been unable to afford a home. It was this easy credit, combined with postwar prosperity that produced a construction boom.

Highway Construction

Highway construction opened up previously remote rural lands for transformation into suburbs. In 1947 Congress authorized construction of a 37,000-mile chain of highways. In 1956, President Eisenhower signed the Highway Act, which launched a 41,000-mile nationwide network.

Ideals of Motherhood and the Family

Working Women

Meanwhile, however, women continued the wartime trend toward work outside the home. The female labor force rose from 17 million in 1946 to 32 million in 1970. Most of these new women workers found themselves segregated n low paying jobs as clerks, secretaries, and nurses. Women had entered the labor force without the support of organized women’s movement.

The GI Bill

Immediately after the Second world war, many former GI’s had enrolled in college and set up housekeeping with their wives and babies in abandoned military barracks on college campuses. The legislation that made this possible was the Servicemen’s Readjustment Act of 1944, popularly known as the GI Bill of Rights.

Religion in Postwar America

As education became intertwined with national security, religion became a matter of patriotism. After all, the United States was locked in mortal combat with an atheistic enemy. Religious leaders also emphasized traditional values like family togetherness. The bible topped the best seller lists and books with religious themes told people how to apply religious precepts to the pursuit of worldly success.

The Other America

Mexican-Americans

Second only to African Americans in numbers of urban newcomers were Mexican-Americans. Millions came as farm workers during and after the war, and increasing numbers remained to make their lives in the United States. Despite the initiation in 1953 of Operation wetback, a federal program to find and deport illegal aliens, Mexicans continued to enter the country in large numbers, many of them illegally.

Women in Poverty

A disproportionate share of the poor was a woman. Occupational segregation was still pervasive, and the better paying positions were reserved for men. In 1945 many women who wanted to remain in the factories and shipyards were pushed out to make way for returning veterans.

Middle class America at Play

TV enters the American Home

Of the new luxuries, television was the most revolutionary in its effects. By 1950 television had loosened radio’s grip on the American public. The number of households with TVs climbed from 8,000 in 1946 to 4 million in 1950, to 46 million in 1960.

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