Post-War AmericaU.S. HistoryScotts Hill High SchoolCoach Stroup

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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)

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

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

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

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?