There were many societal changes in America post World War II. The war made it possible for new opportunities and experiences. Along with the end of the war, so did too end the Great Depression. Demonstrations and music portrayed this change nation and worldwide. Although the Civil Rights Movement started before the end of the war, it wasn’t until post war that opportunities for employment were largely available, even for the minorities, those being blacks and women. Factories that had once been closed due to the Depression were being reopened and operating at full production. Many new factories were opened and those who had previously been excluded were now able to work. The result was a considerable increase in income for many Americans. In the 1960’s, working class wages leveled off and began to decline due to the American overconfidence of the economic recovery in that each generation would be more successful and affluent than the one before it. Americans had to relearn that there are limits for everyone and everything. After the war everyone felt the need for family and a sense of security. This brought around the baby boom. The birthrate increased exponentially, by more than 10 million in 10 years. The development of suburbs came with the new jobs and additions to the family. The life of the people who lived in the suburbs was different than those who lived in the city. Boy scouts and girl scouts, the teacher association at schools, and barbeques were the new life of the people who lived in the suburbs. The United States was a fast paced changing nation. Living conditions improved along with advancements in the medical field. With these changes came a longer life expectancy. These advancements continue today and aid in ... ... middle of paper ... ...of a roller coaster ride. Fear caused a search for safety and routine that ultimately led to a sense that political beliefs must be the same as mainstream America. Music brought a sense of optimism. A much needed sense of relief. Class differences declined in the 1950s and this, too, reinforced the sense of conformity. The elite of the industrial era, farmers, and even working people were no longer identifiable or distinctive as an economic class. Some argued that the American worker had acquired middle-class buying habits and social values. However, the unified, classless society was just an illusion. Americans in the 1950s attended church more regularly. Church attendance doubled between 1945 and 1960. The religious revival of the 1950s can be explained from a number of perspectives. For some, church attendance was what one did because everyone else was doing it.
One of the greatest transformations to American society was the mass migration of families from the inner cities to the suburbs. This was thought to make for a better quality of life and a stronger nuclear family. The migration led to the rebirth of American religion, which was associated with suburban living. Less than fifty percent of Americans belonged to specific churches before the onset of World War II, but by the middle of the 1950, this number grew to almost seventy-five percent. Families spent more time together due to the distance from other families and recreational facilities.
Throughout the twentieth century, both World War I and World War II significantly impacted American society in several ways. From 1917 to 1918, the United States’ involvement in World War I began an increase in the number of women in the workplace that would steadily continue throughout much of the twentieth century. The United States once again played a major role in World War II from 1941 to 1945, and this war is actually seen as a turning point for women in the workplace. During the two world wars, women workers were impacted by discrimination, the danger of the work they completed, and the portrayal of women in propaganda during both world wars, and yet the different time periods of the two world wars led to differences in how women were impacted in the workplace. Although there are several similarities and differences in how World War I and World War II impacted women in the workplace throughout the 20th century, both world wars played a role in challenging the accepted role of women in society.
The American home front during World War II is recalled warmly in popular memory and cultural myth as a time of unprecedented national unity, years in which Americans stuck together in common cause. World War II brought many new ideas and changes to American life. Even though World War II brought no physical destruction to the United States mainland, it did affect American society. Every aspect of American life was altered by U.S. involvement in the war including demographics, the labor force, economics and cultural trends.
The 1950s seemed like a perfect decade. The rise of suburbs outside cities led to an expansion of the middle class, thus allowing more Americans to enjoy the luxuries of life. The rise of these suburbs also allowed the middle class to buy houses with land that used to only be owned by more wealthy inhabitants. Towns like Levittown-one of the first suburbs- were divided in such a way that every house looked the same (“Family Structures”). Any imperfections were looked upon as unfavorable to the community as a whole. Due to these values, people today think of the 1950s as a clean cut and model decade. This is a simplistic perception because underneath the surface, events that took place outside the United States actually had a direct effect on our own country’s history. The rise of Communism in Russia struck fear into the hearts of the American people because it seemed to challenge their supposedly superior way of life.
As World War Two came to a close, a new American culture was developing all across the United States. Families were moving away from crowded cities into spacious suburban towns to help create a better life for them during and after the baby boom of the post-war era. Teenagers were starting to become independent by listing to their own music and not wearing the same style of clothing as their parents. Aside from the progress of society that was made during this time period, many people still did not discuss controversial issues such as divorce and sexual relations between young people. While many historians regard the 1950s as a time of true conservatism at its finest, it could really be considered a time of true progression in the American way of life.
On the heels of war, new technology caused a decrease in prices of goods in the 1920’s and in the 1950’s the GI Bill increased income. The bureaucratization of business in the 1920’s meant that more people could be employed in higher paying white-collar jobs than before, including, for the first time, housewives. This new income combined with the reduced prices for goods that resulted from mechanized production, assembly lines and a general decrease of the cost of technology created a thriving consumerist middle class that went on to fuel the economy in all sectors, especially the upper classes. Likewise, during World War II Americans saved up around 150 billion dollars, and this sum combined with the income of the GI Bill allowed normal people to buy expensive things, from houses to cars to electronics to educations at a rapid rate, fueling the trademark prosperity of the 1950’s. The new automobile culture of the 50’s spawned new businesses that catered to mobile Americans, such as nicer and more standardized hotels like Holiday Inn, and drive-up restaurants like McDonalds. Just as the culture of the 1920’s was transfo...
The rapid economic expansion and changing social attitudes both contributed to the growing sense of confidence shown in the 1920’s. Due to new ideas and better working conditions, the economy was booming. More people were able to afford goods due to the fact that they could be produced in greater numbers allowing the prices to decrease. This led to significant increases in the sales of products such as cars, refrigerators, radios and cookers. A man by the name of John R. Lee mentioned that companies successfully lowered the prices of the convenient car in order to make it affordable for more people to purchase their products. Also, there were plenty of jobs with better working conditions than before the war that allowed people to step into the middle class (D). Hoover also stated that to keep the economy going, the companies would have to maintain their moral values and treat the workers well, but the workers should not try to ask for too much. The balance that he spoke of was se...
Religion in the 1950s was a very important aspect to many citizens living in America. The amount that religion affected the population was shown by the increase of religious groups at the time, it was stated in “The 1940s: Religion: Overview.” from American Decades, “..by 1950 more than 55 percent were members of religious groups, a figure that would increase to 69 percent by the end of the 1950s.” However, this number had not been the same throughout 20th century America. The amount of people in America that had been going to worship their religious figures during the Great Depression was a very small percentage of Americans. The number only started to increase after World War II came to a closing and brought major economic prosperity to America. This burst of church growth in America during the time
The solution ended up being the Great Migration. The main pull factors of this migration was the fact that there were opportunities in the North and that African Americans received better treatment in the North. The push factors consisted of the unfair working conditions that the African Americans had to deal with. Even though slavery had been banished, the African Americans were not getting treated with the respect they wanted. African Americans wanted to migrate north because of the way southerners were treating them. The African Americans needed a fresh start. The Great Migration started when the demand for workers in the north was high and African Americans were getting tired of getting treated poorly. It was estimated that a total of 1,254,000 African Americans migrated out of the South from World War I to the end of the TwentiesThe demand was high because former workers got drafted to war and business owners needed new workers because America needed to produce the supplies for war. The business owners were in such a need for workers that they would pay the cost of moving for African Americans (“Great Migration” Blackpast). During and after the war, the African Americans worked in the factories boosting the economy. The US economy
The decade after the First World War saw tremendous change. Progressivism was a leading factor of World War I and in the 1920’s the evidence can be seen. Industries were making their products at an increasing rate. Products that were not populous before World War I were now used by millions of Americans. The automobile was only used by less than ten million of Americans and by the end of this post war decade that number has climbed to over thirty million. Also many new inventions were coming through making life for Americans much more comfortable. Radios, vacuum cleaners, irons, washing machines, and refrigerators were among the new necessities Americans just had to have.
During the post WWII period in America, the face of the nation changed greatly under the presidency of Truman and Eisenhower. America underwent another era of good feelings as they thought themselves undefeatable and superior over the rest of the world. Communism was the American enemy and American sought to rid the world of it. Because of the extreme paranoia caused by Communism, conformity became an ideal way to distinguish American Culture from the rest. Conformity became a part of every American Life to a large extent. It became evident through the medium of culture, society and politics throughout the era of the 50s.
Music can be traced back into human history to prehistoric eras. To this day archeologists uncover fragments of ancient instruments as well as tablets with carved lyrics buried alongside prominent leaders and highly influential people. This serves as a testament to the importance and power of music, as well as its influence in society. Over its many years of existence, music’s powerful invocation of feelings has allowed it to evolve and serve many purposes, one being inspiring change. American journalist and author Hunter S. Thompson once said, “Music has always been a matter of energy to me, a question of fuel. Sentimental people call it inspiration, but what they really mean is fuel.” This fuel is the very things that powers the influence of Rock ‘n’ Roll on American society, that author Glenn C. Altschuler writes about in his book, “All Shook Up – How Rock ‘n’ Roll Changed America.” Between 1945 and 1965 Rock ‘n’ Roll transformed American society and culture by helping to ease racial integration and launch a sexual revolution while most importantly developing an intergenerational identity.
The 1950s was a time when conformity held supreme in the culture at large. Issues such as women 's rights were thrown to the back as people tried to remain in the popular form of a family. These issues being put off only caused the prolonging of the tumultuous 1960s that would soon
World War II changed the world as a whole, but in this essay I am going to talk about how it changed America. After the war, many groups and organizations were created. The United Nations was born on October 24, 1945. This was a group meant to keep peace between nations. Tensions were still high between the United States and the Soviet Union after the war. Nevertheless, things were booming like never before here in our home country. With equal rights for women and African Americans, economic growth, and anti- war organizations became pro- war after Pearl Harbor. These are the ways I am going to discuss to you how World War Two changed our great country.
In the American Social Classes in the 1950s: Selections from Vance Packard’s The Status Seekers, which was edited with an introduction by Daniel Horowitz, Packard discusses the the social construction of America in the 1950s after the Cold War ended and McCarthyism began to diminish. There was much too cheer about during this time period, but also much to worry about Mccarthyism and the atomic bomb produced fear among millions of Americans. At the time there was much economic growth and prosperity in the United States, and the baby boom occurred. This was a time characterized by fear of communism. Many people were dissatisfied by society and unsure how to create a better one. It was widely believed that this time period created a classless society. It was an era of abundance and economic growth. Packard believed that in reality, there was a drift in society and social stratification. Page 45 in Horowitz’s book shows Packard’s view of the social structure of America at the time, The Diploma elite being higher socially, and the supporting, or working and lower classes being lower. Page 45-48 describes each class in detail, from the “real upper class”, being “people who are likely to be on the board of directors of local industries, banks, universities, and community chests to to lowest group of people on the totem pole, being the