Postwar Confidence and Anxiety

 Law enacted by the federal government granting veterans a variety of benefits including:
 A year of unemployment benefits for those veterans who could not find work.
 Financial aid for college/ technical training
 Government loans for building homes and starting businesses.

 Returning soldiers make up for lost time by marrying quickly and starting families.
 In 1957 (the peak of the baby boom) one American baby was born every 7 seconds.

 Outlawed the closed shop (a workplace where only union members can be hired).
 Rolled back some rights that labor unions had been granted during the New Deal.
 Truman vetoed the bill, but Congress overrode the veto.

 Authorized funds to build 41,000 miles of highway consisting of multilane expressways connecting the nation’s major cities.
 Biggest public works expenditure in US History (bigger than any New Deal reform).
 Authorized by Ike in 1953.
 Allowed for suburban growth.

 Refused to conform to accepted ways of dressing, thinking, and acting.
 Rebelled against materialism and conformity of
American society.

 Aimed at stopping middle class Americans from fleeing the cities, these projects cleared tracts of older housing to build freeways and other development.
 These policies backfired, driving people from their homes to make room for the developments and freeways.
 The poor were forced to find housing in already overcrowded areas.

 Changed the rules governing Native Americans.
 Sought to end tribal governments and relocate Native
Americans to cities.
 Terminated federal responsibility for the health and welfare of Native Americans.
 Proponents argued that it would force Native
Americans to assimilate, but in reality, it made things worse for them.