Homework 31 - Chapter 27: The Postwar Boom
Read pages 838 to 869. Answer the questions.
Section 1: Postwar America
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How did Sam Gordon describe the reunion with his family?
In 1946 how many soldiers returned as civilians?
How did the GI Bill of Rights assist returning soldiers?
Why was there a severe housing shortage in 1946?
How did this crisis lead to the creation of the suburbs?
How much did a house in the suburbs cost?
What did William Levitt create on Long Island?
Why did divorce rates rise?
How many women entered the work force?
Why?
How did the end of the war damage the US ecnomy?
What is inflation?
How did the Office of Price Administration try to stop inflation?
How did it make things worse?
What did economists predict for the US economy in 1946?
What led to a surprising economic recovery?
How did the spending splurge create jobs?
Why did the US continue to spend heavily on defense?
How did this help economy?
What qualities did Truman have the made him the perfect post war President?
What did 4.5 million steelworkers decide to do?
How did Truman get them back to work?
What is the Taft Hartley Act?
How did the 80th Congress oppose Truman?
Which party dominated the 80th Congress?
What steps did Truman take to support civil rights?
How did Congress react to Truman’s civil rights agenda?
What did Jackie Robinson do in 1947?
What made Robinson an extraordinary civil rights champion?
Who were the Dixiecrats?
Why were the Republicans likely to win the election of 1948?
How did Truman pull off the mother of all election upsets?
What is the Fair Deal?
What was Truman’s approval rating by 1951?
How did it get so low?
Who became president in 1952?
What was the campaign slogan?
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Why did Nixon have to give a “checkers speech”?
What is dynamic conservatism?
Why was the middle of the road governing style of Eisenhower perfect for the 1950s?
Why did Ike stay away from civil rights issues?
Section 2: The American Dream IN the Fifties
1. Why was Carol Freeman not satisfied living the American Dream?
2. Starting in the fifties what kind of job did Americans move away from and what new job did the
move towards?
3. What is a conglomerate?
4. How did conglomerates help the economy?
5. What is a franchise?
6. What is the most successful franchise of all time?
7. What is social conformity?
8. What are the benefits of conformity?
9. Why is individuality sometimes more important than conformity?
10. How many new homes were built in the fifties?
11. In 1957 how many seconds passed before a new infant was born?
12. What is the baby boom?
13. Why did this happen?
14. What is polio?
15. How did Dr. Salk contribute to the field of medicine?
16. Who was Dr. Spock?
17. How did Dr. Spock change the way children were raised?
18. Why did toy sales and school enrollments soar?
19. What role did TV shows play in shaping the image of the American Dream?
20. Who is Betty Friendan and what book did she write?
21. What problems did Friedan identify that women faced?
22. In 1953 how much did Americans spend on leisure activities?
23. Why did Americans read so much in the fifties?
24. What lead to the explosion of automobile production?
25. How did suburbia create a necessity for owning a car?
26. What is the Interstate Highway System?
27. In what way is the perhaps Eisenhower’s greatest achievement?
28. How did the automobile stimulate the economy?
29. How did the wealth of the suburbs impact the inner cities?
30. What is consumerism?
31. What types of new products were Americans buying?
32. What is planned obsolences?
33. Why is this a brilliant marketing strategy?
34. What is the Diner’s Club Card?
35. How did the credit card shape the economy?
36. Why was advertising essential to the growth of the economy?
Section 3: Popular Culture
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What did H.B. Barnum think of Little Richard’s live performances?
What is mass media?
Who many TV sets did Americans have by 1960?
What is the FCC?
Why was it needed?
Why are the 1950s considered the Golden Age of TV?
How did advertisers and businesses capitalize on TV?
Why were Americans in love with westerns, soap operas, and stereotype TV shows?
How did the TV impact movies in Hollywood?
Who are the Beats and what is the Beat Movement?
What are the influences of rock and roll?
What made Elvis Presely the King of Rock?
How many records were sold by 1960?
What role did African Americans play in the fields of rock, jazz, soul, and rhythym/blues?
Section 4: The Other America
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What did James Baldwin observe about the poor in the 1950s?
What is white flight?
Why did this happen?
Why did poverty increase in the cities?
What was the poverty line in 1959?
What is the poverty line in 2000?
What book did Michael Harrington write?
What was it about?
What steps did the government take to revive the cities?
Who were the braceros?
What happened to Felix Longoria?
What issues did American Indians face?
What was the Termination Policy?
Why did it fail?