SSUSH21 c. Analyze the impact of technology on American life

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 After WWII there was a baby boom which was when there was a large increase of the number of babies born

(mainly because the men were coming back from war)

An estimated 76 million babies were born

Also caused by couples who could not afford families during the depression, but now could.

The Levitt family started building suburban type homes after WWII

Mortgage payments were cheaper than renting small apartments in the city

Attracted couples looking to start a family

More babies were being born so bigger homes were needed

Families were needing more space in their homes

Levittown consisted of 12,000 homes split into ten neighborhoods

Each neighborhood had a elementary school, pool, and playground

 The suburbs that were built were not built near the big cities

Little public transportation for the suburban areas

Since more people were going to the suburbs because of the baby boom, the needed ways to get around

 In 1956 over 41,000 miles of highways were built for better transportation

 Television became a big part of American culture

People were able to follow the new stories like the

Vietnam War and the Civil Rights Movements

A big source of entertainment and had an impact on clothes and music

Commercials also helped with teenage consumerism

70 million Americans tuned in to watch the first ever presidential debate

Richard Nixon was the Vice President and foreign policy expert

Kennedy had little experience that Nixon wanted to expose

John F. Kennedy looked a lot more confident on TV

Seeing this confidence made voters want him to be president

Television, magazines, and newspapers covered this movement

Showing these boycotts and marches on television kept the Civil Rights Movement on America’s mind

Having it on TV helped people start supporting the movement

Even though television was first introduced to the public in 1939, WW2 prevented it from being manufactured and distributed on a large scale until after the war.

True regular commercial network television programming didn’t being in the U.S until 1948.

The first electronic computers were developed in 1940-1945 and were originally the size of a large room and consumed lots of energy.

In the 1970s, people in educational or research institutions had the opportunity for single-person use of a computer system in interactive mode for extended durations.

Personal computers at this time were very expensive and were usually not used only by one person or family.

Personal computers were often of interest to hobbyists and technicians.

A cellular telephone is an electronic device used for two-way radio telecommunication over a cellular network of base stations known as cell sites.

The first mobile telephone call was made from a car in St.

Louis, Missouri on June 17, 1946.

Martin Cooper is considered to be the inventor of the first practical mobile phone for handheld use. He and Bell Labs were in a race for the first portable mobile phone.

Cooper was a researcher and executive of Motorola.

After these new advances in technology began, communication among people in the United states became easier.

Telephone lines covered the country making it possible for people on opposite sides of the nation to communicate with each other.

Computers were making it easier for academic people to find information and share it with fellow colleges.

Cell phones were making it more convenient to always be in touch with anyone.

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