P OSTWAR A MERICA. GI B ILL OF R IGHTS 1944 Provided financial and educational benefits for WWII...
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Transcript of P OSTWAR A MERICA. GI B ILL OF R IGHTS 1944 Provided financial and educational benefits for WWII...
POSTWAR AMERICA
GI BILL OF RIGHTS 1944
Provided financial and educational benefits for WWII veterans
Encouraged veterans to get an education instead of coming home and flooding the workforce
Guaranteed them a year of unemployment benefits
Offered low-interest home loans
HOUSING CRISIS
Housing shortage for returning veterans and their families
William Levitt used the assembly line to mass produce houses His homes cost $8,000 in the suburbs Levittown (Long Island), NY
Many veterans could afford these new homes due to the GI Bill
REDEFINING THE FAMILY
Change of gender roles during WWII 6 million women had a war job; 75%
of married women worked in WWII Refusal to give up independence post
WWII 1950: more than a million “war
marriages” ended in divorce
ECONOMIC PROBLEMS
$35 billion in war contracts cancelled = 1 million defense workers unemployed
OPA price controls end = massive inflation Ex.: pork chops rose from .48c per lb
to .72c per lb Product shortages = long lines at
grocery stores Post war wages cut
ECONOMIC SOLUTIONS
The Depression and wartime shortages taught Americans to save their war wages
Americans had money to spend on new cars, appliances, homes
Booming economy created consumer jobs “the affluent society”
Marshall Plan created foreign markets for American products
TRUMAN AND CIVIL RIGHTS
Federal anti-lynching law; abolition of poll tax; committee to prevent racial discrimination in hiring
Congress would not pass these measures 1948: Truman issued an Executive Order
de-segregating the military He also ordered an end to discrimination
in hiring government employees
1948 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION
Dixiecrats opposed civil rights and formed the States’ Rights Democratic Party
Truman led a “whistlestop campaign” traveling across the country criticizing Congress
“Give ‘em hell, Harry” campaign Truman defeat Thomas Dewey in a
close popular vote election
FAIR DEAL
increased the minimum wage From .40c to .75c
extended social security coverage provide housing for low income
families Slums were cleared to build 810,000
housing units in major cities
I LIKE IKE!
Why Truman didn’t run in 1952: stalemate in Korea, McCarthyism
Ike’s campaign: fear of communism and the growing power of the federal gov.
VP candidate Nixon was accused of profiting from a secret fund: the “Checkers Speech” helped Ike to win the election