When thinking about the 1950 's in America, what is the first thing that comes to mind? Is it black and white episodes of “I Love Lucy,” old-fashioned clothes, and simpler times? There is actually much more to the 1950 's than people may generally think about. Americans were striving for social and cultural growth, as well as soaking in the enjoyments of finally being able to relax after the stress of WWII. There was also an enthusiastic period of financial stability during the mid 1950 's (after the initial strain of inflation, anyway) that allowed for a “boom” in the birth rate, and a growth in automobile affordability and overall suburban life. The U.S was also committed and determined to getting globally involved by aiding in the support
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President Truman wanted to push for desegregation of African Americans by planning to end segregation in the armed forces, as well as deny government contracts to countries that discriminated. Inflation was a problem due to shortage of goods, high demand, low supply, and lifting of price controls. Truman reinstated the price controls in an attempt to solve the inflation. Because of the issues with organized labor, a lot of unhappy workers decided to go on strike. This wave of strikes resulted in slowed production of consumer goods and stalling the economy. The Taft-Harley act was put into place to restrict union rights and allowing them to take advantage of workers. This prevented companies from only hiring union members, and allowed employees to be given the option to refuse to join unions. While these difficulties occurred and led the post-war era off to a rocky start, President Truman was determined to fix these issues and bring the country into a period of …show more content…
People were aspiring to return to enjoying a normal life after WWII. The GNP (gross national product) sky rocketed because American businesses were producing and selling more products than before. This shot the economy into a state of wealth. Due to the sudden wealth, many Americans decided that since they were in a period of such strong financial stability, it would be the best opportunity to start families. The birth rate increased dramatically in 1955, hence what is called the “baby boom.” Soon after, “car culture,” came into play. This meant that Americans were more fascinated with the automobile than ever. Cars contributed to the growth of suburbs due to their sudden affordability and availability. The Federal-Aid Highway Act in 1956 paved the way (quite literally) for constructing 41,000 miles of interstate highways across the U.S. These highways began to become a necessity for the ever growing car culture, so this act was a major step in the right direction for this point in history. Americans during the post-war era initially faced some difficulties, however, once everything got a chance to get back up on its feet, America began to prosper in many of its social, political, and cultural
President Truman wanted to push for desegregation of African Americans by planning to end segregation in the armed forces, as well as deny government contracts to countries that discriminated. Inflation was a problem due to shortage of goods, high demand, low supply, and lifting of price controls. Truman reinstated the price controls in an attempt to solve the inflation. Because of the issues with organized labor, a lot of unhappy workers decided to go on strike. This wave of strikes resulted in slowed production of consumer goods and stalling the economy. The Taft-Harley act was put into place to restrict union rights and allowing them to take advantage of workers. This prevented companies from only hiring union members, and allowed employees to be given the option to refuse to join unions. While these difficulties occurred and led the post-war era off to a rocky start, President Truman was determined to fix these issues and bring the country into a period of …show more content…
People were aspiring to return to enjoying a normal life after WWII. The GNP (gross national product) sky rocketed because American businesses were producing and selling more products than before. This shot the economy into a state of wealth. Due to the sudden wealth, many Americans decided that since they were in a period of such strong financial stability, it would be the best opportunity to start families. The birth rate increased dramatically in 1955, hence what is called the “baby boom.” Soon after, “car culture,” came into play. This meant that Americans were more fascinated with the automobile than ever. Cars contributed to the growth of suburbs due to their sudden affordability and availability. The Federal-Aid Highway Act in 1956 paved the way (quite literally) for constructing 41,000 miles of interstate highways across the U.S. These highways began to become a necessity for the ever growing car culture, so this act was a major step in the right direction for this point in history. Americans during the post-war era initially faced some difficulties, however, once everything got a chance to get back up on its feet, America began to prosper in many of its social, political, and cultural