Explain the affluent society much of America experienced in the 1950s.

The Gross nat’l product grew by 250% b/c of government spending on public housing,
educational institutions, veterans benefits, welfare, interstate highways + military. Econ. peaked
during 1st half of 50s b/c Korean war. Baby boom increased consumer demand and expanded
econ. growth. Suburban expansion caused need 4 prod’n of cars, new homes, & roads.
Universities are funded in ca / tx and petroleum is needed by cars = bigger econ.

What did most Americans want out of life and how did they express that?

Americans wanted to live the American Dream; after the war, Americans wanted to make up for
all the time and people they lost during the war and enjoy life with their families, similar to how
the people of the twenties felt. Americans wanted to live life to the fullest because they didn’t
know how long peace would last. Americans spent a lot of money, moved to the suburbs, and
had a lot of kids as a result of their desire to live the American Dream.

Americans expressed their desire to enjoy the peace and live life to the fullest by buying goods
on credit since they HAD to have them/enjoy them, while they could. Some examples would be
the purchases of homes,tv sets, vacationing, and travel. Also, because Americans put more
emphasis on family, many white Americans moved to the suburbs where they could have more
privacy and more kids than if they lived in the city. Youth shunned these ideas.

How did it affect the market for consumer goods? Refer to the baby boom and the
prevailing social mores of the time.

The creation of/movement to suburbs to fulfill the ideal American society/dream by Americans,
cause them to move to the suburbs where track houses were built providing jobs for people. Also
in the suburbs people had a lot of kids which is now referred to as the baby boom. The baby
boom fueled the economy by providing demand for baby products, and other necessities needed
by families, such as TVS, dishwashers, garbage disposals, hi-fis and stereos. Childrens tv
programs also provided provided people with jobs and led to an affluent society. Gender roles,
women stay at home, men work.

Who were the groups left out of the postwar economic boom?

Prosperous Blacks were kept out of suburbs. Blacks, & Hispanics constituted the 20% of
America who were constantly living in poverty. Native Americans were the poorest in America.
Farmers were also left out of the boom because they produced a surplus of goods that brought
the prices of their stock down, causing 10% of them to move to the suburbs. (803) Sharecroppers
and tenant farmers also often lived below “subsistence” levels thanks to the mechanization of
cotton picking and the dvlpmt of synthetic fibers that reduced cotton demand. Migrant
farmworkers (Asians & Mexicans) lived also in poverty b/c some areas did not have much
commercial agriculture or coal left to mine or farm. Groups were vulnerable to
Malnutrition/starvation. Poor Black communities in city called ghettoes b/c white flight and
formed b/c migration of blacks to city from country looking for work. Blacks lack of
opportunites (discrimination)made them most likely to be poor. (804). Minorities who
immigrated from mexico and Puerto rico for work in ca, and tx, and ny, found no jobs where
they settled b/c automation took them away and b/c factories were moving rural and to other
coutries where labor was chaper. Also racial discrimination in hiring ,edu., and housing caused
poverty to continues among these groups or increased it. (804)

How did this lead to change in American society?

Brown v. edu. board declared segregation of public schools inflicted unacceptable damage on
those it affected, regardless of the relative quality of the separate schools. 805 Rosa parks refusal
to giving up seat in Montgomery Alabama to white man. Bus boycott results and supreme court
rules in 1956 segreagttion in public transport is illegal.

Blacks were left out of the post war econ boom and were upset about it when they returned form
war b/c during the war they enjoyed more equality than when they returned home.

The Growing black middle class and the education they received helped them see that their were
obstacles against the black poor that would keep them from moving up in society. Urban blacks
had more freedom to associate w/ one another and devlp institutions than rural ones who were
supervised by whites. (807-8).

Americans thought racism was embarrassment to ideal America was trying to be in Cold war.

North blacks began to vote democratic. Views couldn’t be ignored by politicians.808

What groups voluntarily rebelled against the materialism and social attitudes of the 1950s?
Why did they do so?

Beats aka Beatniks- young poets, writers/artists who harshly critiqued sterility and conformity of
Am. Life, meaninglessness of am. Politics, and the banality (predictability) of pop. Culture.

Teens: Rebelled v. parents, YOUTH dressed gang style, love for fast cars/motorcycles, sex
propelled by birth control. 800 ADD MORE?

How was the mainstream culture reflected in popular culture?

Even though Presley was from the rural south, he dressed the way teens did (gang style slick
back hair.) ADD MORE