1950'sHappyDays



That's a great question, don't you think? We will answer it in class on Thursday in a (hopefully) fun activity, but to prepare, we should do a little background reading and watching. R**ead "The Fifties" in __Creating America__ (28-3, pp. 800-803), read over the ABC-CLIO links posted below, and w****atch the videos below.** 
 * FOR HOMEWORK, CREATE A LIST (IN YOUR ONLINE NOTEBOOK) OF POSITIVES AND NEGATIVES CONCERNING LIFE IN THE FIFTIES FOR CLASS ON THURSDAY. WE WILL USE IT TO WRITE SOME DIALOGUE ...**

[|The Cold War at Home] / [|The Economy Booms] / [|The Sky is the Limit] / [|Boom-Time for Babies and Houses]

POSITIVES: -Suburbs were developed. Now people were living away from cities. -Immigration Increases (could be negative or positive depending on views) -Eisenhower agrees to stay centered on the political spectrum -Highway Act of 1956 -Expanded benefits, Social Security -Huge population increase -More and more people were buying cars for Suburban living -Movement of people to the "sunbelt" (warmer states) -Booming economy -By the end of the 1950's, 9/10 families owned a television -Popular rock n' roll music -Low cost education and housing for returning Army. -Technology advancements>>>New antibiotics and cures for originally "incurable" disease -No more threat of polio -Rocket Science developed -American's catch up in the space race

NEGATIVES: -1/5 American's lived in poverty by 1957 -Minorities could not afford Suburban homes and were "left to Urban Decay." -Illegal immigration increases over the Mexican American border. -Some people thought Americans were being pressured to move to the Suburbs -Women felt bored and isolated as homemakers -The McCarthy hearings that accused Americans as Communists -HUAC blacklist