Don't panic, these questions are to be discussed through this forum. Perhaps you want to split the questions between you and then post the answers to them for each other to see. Once you have answered these questions, post comments to each other about whether or not you think the 1950s was truly the Golden Age. If you have any questions for me, post them and address them to me and I will answer them for you.
1) What were the causes of the great economic growth in the country from 1945 to 1960? What was the impact on the American standard of living?
2) Why did the West grow faster than the rest of the nation in the post-World War II era?
3) What was Keynesian economic theory? How did the developments of the 1950s and early 1960s seem to confirm the theory?
4) What was the post-war trend in economic consolidation?
5) What was the nature of the "post-war contract" that developed between big labor and big business? What were the "escalator clauses?"
6) How was the labor movement hampered by scandal, new government restrictions, and other factors?
7) Identify the key medical advances of the mid-20c. What were the social results of these discoveries?
8) What key developments in electronics in the 1950s and 1960s transformed consumer and industrial products and paved the way for the computer revolution?
9) How did Americans react to the Soviet Sputnik? What was the response of the US government?
10) What was the expanded role of advertising and consumer credit in the 1950s? Why can it be said that the prosperity of the 1950s and 1960s was substantially consumer-driven?
11) What was the appeal of Levittown and similar suburban developments? How did typical suburbs transform family life and shape women's attitudes?
12) What was the impact of the automobile and the super highway on metropolitan development patterns, especially the traditional downtown?
13) What impact did the automobile culture have on railroads, energy consumption, air pollution, and retailing? How did the American experience compare with that of other developed nations at the time?
Monica-
ReplyDelete1) During WWII, people were unable to spend there money on goods because all the factories were being used to produce supplies for the war. Thus, after the war, people had saved up real money and were able to inject the economy with real money as opposed to "fake" money like credit and loans.
The auto mobile industry also expanded after the war, with 8 million cars being built in 1955. The growth in the auto industry contributed greatly to the growth in the nations GDP.
The GI Bill also contributed to the nations economic growth. It gave war veterans jobs and college education. It also gave them low interest mortgages. This created a housing boom.
2)The West was home to many shipyards, airplane factories, and other military bases were located. After the war, service men who were stationed there returned there with there families. The low low interest rates provide by the GI bill to service men help produce economic growth.
The Cold War also helped growth in the west. The nation's military budget increased dramatically, and the majority of the governments research and stuff was done in the west.
The "service" economy, or white collar jobs, boom also helped the west.
3) (Not Sure) The Keynesian economic theory is like deficit spending. When there's a resesion (sorry for the spelling) or a depression like there was in the 30s, the government should pump money in the economy to help bring it out of the ression (sorry for the spelling again). Eisenhower's highway project was an example of how government spending can promote economic growth. (MS. EADES NEED HELP!)
4) What does economic consolidation mean?
I'm going to skip around.
7) The polio vaccine was invented during the 1950s. This disease was common among children and the vaccine turned this once common disease into extinction (don't know if that's the proper term to be used but whatever).
13) The development of the interstate highway system made railroad travel almost obsolete. The freeways, along with the huge growth in the automobile industry, caused Americans to become highly dependent on oil, which when used frequently will cause major pollution problems.
ReplyDeleteIn other nations, like in Europe, I'm guessing that they just took the railroad systems that they had and just improved those.
11.) Levittown and similar suburban developments used the technique of mass production to build their houses. This method made the cost of buying a house much lower because construction was cheaper. Construction costs at Levittown, New York were only $10 per square foot, compared with the $12 to $15 common elsewhere. As people started moving to these suburbs and Levittowns, businesses and shopping centers started to move out there as well. Shoppers were able to avoid cities entirely and spend more time doing other things. Moving to the suburbs gave women more to do, and they settled into the routines of redecorating their homes and gardens and transporting children to and from activities and schools. Since women were doing these things, they did not have time to hold a job outside of the home.
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