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Topic: Suburbanization Years: 1950s

Summary of Topic: After the end of World War II, the United States witnessed a boom in population and a mass movement of people to areas known as the suburbs. Suburbs were growing six times faster than cities because newly constructed homes at low prices allowed many people to own houses for the first time.

Essential Questions: How did the image of a traditional family change during the 1950s due to suburbanization?
 * The image of traditional families became stricter during the 1950s. Women were forced to stay home to be the perfect wife and mother. Fathers where the head of the house hold and therefore the breadwinners for the family. Under these perfect families often laid a hidden turmoil of women’s depression caused by staying home and men who were lost in a sea of conformity.

Compare and Contrast the effects the endings of WWI and WWII had on the home front.


 * The endings of World War one and two had vastly different effects to the home front. WWI caused racial unrest and started the economic spiral into the Great Depression. When WWII ceased,America was sent into an economic and population boom that helped the country progress and was less of a racial tension than after the first war. However when both wars relinquished there was still a mess of foreign affairs to be solved which caused some tensions back home.

Analyze the extent to which conformity shaped the society in the 1950s.


 * One of the largest factors to shape the 1950s was conformity. It shaped every aspect of life including houses, appliances, pass times and jobs. Women tried to be perfect wives and would join groups or go to parties so that they would fit in. Men were pressured into generic jobs, working only to move up in position and social statue.

What impact did the growth of suburbs have on the economy of the 1950s?
 * As suburbanization spread across the country, it helped the economy boom. The sale of houses increased dramatically because of their accessibility to many returning veterans and new families. While women left the work force, the returning men replaced them, which kept the unemployment rates down and helped the nation prosper. Subsequently the average American was saving less money compared to any other nation, and instead poured this money into the economy by buying things they had gone without during the war.

Key Facts:
 * __Suburbs__- The area near to an urban city that developed with the expansion of highways, populated by people leaving the cities.
 * __Baby Boom__- The boom in population after 12 million veterans returned from WWII and 76 million babies were born in 1946 to 1964.
 * __GI Bill__- Servicemen’s Readjustment Act of 1944 helped returning WWII soldiers get jobs, got to college and buy houses. This bill allowed 5 million veterans to buy homes and cost $14.5 billion.
 * __William Levitt__- A New York developer who’s idea it was to create communities by mass producing homes.
 * __Levittown__- Communities built with generic homes sold at low prices that allowed the suburbs to grow.
 * __Sunbelt__- A stretch of land in the South and South West region of the country that flourished during this time.
 * __Consumer Culture__- The American people were saving less money than every before, and instead spend it on goods such as TVs, cars, and other products to help in the home.
 * __White Collar__- People who worked and were paid in a salary.
 * __Blue Collar__- Workers who were paid by the hour and had often had manual labor type jobs.
 * __Great Black Migration__- A large movement of African Americans from the South to the North and Midwest area.
 * __White Flight__- Because of the large increase of the African American population in cities, many white people moved to the suburbs to escape.
 * __Norman Vincent Peale__ – A Reverend who focused on the theory of positive thinking.
 * __Reinhold Niebuhr__- A preacher who spoke against the conformity immerging in America and was a Neo-Orthodox.
 * __Neo- Orthodox__- A new movement in religion that thought said religion was just another way for people to conform.
 * __Juvenile Delinquency__- During this time there was a dramatic increase in teenage crime, which was attributed to many things such as Rock-and-Roll, lack of traditional family values, and the accessibility to escape home using cars.
 * __Literature__- Many novels and play were written to show the hidden side of suburbia, like //The Affluent Society, The Crack in the Picture Window,// and //Death of a Salesman.//
 * __Themes__- Several novels had themes that showed the evils of conformity such as feeling alone and invisible, shown in //The Lonely Crowd// and //The Invisible Man.//
 * __Rock-n-Roll__- A new form of music that crossed the race barrier and was also blamed for rebellious youths.
 * __The Beats__- A group of young artists, poets, and writers that attempted to rebel against the conformity of middle-class.