Affluent Society and Civil Rights 1945-61

Affluent Society and Civil Rights1945-61

Affluent Society and Civil Rights1945-61

• Introduction• Affluent Society

– Statistics– Vets– Family Life

• Civil Rights Phase I: 1954-63– Background– Brown– Bus Boycott

• Other Americans• Conclusion

Themes

• Prosperity of U.S. society after WWII

• Beginnings of modern civil rights movement

Affluent Society and Civil Rights1945-61

• Introduction• Affluent Society

– Statistics– Vets– Family Life

• Civil Rights Phase I: 1954-63– Background– Brown– Bus Boycott

• Other Americans• Conclusion

Affluent Society1945-1961

• American Families in 1960– 60% owned homes– 75% owned a car– 87% owned a TV

Affluent Society and Civil Rights1945-61

• Introduction• Affluent Society

– Statistics– Vets– Family Life

• Civil Rights Phase I: 1954-63– Background– Brown– Bus Boycott

• Other Americans• Conclusion

G.I. Bill1944

• Full tuition and spending money for school

• Loans guaranteed up to $2,000

• Money for 52/20 Club– Unemployment of $20 a

week for a year

• Produced a social revolution– Growth of middle class– Primary Beneficiaries were

white males

Affluent Society and Civil Rights1945-61

• Introduction• Affluent Society

– Statistics– Vets– Family Life

• Civil Rights Phase I: 1954-63– Background– Brown– Bus Boycott

• Other Americans• Conclusion

• Many new homeowners built in the suburbs– 20 million Americans

moved to the suburbs during the 1950s

American Family and Baby Boom

• Americans tended to marry at a younger age

• Fertility rate increased– 1940: 80 births per 1,000

women– 1957: 123 births per

1,000 women

• Baby Boom Generation: born between 1946-1964– 76 Million Americans

American Family and Baby Boom

• Impact of Baby Boomers– Late 1940s: Baby supplies– 1950s: School Construction– 1960s: College Enrollments– 1970s: House Construction– 1980-90s: Stock Market– 2000s: Social Security and

Health Care

Affluent Society and Civil Rights1945-61

• Introduction• Affluent Society

– Statistics– Vets– Family Life

• Civil Rights Phase I: 1954-63– Background– Brown– Bus Boycott

• Other Americans• Conclusion

Civil Rights: Background• WWII raised expectations of

many African Americans• Returning veterans expected

more racial equality after fight a war against fascism

• Truman established the first President’s Committee on Civil Rights

• Armed Forces desegregated in 1948

• NAACP attacked segregation through court system

Affluent Society and Civil Rights1945-61

• Introduction• Affluent Society

– Statistics– Vets– Family Life

• Civil Rights Phase I: 1954-63– Background– Brown– Bus Boycott

• Other Americans• Conclusion

Brown Decision

• Linda Brown couldn’t attend a school near her home because of segregation

• Thurgood Marshal: NAACP attorney who represented the Browns

• Earl Warren: Supreme Court Chief Justice who presided over the case

Brown Decision1954

• The decision– The doctrine of separate

but equal had no place in education

– Segregation in schools was prohibited

Brown Decision1954

• The decision– The doctrine of separate

but equal had no place in education

– Segregation in schools was prohibited

• Impact– The Courts would

protect the civil liberties of all Americans, even if Congress or states would not

– Spark that started the modern Civil Rights movement

Following Brown

• Supreme Court ordered schools be desegregated with all deliberate speed

• Flash Point– Desegregation of high

school in Little Rock, Arkansas

– Guards had to escort Af. Am. Students to and from campus

Affluent Society and Civil Rights1945-61

• Introduction• Affluent Society

– Statistics– Vets– Family Life

• Civil Rights Phase I: 1954-63– Background– Brown– Bus Boycott

• Other Americans• Conclusion

Bus BoycottMontgomery, AL, 1955-56

• Rosa Parks sparked the boycott

• Af. Am. Community mobilized and demanded equality

Bus BoycottMontgomery, AL, 1955-56

• Martin Luther King, Jr.• Goal: Integration of Af.

Am. into U.S. society• Tactic: Non-violent

protest• The boycott continued

for about a year• In 1956, the buses

became intergrated

Civil Rights: Phase I

• In the mid-1950s the modern civil rights movement began

• Actions of individuals began to erode the Jim Crow/Segregation laws in the U.S.

Affluent Society and Civil Rights1945-61

• Introduction• Affluent Society

– Statistics– Vets– Family Life

• Civil Rights Phase I: 1954-63– Background– Brown– Bus Boycott

• Other Americans• Conclusion

Other Americans

• The Other Americans: Poverty in the United States– Author: Michael

Harrington– Published in 1962

• U.S. in 1960s– 22% at or below poverty

level– 35 million Americans

Other Americans

• U.S. in 1960s– 22% at or below poverty

level– 35 million Americans– Many lived in inner-cities– Disproportionetly racial

and ethnic minorities, single parent families, senor citizens

Affluent Society and Civil Rights1945-61

• Introduction• Affluent Society

– Statistics– Vets– Family Life

• Civil Rights Phase I: 1954-63– Background– Brown– Bus Boycott

• Other Americans• Conclusion

Conclusion

• The U.S. was charachterized by its affluence; but not all Am. were included

• Beginnings of modern Civil Rights movement

Websites of Interest

• Linda Brown Family• 1950s Popular Culture

Source

• http://college.cengage.com/history/lecturepoints/index.html