1. HIST 2150: America Since 1945 Winter Term 2011 Dr. Michael Bitzer Catawba College
2. Class Date Page # Main Idea Definition Example Additional Info Definition Critical Concept Example Connection to previous point 1. 2. 3. Advantages: Organized Capture Key Ideas Easier to fill in gaps Easier to spot unclear areas or questions to ask faculty Self Testing Split Lecture Note Page Main Idea Main Idea
3. Post-WW II America The war changed America: No more isolationism, now active in the globe Nuclear bomb creates world power(s) Increased prosperity but increased fears Politics transforms from New Deal Democratic-majority to current political environment Expansion of civil rights by different movements Impact of the Baby-boom Generation
4. America in 1945 End of World War II approaching April 30: Nazi Germany surrenders August 15: Japan surrenders American deaths due to the war: 405,399 670,846 suffered non-fatal wounds World-wide: 60 million deaths FDR dies in April 1945
5. Impact of FDR on America Elected 1932 with “New Deal” to attack Great Depression Series of economic reforms Transforms power of national & state governments National government regulates free markets Created “mixed economy” Democratic Party is majority party in nation Reshapes the role & power of government
12. Post-War America Harry Truman Believed in New Deal’s philosophy Oversees end of WWII and growing conflict with Soviet Union Democratic Party coalition breaking apart Conservative Southerners vs. Northern Liberals, Catholics & Jews, and Blacks (particularly in North) Election of 1946 and The 80th Congress, controlled by Conservative Coalition Taft-Hartley Act of 1947
13. Post-War America Economics: New approach to world’s economy Bretton Woods Agreement (1944) General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) (now the WTO) World Bank International Monetary Fund Established gold standard of $35/oz linked to the dollar America becomes new anchoring economy for the world
14. Post-War America Economics: US had 7% of world’s population but 40% of world’s income 8.5M soldiers demobilized and return to private sector Growth of consumer demand lead to increased production and income With end of war and prices controls, jump in prices lead to strikes
15. Post-War America Society: Shifts in population South and Westward Urban areas The “Baby-Boom” GI Bill of Rights (1944) Rise in home-ownership Women and the economy Rise of dual-income families
16. Post-War America Society: The Great Migration of black Americans Growing Civil Rights Movement NAACP and focus on litigation, legislation and lobbying Jackie Robinson integrates baseball Truman’s desegregation of the military President’s Commission on Civil Rights To Secure These Rights
17. Post-War America International: Soviet Union dominates eastern Europe Makes moves on Turkey and Iran Creation of United Nations in April 1945 General Assembly UN Security Council Communist China declared in 1949 A bi-polar world emerges Capitalism vs. Communism The Cold War Era (1945-1991)
18. Post-War America Politics: 1946: 80th Congress & Conservative Coalition Conservative Southern Democrats & Republicans Truman nicknames “the Do-Nothing Congress” 1948: Truman runs for re-election against Republican Thomas Dewey A 4-way race with Thurmond (Dixiecrat) & Wallace (Progressive) as independents
Editor's Notes
Before the Great Depression of 1929, the American dream was that men (mostly) and women who worked hard and saved for rainy days could expect a measure of material comfort and security in their golden years, without resorting to the government.Truman’s 21 point program: raise minimum wage; extension of SS; national housing legislation.Taft-Hartley Act: prohibited closed union shops; allowed states to have “right-to-work” laws; required a 60-days notice before strikes
Before the Great Depression of 1929, the American dream was that men (mostly) and women who worked hard and saved for rainy days could expect a measure of material comfort and security in their golden years, without resorting to the government.Truman’s 21 point program: raise minimum wage; extension of SS; national housing legislation.Taft-Hartley Act: prohibited closed union shops; allowed states to have “right-to-work” laws; required a 60-days notice before strikes
GATT: countries gave up tariffs that affected $10B in tradeWorld Bank: provides loans to nations for capital programs and to reduce poverty.IMF: fund that provides loans when a nation experiences serious financial and economic difficulties.
Workers socked away 25% of takehome pay during last two years of the warLiquid assets totaled $140M—three times the national income—citizens were ready to spend.1939-1948: clothing sales jumped three-fold, furniture four-fold, jewelry four-fold, liquor five-fold; household applicances, including TVs, five-fold. 4600 work stoppages by 5M workers: oil-refinery, auto workers, steel-workers, electrical workers, packing-house workers, coal miners.
Two groups contributed to the baby-boom: older Americans who waited until after the Depression and WWII to have children, and younger folk (late teens/early 20s) of the 1940s. Not only helped home purchases but also loans to start business and monthly stipends for veterans who wanted a college education. 2.2M went to colleges, 3.5M to technical, and 700K to ag instruction; GI Bill spent $14.5B between 1944-56 on educational benefits.Baby-boom: 1945-60: US population grew by 30% (40M) largest in the nation’s historyGI Bill of Rights: federal govt guaranteed home mortgages to veterans1944: single-family housing starts at 114K; 1946: 1 M; 1950: 1.7M.Women and the economy: 35% of nation’s workforce were women; most were employed in the war effort, but had to turn in their riveters for typewriters or waitress’ apron.
Migrations: WWI brought 500K blacks out of the South; WWII: 1M blacks moved to the North and could vote; 500K blacks served in the militaryTo Secure:Advocated the end of lynching; poll tax; segregation; end federal aid to those public and private agencies that discriminated; create a civil rights division in the Department of Justice.
