In the 1950s, America went through many significant changes in economics, culture, and politics that changed the nation drastically. America’s “Golden Age” was the time when we saw a significant upswing in the economy, improvements in rights and equality, and a rise in consumerism. It also marked the beginning of the Cold War with the Soviet Union. These changes took place in numerous parts of the country for different reasons, and they continue to shape American life today. The United States experienced an era of economic stability and prosperity during the 1950s. The nation's economy saw a period of unparalleled expansion following the end of World War II and the economy became peaceful. Many Americans now enjoy greater standards of living …show more content…
However, not all areas of the nation experienced the same economic transformations in the 1950s; for instance, when the Sun Belt region experienced an expansion of business, it resulted in a change in population as individuals moved to the West and South in search of employment. The 1950s also experienced a cultural revolution that changed people’s beliefs and reshaped society. Radio, television, press, and so on became very popular and people became more creative; they started spreading new ideas, fashions, and fads. Popular television shows evolved into cultural icons that both reflected and shaped societal norms and customs. People also started migrating to the suburbs, which resulted in better access to consumer goods and prioritization of family life. Americans find comfort and security in their communities. Due to the aftermath of World War II, politics underwent a movement in the 1950s toward conservatism and anti-communism. McCarthyism grew out of fear of communism and the threat of internal subversion. It was a time of strong anti-communist sentiments and government restrictions on
Stephanie Coontz's essay `What we really miss about the 1950's' is an essay that talks about a poll taken in 1996 by the Knight-Ridder news agency that more Americans preferred 1950's as the best decade for children to grow up. Coontz doesn't believe that it is a decade for people to remember fondly about, except for financial reasons and better communication within families. Coontz doesn't believe in it as the best decade because of the votes, the 50's only won by nine percent, and especially not by African Americans. Examples from family and financial issues in the 50's that makes it better than other decades from 20's to 80's. She doesn't believe that the 50's should be taken `literally' because from 50's there were changes in values that caused racism, sexism discrimination against women. Even though the 50's were good, it didn't lead to a better 60, 70, and 80.
During the post WWII period in America, the face of the nation changed greatly under the presidency of Truman and Eisenhower. America underwent another era of good feelings as they thought themselves undefeatable and superior over the rest of the world. Communism was the American enemy and American sought to rid the world of it. Because of the extreme paranoia caused by Communism, conformity became an ideal way to distinguish American Culture from the rest. Conformity became a part of every American Life to a large extent. It became evident through the medium of culture, society and politics throughout the era of the 50s.
The North American population experienced what is known as the “Baby boom” – an 18-year period of rapid population growth from 1946 to 1964. During this period, many children were born in the same period before or after. During the post-war years, the United States embarked on one of its greatest periods of economic expansion. Many Americans enjoyed economic prosperity. However, the United States has changed since 1950.
With the dropping of the Atomic bomb that ended WWII and the beginning of the Cold War, there was an irony of stability and turmoil in the United States. The start of the 1950s brought about many changes, from the Red Scare and threat of the possible spread of communism in America, to changes in political movements, civil rights movements, and another possible war, there were many significant events and people during this time.
The 1950s seemed like a perfect decade. The rise of suburbs outside cities led to an expansion of the middle class, thus allowing more Americans to enjoy the luxuries of life. The rise of these suburbs also allowed the middle class to buy houses with land that used to only be owned by more wealthy inhabitants. Towns like Levittown-one of the first suburbs- were divided in such a way that every house looked the same (“Family Structures”). Any imperfections were looked upon as unfavorable to the community as a whole. Due to these values, people today think of the 1950s as a clean cut and model decade. This is a simplistic perception because underneath the surface, events that took place outside the United States actually had a direct effect on our own country’s history. The rise of Communism in Russia struck fear into the hearts of the American people because it seemed to challenge their supposedly superior way of life.
Out of some of the most turbulent times in history have come the greatest ages of success and prosperity. The 1920’s and 1950’s are two eras that exemplify the spirit of triumph and wealth. In both decades, a nation thrilled by the victorious conclusion of war and the return of their loved ones from war entered into an age of capitalism and materialism, bolstering the economy and with it national pride. Some of the features most common to the 20’s and 50’s were consumerism and the accompanying optimistic mindset, the extent to which new ideas entered society, and discrimination in terms of both sexism and racism. On the heels of war, new technology caused a decrease in prices of goods in the 1920’s and in the 1950’s the GI Bill increased income.
America in the 1950s is often characterized with many important social, political, cultural, and economic events. Many aspects of life changed in the 1950s with the ending of World War Two causing veterans to return home, but also the country continued some of its long time traditions. As veterans returned home, men returned to their job, the economy began to boom, and large families began to move to the suburbs. Socially, culturally, economically and politically America in the 1950s challenged, more than embraced the status quo.
Throughout the history of the United States, there were various decades in the 1900’s which each had unique characteristics. One such decade, amongst the others, seemed to step out of its comfort zone and pushed outside the boundaries, pushing for a new identity and culture. This decade is referred to as the 1960’s. The 1960’s was characterized by an intense movement of social change that pushed for freedom of expression and human rights without restrictions to race, color or sexuality identity. The 1960’s was a decade characterized by great social disturbance and drastic change.
The Gilded Age gets its name from a book by Mark Twain called The Gilded Age: a Tale of Today. It was written in 1873, and unfortunately was not that successful. While the Gilded Age conjures up visions of ostentatious displays of wealth and decorative parties, the over all topic was politics. The book gives an extremely negative assessment of the state of American democracy at that time. Which does not come as a huge surprise coming from Twain, who famously said "It could probably be shown by facts and figures that there is no distinctly native American criminal class except Congress.” So when faced with sweeping changes in the American economy after the Civil War, the American political system both nationally and locally dealt with these problems in the best way possible, by inevitably and incredibly becoming corrupt.
The 1950s were a decade in American history that was filled with many of successes. Everybody was excited and relieved now that the war was finally over and that their loved ones were safely home with their families. Families in the 1950s were very conservative and always had the perfect family image, until the “teenagers” came along. Teens were not the most likable people in society, because they listened to crazy, tasteless music and were known as rebels. The crazy, tasteless music changed music forever. Since the 50s were right after WWII, many foreign policies emerged, some provided assistance to countries that were in need. The U.S. was also dealing with and epidemic for years, until the early 50s when a vaccine was created which also changed the way vaccinations were given to the public. The 1950’s were the most influential decade towards contemporary America because, throughout this decade not only did we discover vaccinations that saved hundreds of live, but we also had the rise of Rock N’ Roll which changed music forever including a foreign policy which helped rebuild economies in Europe called the Marshall Plan.
The 1950s was a time when conformity held supreme in the culture at large. Issues such as women 's rights were thrown to the back as people tried to remain in the popular form of a family. These issues being put off only caused the prolonging of the tumultuous 1960s that would soon
The Gilded Age is marked as the thirty-five years between the end of the Civil War and the end of the nineteenth century. During this period of time, the economy grew at an astonishing rate, producing enormous amounts of wealth. This was also a time where the majority of the population was struggling to get by, and was classified as poor workers, while the industrial and financial aristocracy lives in beautiful homes and lived their lives with opulent amusement. Life was very different between different groups such as the rich and the poor, and even the men and the women. I definitely would not fit into the urban society of the Gilded Age because everything had to do with the men being in power, racism, and men’s constant control over politics, which would make being a women in this period of time very difficult.
As World War Two came to a close, a new American culture was developing all across the United States. Families were moving away from crowded cities into spacious suburban towns to help create a better life for them during and after the baby boom of the post-war era. Teenagers were starting to become independent by listing to their own music and not wearing the same style of clothing as their parents. Aside from the progress of society that was made during this time period, many people still did not discuss controversial issues such as divorce and sexual relations between young people. While many historians regard the 1950s as a time of true conservatism at its finest, it could really be considered a time of true progression in the American way of life.
Mark Twain collaborated with Charles Dudley Warner on The Gilded Age: A Tale of Today. Published in 1973, as Twain’s earliest work of extended fiction, The Gilded Age gives a name to the period of opulence and corruption at the end of the 19th century. Portraying the superficial luxury of Washington and high society, the authors describe “The general laxity of the time, and the absence of a sense of duty toward any part of the community but the individual himself” (Twain 203). Twain’s The Gilded Age, like Wharton’s The Age of Innocence focuses on high society. Yet, the imperfections in the gilding betray the dramatic change of the period. Forces of corporatization, unionization, immigration, urbanization, populism, post-reconstruction racism and machine politics were among the drastic changes in American lifestyle churning beneath the brittle “gilded” surface.
During the years between 1920 and 1960, America saw change in many aspects of life. The United States was a part of two major wars and a crash of the banking system that crippled the economy greater than ever seen in this country’s history. Also the country had new insecurities to tackle such as immigration and poor treatment of workers. These events led to the change of America lives socially, economically, and politically. The people of America changed their ideas of what the country’s place in the world should be. The issues challenging America led the country to change from isolation to war, depression to prosperity, and social change. The threats to American way of life, foreign and domestic, were the changing forces to the country in the twenties to the sixties.