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History Paper 1 and 2 > USA Topic Four - The Transformation of the USA 1945-1955 > Flashcards

USA Topic Four - The Transformation of the USA 1945-1955 Flashcards

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1
Q

What was the USA like economically during WW2?

A

the USA dominated the economy during WW2

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2
Q

How many people did the USSR lose in WW2?

A

over 20 million

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3
Q

Why did technological advances continue to grow after WW2?

A
  • the US economy continued to grow after 1945
  • technological advances continued due to the Cold War
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4
Q

Why did the US remain in a state of military preparedness post-WW2?

A
  • investment into defence industries continued
  • events such as the Berlin Airlift Crisis and the Korean War kept demand high
  • people feared the war heating up (Cold War 1947-1991)
  • the economy was boosted
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5
Q

Which industry began to boom because of the growth of disposable income?

A
  • disposable income created sustained demand
  • the automobile industry began to boom
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6
Q

How did the Cycle of Prosperity begin to take ahold oh America post WW2?

A
  • new job opportunities were created with the growth of new industries
  • skilled workers would receive a higher wage
  • more disposable income led to greater demand
  • new technological advancements and jobs created to match demand
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7
Q

Why were more more women able to enter into employment?

A
  • the growth of the clerical sector allowed for more women to get into employment
  • the US retail sector expanded creating new jobs and further employment
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8
Q

What is the evidence that the US retail sector had grown?

A

1945: 8 shopping centres
1960: 4,000 shopping centres

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9
Q

What was the expansion of various industries fuelled by?

A

advertising

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10
Q

How did US advertising grow during the 1950s?

A
  • advertising expenditure increased 1000%
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11
Q

What other two factors ensured the growth of advertising?

A
  • the growth of TV allowed advertising to have a greater impact
  • increased investment into advertising created new job opportunities allowing it to expand further
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12
Q

How did the aircraft industry develop in the 1950s?

A
  • advancement in both military and passenger aircraft
  • 1958: Boeing produced the 707
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13
Q

What impact did the growth of the aircraft industry have?

A
  • lead to a decline in railways
  • offered new jobs in the aircraft industry
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14
Q

When was the first general use computer developed?

A

1944

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15
Q

When did computers become a part of US business?

A

by the 1950s

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16
Q

How did white and blue collar work change throughout the 1950s?

A
  • there was a major increase in white collar work
  • white-collar workers outnumbered blue collar workers for the first time
  • all of these new jobs favoured white men
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17
Q

How did the Federal Government aim to actively stimulate economic growth?

A

through spending on defence

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18
Q

What impact did the Cold War have on government spending?

A

it increased it

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19
Q

What led to the ‘Knowledge Revolution’ in the USA?

A
  • government spending on research grew by 600%
  • jobs in professional and technological work grew
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20
Q

What did the number of salaried middle class workers rise by between 1947-1957?

A

61%

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21
Q

How did the power in industry change in the 50s?

A
  • the power was concentrated in the hands of a few giant corporations such as General Motors
  • this limited the power of the trade unions
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22
Q

What % of the workforce were in trade unions in 1945?

A

35.5%

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23
Q

What act was passed to limit trade union rights?

A
  • Taft Hartley Act
  • The Republican controlled Congress passed the act after a number of strikes due to inflation
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24
Q

When was the GI Bill introduced, what did it do?

A
  • 1944
  • also called the Serviceman’s Readjustment Act
  • it introduced a range of benefits for veterans
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25
Q

How did the GI Bill (Serviceman’s Readjustment Act) 1944 give veterans educational opportunities?

A
  • just over 1/2 of the 7.8 million returning servicemen attended colleges through grants
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26
Q

How much did the GI Bill (Serviceman’s Readjustment Act) 1944 cost the government?

A

$14.5 billion

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27
Q

Between 1946 and 1954 how much did car production grow by?

A

car production quadrupled

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28
Q

in 1950, how many of the worlds’ cars and trucks did the USA produce?

A

2/3

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29
Q

How did short-term credit increase in the 1950s?

A

it grew to $45.6 billion in 1958

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30
Q

How did the motor industry promote credit and the suburban life?

A
  • the boom in car ownership was fuelled by an increase in credit purchasing
  • the growth in car ownership allowed for people to move to the suburbs
  • a new system of inter-state highways were built due to a fear of the need for mass evacuation in the case of a nuclear attack
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31
Q

How many babies were born in 1946? What generation is this known as?

A
  • 1946: 3.4 million babies
  • the Baby Boom generation
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32
Q

Between 1946-1964 how many babies were born?

A
  • 76.4 million born
  • this formed 40% of the population
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33
Q

What did the number of people living in suburbs increase by due to growth in car ownership?

A

10%

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34
Q

What were Levittowns?

A
  • areas of housing which was categorised by a white picket fence, fully equipped kitchens and green lawns
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35
Q

How much did houses in Levittowns in Pennsylvania originally sell for?

A

$6,990

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36
Q

How were Levittowns racially segregated, and up until when?

A
  • William Levitt ensured his homes were only sold to white people
  • this policy of racial segregation was declared illegal in the 1960s
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37
Q

When was the USA seen as the world’s first consumer society?

A

by 1955

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38
Q

Why was the USA seen as a consumer society?

A
  • good housing
  • TVs
  • Cars
  • easy credit
  • America seen as an affluent society
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39
Q

How did Suburban dwellers benefit from the consumer society?

A
  • they earned more than anyone else
  • able to afford luxury items and pursuits such as boats, swimming pools and foreign holidays
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40
Q

How did cars increase the growth of the consumer society?

A
  • they led to greater mobility
  • this encouraged the development of drive in restaurants, drive in movie theatres and out of town shopping centres
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41
Q

When was the first McDonald’s opened?

A

1945

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42
Q

How did the focus of the consumer society change?

A

the USA became a society which had a great focus on recreation

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43
Q

What were the limitations to the Consumer Society?

A
  • in 1960: nearly 40 million Americans (22%) lived below the poverty line
  • the inner cities, which the middle class had left, fell into economic decline and became associated with crime and poverty
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44
Q

How far did technology lead to the post-war economic boom in the 1950s?

A
  • technology was given a boost during WW2 with high levels of investment
  • technological development created more jobs
45
Q

How far did industry lead to the post-war economic boom in the 1950s?

A
  • the construction industry received a boost with the building of suburbs
  • the USA produced half the world’s manufactured goods by 1947
  • by the end of the 1950s over 30% of Americans lived in the suburbs
46
Q

How far did the baby boom lead to the post-war economic boom in the 1950s?

A
  • the baby boom encouraged the devlopment of a dynamic juvenile market
47
Q

How far did WW2 lead to the post-war economic boom in the 1950s?

A
  • the war forced a growth in government spending and, therefore, the boom
  • 1948: $36.5 billion
  • pre-war: $9.4 billion
48
Q

How far did federal governemnt spending lead to the post-war economic boom in the 1950s?

A
  • the federal government built more highways
  • spending on roads increased from:
  • 1946: $79 million
  • 1960: $2.6 billion
49
Q

How did attitudes towards communism develop after 1945?

A
  • there was still a fear of Soviet worldwide conspiracy
  • it was believed that communist attempts to spread its influence to America had to be contained
  • these fears emerged as the Cold War (Communism V Capitalism)
50
Q

What did people fear during the second red scare?

A
  • people were scared that Communists were aiming to take over America and that there were Communist spies within society
51
Q

How many Soviet agents were in the USA in 1941?

A

221 - they were reporting to the NKVD

52
Q

When was the HUAC founded?

A

1938

53
Q

What does the HUAC stand for?

A

The House Un American Activities Committee

54
Q

What was the HUAC initially set up to do?

A

deal with subversion by Nazi sympathisers

55
Q

Which President changed the priorities of the HUAC?

A
  • President Truman
  • changed the priorities of the HUAC to Communist subversion
  • the investigations were stepped up
56
Q

How was Hollywood used during WW2?

A
  • used as a propaganda tool
  • films were made with subliminal messages to encourage Americans to fear Russians
57
Q

What was the cultural significance of the HUAC?

A

the HUAC severely limited the cultural development in this period

58
Q

What order established Federal Loyalty Boards, when?

A
  • Executive Order 9835
  • March 1947
59
Q

What did the Federal Loyalty Boards do?

A
  • forced federal employees to prove their loyalty to the government
60
Q

Why were Federal Loyalty Boards created?

A
  • fears that Communists were trying to infiltrate
  • the government wanted to weed out spies
61
Q

What did the existence of Federal Loyalty Boards lead to?

A
  • scruitnising of the personal lives and political beliefs of government employees
  • the investigators only had to find ‘reasonable ground’ to suspect individuals
62
Q

Between 1947 and 1951 how many government employees were forced to resign?

A

over 3,000

63
Q

How many states passed their own anti-subversion laws?

A
  • 39 states
  • this encouraged the Red Scare
64
Q

What was the reality of the Red Scare?

A
  • most people were just slightly left wing in their ideologies
65
Q

What are the key events of the second Red Scare?

A
  • 1938: The House Un-American Activities Committee established to investigate subversive behaviour and un-american behaviour across the US
  • 1940: The Alien Registration Act passed to undermine Communism in America
  • 1950: Joseph McCarthy clamied to know of 205 in the State Department that were Communists
  • 1952: McCarthy’s campaign helped the Republican candidate Dwight Eisenhower to win the presidental election
  • 1954: McCarthy loses chairmanship of the Government Committee on Operations of the Senate after his tactics were televised and exposed to the public
66
Q

How was Hollywood affected by the Cold War?

A
  • the cold war led to a ‘communist outbreak’ within Hollywood
67
Q

Why did Hollywood experience strikes after 1945?

A

It faced serious labour problems

68
Q

When did the HUAC investigate Hollywood?

A

1947

69
Q

Who were the Hollywood Ten, and why were they significant?

A
  • a group of ten screenwriters who refused to co-operate with the HUAC investigations
70
Q

How did the HUAC hearings impact Hollywood?

A

the HUAC hearings greatly damaged Hollywood as they led to the end of many careers

71
Q

Who had the power to give commercial licenses to TV stations?

A

The Federal Communications Commission

72
Q

How many TV stations did the Federal Communications Commission give commercial licenses in 1946?

A

6

73
Q

By 1956 how many TV stations had received commercial licenses from The Federal Communications Commission?

A

442

74
Q

In 1945, how many TV sets were there in America?

A

69,000

75
Q

In 1948, what % of homes had TV sets?

A

only 2.9%

76
Q

By 1955, what % of homes had a TV set?

A

76%

77
Q

What were some impacts of the rising power of TV?

A
  • average attendance at movies fell
  • diets changed with the introduction of the Tv dinner
  • TV began to dominate the industry
78
Q

How were women presented in TV and film?

A

as subordinate, loyal partners to middle-class husbands

79
Q

Who was an example of a woman in TV?

A

Lucille Ball from ‘I love Lucy’

80
Q

How were ethnic minorities portrayed in TV?

A

They were almost always portrayed in roles of domestic service

81
Q

Why was TV criticised?

A
  • For being low-brow

- for distracting students from their studies

82
Q

How did teenagers’ roles change financially?

A

Teenagers now had financial power to take part in the economic boom

83
Q

Why did teenagers have more free time available?

A

They were granted independence by their parents

84
Q

What sort of music was teenage culture associated with?

A

Rock ‘n’ Roll

85
Q

Who published ‘Sexual Behaviour in the Human Male’?

A

Alfred Kinsey

86
Q

When was ‘Sexual Behaviour in the Human Male’ published?

A

1948

87
Q

What did Alfred Kinsey’s ‘Sexual Behaviour in the Human Male’ reveal?

A

that 95% of males had been sexually active by the age of 15

88
Q

What did Truman initially do to openly aid black Americans?

A

Very little

89
Q

In July 1948 what did President Harold Truman call for?

A

The desegregation of the armed forces

90
Q

What Executive Order ended segregation of the armed forces?

A
  • Executive Order 9981
  • Passed in July 1948
91
Q

What executive order ended the segregation of the armed forces and when?

A
  • Executive Order 9981
  • In July 1948
92
Q

Why was Truman criticised for his work to support black Americans?

A

people said that Truman only wanted to gain black votes

93
Q

In the 1948 election what proportion of the black vote did Truman receive?

A

2/3

94
Q

Why was Jesse Owens important in the changing status of minorities?

A
  • in 1936 he won the 100m and the long jump at the Olympics
  • When he returned to the USA, FDR refused to welcome him to the Whitehouse
95
Q

How were black players limited in sports?

A

they would face racist abuse from white spectators

96
Q

What does the NAACP stand for and when was it founded?

A
  • The National Association for the Advancement of Coloured People
  • founded in 1909
97
Q

How did the NAACP support the African American working class?

A
  • supported voter registration
  • joined with trade unions
98
Q

Who did the NAACP work with to fight for black American rights?

A

other civil rights groups

99
Q

What was the magazine that the NAACP published called?

A

‘The Crisis’

100
Q

When did the US Supreme Court declare school segregation unconstitutional?

A

17th May 1954

101
Q

When and where was the Brown v Board of Education case?

A
  • 1954
  • Topeka, Kansas
102
Q

In 1954 how did southern black schools differ from southern white schools?

A
  • southern black schools received only 60% of the per-pupil funding as southern white school
  • this was increased from 45% in 1940
103
Q

What did the Brown v Board of Education case rule?

A

Ruled the ‘Plessy v Ferguson’ decision of separate but equal as unconstitutional

104
Q

Why was the Brown v Board of Education case limited?

A

The Supreme Court included no guidance on how to actually implement desegregation

105
Q

In 1955 what began?

A

The Modern Civil Rights Movement

106
Q

What two events had been major steps in the right direction and had encouraged more black Americans to take a stand?

A
  • the desegregation of the armed forces
  • the Brown case
107
Q

By 1955 how had segregation laws changed?

A
  • all segregated public schools were still segregated
  • a variety of public facilities such as toilets, park benches, fountains and public transport were still segregated
108
Q

What was an event that showed America still had a lot of progress to make?

A

‘The Southern Manifesto’ - 100 congressmen signed in 1955 to say that the Brown Case was an abuse of judicial power

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