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144
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History
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Jan 9, 2024
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docx
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Uploaded by princessjmama
Name: Nicole Tucker
HIS-144: America after World War II
Directions:
Using resources from the Topic 5 Readings, including your textbook, materials provided by your instructor through class discussion, and materials from the GCU Library Guide
for HIS-144 US History Themes, respond to the prompts below. Each answer to the questions should be 100-200 words
While APA style is not required for the body of this assignment, solid academic writing is expected, and documentation of sources should be presented using APA formatting guidelines, which can be found in the APA Style Guide, located in the Student Success Center. Proof of research is needed for each answer.
Wikipedia, Ask.com, ehow.com and other online information sites, encyclopedias, or dictionaries are not considered university academic sources and are NOT TO BE USED
.
1.
Explain the G.I. Bill. In what ways does it change America?
The G.I. Bill is also known as the Servicemen's Readjustment Act of 1944. The act guaranteed unemployment benefits, educational opportunities, medical care, and low-interest housing loans to millions of soldiers. The bill characterized the numerous ways government operations can significantly alter American society and set the stage for welfare state legislation. It changed America by endorsing certain parts of racial discrimination and creating opportunities for white Americans. The African American people didn't care for this because they weren't treated equally (Schultz, 2018). Being as though the bill never acknowledged racial inequality, it kind of
gave local control of home loans as well as university admissions. Millions of veterans took advantage of the bills home loan acceptance guarantee, which made over 2 million WWII Veterans able to become home owners.
2.
Why is the automobile so important to post war America? After World War II ended there was a significant rise in houses being built in the suburbs and it was crucial to have an automobile to be able to travel back and forth to work and earn a living. Automobiles became the main source of transportation for Americans and that made oil in high demand because cars ran off of it. Naturally, this ended with more roads and highways being built so people could travel all over the world. The Interstate Freeway Act of 1956 was passed by
the federal government and it allowed $25 billion to build 41,000 miles of interstate highways for 10 years. Due to this act and the end of the 10 years at least 8 out of 10 Americans had purchased automobiles, and motels and other businesses were being built (Schultz, 2018). To sum it up in a nutshell the automobile industry exploded and this significantly benefited the economy. 1
3. Describe gendered spheres in American society during WWII and how they changed after the war. How did women’s roles change?
During WWII millions of women had to embark on white-collar and industrial jobs to support their families while the soldiers were gone, but when they returned home majority of the women workers were fired. The women were forced back into their old domestic jobs like taking care of the house and raising children. After the war was over the soldiers were ready to start their families, and 76 million had been born in less than 20 years, resulting in the Baby Boom. Before the war everything was in black and white, the men were the breadwinners and the women's job was to take care of the home. After the war and getting a taste of being out of the house and working some women were fine with going back to being a "housewife" but some of the others wanted to continue to work (McDermott, 2018). The women that continued to work got demoted
and they weren't paid the same wages that men received. I feel this was the beginning of the "Women can do anything men can do" era.
4. What was the role of religion in post-World War II American society?
Religion influenced numerous aspects of life, like politics and culture, and the war gave religious
groups the opportunity to manifest their patriotism and show their commitment to religious principles. After the war there was an increase in people searching for stability and moral guidance, so more people started to join different churches. To sum it up World War II provided the religious groups with a chance to show their patriotism and commitment to various religious ideas. Americans now had to understand that other religions existed besides Christianity like, Catholics and Jews. Due to the expansion in the suburbs more churches were being built and more people started taking their families so they could learn about religion.
References
McDermott, A. (2018, July 2). How World War II empowered women. History.com. https://www.history.com/news/how-world-war-ii-empowered-women The post war United States, 1945-1968 : U.S. history primary source timeline : classroom materials at the Library of Congress : library of Congress. The Library of Congress. (2021). https://www.loc.gov/classroom-materials/united-
states-history-primary-source-timeline/post-war-united-states-1945-1968/ Schultz, K. M. (2018). HIST5. Cengage Learning. 2
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