American Society After Wwii Experienced A Major Change

World War II brought several changes to the world and specifically America. It not only changed the world map but also set impact on the behaviours. WWII played a major role in building turning points during different periods. Before WWII, African Americans were not offered equal rights in the community. It was considered an impossible thing that African could ever do a white collar or even a blue collar job. However, soon after the WWII, there came a turning point in the lives of African American with the Civil Rights Act in 1964.

The book “The Other America”, written by Michael Harrington, describes poverty in America in the 1950s and 1960s, when America became one of the most affluent and advanced nations in the world. The book was written in 1962, and Harrington states that there were about 50,000,000 (about 25% of the total population) poor in America at that time. The author did extensive research with respect to the family income levels to derive the poverty numbers, and used his own observations and experiences to write this book. This book addresses the reasons for poverty, the nature of poverty, the culture of poverty, the blindness of Middle Class America with respect to poverty, and the responsibility of all Americans in addressing the issue of poverty in America.

After the end of World War II, the United States went through many changes. Most of the changes were for the better, but some had an adverse effect on certain population centers. Many programs, agencies and policies were created to transform American society and government.

In other words, America has a widening gap between its wealthy and poor. As the rich get richer and the poor get poorer, there is a problem emerging: the disappearance of the middle class. Low-wage workers continue to fall behind those who make higher wages, and this only widens the gap between the two. There has been an economic boom in the United States, which has made the country more prosperous than it has ever been. That prosperity does not reach all people; it seems to only favor the rich. Rising economic segregation has taken away many opportunities for the poor to rise in America today. The poor may find that the economic boom has increased their income; however, as their income increase so does the prices they must for their living expenses (Dreier, Mollenkopf, & Swanstrom 19).

During the “Baby Boomer” era, following WWII, America underwent one of the largest demographic shifts and population growths in history. Huge amounts of home construction on the outskirts of America’s largest cities, known as “levittowns” became the new staple of the American dream, with the houses sporting two car garages, and white picket fences. These low density, predominantly middle class residential districts, were America’s first true suburbs. These suburbs were constructed mainly in response to the new postwar consumerism that enveloped the parents of the baby boomers. With the new economy, affordable housing, and most families becoming single income dependent, families grew bigger and bigger. The 1947 passing of the bill that lead to the interstate highway system, only added fuel to the fire of suburbanization. With the new interstate highway system, more affordable and fuel efficient automobiles, and the government aiding in the financing of new suburban homes, the choice seemed elementary. All of these factors pushing to the suburban movement, only spurred the baby boomers on, and between 1940-50, there was an 835% percent increase in living births with nearly 4 million children being born every year. In 1940, 19.5% of the United States population lived in what would be considered to be suburban areas outside of large metropolitan areas, however, by 1960; the number was pushing nearly 40%. The postwar suburbanization of America during the baby boomer

After World War II, the American psyche became permanently stained with new ideas. During this time period, the American government actively sought to change the way the American people thought. The support of the American public was crucial to the success of the war effort. Many ideas introduced during this point of time consisted of new roles of certain people groups in American society. Women and minority groups would prove themselves in the workplace, millions of citizens would be discriminated against, and social barriers would be broken and assembled. Even though World War II took place in Europe and the Pacific, it made lasting social changes that can still be seen in America.

On December 7th, 1941, Japanese fighter planes staged an attack on U.S naval and military forces based in Pearl Harbour, Hawaii. In around just two hours, America suffered from approximately 3,435 casualties including 2,000 deaths. The shattering defeat cost the U.S, 8 battle ships and around 200 airplanes. The following day, President Roosevelt asked Congress to declare war on Japan. This was approved, and more than two years into the conflict, America had eventually fully committed to the war.

Poverty has been a big issue over the past century or so and continues to be a problem to this day in the United States. Due to the Civil War, rural areas and industrial areas were affected by poverty. The poverty of rural sharecroppers in 1877 was different from the poverty of unemployed industrial workers in 1939. Even though both situations were dealing with a form of poverty, both were two completely different situations. There were several major events that happened that caused poverty of rural sharecroppers in 1877. Although there were various events leading up to the poverty of unemployed industrial workers in 1939, poverty in the year of 1877 was just as bad, if not worse, as in the year of 1939.

Due to house shortages on the inner city, a massive pop up of suburban housing grew on the edge of the city limits. increase d vehicle production, federal highway system expansions, and veteran mortgage programs encouraged the newly created middle to buy larger family homes on the outskirts of the city.

In the meantime, suburban population was growing and shifting during the post war years. Baby boomers brought much prosperity as they grew up and entered the work force. With so many people working and making a better living, growing families needed more room. Millions of Americans were leaving the cities for the suburbs. The growth of the suburbs after 1945 was due mainly to the large number of new homes financed by the G1 Bill which gave them low interest rate mortgages to purchase new homes. Tax deductions also made the move from urban areas to the suburbs

For instance, nuclear families with the father having a well paid job and the mother and children relax in the house. These sitcoms were factors in turning the dream into a reality. Families living in a rent house were now able to afford to move to the suburbs. New York’s Levittown which consisted of identical houses exemplified the new home of a middle class family. At this time, Levittown and other similar areas were still segregated.

After World War II, the United States of America became a much wealthier nation. As America gained wealth and the populations in urban cities and transportation technology increased, many Americans spread out, away from the urban cities, to fulfill the common dream of having a piece of land to call their own. The landscape constructed became known as the suburbs, exclusive residential areas within commuting distance of a city. The popularity and success of the suburban landscape caused suburbs to sprawl across the United States, from the east coast to the west coast and along the borders between Canada and Mexico. By the 1990s, many suburbs surrounding major urban cities developed into being more than merely exclusive residential areas.

World War Two ended finally in the summer of nineteen forty-five. Life in the United States began to return to normal. Soldiers began to come home and find peacetime jobs. Industry stopped producing war equipment and began to produce goods that made peacetime life pleasant. The American economy was stronger than ever. Some major changes began to take place in the American population. Many Americans were not satisfied with their old ways of life. They wanted something better. And many people were earning enough money to look for a better life. Millions of them moved out of cities and small towns to buy newly-built homes in the suburbs. Our program today will look at the growth of suburbs and other changes in the American population in the years after World War Two. The United States has always counted its population every ten years. The government needed to know how many people lived in each state so it would know how many congressmen each state should have.

In America, sprawl became much more noticeable in the 1950s. The first noticeable and prominent example of the growth of the suburbs in America is Levittown, built in 1948 on Long Island, New York. This community was advertised and intended for post-war America and for returning veterans and their families. Americans perceived it to be a new and cheap housing community, and the houses and communities were attractive to the new residents, with many of them coming from urban areas (Hales). People sought to escape the

As a result sale prices and rent fall. The economic prosperity of the early 1900s brought a huge expansion of real estate, especially in housing, but by the mid-1930s, 16 million people were unemployed and the demand for real estate of all types declined precipitously. World War II brought technological breakthroughs and therefore the demand of houses and other real estate went up. The mortgage stability introduced by federal legislation following the Great Depression and World War II greatly aided the huge expansion of suburban housing and shopping centers that followed the war. The Dictionary of American History also says William Levitt started building Levittown on Long Island in 1947, with around 17,000 standardized houses produced at the rate of 36 per day for a population of 82,000, and by 1955 this type of sub-division represented 75% of new housing. The 1950s also brought the development of hotel chains. Skyscraper office, apartment, and hotel building construction continued after World War II in urban centers, driving up their values (and profits).