The Time Of Poverty From The Great Depression

In the 1950’s American families went through several changes, some of which were positive and beneficial. There were many new technological breakthroughs. Additionally, new forms of entertainment created a generational divide between young people and adults. Americans entered a period of postwar abundance, with expanding suburbs, growing families, and more white-collar jobs. The average income of American families roughly tripled. Thousands of families rushed to buy the inexpensive homes. New suburbs multiplied throughout the United States. Affordability was the key reason most Americans moved to the suburbs.

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

The concept of suburbia quickly morphed into something far different from country living. Over the years, urban sprawl has created vast suburbs. Instead of local shops, the suburbs we know today have large malls full of box stores. Highways connect our suburbs to the city center instead of railways and the modern suburb doesn 't have the same sense of community that the original suburbs had. According to the documentary, "suburban life" and everything that comes with it has been packaged and sold in bulk to many Americans and Canadians. And this package we call "The American Dream", which is simply of a mockery or a satire of what the original suburbs used to be like, is

Around 1914 to 1920, over 500,000 African Americans had gathered their belongings and embarked on a journey to the North. World War I and the economic boom that accompanied it created the conditions that made the entrance of black migrants into northern industries possible. However, until then European immigrants had been arriving at an annual rate that surpassed the North’s total black population, thus providing employers with

The development of the suburbs has been appointed to be the result of the “white flight” from the inner cities. In the 1950’s black Americans moved northward to cities to find industrial jobs that were within walking distance. Discrimination in cities worsened, crime rates increased and educational facilities’ credentials weakened or gained bad reputations. The upper-class families left the cities and mass migrated to the suburbs to escape the increasing crime rates and worsening conditions. This movement was later termed the “white flight”. Every American wanted to begin building the “ideal family”: two parents, two children and maybe a pet or two. This newly invented middle-class prospered as

Interestingly enough, the decline of a major American suburban area went unnoticed for several years. Several economists realized that the failure could’ve been caused by the lack of actual “metropolitan-ness” in the area, meaning that the city wasn’t economically associated with the suburban towns that surround them.

It was a way to constraint African Americans to areas that were far away from those with status, class, and power. Segregation led to discrimination in economic opportunities, housing, and education. The black culture has suffered from the barriers that were placed through segregation. However, the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Fair Housing Act of 1968 tried to limit some of the discrimination associated with segregation. It was discovered that even a “rising economic status had little or no effect on the level of segregation that blacks experience” (Massey and Denton 87). The authors imply that “black segregation would remain a universal high” (Massey and Denton 88). The problem with the continuing causes in Segregation is that even though the Fair Housing act was placed, many realtors still discriminate against blacks “through a series of ruses, lies, and deceptions, makes it hard for them to learn about, inspect, rent, or purchase homes in white neighborhoods” (Massey and Denton 97). Segregation and discrimination have a cumulative effect over time. Massey and Denton argued that the “act of discrimination may be small and subtle, together they have a powerful cumulative effect in lowering the probability of black entry into white neighborhood” (98). William Julius Wilson had

Overall, living in the suburbs had its advantages for

Do you want to live in a dictatorship? During the Great Depression President Franklin D. Roosevelt said “True individual freedom cannot exist without economic security and independence. People who are hungry and out of a job are the stuff of which dictatorships are made of”. The Great Depression in the United States began after the stock market crash of October 1929 because Americans gambled on the stock market with money they didn’t really have and when the prices of stocks started to drop panicked investors tried to bail out. Investors dumped shares. A record 12.9 million shares was traded on October 24, 1929, “Black Thursday”, then five days later on October 29, 1929, “Black Tuesday”, 16 million

Suburbs started popping up outside the metropolis that were centered around manufacturing plants, railroads, streetcars, and finally, the automobile (Chen et. al.). This is evident by the fact that over 60 percent of American homes own a vehicle by 1929 (Chen et. al.). One of the terms that often is synonymous with the concepts of sprawl and suburbanization is the popularity of “lawn culture” in neighborhoods (Chen et. al.). This idea of having a green space in the form of a lawn, was a representation of autonomy because it allowed people to attach themselves to the marriage between city and country (Chen et. al.). The automobile allowed for people to easily commute from work to home, introducing cul-de-sacs and winding roads to the suburbs (Chen et. al.). However, this process of suburbanization largely favored white middle class, due to the unfair discriminatory practices loan agencies used to disadvantage minorities in their ability to buy homes (Chen et. al.). Today, we still see the vast plethora of effects that discriminatory decisions of Americas’ past have on today’s Americans; we have a long way to go towards rectifying the great injustices that have been done to minority races, we must continuously work towards educating the masses about history so that we can change the

The 1950s were described as an era of prosperity and conformity for multiple reasons.The most prominent and widespread cause is the development of the suburbs.With

In the 1950's the number of people living in the suburbs came to actually equal the number of people living in cities. This wave of people was due mainly to the availability of affordable housing; which allowed middle-class Americans to move to an area previously inhabited only by the wealthy. The houses and neighborhoods built in mass numbers on assembly lines came to look identical to each other. As a result of this, a model American life was created. People all around the country began to follow this model, and before they knew it a race to conform had begun. People no longer strove to be different, neither by ethnicity nor religion; they strove to be the same. David Farber, the author of The Age Of Great Dreams,

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.

The 1950’s were a decade of great change in various ways. For example the American minorities, the women, and other outspoken ethnic and other groups of society, decided to stand up and fight for their rights. The Great War had ended, and men were coming back home. As this happened the demand for economic homes increased, and families began having children due to the economical stability and prosperity in which the United States of America was amidst. The nationwide home demand gave birth to one of the most comfortable and affordable ways of living: The suburban home. These neighborhoods were planned for young middle-upper class families who wanted to have, or already had children. These families were living the

The solution for a majority of the African American population resorted to moving up North in