Do Now: Recap Write down your answers Which sections of Paper 1 will you be tested on next week?

1. Do Now: Recap Write down your answers Which sections of Paper 1 will you be tested on next week? What’s the difference between these two sections? What are the four themes of study in this paper? Challenge: Suggest possible questions that could come up.

3. How did post-war standards of living change definitions of the American Dream, 1945-61? LOs: 1. To recall key changes in the USA 1945-61 studied under three themes so far. 2. To explain the impact of the post-war baby boom on standards of living 3. To assess the degree to which definitions of liberty and the American Dream changed

4. Which picture would best fit a textbook about 1950’s America?

5. Task one: Making links Recap everything you’ve learned so far about the USA 1945-61 across the three themes by creating a physical mind map. • Group cards together into categories • There are spaces on the cards to add details • Some are general themes/aspects whereas some are very specific examples • Use the arrows to link the cards together • There are spare cards to add examples

6. The Decade of Prosperity The economy overall grew by 37% during the 1950s. At the end of the decade, the median American family had 30% more purchasing power than at the beginning. Inflation, which had wreaked havoc on the economy immediately after World War II, was minimal, in part because of Eisenhower's persistent efforts to balance the federal budget. Except for a mild recession in 1954 and a more serious one in 1958, unemployment remained low, bottoming at less than 4.5% in the middle of the decade.

7. Eisenhower's Middle Way Eisenhower steered a balanced course economically. Some Republicans called for rolling back the New Deal, but the president realized that many of Franklin D. Roosevelt's liberal social programs were both popular and effective. Instead of getting rid of Social Security, for example, Ike actually expanded it to cover another ten million people left out of the original program. Instead of turning away from big public works projects, he instead invested federal money in the Interstate Highway System, one of the largest public spending projects in the country's history.

8. The Rise of Consumerism One of the factors that fuelled the prosperity of the Fifties was the increase in consumer spending. Americans enjoyed a standard of living that was inconceivable to the rest of the world. For example, Vice President Nixon told Nikita Khrushchev in the mid-1950s that there were 60 million cars in the United States, but the Soviet leader simply refused to believe him. When Khrushchev came to visit America, Eisenhower arranged for him to fly in a helicopter over busy roads and parking lots to witness the remarkable signs of abundance.

9. A Nation in Debt Though Eisenhower tried mightily to balance the federal budget, consumers did not follow suit when it came to their own family budgets. Americans had traditionally been thrifty by nature, but in the Fifties they were willing to "buy now, pay later," as automobile advertisements urged. The Federal Housing Administration and the Veteran's Administration both offered low-interest loans to allow families to buy new homes.

10. Left Out of Prosperity The prosperity of the Eisenhower years did not touch all Americans, however. Even as the nation prospered and the middle class did well, something like 25% of citizens lived in poverty (then defined as an annual income under $3,000 for a family of four). Much of this poverty was said to be "invisible;" it affected blacks in urban neighbourhoods and whites in depressed rural areas like the Appalachian Mountains. Middle-class folks enjoying their new swimming pools in the suburbs could go through their lives without ever seeing the misery in other sectors of American society. Poverty amid plenty was another paradox of the Fifties, but most were able to ignore it.

11. Teenagers Take the Stage The term "teenager" was rarely used before the 1950s. During the Eisenhower years, young people began to see themselves as a distinct group. Their attempts to forge an identity worried adults, who could not understand the shift. The change was connected to the nation's affluence. Earlier in American history, young people often had to work full-time jobs to help support their families' basic survival. By the 1950s, that was usually no longer the case. Teens instead worked part-time jobs or received allowances from their parents, giving them money to spend on fun non-essentials. In part, the phenomenon was inspired by the returning G.I.s of the late 1940s, who after surviving more than four years of World War II had a lot of wild oats to sow. Teens of the following decade imitated the defiant, rebellious, let-loose pattern of this slightly older group.

12. Task two: Post war prosperity Look at the image on the second page of the handout. -In what ways had life for Americans visibly improved post-war? -What problems can you already see / predict? Use the handout to answer the following: Buoying the post war economy How did Truman ensure that the economy would continue to grow after 1945? What was the impact of technology in the 1952 presidential election? The impact of the baby boom What was the impact of the baby boom on the standard of living? Describe the impact of suburbanisation Describe the impact of the car owning culture What impact did the baby boom have on other markets? Homogenous consumerism? List three examples new consumer experiences. Summarise of the arguments for and against the impact of consumerism on America Challenge: Use your homework to summarise the impact of spectator sports and tourism on standards of living in the USA.

13. HW review: 2. Read Foner chapter 24 'The affluent society'.  Be prepared to respond to the four 'focus questions' in our first lesson back