After Korea, the 1950s brought a long economic boom under President Dwight Eisenhower (1953 to 1961). Many families had money to spend for the first time since the 1920s, and new suburbs, highways and televisions changed daily life.
Key idea
| Change | Facts |
|---|---|
| GI Bill (1944) | Paid college tuition and gave low-interest home loans to millions of veterans |
| Suburbs | Levitt & Sons built about 17,000 houses on Long Island from 1947, mass-produced like cars |
| Baby boom | Births rose sharply from 1946 to 1964 |
| Television | In about one home in ten in 1950, in most homes by 1960; shared shows, news and ads |
| Interstate Highway Act (1956) | Authorized a 41,000-mile highway system, justified partly for defense |
| Sputnik (October 4, 1957) | The first satellite; led to NASA and the National Defense Education Act (1958) |
Why it works
The boom was not shared equally. Levittown's deeds barred sales to non-white buyers, and federal mortgage rules backed "redlining," which marked Black neighborhoods as poor risks. The Supreme Court ruled in 1948 that courts could not enforce racial covenants, but discrimination in lending and sales went on. In 1959 about one American in five lived in poverty, many in rural areas, Appalachia and inner cities.
Work it through
Worked example: Following a chain of effects
- GI Bill loans let veterans buy homes with little money down.
- Builders such as Levitt mass-produced houses on cheap land outside cities.
- New highways let suburban workers drive to city jobs.
- So the suburbs grew, while many cities lost residents and tax money.
Answer: Cheap loans plus mass-built houses plus highways made the suburbs.
Common mistake