# data[].attributes.body
Labor unions such as the the United Auto Workers won wage increases as well as employee benefits. Corporate mangers found that it was cheaper to negotiate with the union workers rather  than they engage in strikes.

During 1950s many corruption was founded by senators such as John McClellan and Robert and John Kennedy, who found many misappropriation of union funds, rigged elections extortion, etc. This resulted to the enactment of the Landrum-Griffin Act, which contained anticorruption provisions to safeguard democratic election procedures within unions.

Women made up large percentage of he poor in America during the midcentury. Few jobs payed women well in 1950s.

Few government officials for the interest of the poor instead they celebrated  the achievement of the affluent majority. The poor were silent and lacked organization and articulate leader to call attend to their issues.

During the late 1950s, union membership peaked in 1956, and then declined after. This was due to loss losses in the industry industry. People could higher wages and benefits without joining a union.

In 1956, white collar workers outnumbered blue collar workers.

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Americans in 1950s believed that enhanced social mobility operated to diminish social distinctions

Wealth was only for a very small number of families at the top of the social class

40 million poor

Because every one was middle class Americans believed they surpassed class conflict.

Unionized workers employed in mass production industries made gains in job security and economic well being

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Victoria

Most important American industry of the time

70 million vehicles in America by 1960

Expanded other industries like service stations, oil industry, and motels

Direct relationship with the growth of suburbia

Government involvement: Public good (Federal government built an interstate highway)

Connected the country (cities were linked to suburbs through freeways)

Promoted innovation and entrepreneurship (different car models, accessories, engines, etc.)

Advertising of cars existed in the media and television

Owning a car = successful American

Domestic sales made up majority of the industry

Demonstrated America’s technological and manufacturing success

Did not take into account the environmental costs of car industries

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Isabella
- Rise of religion in 1950s
- President Eisenhower tied religion to patriotism
- "God is the first, most basic expression of Americanism"
- Atheism was associated with communism and disloyalty. Overall, not the "American Way"
- Family bonding
- Congress added the words "In God We Trust" into the pledge of allegiance
- Printed on money was the phrase "One Nation Under God"
- 1945-1960 church attendance rose 50%
- Poll in 1955 showed 97% of Americans believed in God
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The large majority of Americans in the 1950s were wealthy, but millions of Americans were still stricken with poverty.  25% of the US population were poor in 1960.  One fourth of the poor were over 65, and one fifth of the poor were nonwhite.  Women made up a large percentage of the nation's poor because not many jobs were open to women in the 1950s.  Publicists focused on the achievements of the affluent majority while the poor themselves were silent, as they lacked organization and a leader to call attention to their problems.  One of the major causes of poverty in America was that wealth remained highly concentrated, and in 1960 the richest 1 percent of the population owned a third of the national wealth.

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Isabella
- Rise in youth-led crime (gangs, etc.) as a way to push back against conformity
- Young people dropping out of the college rat race and joining beatnik enclaves in New York and other cities
- The beatniks (The Beat Generation) smoked marijuana, listened to jazz, and did not work
- Notable figures include Jack Kerouac (author or On the Road) and Allen Ginsberg (author of many famous beat poems, most notably "Howl")
- The beats' identity was centered around combatting the system which included the set rules of poetry and verse as well as conventional music, hence the interest in jazz (which broke those rules) and the new age of literature.
- J.D. Salinger wrote "Catcher in the Rye" , which was banned in highschools all over America for its explicit nature and anti-conformist message, but this only caused teenagers to want to read the book more

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Following the Great Depression and WWII the American economy flourished during the 1950s.

GDP doubled in 15 years and the economy rose by an average rate of 4% per year.

The workforce grew from 54 million to 68 million, and the UR remained low (4%).

This allows for wages to increase by 60%, and also the national family income almost doubled.

Better living conditions and standards of living.

New industry was born in the financial world: Credit Cards.

Private debt rose with this new medium of exchange.

As consumer demand was so large, industries and the private sector could invest more on their companies.

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Before the mid 1950s music within American culture largely involved pop music.

Songs that were waltzes, ballads, novelty songs, and celebrations of teenage love.

African American music, however, was not broadcasted much until the 1950 when Allen Freed began to air  "rhythm and blues."

In 1956, truck driver, Elvis Presley became a national sensation and the king of rock through his mix of rhythm and blues and country-and west music.

His music shed light on African American music and on African American artists such as Chuck Berry and Little Richard.

His music, although he was not a rebel at all and he was quite a conservative, was seen as a symbol of youth rebellion.

His performances, however, were criticized by parents, educators, and ministers who preached that the youth should listen to religious music (as religion revived during this era).

Rock 'n' roll, especially Presley's music provoked sexual fantasies and behavior.

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*Population movement to accommodate more comfortable living standards for the white middle class
--> By 1960, 60% of people owned their house
*Cities had more crowded schools, higher taxes, higher housing prices, and higher crime rates
*Business boomed, whether it be land developing (which was subsidized), new roads, or new shopping centers
*Suburbs further divided the population along economic and racial lines.
*Minorites tended to stay in the city, in part because they had less access to government subsidies. Around 98% of suburbia was white.
*Urban tax bases thus shrunk and led to a decomposition of social services.
*Racial protests and riots during the late 1960s would thus be concentrated in inner city urban "ghettos"

--> More on the racialization of housing, started during the New Deal: https://www.npr.org/2017/05/03/526655831/a-forgotten-history-of-how-the-u-s-government-segregated-america

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Isabella

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While the United States appeared to be dominated by consensus and conformity in the 1950s, some Americans reacted against the status quo.

Analyze the critiques of United States society made by TWO of the following:  Youth,  Civil Rights Activists, Intellectuals

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Enormous growth in the first 5 years - 50% of families had one, 90% by 1960.

Focus of family life

Genres, stereotypes, romanticism (non-reality perpetuated)

American national identity formed on the TV screen

Live sporting and news events

Cultural force - 6 hours of viewing/day - conservative pop entertainment and commercial instrument for advertising

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"Transition, frustration, and confusion."

Traditional roles vs. new dreams and opportunities.

Gender-defined roles = mother/homemaker

Question of the day: "Can they do this and still be desirous to men or self-fulfilled?"

To work or not to work? That is the question. . . .

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Daniel

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New births stimulated demand for many new products.

New suburbs, new schools

Death rate fell at the same time (+5).

Population mobility to the Sunbelt

Less farmers, less urban dwellers.

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In the 1950s, mass culture became increasingly homogeneous, inspiring challenges to conformity by artists, intellectuals, and rebellious youth which would peak during the 1960s.