US History B MT5 (11.8) Consumer Culture PDF

US History B MT5 (11.8) Handout #1​ ​ Name: _________________________Period: ____ Date:____ US History B MT5: Consensus & Counter-Culture LT#1 (11.8): Describe the economic boom (consumer culture) and the social transformation (generations) in the USA foll...

US History B MT5 (11.8) Handout #1​ ​ Name: _________________________Period: ____ Date:____ US History B MT5: Consensus & Counter-Culture LT#1 (11.8): Describe the economic boom (consumer culture) and the social transformation (generations) in the USA following WW2. #1: Pre-Depression Generation (Roaring Twenties)- 1900 to 1927 The early 1900s saw much change in the world: the boom of the 1920s had people in America begin to look towards a brighter future and the modern American Dream. The American dream was a movement of upward mobility, living a better, richer, happier, fuller life than their parents. The technological and manufacturing boom ushered in a modern consumer culture. With electricity came a range of new household appliances, such as refrigerators, vacuum cleaners, and washing machines, and the increased availability of credit made it possible for many Americans to afford them. The growth of the advertising industry and the development of sophisticated marketing techniques also helped create demand for these and other products in an expanding mass-media landscape. Not only was the radio one of the most popular new electric devices, installed in 40 percent of homes by 1930, but the airwaves became an effective advertising medium. The 1920s also brought about social changes for women in the United States. Women had entered the workforce in significant numbers during World War I, filling jobs vacated by men sent to war and taking new jobs that aided the war effort. Many women remained in the workforce after the war. People who lived through the 1920’s onward, experienced the worst of life, war, an economic depression, homelessness, starvation, and much suffering. This is the start of each generation seeking to achieve the American Dream which matched their current reality. #2: Silent (Lost) Generation/The Greatest Generation- 1928 to 1946 No decade in the 20th century (1900-1999) was more terrifying for people throughout the world than the 1930s. The traumas of the decade included economic disorder (great depression), the rise of totalitarianism, and War (WW2 and Cold War). Nevertheless, the decade is remembered in different ways in different parts of the world. For people in the United States, the 1930s was indelibly the age of the Great Depression. Bank panics destroyed faith in the US History B MT5 (11.8) Handout #1​ ​ Name: _________________________Period: ____ Date:____ economic system, and joblessness limited faith in the future. The worst drought in modern American history struck the Great Plains in 1934. Windstorms that stripped the topsoil from millions of acres turned the whole area into a vast Dust Bowl and destroyed crops and livestock in unprecedented amounts. As a result, some 2.5 million people fled the Plains states, many bound for California, where the promise of sunshine and a better life often collided with the reality of scarce, poorly paid work as migrant farm laborers. For Americans, the 1930s will always summon up images of breadlines, apple sellers on street corners, shuttered factories, rural poverty, and so-called Hoovervilles (named for President Herbert Hoover), where homeless families sought refuge in shelters cobbled together from salvaged wood, cardboard, and tin. It was a time when thousands of teens became drifters; many marriages were postponed; birth rates declined; and children grew up quickly, often taking on adult responsibilities. It was a time when the number of women in the workplace actually increased, which helped needy families but created a situation where American males felt some type of way since they were no longer the traditional “breadwinners” of the American family. #3​ This “silent or lost generation” spent their childhood in the middle of the Great Depression and then their early twenties dealing with WW2, therefore following WW2 people wanted stability, a stable home, a stable job, and a stable family while also enjoying life. In order to achieve this stability people married, found union jobs, bought homes away from the cities, and had a lot of kids which created the next generation known as the baby boom generation, or boomers. #4: Baby Boomers Generation (1946 to 1964) The lost generation following WW2 lived life in a booming American and world economy. Since much of Europe’s manufacturing abilities were devastated by WW2, the United States took over as the main manufacturer with America producing well over half of the world's goods. This created an overwhelming amount of jobs that needed to be filled, and unemployment was at an all-time low. This led to a surplus of disposable income for many new families and this resulted in a consumer culture that thrived, even surpassing the purchasing of their grandparents' generation of the Roaring Twenties. American workers put their hard-earned money back into the economy by purchasing homes in the suburbs with yards, multiple bedrooms and bathrooms, family cars, luxury items US History B MT5 (11.8) Handout #1​ ​ Name: _________________________Period: ____ Date:____ such as colored TVs, gas-powered lawnmowers, air conditioners, and vacations. Baby Boomers afford to attend college and send their children to college. #5​ The generation is often defined by its teenage years—hippie culture, protests against Vietnam, and the 1969 concert in Woodstock, New York. Teenage baby boomers soon made their mark on the U.S. in a different way. In 1969, when the eldest boomers turned 23, the U.S. government held its first draft lottery since World War II. The intent was to bolster manpower for America’s struggling involvement in the war in Vietnam, and there was a massive pool of young men from which to draw—about 11.5 million from ages 19 to 25, minus several million in college. The draft, and the war in general, crystallized the political power of the baby boom. Widespread protests against involvement in the war by college-age Americans contributed to the U.S.’s eventual withdrawal. The disparity between the age of draft eligibility, 18, and the age at which most citizens could vote 21, contributed to the passage of the Twenty-sixth Amendment in 1971, lowering the voting age. It was also, in part, a reflection of the obvious political power the baby boom was already demonstrating. The boom also helped accelerate another pattern: disengagement with institutions. Baby boomers were less likely than their parents to attend church, to be married, and to be members of political parties. Their children then continued the trend, being less likely to participate in those same institutions. #6: Generation X (1965 to 1980) Generation X, is a term typically used to describe the generation of Americans born between 1965 and 1980. Generation X also has been called the “baby bust” generation, because its members were born when the high birth rates of the baby boomer decades declined (attributed in part to the introduction of the birth control pill, which first went on the market in the early 1960s). Members of Generation X, or Gen Xers, grew up in a time when there were more dual-income families, single-parent households, and children of divorce than when boomers were growing up. Consequently, many Gen Xers were latchkey kids, returning from school to an empty home while their parents were still away at work. Gen Xers were the first generation to grow up with personal computers, gaming systems, and cable tv, often seen as “the babysitter” since children were often left alone since their parents were working. College tuition rates began to soar in the US History B MT5 (11.8) Handout #1​ ​ Name: _________________________Period: ____ Date:____ early 1980s, saddling Generation X with more student loan debt than previous generations, which would take its members many years—for some, decades—to pay off. Subsequently, many Gen Xers were unemployed, or underemployed, and the number of Gen Xers who as adults had to move back home to live with their parents. On the whole, Generation X is likely to be the first generation whose members would not be more financially well-off than their parents were. As compared with previous generations, members of Generation X are more ethnically diverse, with some one-third of Gen Xers identifying as nonwhite; are somewhat less likely to be involved in organized religion; and tend to be more liberal on social issues, such as same-sex marriage. Source: Encylopidia Britanica