Post War Prosperity in the U.S.

    After the worst most destructive war WWII came to an end America was left the most powerful nation. Russia was the second leading nation who for there help in WWII were allowed to take control of east Germany and beyond.As soldiers came home, women with factory jobs were encouraged to give up there job to the returning men. More women returning to the home and men available there created a recipe for an increase in baby's and with an increase in marriage rates what came to happened was known as a baby boom. These knew families were attracted to these new "suburbs" which were made using fast and cheap with all the house looking like each other. These houses came to be known as "cookie cutter houses" the most famous one known as Levittown communities.In these age more than any other motherhood was embraced even in popular media like television which was also a growing commodity people came accustomed too.All of these being largely financed by the G.I Bills retuning soldiers came home with. The G.I bill being a large part to why these boom even got started. The G.I bill allowed these soldiers to get the homes they wanted with low interest or financed there education building the most prosperous better then ever educated generation the world had ever seen. With all the extra money these families had there was a boost in commercial sales.

Things that used to be a luxury were now a status symbol. Most consumer goods were family orientated were the rise in spending was. For the fist time people had the financial freedom to do things that was out of their grasp with the rise in consumer credit too. As the middle class grew the prosperity lived in America was used to show how America truly did give you freedom unlike Communist Russia.

    The military spending during the war and after during the Cold War made it possible to make many scientific advancements. Most of which transferred back to the home to make appliances already being made easier to make. Things like televisions and the some of the first computers were made possible and easier to make with micro chips making those things even cheaper and easier to get to the growing middle class. The space race with Russia had even more profound impacts with the different inventions we got from it like LEDs, artificial limbs, anti-icing systems, enriched baby formula,and solar energy. Once again war had seen its upsides with theresulting inventions and more.

   How people made a living also change as a loss of manufacturing jobs and growth of white collar workers

increased. In this form of work conformity was the norm. You had to have a grey or black suit, and this change was seen a as the growth in skyscrapers meant to house thew growing corporation employees better known as "company men". Looking the same meant success and signaled executive to everyone else.

   Even with all the prosperity and the most financially better nation Lyndon B. Johnson asked why there was still poverty in this country. His response to it was his great society program that sought to end poverty. His housing program known as  the Economic Opportunity Act  of 1964 Which provided low income housing for the poor. Other things the great society did was created Medicare to reduce cost of health services on the elderly. The Great Society mirrored the New Deal except in was a response to prosperity not depression like the New Deal.Coupled with the decade's high rate of economic growth, the War on Poverty succeeded in reducing the incidence of poverty from 22 percent to 13 percent of American families during the 1960s. Other things  Johnson pushed for was Wilderness Protection Act which saved tress and making the pollutions seen in major cities go down since it restricted that practice.

   The Cold War kept going and as the treat increases from better more precise bombing techniques Americans grew more and more uneasy of their safety which lead to more bomb drills at school the demand for more bomb shelters.And as a gay to fight of the "godless communism' The words under god were added to paper currency, and under god to the pledge of allegiance.

    This era of American history showed great progress toward the kind a nation we wanted to be. But some citizens were still treated like second class citizens which forced them to fight for their rights. They fraught for their rights and after many court battles and civil disobedience coupled with sit ins progress was made slowly. The time for change was now and America seemed to be the one trying to set the stage for it. This era still reminds us of many advancements and technological advancements. Also showing us a time of fear from government and war, Americans did not feel safe at times which some thought it was governments job to make them feel safe and others thought government was doing to much. Either way this era is known as one of the best times to be an American and its a time we will all remember. Maybe trying to be more like the good old day as they say would not be such a good idea with the underlining troubles this era faced. Even though this era had its troubles it will still be remembered as the best the 20th century had to offer.