Post War USA 1945-1960 Flashcards
(160 cards)
1
Q
when was Truman president
A
1945-1952
2
Q
when was Eisenhower president
A
1953-1960
3
Q
how much did GNP rise
A
35% since 1941
4
Q
how much of the global income did the US have in comparison with its population
A
7% global population but 40% global income
5
Q
what was per capita income
A
$1450 - 2x Britain
6
Q
how many calories did urban Americans consume a day
A
3000 - 50% more than most in Western Europe
7
Q
how much did the federal government spend compared to previous years
A
$36.5 billion in 1948 - more than $9.4 billion in 1939 but less than $92.2 billion in 1945
8
Q
what was the average earnings
A
$3000 a year
9
Q
how many US homes lacked running water and flush toilets
A
in 1947 33% no running water and 40% no flush toilets
10
Q
how much did home ownership increase
A
55% in 1950 to 62% in 1960
11
Q
how much did car sales increase
A
69,500 in 1945 to 6.7 million in 1950
12
Q
how many foreign cars on US roads in 1950
A
16,000
13
Q
how many different car models on sale in 1961
A
350
14
Q
how much did a new Chrysler cost
A
$1300 - 40% average family income
15
Q
how much did the number of two-car families increase
A
doubled between 1951 and 1958
16
Q
how many cars in LA
A
more than in the whole of Asia
17
Q
how wealthy was General Motors
A
wealthier than Belgium in terms of GDP
18
Q
when and where did the first Holiday Inn open
A
1952 between Memphis and Nashville
19
Q
when and where did the first McDonalds open
A
April 1955 in Des Moines
20
Q
what were the annual sales of McDonalds
A
by 1960, 228 restaurants had sales of $37 million
21
Q
when was the Interstate Highway Act
A
1956
22
Q
how many miles of highway were constructed under the Interstate Highway Act
A
41,000
23
Q
how much money did railroads lose
A
$700 million a year by the mid 50s
24
Q
how many parts did Levitt houses come in
A
27
25
how many houses did Levitt build on a site in Long Island
2000 in 1947
26
how large did the original Levittown grow
17,000 homes in 24 sq km, housing 82,000 people by 1951
27
when was the GI Bill of Rights
1944
28
what was the official name for the GI Bill of Rights
Selective Servicemen's Readjustment Act
29
how much did former combatants receive under the GI bill of rights
$20 a week while they looked for work
30
how much of the money set aside for the veterans unemployment benefits was actually used
20%
31
which university tripled its number of students to accommodate veterans
University of Syracuse
32
how many more new family homes were built
114,000 in 1944 which increased to 1.7 million in 1950
33
how much did the % of Americans owning their own homes increase
55% in 1950 to 62% in 1960
34
what government administrations gave out mortgages
Federal Housing Administration or Veterans' Administration
35
what mortgages were offered through federal administrations
up to 90% cost price and interest rates as low as 4%
36
how many more people lived in suburbs
17% in 1920 to 33% in 1960
37
how did the number of shopping malls increase
8 in 1946 to 4000 by the late 50s
38
what did disposable income rise by
17% by 1953
39
what was the growth of the advertising industry
from $6 billion in 1950 to $13 billion in 1963
40
how many TVs in the US by 1960
over 50 million
41
how many babies were born each year
4 million a year between 1954 and 1964
42
how much of the population were children
in 1964, 40% of the population were born before 1946
43
what did divorce rate fall from
17.9 per 1000 marriages in 1946 to 9.6 by 1953
44
what did the average age of marriage for women fall from
21.5yrs in 1940 to 20.1yrs in 1956
45
what was the average time spent married before a woman fell pregnant
7 months
46
how many Americans homes had fridges, washing machines, and telephones
by 1951 90% had fridges, and 75% had washing machines and telephones
47
what did the amount of debt increase to nationally
$5.7 billion in 1945 to $56.1 billion in 1960
48
how much food did the typical family consume annually
2.5 tons
49
what did consumption of hot dogs increase to
750 million in 1950 to 2 billion in 1960
50
what did average weekly cinema attendance fall to
from 90 million in 1946 to 47 million in 1956
51
how many drive in cinemas in the period
4000
52
which stars popularised the anti-hero
James Dean, Paul Newman and Marlon Brando
53
when did water officials in Toledo discover a correlation between the flushing of toilets and commercial breaks on TV
1954
54
what was the regular audience of I Love Lucy
50 million
55
which comedienne broke the stereotype by acting as a performer and producer
Lucille Ball
56
what notable show reinforced gender roles
Donna Reed Show
57
what % of the population was under 24
41.6% in 1950 and 44.5% in 1960
58
what was the increase in the teenagers' collective annual spending power
$10 billion in 1950 to $25 billion in 1959
59
what was the first film to appeal specifically to a teenage audience
Rebel Without a Cause
60
when did Elvis emerge onto the pop music scene
1956
61
how much did the number of murders carried out by teenagers in NY increase
26% in 1956 from the previous year
62
which psychologist published a book exposing violence in comics
Frederic Wertham - The Seduction of the Innocent, 1954
63
what proportion of male teenagers were drafted into the armed forces over the 50s
1/2
64
when was the Full Employment Bill
1945
65
when did Truman call a labour management conference
November 1945
66
when did the United Mine Workers come out on strike for a pay increase
April 1945
67
what was Truman's quote about the Fair Deal in 1949
'Every segment of our population and every individual has a right to expect from our government a fair deal'
68
what quote describes Eisenhower's philosophy
'conservative when it comes to money and liberal when it comes to human beings'
69
what new department did Eisenhower create
The Department of Health, Education, and Welfare
70
how popular was the US communist party
it never attracted more than 100,000 supporters
71
when did China fall to communism
1949
72
what committee tried to persuade people that china had fallen to communism as a result of secret communist infiltrators within the state department
Pat McCarran and the Senate Internal Security Department
73
why physicist were convicted of giving nuclear secrets to the USSR
Klaus Fuchs and Harry Gold
74
which scientists were executed for giving away atomic secrets
Julius and Ethel Rosenberg
75
how many operatives did the USSR later claim were spying in the US government
221
76
what was the most notable anti-communist trial which investigated infiltration in high places in the US
the Alger Hiss trial
77
who accused Hiss of being a communist
Whittaker Chambers
78
what did Truman introduce to investigate communism in government employees
1947 Loyalty Review Board
79
how many had left the government due to anti-communist investigations
1947-1951 1200 had been dismissed and 6000 resigned
80
how many organisations were banned in the red scare
150
81
how many leaders of the communist party were prosecuted under the 1940 Smith Act
11
82
when did McCarthy claim the State Department was infested with spies
1950
83
what was McCarthy given control of in 1953
Senate Committee on Government Operations
84
when did people begin to turn against McCarthy
the trials of 1954 where he began to accuse the army
85
who stood up to McCarthy when he accused a member of his team of being a communist
Joseph Welch
86
who was leader of the Montgomery Bus Boycott
MLK
87
what civil rights organisation did MLK set up
the Southern Christian Leadership Conference
88
how many US states made equal pay compulsory following WW2
4
89
which periodicals were aimed at women and reinforced gender roles
Ladies' Home Journal and McCall's
90
who wrote influential books on childcare, emphasising the need for a mothers' presence
Dr Spock
91
which magazine ran a competition to write on Why You Feel Trapped and when
Redbook in 1960
92
how many responded to the Redbook magazine competition
24,000
93
what did Betty Friedan find in her investigation of Smith College
in 1957, 89% of graduates from the all female college went on to be homemakers
94
who found that women sought jobs rather than careers
James T. Patterson in 1966
95
what book blamed the social problems of the 1950s on career women
Modern Woman: The Lost Sex
96
how many women were in university
721,000 in 1950 and 1.3 million by 1960
97
how did membership of the NAACP increase
from 50,000 in 1940 to 450,000 in 1945
98
who founded CORE
James Farmer in 1942
99
what was CORE
Congress Of Racial Equality
100
when was the Civil Rights Committee set up
Sept 1946
101
what report did the Civil Rights Committee publish
'To Secure These Rights' in 1947
102
what coalition blocked every civil rights measure introduced to the senate
20 southern democrats and 15 republicans
103
when was the Brown v. Board of Education Topeka rulign
17th May 1954
104
how many school districts desegregated
from 1956-57, 723 districts involving 300,000 African American students
105
how many African American students remained in segregated schools
240,000
106
what did Alabama legislators say of the Brown v. Board of Education ruling
that it was 'null, void, and of no effect'
107
how many cases did the supreme court uphold the ruling of Brown v. Board of Education in
19 by Jan 1956
108
how many pending cases did the NAACP have
170
109
where closed all public schools so white children could attend private segregated ones
Prince Edward County, Virginia in 1959
110
which state passed a law to make desegregation illegal
Mississippi
111
what proportion of African Americans in the solid south went to fully integrated schools
2% in 1964
112
how many backed the Southern Manifesto
22 southern senators and 82/106 southern representatives
113
when was the Southern Manifesto
March 1956
114
who used the national guard to bar the entry of 9 black students to Little Rock High School
Governor Orval Faubus
115
when was Rosa Parks thrown off a bus in Montgomery
1st Dec 1955
116
how many black supporters boycotted the bus system
50,000
117
how long did the bus boycott last
381
118
what supreme court ruling said segregation on buses was unconstitutional
Browder v. Gayle
119
when was Browder v. Gayle
Nov 1956
120
how many native Americans served in WW2
25,000 served and 40,000 in war production
121
what announced the termination policy
House Concurrent Resolution Number 108
122
when was House Concurrent Resolution Number 108
August 1953
123
the sale of which valuable lands started termination policy
land belonging to the Menominee and Klamath tribes in Wisconsin and Oregon
124
how many natives had moved permanently in termination
13,000 out of 400,000 by 1960
125
how much reservation land was lost in termination
3%
126
when was the Yalta conference
1945
127
when was the Potsdam conference
1945
128
how many Americans felt wartime cooperation between the US and USSR should continue
50%
129
when and where did Churchill speak of an Iron Curtain through Europe
1946 in Fulton, Missouri
130
when was Czechoslovakia forced to adopt communism
1948
131
when was the Truman Doctrine announced
1947
132
where was the Truman doctrine first applied
Greece
133
when did Truman announce Marshall Aid
1948
134
how much did Marshall Aid offer
$13 billion
135
how many nations attended a conference to assess the economic needs of countries impacted by WW2
22
136
how many Western European nations formed the Organisation of European Economic Cooperation to spend the Marshall Aid money
16
137
when was the Berlin Airlift
1948-49
138
how many tons of supplies a day were being delivered to Berlin during the airlift
8000 tons a day by March 1949
139
when was NATO signed
April 1949
140
where was North and South Korea divided
along the 38th parallel
141
when did North Korea invade the South
March 1950
142
who led the American troops in the Korean War
General MacArthur
143
who insisted that Chinese communism was more of a threat that the Soviet's
Dulles
144
when was the US-Taiwan defence treaty
1954
145
which Chinese Nationalist islands were shelled by Communist China
Quemoy and Matsu
146
when did the Chinese shell nearby Chinese Nationalist islands for a second time
1958
147
when did Nasser take control of the Suez Canal
July 1959
148
when was the Eisenhower doctrine
July 1959
149
when and where was the hydrogen bomb first tested
Bikini Atoll March 1954
150
when were the first American surface-to-surface ballistic missiles tested
1947
151
what was defence spending
$40-50 billion a year in the 1950s
152
what % foreign aid to US allies was spent on military spending
90%
153
when was the Geneva Agreement
1954
154
what did the Geneva Agreement do
divided Vietnam along the 17th parallel
155
who led the north of vietnam
Ho Chi Minh
156
who led the south of vietname
Ngo Dinh Diem
157
what election did the US prevent taking place in vietnam
the 1956 election
158
when was Diem overthrown
November 1963
159
when did Ho Chi Minh issue orders to the Vietcong to begin a terror campaign against the south
1959
160
