AMH2020 Final Exam Study Guide Harry S Truman o Served as President for 7 years 1945 1953 Important to American development First movement of Civil Rights Economy takes off o Not Presidential material Start to see a turn in American politics From Missouri Born 1884 Ambition was to go to West Point Had vision problems o Was unable to go West Point Joined the Missouri National Guard o Military officer in France during WWI After WWI became a lawyer then a judge and senator 1944 running candidate for Roosevelt o Roosevelt wanted him because he could relate to ordinary Americans o FDR died in 1945 from brain hemorrhage Truman becomes President o First issue as President G I Bill 9 million discharged in 1945 1946 o Afraid economy will sink and unemployment rates will spike Passed in 1944 went through Congress Put 20 billion dollars aside for servicemen women when they came back o 52 weeks of unemployment benefits o Provided scholarships for veterans to go to college Job market will stabilize over four years when they are in college Provided money for housing books etc o Provided low interest loans for houses Houses weren t being built during great depression Housing market collapsed Jumpstarted housing construction industry Sparked other industries as well G I s who decided not to go to college pushed women out of the work force o Women who worked in workforce during WWII were pushed out by servicemen Many books came out the dealt with women in the workforce Common sense of Baby Childcare 1946 by Dr Benjamin Speck o Said Women had to be primary caregivers of children or children we be destroyed o Success is based on success on raining children Modern Women The lost Sex 1946 by Maryina Farnham and Ferdinand Lundberg o If a women didn t have children women would become emotional disturbed o Workforce was a male endeavor o Job was to give love and care to returning veterans After both books were out women became housewives o At the same time US economy was pushed forward Needed household items American industry grew 20 million refrigerators bought from 1946 1950 Electric stoves and dishwashers 21 million new cars between 1946 1950 o Every family by 1950 had at least one car Americans were buying appliances and cars on credit o Installment plans with interest Housing shortage after WWII William Levitt helped veterans o Construction supervisor in WWII In charge of building barracks o Had family construction company in New York City Brought over Naval idea of assembly construction techniques Crews with certain jobs Suburbs o In 1946 Levitt started building suburbs Community on Long Island Levittown as well as Philadelphia and other North Eastern Communities Commuter Community One crew would lay foundation framing roofing etc Built 140 000 homes All houses were the same o 2 bedroom 1 bathroom homes o 3 different designs o Cost 7 000 o People started copying Levittown in other areas throughout the United States Taft Hartley Act 1947 o In 1946 midterm election Election for House of Representatives and senators Republicans gained control of the house of Representatives o First time since 1932 People tired of democrats decisions during WWII One large piece of Legislation was passed Taft Hartley Act 1947 o Robert Taft President Taft s son Banned the close shop Only hiring union members Permitted employers to sue unions for broken contracts or damages inflicted during strikes Forced unions to abide by sixty day cooling off period before strike after the announcement Civil Rights Movement o Picks up stem in WWII Required unions to make public their financial statements believed they were giving money out Forbade union leaders to swear they were not communists o Truman vetoes Taft Hartley Act But was still overruled by the House of Representatives NAACP tried to use corps as an integration AA helped fight and build defense mechanism Industries o But didn t have many rights due to segregation Double V campaign V stands for victory o Used in WWII as victory over Japan and Germany o Double V also included victory over discrimation at home Gets a boost in 1947 Jackie Robinson o Born in Cairo Georgia o Raised in California All American half back and track star at o Signed a minor league contract with Kansas UCLA Monarchs Signed with Brooklyn Dodgers in 1947 Endured death threats Rookie of the Year First African American player to play in the major league 1948 Election o Democratic Convention Herbert Humphrey the major of Minneapolis Believed democrats should push civil rights o All southern Members of convention walked out and formed States Rights Party Nominated Strom Thurmond Main issue to stop civil rights o Republicans nominated Thomas Dewey Dewey didn t know how to talk hold a conversation Bland Didn t campaign Believed he would win due to split in Democratic Party o Truman takes a train trip for campaign in election Traveled 31 00 miles 357 speeches throughout the country o Predictions said it would be close election Dewey had lead in North Once Western States votes were counted Truman won election o The most important thing about the election was the States Right Party o Southern States were never voted Democrat until 1992 In 1952 and 1956 didn t vote Democrat because of Eisenhower 1960 Didn t vote for JFK because he was Irish Catholic 1964 Because of George McGlover Georgia in 1976 voted Harvey only state until 1992 to vote democrat Truman s second term o 1949 Initiates Civil Rights Commission No real power to change Make recommendation on how to change o All were defeated Wanted to pass anti lynching o If African American committed crime they were hung from a tree Recommend segregation ended integrate schooling and housing o Never passed Filibusters lasted days at a time The Cold War 1945 1956 Foreign affairs were a whole different light after WW Europe 1945 o Hitler binds alliance together Russia United States and Britain Once Hitler dies alliance isn t needed Russia is paranoid o Constantly invaded o Overrun other countries on the way to Germany Were going to back out after war Never did Bugger state between themselves and western states Poland Czech Republic etc to prevent invasion o First line of contention America had atomic bombs and Russia wanted one o Race to create atomic weapons o Early 1946 Winston Churchill Prime Minister of Britain Made speech at a college in Missouri o Set tone for cold war US and Russia in competition Early Cold War Containment George F Kennan o 8000 Word
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