Happy+Days???



That's a great question, don't you think? We will answer it in class on Thursday in a (hopefully) fun activity, but to prepare, we should do a little background reading and watching. R**ead "The Fifties" in __Creating America__ (28-3, pp. 800-803), read over the ABC-CLIO links posted below, and w****atch the videos below.** 
 * FOR HOMEWORK, CREATE A LIST (IN YOUR ONLINE NOTEBOOK) OF POSITIVES AND NEGATIVES CONCERNING LIFE IN THE FIFTIES FOR CLASS ON THURSDAY. WE WILL USE IT TO WRITE SOME DIALOGUE ...**

[|The Cold War at Home] / [|The Economy Booms] / [|The Sky is the Limit] / [|Boom-Time for Babies and Houses]   GOOD: -Congress passed the Highway Act of 1956, which provided $32 billion to build 41,000 miles of highway - Economy was booming and so was the population, which spurred the growth of suburbs - Many lived the "american dream"; they lived in houses in suburbs with good schools for their children and shopping malls with plenty of free parking -Movie attendance plummeted as more people stayed at home to watch tv, at a rate of 1 tv in every 9 out of 10 houses -Teenagers loved rock n' roll. Some well known artists were Little Richard, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Elvis Presley -Kennedy was elected, becoming the youngest president and first catholic president

BAD: -In 1957, nearly one out of every five Americans lived in poverty, especially in cities -Fewer people remained in cities to pay taxes for such services like garbage collection, or firefighting, which affected the African Americans and Latinos who could not afford to live in suburbs - Many people crossed the border illegally. Those who came through gov. organized braceros, or or temporary workers, stayed illegally after the program's ending - Many women were expected to keep the house together but grew bored. They had very limited jobs, almost only nursing, teaching, and office work -"beatniks" filled up coffee houses with followers to hear their heated attacks on "square" society