1940s Facts• Presidents Roosevelt and

Truman• Population 132,122,000 • National Debt $43 Billion • Average Salary $1,299. • Minimum Wage $.43 per hour • 55% of U.S. homes have indoor

plumbing • Antarctica is discovered to be a

continent • Life expectancy 68.2 female, 60.8

male • Auto deaths 34,500 • Supreme Court decides blacks

do have a right to vote • World War II changed the order

of world power, the  United States and the USSR became super powers

The 1940s

• World War II and It’s Impact

• The Cold War• Tech of the 1940s• Cultural Changes of

the 1940s

1940s – WWII Dominates

• 8 Million + men and women serve• Enlistments “for the duration”• Rationing, Women in Workforce,

Fear of Attack• Discovery of Holocaust boosts Civil

Rights• War propels US as #1 power in

World • Music – Morale Boosting

The Cold War

• WWII Ends – Cold War Begins

• Communism vs. Capitalism– Containment– Domino Theory

• Marshall Plan• Berlin Crisis

v.

Cold War (cont.)

• Sen. McCarthy – Nixon too - (House Un-

American Activities Committee)

– Rosenbergs

• 1949 – 3 Major Events• USSR Gets the Bomb• China becomes

Communist• NATO / Warsaw Pact

formed

Technology of the 1940s

• Plastics • Television• Cars• Jets / Rockets• Radar

Cultural Changes of the 1940s

• GI Bill• Baby Boom• Suburbs – Levittown • TV• Fashion

– Women’s Pants

• Pre - Packaged Foods• Music – Big Band,

Morale Boosting, Crooners

Truman as President 1945-1953

• End of WWII• Start of Cold War / NATO• Truman Doctrine and

Marshall Plan• Containment• Korean War –

Desegregation of Military• Maintaining New Deal

Programs – Fair Deal

• Taft Hartley Act • “the buck stops here”