The 1950s: Social Reform

1054 Words5 Pages
The 1950s were a time of great reform. Our nation, for the most part, adjusted into what it is today during this decade. So if you’re using merriam websters definition of conformity, “the act of matching attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors to group norms”, then the 1950s were well deserving of this reputation to a great extent. The politics of this era, to be “liberal with the people but conservative with the economy” is the base of modern republicanism. The economic standards that our society set in the 1950s, such as increased population, gross national product, and low unemployment percentage are some that we still try to maintain today. Cultural changes, like televisions, franchises, and automobiles, are still around today and play a huge role in our culture. Many of the new “norms”…show more content…
Before the 1950s politics were not constant. Every president had set their own rules and beliefs for our nation. It wasn’t until president Dwight Eisenhower, that our people got a sense of what a president should be like. President Ike gave a lot to the people while also managing to not lead our economy in a downward spiral. Eisenhower cut taxes, reduced federal spending, and maintained a balanced budget while innovating the nation. One of his best contributions that helped form our society today was the Federal Highway Act. This was passed in 1956 and appropriated $25 billion for the construction of 40,000 miles of interstate highways.The court case, brown v. board of education, ruled that segregation of races in public schools was unconstitutional and should be stopped immediately. A second case was issued by the Supreme Court over this same topic since many southern areas were ignoring what they had previously ruled. This second ruling pushed communities to work together to desegregate schools rapidly, however this left those communities to

More about The 1950s: Social Reform

Open Document