The 50's to the 60's
Similar? Or Distinctly different?
"The postwar years are remembered as a time of affluence, consumerism, conformity, and stability, a time when American enjoyed an optimistic faith in progress and technology."(Heretta, pg.779) These words best describe the decade that Americas experienced in the 1950's. It was age of dad's always-right attitude and a culture that was family centered. The standard of living for American's was the best in the world. The times just looked to perfect lives were lived to privately. This private enjoyment was centered on the family, leisure, and consumerism. Soon everyone tried to become to "Leave it to Beaver" type of family and culture exploded. The explosion is what everyone considers to be the 1960's. Kids that grew up in the fifties were becoming teenagers. The pressures from their parents turned the sixties generation onto conceptual thoughts and radical behavior. This affected the ideals of politics, racial/gender discrimination, and family values. The differences between the fifties and the sixties are extremely evident but you must closely sort through the decade to find the definite similarities. The similarities and differences come in many political values, and behaviors. What does the word "consensus" refers to? "It is the conformity to social norms, authority, and the status quo." (Henretta, pg. 790) It best refers to the decade of the 1950's, where families were attempting to escape into "old home grown" households, away from the Red Scare, and out of the corporate jungle. To do this, these families flocked to the suburban area. Early in the fifties a massive "Baby Boom" occurred. With the high birth rate the need for churches caused the ideas affluence, consumption and conformity to swell in importance.
With the war in the past, the fifties generation looked towards the church. Families started to make Sundays a priority in their lives. "Church membership rose from 49 percent