The American Dream in the 1950s

For each term or name, write a concise sentence or two explaining its significance.

1. Baby Boom
The Baby Boom was significant because it explained the population explosion in the United States from the 1940s to the 1960s. The birthrate soared and at it's height in 1957, one baby was born every seven seconds, resulting in the largest generation in United States history.

2. Dr. Jonas Salk
Dr. Jonas Salk was very significant because he discovered a vaccine for the crippling disease of polio. Polio killed many people, most of them being children, in the 1900's. His vaccine would prove to prevent polio from crippling children.

3. Interstate Highway System
The Interstate Highway System was significant because it created 41,000 miles of expressways in the United States. The new roads encouraged the development of suburbs outside of cities. They made high-speed, long-haul trucking possible which lead to a decrease in the need of commercial railroads. It also helped to unify and homogenize the nation.

4. Franchise
A franchise is a company that offers similar products or services in many locations. The development of franchises were significant because they generated a lot of money. By offering low prices and being convenient to the customer, places like fast food restaurants received a lot of money and were able to expand and become franchises.

5. In a paragraph, describe in detail how Americans spent their leisure time in the 1950s
There was a great deal of leisure time in the 1950's due to new innovations that made chores quicker, set hours for jobs, and a higher ambition to get work done. Millions of Americans engaged in sports such as fishing, bowling, hunting and golf. Sports like basketball, baseball, and football saw many more fans as people became interested in them a lot more and other Americans watched professional sports on television. Many Americans read a lot, they read books about virtually everything from cooking to homemaking. People began to read a lot more magazines and comic books and that is when they became pouplar.