The American Vision: Modern Times © 2008

Chapter 16: Post-War America

Web Lesson Plans

Introduction
Students have read about the benefits that the federal government offered to veterans of World War II under the GI Bill. In this activity students will examine the GI Bill's impact on society and the economy.

Lesson Description
Students will use information from the Remembering the GI Bill Web site to learn about the GI Bill's impact on society and the economy. Students will read about the reasons why Roosevelt signed the GI Bill and about the ways it impacted the economy, higher education, the suburbs, and the middle class. Students will then answer four questions and apply this information by writing a comparison of the postwar society and today's society that explains the GI Bill's social and economic impacts.

1. Students will explain the social and economic impacts of the GI Bill.
2. Students will be able to use this knowledge to write a comparison of postwar society and today's society that describes the GI Bill's social and economic impacts.

1. The benefits for veterans included education for any veteran who served at least 90 days regardless of race or financial situation, low interest home mortgages, business loans, and unemployment benefits. The GI Bill also established veterans' hospitals.
2. Because of the GI Bill, 8 million veterans flooded college campuses after World War II. College registrations doubled compared to the 1940s, and schools had to construct temporary housing to accommodate the new students. The new faces on campus were older than traditional college students, and many would not have been able to afford their education without the GI Bill. For the institutions, increased enrollment meant the opportunity to expand.
3. The GI Bill provided veterans with educational opportunities, which in turn offered economic choices. Higher incomes coupled with the GI Bill's low-interest loans created a huge market for new homes in the 1950s. Homes built in the suburbs met the demands of these new homeowners. The ratio of homeowners in the United States doubled from 1 in 3 before the war to 2 in 3 afterward, and as the number of veterans purchasing new suburban homes increased, people left the cities.
4. The GI Bill fostered the growth of the middle class. Education, income opportunities, and home ownership combined to improve the standard of living for many Americans. More families were able to raise their children in comfortable environments and to provide higher education for their children. Not all groups were able to fully participate in the benefits of the GI Bill. African Americans still faced segregated colleges and suburbs when they returned home from the war.
5. Students' comparisons will vary.