Essay
Considerations:
The triumph of a conservative outlook, emphasized by material self-interest and white middle-class values;
The limits of economic growth in relation to African Americans, Native Americans, Hispanic Americans, and the working class;
The rise of cultural conformity in American society, particularly in women's lives;
The importance of the Brown decision and the Montgomery Bus Boycott;
The involvement of students and young people;
The growing militancy and Black Power aspects of the movement in the mid-1960s;
Essay Question:
Examine the post World War II economic boom and its effects on American society. Did the postwar period of affluence witness an expansion or contraction of New Deal liberalism? What strategies did African Americans adopt in the 1950s to fight segregation and discrimination? How and why did white southerners resist efforts to end segregation?