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Changes After World War II

World War II and the years following were times of great change in Texas. The economic benefits of the war lifted the Lone Star�s economy out of the Depression. By the end of the war, Texas had become the nation�s leading producer of oil. West Texas and the Gulf Coast joined East Texas in becoming important centers for oil production. During the post-war years, the economy continued to boom. New financial institutions were established to loan money to new industries. 

Urban areas continued to grow. By 1950, Texas was 60 percent urban. Suburbs around Dallas and Houston began developing and would continue to grow throughout the rest of the century. As a result of population movement and various economic factors, the number of family farms continued their decline. Many farmers switched to commercial farming, which was made easier by new technology and improved mechanization. Texas also began moving away from the sharecropping and tenant farmer system that had kept many Texans, both white and black, in poverty and debt. The invention of a mechanical cotton-picker in 1944 was a major factor in the decline of sharecropping and tenant farming.

Democrat Harry S. Truman was elected president in 1948. The G.I. Bill, sponsored by President Truman and congressional Democrats, paid military veterans a generous subsidy if they wanted to return to school. As a result, more Texans attended college after the war than ever before. Other aspects of Truman�s Fair Deal included increases in social security payments, an increase in the minimum wage and continuation of the Rural Electrification Administration, among other reforms. Public schools also received more state funding, and teachers� salaries increased. Educational improvement began to become a priority in postwar Texas. 

Texas opted for a Republican candidate for President in 1952. The majority voted for war hero Dwight D. Eisenhower. Even Texas Democrats like Governor Allen Shivers supported Eisenhower. The Texas Democratic party became more conservative and moved away from New Deal policies, although Democrats continued to control state politics.

In the 1950s, Texans, like most Americans, watched as the Cold War between Communist countries and the United States escalated. After Communist North Korea invaded South Korea, the United States and its allies fought in the Korean War from 1950 - 1953. Over 36,000 Americans died in the war, including more than 1700 casualties from Texas.

A wave of anti-Communist hysteria, known as the Red Scare, gripped the country. Senator Joseph McCarthy of Wisconsin began hearings to identify Communists in the United States. Texans also looked for Communists in their own state. Anti-Communist hysteria spread particularly to large cities such as Dallas, Houston and San Antonio. In Houston the Minute Women protested against Communism. They promised to protect America. The Red Scare also came to small towns as local leaders held rallies and removed books, and even teachers, from schools if they appeared to have Socialist or Communist beliefs or messages.

The Red Scare ended in 1954. That year, McCarthy accused the army of having Communists in its highest ranks. He began the Army-McCarthy Hearings, which were carried live by the relatively new medium of television. In the hearings, McCarthy could not produce proof of any of his charges. His popularity immediately declined and the Red Scare ended.

Although President Eisenhower did not strongly resist the Red Scare and just let it run its course, he generally supported the old New Deal and Truman�s Fair Deal. For example, he favored another increase in the minimum wage and increases in social security. The Department of Health, Education and Welfare was also established in 1953 with Texan Oveta Culp Hobby as its first secretary.

Eisenhower also influenced Congress to begin a massive highway construction program. The completion of the interstate highway system in the 1950's increased people's mobility and accelerated the movement of people to urban areas and their suburbs. It also provided easier methods for transporting goods to and from other states, which further enhanced national trade.

Additional Resources

bulletFind out more about the Korean War.

Study Guide Questions:

  1. What happened to the economy in Texas following World War II?(7.7:C;7.12:A)
  2. What was the trend in the population distribution in Texas following World War II?(7.7:C;7.12:A)
  3. List two major trends in Texas agriculture following World War II?(7.7:C;7.12:A)
  4. Why was the G.I. Bill important?
  5. What was the Red Scare? What caused the end to the Red Scare?
  6. Who was Oveta Culp Hobby?(7.7:C)
  7. What was the impact of the completion of the interstate highway system?(7.7:C;7.12:A)

Vocabulary

advocates
capitalism
charisma
enacted
foreclosure

fraud
implemented
indigent
internment
mechanization

mobility
reinvigorate
subsidies
unprecedented

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