Rising living standards, new scientific innovation and a faith in progress were prevalent in America in the immediate aftermath of the Second World War. However, social progress was segregated and enjoyed mainly by white Americans, creating the conditions of future conflict in the 1950s and 1960s.Explaining History is funded through advertising and donations. For more content, journalism and ideas, visit the Explaining History Patreon page here: https://www.patreon.com/user?u=763386 Explaining H
Reading time:
Get the weekly analysis
One piece every week connecting current events to their historical roots — free, every Tuesday.
Subscribe free →Paid tier also available — deeper dives, full archive, essay guides.

Explaining History Podcast
For more than a decade, the Explaining History Podcast has helped listeners around the world make sense of modern history. What began in 2012 as a simple experiment—short, accessible episodes explaining major historical events—has grown into a long-running library of carefully researched, thoughtful explorations of the 20th and 21st centuries.
If this was useful, there’s more where it came from.
Every week I publish one piece connecting a current event to its historical roots — free, every Tuesday. Paid subscribers get two additional deeper dives and full archive access.
Subscribe to Explaining History →