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Torrey Cates Dr. Jim Austin History 104- Fri. 9:00 am November 6th, 2013 Appraisal #3 Topic #7: With her husband serving 16 years as the United States president, Eleanor Roosevelt had many opportunities to make an impact on our country. Over the course of almost a decade, Eleanor not only supported her husband while in office, but also proved she was an extremely influential political figure as well. Eleanor took the role of the First Lady to a higher level and raised all expectations. Roosevelt became the center of womens political rights and organizations. She actually was a huge supporter of womens protective labor legislation. In fact, one of the first things she accomplished while being in the White House was established a conference for Emergency Needs of Women in November of 1933. Among other things, Eleanor also battled for racial discrimination concerning the relief programs that were a part of the New Deal. She helped tremendously throughout all four of the President Roosevelts campaigns and organizing them. She also wrote a very popular magazine column that addressed rather controversial issues such as womens rights and minorities. Whenever she had a topic that she wanted to bring closer attention to, she

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would write about it in the column. She did many other things such as being a radio host so she could raise more money for charities. She also lectured and spoke publicly, wrote and published several books while being a First Lady, as well as appeared in several films. Eleanor also believed in equality in all races, even more so than her husband did. She was involved in the American Student Union, National Youth Administration, and she would take many trips around the United States to inspect the progress of the New Deal. Although not wanting to leave her life in New York behind to become a presidents wife, she used that as a platform to find many opportunities to help those that were less fortunate and who were disadvantaged. Eleanor Roosevelt endured not only the Great Depression, but WWII as well all while in office. She cared for her husband who struggled with polio, and she still somehow managed to make a huge impact with own interests and strengths as a First Lady. She made sure that her life reflected what was happening in the average American household, especially during WWII. She changed how the role of the First Lady would be played from that point on and became an independent woman and icon of her generation and many more to come. Although not everyone living in the United States at the time agreed with what President Roosevelt was doing politically, the public had an appreciation for what Eleanor was achieving and the problems she was bringing light to.

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Topic #26 The idea of having a perfect, new house in the suburbs suddenly turned into reality during the 1950s. The man behind the daunting task of organizing the mass production of houses, in which was called Levittown, was William J. Levitt. These houses perfectly captured the quintessential American Dream that millions of people sought after and it was exactly what Americans wanted. It started out when Levitt announced in 1947 that he was going to build over 2,000 homes that would be for veterans to rent. From there, the business boomed and the houses were selling like hotcakes! He then had to re-organize the efficiency of house building and also had to consider the fact that he now had a much larger market for these cookie-cutter houses. Then the mortgages of these houses were lowered due to different administrations, such as the Veterans and Federal Housing, which made it much easier for Americans to own their own home. Levitt made this all happen by creating two different Levittowns in both New York and Pennsylvania. They were constructed the cheapest way possible. The houses even came with brand new appliances that were also very appealing to buyers at this time. By the time Levitt had finished building all of the houses he possibly could, the total number of houses was over an astounding 17,000. To this day, most of them are still standing, and have either been renovated or expanded. He created a revolution in the construction business, and there are still architectures that mimic what Levitt had first done

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in the 1950s. He modernized the standard house of his time and changed the way suburban life is lived. Levitt shaped the way we live our lives, creating the first true communities with the American dream in mind.

Topic #23 Life after WWII was booming. The economy was headed in a great direction, and soldiers were now at home and families were growing. It wouldnt be much longer until the youth of America would finally have a voice. Because the economy was booming, teenagers no longer had the need to drop out of school. This created an option of part-time jobs for them. Now that teenagers had allowances and money to spend, they became major contributors to the market and economy as well. They also felt like they needed more independence, and wanted to feel like they had a voice instead of being ignored or not taken seriously by the adults of that decade. Without the teenagers of this time, Rock n Roll never would have been introduced to America. It brought a whole new and slightly controversial music genre to the scene of music. Before this time, teenagers were only seen, and not heard. This was their chance to finally make an impact on what was going on in America and in their culture. The obsession with Elvis Presley soon became known to all the youth of America and that was a huge part of the beginning of the Rock n Roll era. Most adults thought he was too wild, and did not like the fact that he was dominating the music world because of the demand of the teenagers.

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They thought he would influence them in a negative way, which made the teenagers love the new craze all the more. Other huge Rock n Roll artists that emerged after the war were people such as Buddy Holly, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Little Richard. Although some people did not agree with the music, they couldnt deny the fact that it was dominating the music industry. And even though true Rock and Roll didnt last very long, it certainly changed the way music was heard from that point on.