History of the United States II / Unit 13 USH2 1803 worked example, 60 to 90 seconds
Who the GI Bill Served
The idea
The GI Bill built much of the postwar middle class. In nineteen forty, five point five percent of American men held a college degree; by nineteen fifty the figure was seven point three percent, as more than two million veterans used the education benefit. Its low-interest loans helped veterans buy homes and start businesses.
In practice
Veterans filling college classrooms on the government's account.
Where people slip
The same statute drew lines, and the anchor states them. African American veterans could use the education benefit only at schools that accepted Black students. About nine thousand servicemen and women dishonourably discharged for being gay or lesbian were ineligible. Some Mexican American veterans, mainly in Texas, found their benefits denied or delayed. The question unit eleven asked of the New Deal, whom it left out, applies to its successor.
Your place on the trail
Every lesson rests on earlier ones and opens later ones. Tap any to jump.
Builds on
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