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G.I. Bill of Rights The G.I. Bill of Rights transformed socio-econo

The G.I. Bill of Rights transformed socio-economic conditions in America by democratizing U.S. higher education. Prior to the enactment of the G.I. Bill the nation's colleges and universities were the domain of the upper middle classes. Discrimination based on race, religion, and gender was commonplace. With the passage of the G.I. Bill institutions of higher education were inundated by war veterans, most from blue-collar backgrounds. By making higher education accessible to millions, the G.I. Bill was responsible for the enlargement of the American middle class.

The G.I. Bill of Rights is the popular name for the Servicemen's Readjustment Act, also known as Public Law 346. The bill has been called the most important piece of legislation of the twentieth century. In terms of overall impact, historians rank the G.I. Bill alongside the 1862 Homestead Act and the 1862 Land-Grant Act, also passed during wartime. Of these three acts, novelist James Michener contends, "Subtract the consequences of these wartime laws and the United States would today be a much poorer nation" (Pedigo, 1994, p. 60).

The G.I. Bill was signed into law by President Roosevelt, but not without opposition. Opponents feared that the educational component of the bill would be unworkable or that it amounted to a handout for lazy war veterans. College presidents feared that a sudden influx of war veterans would do irreparable damage to the academic status of the nation's institutions of higher education: "Robert Maynard Hutchins, then -president of the University of Chicago, said it would turn institutions of higher learning into 'intellectual hobo jungles'" (McKenna, 1993, p. 44).

Leading the drive for passage of the G.I. Bill was the American Legion. President Roosevelt, who had been inaugurated in 1934 in the midst of the Great Depression, was sensitive to the plight of World War I veterans, many of whom stood on street corners selling apples...

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G.I. Bill of Rights The G.I. Bill of Rights transformed socio-econo. (1969, December 31). In LotsofEssays.com. Retrieved 18:27, March 28, 2024, from https://www.lotsofessays.com/viewpaper/1708399.html