Previous
Fight for $15
The G.I. Bill was a law that gave a range of financial benefits to U.S. soldiers after World War II. Most importantly, the G.I. Bill offered free college tuition and low-cost mortgages for all returning veterans, which led university enrollments to double in just a few years and launched millions of Americans into the middle class. However, in practice, these benefits were not available to nonwhite veterans because of segregation, so the G.I. Bill also contributed to the racial wealth gap.
Get the entire The Sum of Us LitChart as a printable PDF.
G.I. Bill Term Timeline in The Sum of Us
The timeline below shows where the term G.I. Bill appears in The Sum of Us. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 2: Racism Drained the Pool
...began insuring mortgages, but only in white neighborhoods. The New Deal’s worker protection laws, the G.I. Bill ’s college tuition grants, the federal highway system, and the Social Security system were all...
(full context)
Chapter 3: Going Without
From building state universities in the 1800s to paying veterans’ tuition through the G.I. Bill after World War II, the U.S. government long provided massive support for Americans to attend...
(full context)
