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Beginning of the Cold War at Home. Fear of Communism Builds in America. What world events would have caused Americans to fear the rise of Communism at home?. Fear of Communism Builds in America.
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Fear of Communism Builds in America • What world events would have caused Americans to fear the rise of Communism at home?
Fear of Communism Builds in America • Several more factorsadded to the fear of Communists. One was that in America, at the height of WWII, approximately 100,000 people claimed loyalty to the Communist party. Many high-profile spy cases during the late 1940’s and early 1950’s also heightened America’s fear about Communists and our nation’s security.
Fear of Communism Builds in America • One of the most sensationalist spy cases involved secrets about the Atomic Bomb. On September 3, 1949, Americans learned that the Soviets had exploded their own atomic bomb. Most Americans felt that it would have taken the Soviets a few more years to develop this technology and assumed that they had secret Manhattan Project information.
Fear of Communism Builds in America • In 1950, a physicist working on the Manhattan Project, Klaus Fuchs, admitted to giving the USSR information about the American atomic bomb. Implicated in his case were Ethel and Julius Rosenberg. The Rosenbergs were activists for the communist party, and the trail of people leading from Fuchs led to Julius Rosenberg as the person who passed this information to the Soviets.
Fear of Communism Builds • In an attempt to force more information out of Julius, the prosecution also put Ethel on trial. Neither gave any information, and instead they pleaded the 5th amendment. The Rosenbergs were found guilty of espionage and sentenced to death by electric chair. Their lawyer fought for their lives, but in June 1953, they were both executed in the electric chair; they left behind two young sons.
Fear of Communism Builds in America • Later Soviet information seems to indicate that Julius was exchanging information with the USSR, but that Ethel played no major role in the espionage. With the spread of communism around the world, the possibility of it at home, and these high profile espionage cases, America’s fear of Communism grew into the largest Red Scare seen in this country.
From Fear to a Red Scare • The first step on the hunt against communism was when the government set up the Loyalty Review Board. It existed to determine whether or not employees of the government where loyal to the United States. The U.S. attorney general created a list of 91 “subversive” organizations.
From Fear to a Red Scare • If you were a member of one of these, you were considered suspicious. From 1947 – 1951, the Loyalty Review Board investigated 3.2 million employees and dismissed 212 as security risks. Almost 3000 more resigned because they did not want to be investigated or because they were protesting the investigations as civil rights violations.
From Fear to a Red Scare • The next step was the creation of the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC). This committee’s first target was Hollywood. They believed that Communists were sneaking propaganda into movies. In September 1947, 43 witnesses were called before HUAC. Most were friendly and agreed that the movie industry was tainted by Communism, though they had problems naming specific examples.
From Fear to a Red Scare • Ten witnesses were called to testify, but they refused because they felt that HUAC was unconstitutional. These men were sent to prison because they refused to answer questions – they became known as the Hollywood Ten.
From Fear to a Red Scare • To show support for HUAC, Hollywood executives started a blacklist of people who they felt had a Communist background. In all, approximately 500 actors, writers, producers, and directors had their careers ruined because they could no longer work in Hollywood.
From Fear to a Red Scare • The Red Scare was growing at such a pace that Congress soon decided the Loyalty Review Board was not effective enough. They passed the McCarran Internal Security Act in 1950. This made it unlawful to plan any action that might lead to the establishment of a totalitarian dictatorship in the U.S. President Truman vetoed the bill by saying that in America, “we punish men for the crimes they commit, but never for the opinions they have.” Congress passed the bill over his veto.
From Fear to a Red Scare • Ok, let’s stop for a minute – are these actions helping America or hurting it? Why and how?
From Fear to a Red Scare • The peak of the Red Scare became known as McCarthyism. Senator Joseph McCarthy was an anti-communist activist who began to make a name for himself in 1950. In an attempt to make an election issue (to get himself reelected) McCarthy said that Communists were taking over America.
From Fear to a Red Scare • McCarthy soon stated that he had the names of 200 Communists who were working in the U.S. State Department. His “finger-pointing” tactics fed off of Americans’fear of Communism. Few people spoke out against McCarthy because they either feared Communism or feared McCarthy turning his wrath on them.
From Fear to a Red Scare • In 1954, McCarthy made accusations against the U.S. Army harboring Communists - this led to a public investigation. McCarthy’s tactics of bullying witnesses and forcing people to “name” other “communists” came to light and alienated many Americans.
From Fear to a Red Scare • Part of the public’s investigation of McCarthy was led by newsman Edward R. Murrow– his show fought against the general acceptance of McCarthy and enlightened Americans to his unconstitutional actions. After this final investigation, the Senate condemned McCarthy for improper conduct. In 1957, McCarthy died. His 20th century witch trials became a focus point for the dark side of the Cold War. • Watch Good Night and Good Luck for extra credit
Home From War • After WWII was over, millions of soldiers returned to the United States. To help these veterans reestablish themselves in society, the Servicemen’s Readjustment Act or the GI Bill of Rights was passed.
Home From War • This bill helped soldiers to pay for college, a year’s unemployment pay while they looked for jobs, and low-interest federally guaranteed loans. Many used this money to buy homes or start their own business.
Home From War • In order to accommodate all these returning GI’s, developers such as William Levitt began using the principles of the assembly line to mass-produce houses. Levitt began to build these homes in small residential neighborhoods called suburbs for less than $8,000!
Home From War • His first postwar development was known as Levittown. Each house looked exactly the same and regulations were put in place to ensure that they would remain that way. Owners of these homes were required to mow their law regularly, could not put a fences and were not allowed to hang laundry to dry on Sundays.
Home From War • In addition to settling into new homes and starting new businesses, many of the soldiers who returned home wanted to start a family. Between 1946 and 1964, the birthrate in the United States reached an all time high. In 1956 there was one American born every 7 seconds. This became known as the Baby Boom Generation – the largest generation in American history.
Home From War • Some of the contributing factors to the boom include • Reunion of families after the war • Decreasing marriage age • Desirability of large families • Confidence in continued economic prosperity • Advances in medicine
Pop Culture in the 50’s • As families spread out to the suburbs owning a car became a necessity. Doctors’ offices, grocery stores, churches and schools were no longer within walking distance of the home. Unlike in the 1920’s, many families had more than one car, one of which was often a station wagon.
Pop Culture in the 50’s • This influx in automobiles pushed the government to create new roads and highways to accommodate them. In 1956 Truman authorized the construction of nearly 41,000 miles of expressways all across the country.
Pop Culture in the 50’s • How might new freeways and an increase in automobiles affect the railroad industry?
Pop Culture in the 50’s • Culturally Americans were deeply affected by the sudden ‘auotmania’. Families began to take Sunday drives or go on cross-country road trips.
Pop Culture in the 50’s • Teenagers however were significantly affected by the birth of the car culture. Teenagers used cars to just cruise and hang out, go to drive in movies and eat at drive-thru fast food restaurants, many which came complete with waitresses on roller skates!
Pop Culture in the 50’s • The 1950’s were the first time in American history where the teenage years were viewed as an important and unique developmental stage. The post war economic boom allowed teenagers to stay in school rather than working to support their families. Now receiving allowances from their parents, teenagers became an important consumer group in the US.
Pop Culture in the 50’s • Many teenagers, in the process of seeking their own identity, turned to a new type of music called Rock ‘n’ Roll. This new type of music included simple melodies and rhythm, but talked about love, cars and the problems of being young, which captivated the teenage audience. This was “all the rage”in the 1950’s, yet adults hated it.
Pop Culture in the 50’s • Adults believed that this new style of music would lead to behavior problems and immoral behavior. The music of these artists, which included B.B. King, Little Richard and Elvis Presley, were actually banned from some cities. Several citizens’ groups worked to keep rock ‘n’ roll off the radio and out of stores. But by the end of the decade rock ‘n’ roll became more mainstream, and record sales continued to grow.
Pop Culture in the 50’s • Aside from the radio, one of the ways that rock ‘n’ roll was able to come into the American home, was on the television. Shows such as Dick Clark’s American Bandstandfeatured well dressed, middle class, teenage singers performing rock ‘n’ roll songs.
Pop Culture in the 50’s • Television, like the car, helped to unit the US. By 1955 nearly 54% of American homes had a TV. Between 1952-1956 is often referred to as the golden age of television, as the number of television stations more than quadrupled!
Pop Culture in the 50’s • Television comedies such as I Love Lucy, The Honeymooners and Leave it to Beaver became enormously popular. Many of these TV shows portrayed an idealized view of women in the role of the homemaker. These programs portrayed a very functional and nuclear family as the norm.
Pop Culture in the 50’s • With these television programs came not only entertainment but also a new avenue of advertisements. Like in the 1920’s, there is a sudden rise in consumer goods during the1 1950’s. Like in the 1920’s many people began to buy on credit, only by 1950 there was an actual credit card! These new advertisements pushing these consumer goods appeared in magazines, newspapers and on TV.
Family Unit Comparison • What does the family unit portrayed in this clip look like? • What stands out to you about the way this family interacts? • What/who is missing from this clip?
Family Unit Comparison • What family units do you see portrayed in this clip? • What stands out to you about the way this family interacts? • Compare these two clips - how are they similar? How are they different? • What is this saying about today’s society compared to the 1950’s?
