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the 1950’s

the 1950’s. After the War. GI Bill provided education, unemployment, housing, or business to former soldiers to get on their feet ( govt paid!) Economy went down: -No more production for the war -Soldiers returning to the workforce

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the 1950’s

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  1. the 1950’s

  2. After the War • GI Bill provided education, unemployment, housing, or business to former soldiers to get on their feet (govt paid!) • Economy went down: -No more production for the war -Soldiers returning to the workforce • After a brief period of economic readjustment the country bounced back to prosper -GI Bill actually increases revenue -Housing boom

  3. Baby Boom • Huge jump in birthrate from 1946-1964 Why? -reunion of families after WWII -decreasing marriage age -desirability of large families -confidence in economy -advances in medicine

  4. Baby Boom

  5. Conformity • Business stressed teamwork, cooperation, loyalty Did chasing the American dream mean giving up your individuality? • Suburbs helped define the American dream: -affordable, single family homes -good schools -safe, healthy environment

  6. Women in the 50’s • Role of the “happy homemaker” glorified in the media • The MRS.- Marry young, Raise kids, Support husband • Some worked, but only in “women’s professions” -teaching, nursing, secretarial • Many were happy in their comfortable lives, but some were becoming aware of a growing problem

  7. Leisure Time People in the 50’s had more free time than ever before. Why? -Steady employment=vacation time -labor-saving devices made chores faster/easier ~washing machine, dishwasher, vacuum Leisure time + extra income= consumer culture

  8. Advertising

  9. Automobile Culture • Cars became necessary with suburban life • Interstate Highway Act 1956 -authorized creation of nationwide network of 41,000 miles of expressways -new roads encouraged building of more suburbs • Economy boomed: more jobs

  10. Beginnings of Civil Rights • Brown v. Board of Ed. - 1954 • Montgomery Bus Boycott – Rosa Parks 1955 • Central HS, Little Rock AR - 1957

  11. Little Rock, Arkansas • Governor Faubus brought in AR national guard to block the entrance of 9 black students • President Eisenhower enforced desegregation by sending federal troops to escort the students into school • Governor shut down the school at the end of the year, rather than let integration continue

  12. Beginnings of Civil Rights • Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. 26 years old was asked to lead the group -December 5, 1955; 5,000 people gathered to hear King speak -Struck by his words, rhythms, power of voice - Bomb ripped apart King’s house; still non-violent

  13. Martin Luther King…new leader Influences on King: -Jesus – love one’s enemy - Thoreau – Civil Disobedience; refusal to obey an unjust law - A. Philip Randolph – organize massive demonstrations - Gandhi – powerfully resist oppression without using violence

  14. “Soul Force” • King summed up his philosophy to white racists: “We will not hate you but we cannot…obey your unjust laws. We will soon wear you down by our capacity to suffer. And in winning our freedom we will so appeal to your heart and conscience that we will win you in the process”

  15. SCLC Southern Christian Leadership Conference • Used non-violence to protest unjust laws -100 ministers and civil rights leaders gathered in 1957 -Used churches as a base, planned to stage protests and demonstrations through the south -Grass-roots up; support of ordinary African Americans of all ages -King – president

  16. SNCC April 1960 – SNCC Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee -Students viewed pace of change as being too slow -Somewhat more confrontational Media – captured the ugly face of racism; beatings, jeering, pouring food over students who refused to strike back. North – students formed picket lines around national chains stores that had segregation

  17. Desegregation… 1960 - Students desegregated lunch counters in 48 cities in 11 states. Were subjected to: -Suspension from college -Arrests -Beatings -Tear gas -Fire Hoses

  18. This is only the beginning… More Civil Rights battles in the 60’s to come. While all this is going on…

  19. FEAR of Communism Fueled by China falling to Communism 1949 Post- WWII – 80,000 Americans claimed membership to Communist party 1945 two federal officials discovered that two State Dept workers and two naval officers stole documents and gave to Soviets -Truman was being accused of being “soft on Communism”

  20. What did Truman do? Loyalty Review Board – March 1947 to investigate government officials and dismiss those who were found to be disloyal -Disloyal was not clearly defined -91 subversive organizations -Out of 3.2 million employees; 212 were security risks -2900 resigned because did not want to be investigated or felt it was a violation of rights -Could not see evidence against them

  21. What did Congress do? McCarran Act – made it unlawful to plan any action that might lead to the establishment of a totalitarian regime in the US HUAC: House Un American Committee -1947 began to investigate the movie industry -Some were Socialists, Communists, etc. -Produced some films for Soviet Union while country was an ally

  22. What did HUAC find? HOLLYWOOD 10 - 43 witnesses were subpoenaed from film industry • 10 refused to testify because they believed it was a violation of rights • They were sent to jail because they refused to answer questions What resulted was a … BLACKLIST – executives created list of people whom they in effect condemned for having Communist background

  23. Right: Joe McCarthyBelow: Protesting the Hollywood 10

  24. McCarthyism Senator Joe McCarthy – Witch Hunts Looking for reelection in 1952 found it in Communism McCarthyism – accused people of being disloyal without having proper evidence -205, 81, 57 Communists in the State Department (his numbers kept changing) -Democratic party was guilty of treason for 20 years -Only did his name calling in the Senate where he had immunity from slander -Died in 1957 from alcoholism

  25. As Americans we compromised our ownfreedom, to route out Communism.

  26. Soviet Union Communism One Party (no others allowed) Mad: Took U.S. 16 years to recognize USSR Allies invade earlier than 1944; distrust Atomic bomb was kept secret Wanted to strip Germany of possessions United States Free market Elected officials Mad: Nonagression Pact with Germany Stalin didn’t allow free elections in Poland Rebuild Germany; democracy for countries under Nazi control Rising Tension

  27. Soviet Goals: 1. Suffered 20 million deaths 2. Vulnerable to attack from west (twice 30 years) 3. Country damaged from war 4. Needed friendly neighbors – Communists -Satellite countries - Albania, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Poland, Romania 5. Seized assets like factories American Goals: 1.Wanted to spread democracy through Europe 2. Suffered 400,000 deaths from WWII 3. Homeland was not hurt 4. Wanted democracy in Germany and other Eastern European countries 5. Wanted to help Europe rebuild GOALS Post WWII:

  28. COLD WAR Cold War was a military, political, economic, and intellectual competition between the United States and the Soviet Union 1. Iron Curtain 2. Containment 3. Domino Theory Soviet Union and the United States tried to support their side in Asia, Africa, and Latin America

  29. Iron Curtain Winston Churchill gave a speech in which he said the “IRON CURTAIN” has been drawn around Eastern Europe. What is the IRON CURTAIN? Soviet Union has sealed those countries from the rest of the world.

  30. Iron Curtain

  31. CONTAINMENT Block attempts by the USSR to spread their influence by -Creating alliances -Supporting weaker countries • Done through the Truman Doctrine and Marshall Plan

  32. Truman Doctrine TRUMAN DOCTRINE: 1. March 12, 1947 he asked Congress for $400 million in economic and military aid for Greece and Turkey 2. US should support free people throughout the world who were resisting outside pressures 3. Congress supported, although it was widely debt **Basically if you don’t become Communist we will give you $$

  33. Trouble in Europe Conditions in Europe were bleak after WWII… 1. Factories destroyed, unemployment, black market to survive 2. Refugee camps for displaced citizens 3. 1946 severe winter: snow, crops ruined, fuel shortage 4. Food rations, electricity for a few hours a day

  34. MARSHALL PLAN Marshall plan was proposed in June 1947 by Secretary of State George Marshall The plan gave aid directed at hunger, poverty, chaos and in return pledge to remove trade barriers and to cooperate • $12.5 billion • 1948 Soviet Union stormed into Czechoslovakia and Congress approved • 1952 Europe was thriving **Basically give aid to anyone who needed it and asked (none of the communist countries did)

  35. DOMINO THEORY The belief that if one country fell to Communism, other countries near it would fall to Communism 1. Communism would spread like the falling of dominos 2. USSR, China, Korea, Vietnam, Cuba

  36. BRINKMANSHIP To push the Soviets to the brink of war…. • U.S. Atomic bomb 1945 – Soviets 1949 • Hydrogen bomb has the force of 1 million tons of TNT -67 times larger than Hiroshima bomb -January 31, 1950 Truman authorized the H bomb -November 1, 1952 successful test (force of10.4 million tons of TNT) • August 1953 Soviet Union had done the same (less than a year later)

  37. BRINKMANSHIP • Dwight D. Eisenhower, John F. Dulles proposed to go to the brink of war; promise to use all its force against an aggressor • Greater dependence on nuclear weapons and airplanes; trim army and navy • ICBM – intercontinental ballistic missile: accuracy with distance of 1500-3000 miles • Led to fallout shelters and air raid drills

  38. Air Raid Drills- 1950’s

  39. Why did the Cold War never turn into an actual war? Mutual Assured Destruction- M.A.D. -The US and USSR knew that if one attacked the other would counter strike and both would be destroyed

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