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Chapter 31: 1950-1960 Adjustment of the 1950’s

Chapter 31: 1950-1960 Adjustment of the 1950’s. THE SUBURBAN LIFESTYLE. Most Americans worked in cities, but fewer and fewer of them lived there New highways & affordability of cars & gasoline made commuting possible Of the 13 million homes built in the 1950s, 85% were built in suburbs

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Chapter 31: 1950-1960 Adjustment of the 1950’s

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  1. Chapter 31: 1950-1960Adjustment of the 1950’s

  2. THE SUBURBAN LIFESTYLE • Most Americans worked in cities, but fewer and fewer of them lived there • New highways & affordability of cars & gasoline made commuting possible • Of the 13 million homes built in the 1950s, 85% were built in suburbs • For many, suburbs were the American Dream The American Dream complete with a white picket fence

  3. FRANCHISES EMERGE • Another strategy for business expansion was franchising • A franchise is a company that offers similar services in many locations • Fast food restaurants developed the first franchises in America McDonald’s is one of the leading franchises in the world (1955)

  4. WHY SO MANY BABIES? Baby boom: The sharp increase in the population following WWII. Why did the baby boom occur when it did? • Husbands returning from war • Decreasing marriage age • Desirability of large families • Confidence in economy • Advances in medicine

  5. THE BABY BOOM • During the late 1940s and through the early 1960s the birthrate in the U.S. soared • At its height in 1957, a baby was born in America every 7 seconds (over 4.3 million babies in ’57 alone) • Baby boomers represent the largest generation in the nation’s history

  6. IMPACT OF BABY BOOM • As a result of the baby boom 10 million students entered elementary schools in the 1950s • California built a new school every 7 days in the late ’50s • Toy sales reached an all-time high in 1958 when $1.25 billion in toys were sold

  7. RISE OF CONSUMERISM • By the mid-1950s, nearly 60% of Americans were members of the middle class • Consumerism (buying material goods) came to be equated with success and status

  8. NEW PRODUCTS • One new product after another appeared in the marketplace • Appliances, electronics, and other household goods were especially popular • The first credit card (Diner’s Club) appeared in 1950 and American Express was introduced in 1958 • Personal debt increased nearly 3x in the 1950s

  9. THE ADVERTISING AGE • The advertising industry capitalized on runaway consumerism by encouraging more spending • Ads were everywhere • Ad agencies increased their spending 50% during the 1950s Advertising is everywhere today in America

  10. A SUBCULTURE EMERGES • Although mass media and television were wildly popular in the 1950s, dissenting voices emerged • The “Beat Movement” in literature and rock n’ roll clashed with tidy suburban views of life

  11. BEATNIKS FOLLOW OWN PATH • Centered in San Francisco, L.A. and New York’s Greenwich Village, the Beat Movement expressed social nonconformity • Followers, called “beatniks”, tended to shun work and sought understanding through Zen Buddhism, music, and sometimes drugs Beatniks often performed poetry or music in coffeehouses or bars

  12. SECTION 2: POPULAR CULTURE • A new era of mass media led by television emerged in 1950s • In 1948, only 9% of homes had T.V • In 1950, 55% of homes had T.V. • By 1960, 90% of American homes had T.V.

  13. FCC • Mass media: TV will become popular. • FCC: Federal Communication Commission will regulate and license TV. • Beat movement: Poets, writers, and artists will express the social and literary nonconformity.

  14. THE GOLDEN AGE OF TELEVISION • The 1950s was known as the “Golden Age of Television” • Comedies were the main attraction as Milton Berle, Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz were very popular Desi Arnaz and Lucille Ball starred in I Love Lucy

  15. TELEVISION EXPERIMENTS WITH VARIOUS FORMATS • Television innovations like on-the-scene-news reporting, interviews, westerns and sporting events offered the viewer a variety of shows • Kids’ shows like The Howdy Doody Show and The Mickey Mouse Club were extremely popular

  16. TV ADS, TV GUIDES AND TV DINNERS EXPAND • TV advertising soared from $170 million in 1950 to nearly $2 billion in 1960 • TV Guide magazine quickly became the best selling magazine • Frozen TV dinners were introduced in 1954 – these complete ready-to-heat meals on disposable aluminum trays made it easy for people to eat without missing their favorite shows

  17. MUSIC IN THE 1950s • Musicians in the 1950s added electronic instruments to traditional blues music, creating rhythm and blues • Cleveland DJ Alan Freed was the first to play this music in 1951– he called it “rock and roll” FREED

  18. Rock ‘n’ Roll • New form of music which started in the 1950s. • Named by Cleveland, OH DJ Alan Freed. • Elvis Presley, Chuck Berry, and others were the most popular artists. • Influenced by African-American music.

  19. ROCK N’ ROLL • In the early and mid-fifties, Richard Penniman, Chuck Berry, Bill Haley and the Comets, and especially Elvis Presley brought rock and roll to the forefront • The driving rhythm and lyrics featuring love, cars, and problems of being young --- captivated teenagers across the country

  20. THE KING OF ROCK AND ROLL • Presley’s rebellious style captured young audiences • Girls screamed and fainted, and boys tried to imitate him

  21. Section 3: Minorities Make Some Progress Early Cases • Jim Crow laws existed in the South since the 1800s. • Plessy v. Ferguson: Supreme Court case which made segregated, but equal facilities legal (1896). • Facilities in the South were not equal, but they were separate.

  22. Start of Civil Rights Movement • 1. WWII helped by letting African Americans work in the factories when there were job shortages. • 2. 1 million African American men served during WWII. • 3. Roosevelt passed a law prohibiting racial discrimination for those involved with the war.

  23. Thurgood Marshall • Lawyer who argued cases before the Supreme Court with the NAACP. • Was the first African American Supreme Court justice in 1967. • Lawyer for the Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka court case. • This case stated segregation in schools were unconstitutional.

  24. Reaction to Case • KKK showed up to protest. • Little Rock, Arkansas: Protests to African American students attending Central High School. • 9 African American students volunteered to integrate the school. • Gov. Orval Faubus ordered the National Guard to keep the 9 students out.

  25. Little Rock (con’t) • Federal judge ordered the governor to let the students in. • NAACP members called 8 of the 9 students and arranged rides to school. • One student, Elizabeth Eckford, did not have a phone. • She had to face an angry mob outside of the school

  26. Rosa Parks • Seamstress and an NAACP officer. • Sat on the front of the bus and refused to give up her seat for a white man. • Parks was arrested. • Martin Luther King, Jr. was asked to lead the bus boycott in Montgomery. • 1956: Supreme Court outlawed bus segregation.

  27. Martin Luther King • Used nonviolent resistance. • He used teachings from Jesus, writer Thoreau, A. Philip Randolph, and Gandhi. • In 1957, he helped found the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC). • Group carried out nonviolent crusades against segregation. • Peaceful marches and protests.

  28. Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) • Ella Baker helped students at universities start SNCC. • A national protest group who also protested peacefully. • SNCC used the CORE as an example. • They staged sit-ins at diners at the white only counters. • Most would have food poured over them, but would not react- stayed peaceful!!!!!

  29. Poverty leads to Activism • Braceros: Mexican farm workers who helped during WWII and who were supposed to return to Mexico when the war was over. • Most stayed illegally, did not want to return to the poor conditions in Mexico.

  30. Felix Longoria • Mexican American WWII soldier who was killed in battle. • A Texan funeral director refused to hold the funeral service. • Outraged Mexican-Americans, they founded the Unity League of California which registered Mexican-Americans to vote.

  31. Native Americans • The Federal gov’t tried to assimilate or “Americanize” Native Americans since the 1800s. • 1944: est. the National Congress of American Indians. • 1. Wanted the same civil rights as whites. • 2. Enable them to keep customs on reservations.

  32. Termination Policy • The U.S. gov’t plan to give up responsibility for Native American tribes by eliminating federal economic support, getting rid of the reservation system, and giving away tribal lands. • Moved to cities and could not find jobs b/c of poor training and racial prejudices.

  33. Section 4: TWO NATIONS LIVE ON THE EDGE • After World War II, U.S. and U.S.S.R. competed in developing atomic & hydrogen bombs • The Soviets tested their first atomic bomb in 1949 • U.S. began work on a bomb 67 times stronger than the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima – the hydrogen bomb An H-bomb test conducted by America near Bikini Island in Pacific Ocean, 1954

  34. The Arms Race:A “Missile Gap?” • The Soviet Union exploded its first A-bomb in 1949. • Now there were two nuclear superpowers!

  35. H-bomb • Hydrogen bomb: thermonuclear weapon that is stronger than atomic bomb. • U.S. created it on 11/1/1952 • Soviet Union created it on 8/1953.

  36. Warsaw Pact • Stalin died in 1953. • 1955: West Germany was allowed to build a military & join NATO. • Soviet Union was upset and formed the Warsaw Pact. • Military alliance b/w Soviet Union & 7 Eastern European countries.

  37. BRINKMANSHIP • Both countries had the H-bomb (1953), President Eisenhower & Secretary of State John Foster Dulles made it clear they were willing to use all military force (including nuclear weapons) to stop aggression • Expanded military & nuclear weapons • Soviets followed suit • This willingness to go to the edge of all-out war became known as brinkmanship Some Americans created shelters in their backyards in case of nuclear attack

  38. THE COLD WAR SPREADS • As the Cold War heated up, U.S. depended more and more on information compiled by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) • The CIA began attempts to weaken or overthrow governments unfriendly to the U.S.

  39. COVERT ACTIONS IN THE MIDDLE EAST • One of the first covert operations occurred in the Middle East • In Iran the U.S. orchestrated the return of the pro-U.S. Shah of Iran in 1953 The last Shah of Iran Mohammad Reza Pahlavi

  40. Covert Operations in Latin America • 1954, the CIA took covert actions in Guatemala (Central America) • The U.S. believed Guatemala was on the verge of becoming Communist, so the CIA trained an army which invaded the small country • The actions eventually failed as a military dictator rose to power

  41. THE HUNGARIAN UPRISING • Dominated by the Soviet Union since the end of WWII, the Hungarian people rose up in revolt in 1956 • Led by Imre Nagy, the liberal Communist leader of Hungary, the people demanded free elections and the end of Soviet domination The Soviets’ response was swift and brutal – 30,000 Hungarians were killed (including Nagy) as the Soviets reasserted control The Soviets responded to the Hungarian revolt with tanks

  42. Hungarian Uprising • Controlled by Soviet Union, the Hungarians revolted in 1956. • Wanted democratic gov’t. • Soviet troops & tanks killed 30,000 Hungarians. • Over 200,000 people fled. • U.S. & the UN did not help.

  43. U-2 PLANES SPY ON SOVIETS • Late 1950s, CIA began secret high-altitude spy missions over Soviet territory • The U-2’s infra-red cameras took detailed pictures of Soviet troop movements & missile sites

  44. U-2 SPY PLANE SHOT DOWN OVER USSR • On May 1, 1960, Gary Power’s U-2 spy plane was shot down over Soviet territory • Powers parachuted into Soviet territory, was captured and sentenced to 10-years in prison • Because of this incident, the 1960s opened with tension between the two superpowers as great as ever Powers was released in 1962 in exchange for convicted Soviet spy Rudolph Abel

  45. U-2 Incident • Eisenhower denied that the plane was spying. • Soviets found evidence on the plane • Khrushchev wanted an apology & for the missions to stop. • Eisenhower would stop the flights, but refused to apologize. • Made Khrushchev angry.

  46. Suez War • Egypt tried to play the Soviets against the U.S. on building a dam. • Almost led to war. • UN stepped in to keep peace.

  47. Eisenhower Doctrine • Warning that the U.S. would defend the Middle East if attacked by a Communist nation. • Soviet Union was becoming powerful in the region.

  48. Nikita Khrushchev • Space race began, Soviet Union launched Sputnik, the first satellite. • U.S. scrambled to build one and launch.

  49. THE COLD WAR TAKES TO THE SKIES • The Space Race was initially dominated by the Soviets • On October 4, 1957, they launched Sputnik, the world’s first artificial satellite • Sputnik traveled around earth at 18,000 miles an hour, circling the globe every 96 minutes

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