Chapter 24: An Affluent Society, 1953—1960

New nations were forming from former European colonies in Africa and Asia at precisely the moment when the United States and Soviet Union were competing for influence and strategic advantage around the world. Place these key events in the history of decolonization and the Cold War in chronological order.

Vietnamese proclamation of nationhood

Creation of independent India and Pakistan

Ouster of Mohammed Mossadegh in Iran and Jacob Arbenz Guzman in Guatemala

The Bandung Conference

On the evening of Rosa Parks's arrest for refusing to give up her seat on a Montgomery bus to a white passenger, a young Martin Luther King Jr. spoke to a rally of local African-Americans. In the following excerpt from his December 5, 1955, speech, identify the passage(s) that illustrate the religious foundations of King's definition of freedom and justice.

I want to say, that we are not here advocating violence. We have never done that. . . . We believe in the teachings of Jesus. The only weapon that we have in our hands this evening is the weapon of protest. . . .

If we are wrong, the Constitution of the United States is wrong. If we are wrong, God Almighty is wrong. . . . If we are wrong, justice is a lie. . . .

Eisenhower, until elected president, was a professional soldier, thus, he understood the realities of war. He also wanted to balance the government budget. Eisenhower's ___________ , John Foster Dulles, was described as a "grim Cold Warrior." To meld the two goals of winning wars and being thrifty with money, Dulles altered the doctrine of containment with his _________ foreign policy. He felt he could contain Russian expansion if the U.S. military built up its ________ while cutting back on conventional soldiers. Because machines don't eat or need uniforms, they would be cheaper than troops on the ground and still act as a deterrent to communist aggression.

secretary of state

"massive retaliation"

nuclear warhead arsenal

In the 1950s, the automobile was the pivot on which suburban life turned. Identify examples of how automobiles altered the American landscape.

Automobile travel in the 1950s led to people taking jobs farther away from home and commuting.

The first McDonald's opened.

Drive-in movie theaters became new businesses.

Identify the statements that describe the Beats.

They were a group of poets and writers who challenged the mainstream culture through their work.

They argued that political repression, not freedom, was the hallmark of American society in the 1950s.

They rejected the 1950s emphasis on "materialism."

Identify the events that led to the civil rights revolution of the 1950s.

the rise of independent states in the Third World with nonwhite leaders

the destabilization of the racial system during World War II

the mass migration of blacks out of the segregated South

In the 1950s, television changed several aspects of the American lifestyle. Identify the key changes that resulted from the growing influence of television.

Television became the first choice for information about public events.

American eating habits changed.

Books focused on raising children and the roles of women gained prominence in the 1950s. Modern Woman: The Lost Sex (1947), for example, spoke to the roles women should have in society. Identify the statements that most agree with the book's perspective.

Women who were unhappy homemakers had a mental disorder.

Women who had a desire to work for wages were contradicting their natural, maternal instinct to serve as wives and mothers.

Identify the causes of the population increase that followed World War II.

Couples had more children than generations of the 1930s and 1940s.

Couples married younger than previous generations.

In 1957, in Little Rock, Arkansas, nine African-American students attempted to integrate the city's high school. Governor Orval Faubus responded to the attempt by utilizing the state National Guard to ____________. President __________ by sending in U.S. troops to ____________.

block their entry

Eisenhower

escort the students to class

In 1954, after the French surrendered control of Vietnam to southern Vietnamese leader Ngo Dinh Diem, a tyrannical ruler, the United States invested heavily in supporting Diem's military regime.

True

In the 1950s, women continued to be employed in industrial jobs similar to what they held during the second world war.

False