1950s-60s Test

1950s America


Postwar America 

  • Housing crisis- mass produced homes (levittown) 

  • New role for women

    • Push for women to go back to being housewives which they didn't want too

  • Cold war defense spending

  • OPA ended control

    • They helped freeze things and encourage rations and cut spending after WWII 

    • Blue collar jobs — White collar jobs 


Pop Culture

  • Television became popular- dawn of the golden age of television

  • TV Guide pamphlets, and Tv dinner where making it an era of convenience

  • TV glorified violence and stereotyped women and had little diversity

  • Rock and roll became a thing- used for teens to express rebellious sides

    • Elvis 

    • Chuck Berry 

    • Little Richard

  • TV glorified teen relationship and helped with the emergence of the teen 

  • Huge growth in TV ownership

  • Beat culture- writers and musicians would read their poems and discuss what they disliked about america 

  • Drive Through movie and theater 

  • Teens are the target market towards consum

  • Baby Boomer generation starts now- there is more money for them to have kids now 

    • 4.3 births 

    • People start writing parenting books- Benjamin Spock 

  • The three C’s

    • Conformity- How men had to love work and work all the time and women needed to keep the home running smoothly 

    • James Dean- helped with the emergence of the teenager rebel without a cause

    • Suburbia- all the houses look the same, manicured lawn, picket fence

    • The suburb was like the american dream 

The white flight/urban renewal- millions of white americans left the cities for the suburbs 

  • Isolated from other races 

  • Took economic resources

  • Minorities left living in dirty crowded slums 

  • In response in 1949- provide decent home and

  • Huge increase in automobiles 

  • National highway act 

  • More ads and consumerism 


Truman and the Economy 

  • Post WWII New deal economic recovery

  • 1946:4.5 million steelworkers, coal miners, and railroads workers went on strike. 

  • Taft-Hartley Act overturned rights won by unions under the new deal


Truman and civil rights

  • Asked for federal antilynching law and ban on the poll tax.

  • July 1948- issued EO 9981 to integrate armed forces passed. 


1948 Election 

  • truman  blamed for inflation  and labor unrest 

  • Southern Democrats formed the Dixiecrats and wanted their president to be Strom Thurmond.

  • Far left Democrats formed progressive party. 

  • Truman wins the 1948 election and democrats take back control of the government


The Fair Deal

  • Extension of the new deal 

  • Raised minimum wage to 75 cents 

  • Extended SS coverage

  • Flood control and irrigation system 


I like ike

  • Truman’s approval rating plummeted after korea and McCarthyisim

    • Did not run in 19

  • Dixiecrats- made their own party in the south 

  • Eisenhower won 55% of the popular vote and republicans took control of congress

  • Eisenhower followed middle of the road policies 

    • Fiscally conservative 

    • Socially liberal

  • They use TV for their advantage


Lavender Scare 

  • April 27, 1953: Eisenhower  Issued Executive Order 10450

    • It expanded Truman's loyalty program 

  • McCarthy claimed Gay men posed a threat to national security

    • Thought to be vulnerable to blackmail with weak moral character 

    • Linked with the red scare by implying psychological imbalance

    • Prevented gay men from serving In the military in effect until dont ask dont tell in 1955 repealed in 2017.  

Pledge of Allegiance

  • June 14, 1954 Eisenhower signed a bill insert the phrase “undergod” into the US pledge of Allegiance

  • Pushed during the red scare 

  • Communism was viewed to be godless

1960s America

  • John F Kennedy was a democrat from Massachusetts. He was young, only 43, roman catholic, experienced senator, WWII War Hero, Wealthy Family, his running mate was Lyndon B. Johnson. 

  • Running against Richard Nixon, republican from california, he is also young at 47, experience in senate and VP, red baiter/anti communist, grew up poor, worked his way to college, running mate, Henry cabot Lodge. 

Civil rights: 

  • JFK helped MLK get out of jail and overall had much more of a stance on civil rights 

Camelot

  • JFK set the tone for a new era in the White house

    • Young, attractive, influential family

  • Caroline and John were featured in magazines

  • Millions of Americans took speed reading classes  

  • Often Tv

  • Artists and celebrities spent time at the white house

  • press  and the public loved JFk's wit and charm

  • criticized  for lack of substance.  

  • Policies continued initiatives started by FDR and Truman (SS and Minimum wage)

  • Republicans and southern democrats blocked expansion of new deal 

  • Cuba: 1959 fidel Castro overthrew US backed by Fulgencio = Batista broke US relations 

  • Promised eliminate poverty, inequality, and dictatorship in cuba

  • Established relations with Soviets 

  • Broke up commercial farm controlled by by Us sugar companies, congress established trade barriers 

  • 10% of Cuban population fled to Miami

Bay of pigs

  • Planned invasion of cuba to overthrow castro 

  • CIA trained cuban exiles to start revolution 

  • April 17, 1961- Plan failed miserably

  • Plans switch last minute 

  • Strengthened cuban/soviet ties 


Berlin wall

  • 3 million East Germans fled West Berlin 

  • August 13, it was built


The Cuban Missile Crisis

  • Summer 1962- weapons from moscow to cuba kept increasing 

  • This included nuclear war weapons 

  • Oct 14- Photos taken by The US showed soviet Missile bases 

  • US Faced possibility of nuclear war 

  • Planned blockade cuba prevent soviets from coming within 500 miles

  • In 100,000 troops waited 


13 days

  • October 16- JFK notified missiles 

  • Oct 22- JFK informed the nation of missiles and plan to remove them

  • Oct 25- Soviet ships stopped to avoid confrontation

  • Oct 28- Khrushchev  agrees to remove missiles if US don't invade Cuba the US also secretly agreed to remove missiles from turkey

  • Both Khrushchev and Kenndy are both blamed

  • JFK was criticized for practicing brinkmanship. Critics argued

  • A private conversation, could have resolved the conflict  

  • He wasted an opportunity to invade cuba and overthrow castro

  • Cuban exiles blamed democratic acts for losing Cuba. 


Easing Tensions

  • JFK looked to tone down his hard line stance on communism 

  • 1963: Hot line between the white house and Kremlin to prevent another crisis


The new frontier 

  • JFK vision of progress the “new frontier” 

  • Passed Measures to 

    • Boost the economy 

    • Build national defense

    • Provide international aid 

    • Fund space programs 

    • Domestic issues 

  • Ury Gagarin- first man in space, soviet. 

  • Alan Shepard- got to space for the US a few weeks later

  • Armstrong is the first man to walk on the moon 


Tragedy in Dallas

  • Nov 22, 1963: JFK went in Texas to better relationship with the states democrats 

  • JFK, Jackie, and the Governor if Texas and his wife rode in an open limo 

  • Passed the Texas School book depository, JFK was shot in the head 

  • Lee Harvey Oswald was charged 


Who Did it 

  • Lee Harvey Oswald was charged with murder 

    • dishonorably discharged from marines lived briefly in the soviet union and supported Castro

    • November 24, While being moved between jails, Jack Ruby Shot and killed him- broadcasted on TV

Johnson's Domestic Agenda 

  • Urged Congress to pass bills sent by JFk

  • Tax Reduction of 10 Billion to spur economic growth

  • Civil Rights act of 1964 prohibiting discrimination 

  • Economic Opportunity Act approved 1 Billion dollars for youth programs anti poverty measures, loans, and job training. 

  • Republican party  Barry Goldwater is the republican, and he thought government had no right to fix social or economic issues

  • Huge victory for LBJ

  • The Great Society- LBJ- Vision  for America was Great Society poverty and racial injustice. \\

  • Education- 1 Billion, Healthcare- Medicare, Housing- HUD cabinet, position, low income, Immigration Ended quota acts 

  • Environment, water quality act 1965, Consumer Protection- Safety Standards for automobiles wholesome meat act, rights of Accused, evidence taken illegally cannot be used free legal counsel to those who can't afford right to a lawyer, and Miranda rights must be read to you. 

  • Chief Justice Earl Warren took an activist stance on leading issues of the day

    • RIghts of the Accused

    • Banned Prayer in school, loyalty oaths 

    • Limited censorship on books and films