Transcript 1950s Domestic - Camden High School

THE 1950s:
“Conservatism, Complacency,
and Contentment”
OR
“ANXIETY, ALIENATION, AND
SOCIAL UNREST” ??
Ms. Clarke
Cold War on the home front
DURING THE COLD WAR, AMERICANS
WERE FORCED TO COPE WITH THE DAILY
THREAT OF NUCLEAR DESTRUCTION. IN
AN ATMOSPHERE OF AIR RAID DRILLS
AND BOMB SHELTER CONSTRUCTION,
AMERICANS CONFUSED THE REAL
THREAT OF THE SOVIET UNION WITH AN
UNREASONING, ANTI-COMMUNIST
HYSTERIA AT HOME.
Progress Through Science
1951 -- First IBM Mainframe Computer
1952 -- Hydrogen Bomb Test
1953 -- DNA Structure Discovered
1954 -- Salk Vaccine Tested for Polio
1957 -- First Commercial U. S. Nuclear
Power Plant
1958 -- NASA Created
1959 -- Press Conference of the First 7
American Astronauts
Progress Through Science
1957  Russians launch SPUTNIK I
1958  National Defense
Education Act
Progress Through Science
UFO Sightings skyrocketed in the 1950s.
War of the
Worlds
Hollywood used aliens as a metaphor
for whom ??
Progress Through Science
Atomic Anxieties:
 “Duck-and-Cover
Generation”
Atomic Testing:
 1946-1962  U. S. exploded 217
nuclear weapons over the
Pacific and in Nevada.
BOMB SHELTER CRAZE
WHAT WOULD YOU BRING WITH YOU?
A
fallout shelter is designed to allow its occupants
to minimize exposure to harmful fallout until
radioactivity has decayed to a safer level.
 Countries built fallout shelters for high-ranking
government officials and crucial military facilities.
Plans were made, however, to use existing
buildings with sturdy below-ground-level
basements as makeshift fallout shelters.
THE BOMB SHELTER CRAZE
DUCK AND COVER DRILLS
THE DUCK AND COVER DRILLS (VIDEO)
 Duck
and Cover was a suggested method of
personal protection against the effects of a
nuclear detonation which the United States
government taught to generations of United
States school children from the late 1940s
into the 1980s.
 This was “supposed” to protect them in the
event of an unexpected nuclear attack which,
they were told, could come at any time
without warning.
 Immediately after they saw a flash they had
to stop what they were doing and get on the
ground under some cover—such as a table, or
at least next to a wall—and assume the fetal
position, lying face-down and covering their
heads with their hands.
THE SECOND RED SCARE
Smith Act of 1940-made it illegal to advocate or
teach the overthrow of the government by force
or to belong to an organization with this objective
 Dennis et al. v United States (1951)-Supreme
Court upheld the constitutionality of the Smith
Act of 1940
 1947, Truman Admin. under pressure from the
Republicans set up a Loyalty Review Board to
investigate the background of more than 3
million federal employees. 1000s either resigned
or lost their jobs as a result of the probe that
lasted nearly four years.

MCCARRAN INTERNAL SECURITY ACT
1.
2.
3.
Unlawful to advocate or support the est. of a
totalitarian government
Restricted the employment and travel of those
joining Communist-front organizations
Authorized the creation of detention camps for
subversives
1950-Truman had vetoed this act, but Congress
passed it anyway
THE HOUSE COMMITTEE ON UNAMERICAN ACTIVITIES (HUAC)
 Originally
est. in 1939 to seek out Nazis was
reactivated in the postwar years to find
Communists
 Investigated government officials and looked
for Communists influence in organizations
such as:
Boy Scouts
 Hollywood film industry
 Writers
 (ACLU argued that 1st Amendment protects the
free expression of unpopular political views and
membership in political Groups such as the
Communist Party.)

THE HOUSE COMMITTEE ON UNAMERICAN ACTIVITIES (HUAC)
 In
1947, the committee held nine days of
hearings into alleged communist propaganda
and influence in the Hollywood motion
picture industry.
 After conviction on contempt of Congress
charges for refusal to answer some questions
posed by committee members, the "Hollywood
Ten" were blacklisted by the industry.
 Eventually, more than 300 artists—including
directors, radio commentators, actors and
particularly screenwriters—were boycotted
by the studios.
THE HOUSE COMMITTEE ON UNAMERICAN ACTIVITIES (HUAC)
Reagan
Walt Disney
Paul Robeson
THE HOLLYWOOD TEN






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
Alvah Bessie, screenwriter
Herbert Biberman,
screenwriter and director
Lester Cole, screenwriter
Edward Dmytryk, director
Ring Lardner Jr.,
screenwriter
John Howard Lawson,
screenwriter
Albert Maltz, screenwriter
Samuel Ornitz, screenwriter
Adrian Scott, producer and
screenwriter
Dalton Trumbo, screenwriter
(Wrote my favorite book,
Johnny Got His Gun)
THE ESPIONAGE CASES: ALGER HISS CASE
Is that future President Mr.
Richard Nixon?
THE ALGER HISS CASE: ARE THE HIGHEST
LEVELS OF GOVERNMENT INFILTRATED WITH
COMMUNISTS?
 Whittaker
Chambers- a confessed
Communist, became a star witness for HUAC
in 1948
 Richard Nixon-Calf. Congressman
investigator for HUAC
 Alger Hiss-State Department official who
assisted FDR @ Yalta Conference
 Chambers accused Hiss of being a
Communist and giving secret documents to
him. Hiss denied.
 1950-Hiss is convicted of perjury and sent to
prison
THE ESPIONAGE CASES: THE ROSENBERG
TRIALS
Julius & Ethel
Rosenberg
THE ROSENBERG CASE:
ARE COMMUNIST SPIES AMONG US?
 The
Soviets have an A-Bomb…they must have
been spying on us
 Klaus Fuchs-British Scientist who worked on the
Manhattan Project admitted giving A-Bomb
secrets to Russians. This led to additional
anticommunist fears
 An FBI investigation traced another spy ring to
Julius and Ethel Rosenberg in NY
 1951-Controversial Trial, they were found guilty
of Treason and executed for the crime in 1953.
 Civil Rights groups raised questions about
whether anti-communist hysteria had played a
role in the conviction and punishment of the
Rosenbergs
JOSEPH MCCARTHY
JOSEPH MCCARTHY
Republican Senator from Wisconsin
 Used anti-communist hysteria in his reelection
campaign
 1950 speech: charged that 205 Communists were still
working for the State Department
 Became one of the most powerful men in America
which was based entirely on the people’s fear of the
damage that McCarthy could do it his accusing finger
pointed their way.
 Tactics: Unsupported accusations about Communists
in government to keep the media focus on himself and
to discredit the Truman Administration
 Popular among working-class Americans because of
his hard-hitting remarks that were often aimed at the
wealthy and privileged in society

RED BAITING
the act of accusing, denouncing, attacking or
persecuting an individual or group as communist,
socialist, or anarchist, or sympathetic toward
communism.
 Originated during the Palmer Raids
 Most often associated with McCarthyism

THE ARMY MCCARTHY HEARINGS
(RECORDING)
THE ARMY MCCARTHY HEARINGS
 1954
 McCarthy’s
“reckless cruelty” was exposed on
television
 Senate committee held televised hearings on
Communist infiltration in the Army
 December-Republicans and Democrats in the
Senate saw him as a bully and moved to
censure McCarthy
 The “Witchhunt” for Communists
(McCarthyism) had ended
 McCarthy died 3 years later, a broken man
THE 1950s:
“Conservatism, Complacency,
and Contentment”
OR
“ANXIETY, ALIENATION, AND
SOCIAL UNREST” ??
Ms. Clarke
Class Discussion Topic:
The postwar era witnessed tremendous
economic growth and rising social contentment and
conformity. Yet in the midst of such increasing
affluence and comfortable domesticity, social
critics expressed a growing sense of unease with
American culture in the 1950s.
Assess the validity of the above statement and
explain how the decade of the 1950s laid the
groundwork for the social and political turbulence of
the 1960s.
FEATURES OF POST-WAR US
15 Million American Soldiers, sailors, and
marines returning to civilian life in 1945-1946
faced the problem of finding jobs and housing.
 Theses: What many thought would be
economic uncertainty, was actually a postwar boom in which pent-up consumer
demand for autos and hosing combined with
government road-building projects helped to
usher in an era of unprecedented prosperity
and growth; 1950s Americans enjoyed the
highest standard of living by any society in
history.

GI BILL OF RIGHTS
(SERVICEMEN’S READJUSTMENT ACT (1944)
‘44 Could get a college
 15 million veteran, over 2 million attended
college, which started a post-war boom in higher
education
 Veterans received $16 billion in low-interest,
government-backed loans to buy homes and
farms and to start businesses

Baby Boom
It seems to me that every other
young housewife I see is pregnant.
-- British visitor to America, 1958
• Younger marriages
and larger families
resulted in 50 million
babies entering the
US population
between 1945-1960
• Had a huge effect on
economic life /schools
• As baby boom
generation comes of
age, it will have a
profound impact on
the nations social
institutions
1957  1 baby born every 7 seconds
Baby Boom
Dr. Benjamin Spock
and the Anderson
Quintuplets
• Large cultural focus on raising children and homemaking
• Women still worked MORE!
• 1/3 of married women worked outside the home.
GROWTH OF
SUBURBS
“Little Boxes” by Malvina Reynolds
(1962) song
Suburban Living
Levittown, L. I.:
“The American Dream”
1949  William Levitt produced
150 houses per week.
$7,990 or $60/month with no down payment.
Suburban Living:
The New “American Dream”
 1 story high
 12’x19’ living room
 2 bedrooms
 tiled bathroom
 garage
 small backyard
 front lawn
By 1960  1/3 of the U. S. population in
the suburbs.
Suburban Living
SHIFTS IN POPULATION
DISTRIBUTION,
1940-1970
Central Cities
Suburbs
Rural Areas/
Small Towns
1940
31.6%
19.5%
48.9%
1950
32.3%
23.8%
43.9%
U. S. Bureau of the Census.
1960
32.6%
30.7%
36.7%
1970
32.0%
41.6%
26.4%
Suburban Living:
The Typical TV Suburban Families
The Donna
Reed Show
Leave It
to Beaver
1958-1966
1957-1963
Father Knows Best
1954-1958
The Ozzie & Harriet Show
1952-1966
RISE OF THE SUNBELT

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Milder winters, warmer climate, lower taxes, economic
opportunities in defense related industries, attracted GI’s and
their families to the Sun-belt from Florida to California
Transfer tax dollars from Northeast and Midwest to South
and West, military spending during the Cold War helped
finance the shift of industry, people, and political power from
one region to the other.
New cities sprung up: Atlanta, Dallas, Houston, Las Vegas,
Los Angeles, Miami, New Orleans, Orlando and Phoenix.
The Sunbelt typically includes
the states of Florida, Georgia,
South Carolina, Alabama,
Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas,
New Mexico, Arizona, Nevada,
and California.
EMPLOYMENT ACT OF ‘46
Sept. 1945
 Truman proposed National health insurance, an
increase in min. wage, a bill to commit the US
Government to maintain full employment
 A watered down version was enacted


Created the Council of Economic Advisors to counsel
both President and Congress on means to promote
national economic welfare
Due to the Cold War and a conservative congress, the
next 7 years will prove to hinder the passage of most of
Truman’s domestic programs
INFLATION AND STRIKES


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Truman asked Congress
to continue the price
controls of wartime in
order to hold inflation in
check
Instead, southern Dem.
Joined with Rep. in
relaxing the controls of
the Office of Price
Administration
Result was an inflation
rate of almost 25% in
the first year of peace.



Workers and Unions
wanted wages to catch
up after years of wage
controls
Over 4.5 Million
workers went on strike
in 1946
Truman seized mines
and using soldiers to
keep them operating
until the United Mine
Workers finally called
off its strike
CIVIL RIGHTS

Truman-first modern president to use the powers
of his office to challenge racial discrimination




Used his executive powers to establish the
Committee on Civil Rights in 1946
Strengthened the civil rights div. in Justice
Department
1948 ordered the end of racial discrimination in the
fed. dept. and all three branches of the armed forces
Urged Congress to pass the Fair Employment
Practices Commission that would prevent
employers from discriminating against the hiring
of Afr. Amer. Southern Dems blocked the
legislation.
REPUBLICAN CONTROL-80TH CONGRESS:
1946 election won Republican majority in both houses of Congress.
They attempted to pass two tax cuts for upper-income Amer. But Truman Vetoed both measures
They will also begin to roll back some New Deal gains for labor and amend the Constitution
22nd Amendment (1951)
Two-Term Limit
(2-2-T-T)
 A reaction to the fact
FDR had been elected
four times
 Ratified by 1951 by
the states

Taft-Hartley Act 1947

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
Probusiness
Truman vetoed as a “slavelabor” bill but Congress
overrode his veto
Repub. Intent was to “check”
on the growing power of
unions
Significantly divided
Democrats and Republicans
Unions could not get it
repealed
ELECTION ‘48

Truman=Low popularity:

Dems were split, third parties
emerged


Liberals (Progressives/anti-Truman
foreign policy) chose new Progressive
Party that Henry Wallace
States Rights Party/Dixiecrats (no
civil rights) chose Strom Thurmond of
SC
VS
NYS Gov. Thomas E. Dewey,
Republican candidate



The Moderate democrat
Truman was the man without a
chance, but he toured the
nation by rail
Won a decisive victory by a 2
million majority in the popular
vote and 303-189 electoral votes
Reunited FDR’s New Deal
coalition with the exception of 4
southern states that went to
Dixiecrats
CHANGING WORKPLACE:
FAIR DEAL

Fair Deal was Truman’s plan for reform, 1949
National health care insurance
 Federal aid to education
 Civil rights legislation
 Funds for public housing
 New farm program
(similar to New Deal programs)


Conservatives in Congress blocked most of the
program
1.
2.
Truman’s political conflict with Congress
Pressing foreign policy concerns of the Cold War