1950’sBy:

Jasmine, Jessica,Danielle & Shakyra

Growth of Suburbs Most people resorted to homes outside the cities

like suburbs.› Cheaper› Called “bedroom communities”

Every community in the suburbs were like it’s own little town.› Had schools, churches and parks

Usually created the illusion of a perfect traditional family

Became the new glamorous countrysidehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=yLo9jhx3N8U

Consumerism Consumerism

› Buying as much as they could› Much of it on credit

“Good Life”› Provided more leisure and income› Americans were confident the good life was permanent

Brought about a material conformity› Social areas, like religion, and gender roles –seemed

normal Some celebrated conformity, others reveled in

unconformity

New Family Culture Median Family Income

› Average family income Headed by a male breadwinner-desired norm Dark underside

› Women were treated like second-class citizens› Some lived unhappily married because their financial

and educational options were limited Birth rate soared

› Baby boom A temporary marked increase in the birth rate

› Some young women had two or more children in diapers at once

“I Love Lucy”- Lucille Ball

The 1950’s Mall Opened April 21, 1950 Northgate Shopping Mall

› Seattle Planed by:

› Rex Allison› Ben B. Ehrlichman

Designed by:› John Graham Jr.

First regional shopping center to be defined as a “mall” “Everything in one place.” The parking lot was jammed at all times for at least first 10 days Just like our mall

› Car giveaways› Children’s play place

Eisenhower Favors Massive Retaliation

Eisenhower opposed spending billions of dollars on conventional forces, such as troops, ships, tanks, and artillery. Instead, he focused on stockpiling nuclear weapons and building the planes and, missiles.

The chart below shows effects of the arms race. Nuclear Warhead Proliferation

Year U.S. USSR Britain France China1945 6 0 0 0 01950 369 5 0 0 01955 3,057 200 10 0 0

Unrest Explodes Behind the Iron Curtain

Iron Curtain-Term coined by Winston Churchill to describe the border between the soviet satellite states and western Europe.

In 1956, two uprisings shook Eastern Europe. First, workers in Poland rioted against soviet rule and won greater control of their government. Since the polish government did not attempt to leave the Warsaw pact.

Hungarian students and workers demanded that pro-Soviet Hungarian officials be replaced, that soviet troops be withdrawn, and that noncommunist political parties be organized.

The U.S. Defuses the Suez Crisis Egypt’s president Gamal Abdel Nasser tried to use the U.S.-Soviet

rivalry to his advantage. Nasser wanted to construct a dam on the Nile river at Aswan.

Nasser nationalized the Suez canal, placing it under government control.

Nasser’s action threatened the flow of middle eastern oil to Europe. Without consulting with Eisenhower, Britain and France plotted to get the canal back into western hands. Britain and France used the Suez crisis as an excuse to seize control of the Suez canal.

The cold war blasts off into space On October 4, 1957, the soviet union launched a 184-

pound steel ball containing a small transmitter into an orbit of earth. The soviets named the tiny satellite sputnik 1.

The following month they launched a much larger satellite. It carried a dog, named Laika, to see how a living creature would react to life in outer space. Laika died in orbit.

The dog Laika, aboard sputnik 2, was the first living creature to orbit earth. He was hailed as a soviet hero.

McCarthyism McCarthyism-a mid-20th century

political attitude characterized chiefly by opposition to elements held to be subversive and by the use of tactics involving personal attacks on individuals by means of widely publicized indiscriminate allegations especially on the basis of unsubstantiated charges

Joseph McCarthy Joseph McCarthy was born on a farm in Appleton,

Wisconsin, on November 14, 1908. He was the leader of McCarthyism and a senator. He was a circuit judge and had resigned during

World War II. McCarthy was a hero to the U.S., he had been in

the U.S. Marines.

Red Scare The red scare was happening because everyone was

scared that communist were going to take over the U.S. People were being arrested for just know someone that

was communist. People were arrested and even killed for being communist. Everyone was turning on each other and trying to accuse

someone else of being communist so they wouldn’t get in trouble.

Red Scare-the rounding up and deportation of several hundred immigrants of radical political views by the federal government in 1919 and 1920. This “scare” was caused by fears of subversion by communists in the United States after the Russian Revolution

HUAC HUAC stand for House Un-American Activity Committee. The HUAC was a committee of a U.S. House of

Representatives They investigated allegations of the communist activities. They watched them through out the early years of the Cold

War. The HUAC started to decline in the late 50’s.

McCarthy’s Downfall McCarthy’s downfall was all due to the fact that

he went after the Army. He was accusing some of our boys of being

communist. McCarthy thought that he could mess with our

boys but he was wrong. McCarthy didn’t win the case, he lost. Even after all of that he was still considered a

hero.

Segregation Divides America

African Americans had a long history of fighting for their rights.

After WWII, the struggles intensified› African Americans grew increasingly dissatisfied with their

second-class status. Jim Crow Law Limits African Americans

› In south, laws enforced strict separation of the race -De jure segregation- segregation that is imposed by law.

› In 1896, in Plessy v. Ferguson, the Supreme Court had ruled that such segregation was constitutional as long as the facilities for blacks and whites were “separate but equal.”

› Facilities were rarely, if ever, equal

Brown vs. Board of Education

Although civil rights movement had made some gains in the 1940’s, it stalled in the early 1950’s. Feeling that the executive and legislative branches of government were unwilling to promote additional reforms, the NAACP decided to turn to the federal courts to attain its goals.› NAACP Challenges Segregation

By end of WWII, became the largest and most powerful civil rights organization in the nation.

› Court Strikes Down Segregated Schools Not long after it won these cases, NAACP mounted a much broader challenge

to segregate public education at all grade levels.› Reaction to Brown

One of the most significant and controversial in American history. Because public education touched so many Americans, it had a much greater

impact than cases involving only professional and graduate schools. Historically, education had been a state matter State a local schools, and federal government had little involvement

Rosa Parks and The Montgomery Bus Boycott!

In 1955, Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat to a white passenger on a public bus in Montgomery, Alabama.› This act inspired the Montgomery bus boycott

event historians call the beginning of the modern Civil Rights Movement.

Parks’s action set in motion a chain of events that transformed the civil rights movement.

Next few days, core of civil rights activists in Montgomery organized a one-day bus boycott.› Called upon black community to refuse to ride buses as a way to

express their opposition to Parks’s arrest, in particular, and segregation, in general.

Meanwhile, Montgomery bus boycott, the NAACP began preparing a legal challenge

Martin Luther King Urges Nonviolence

On the evening following the boycott, Montgomery Improvement Association, organization that sponsored the bus boycott, held a meeting.

Babtist minister, addressed the group Little time to prepare

› Still delivered an inspirational speech that brought audience to its feet Noting that African Americans were tired of segregation and oppression

› Declared that there was no alternative but to protest Called for protest to be nonviolent Urged them not to become resentful

› Would lead to hatred toward whites, but rather to follow Christian doctrine and love them

After he had spoken, MIA vowed to continue the boycott and chose king as leader. › More than year, African Americans in Montgomery maintained their

boycott of the buses.

Timeline 1950

› War in Korea› Credit card system› US average annual salary was $2992

1951› Rock and Roll and color TV› Identity cards

African Americans› Dresses without waistlines

1952› New US president

Eisenhower› Clean Air Act

Timeline Continued 1953

› McCarthy witch hunt hearings› A new regime took over in Russia when Stalin died

1954› US segregation made illegal in US› 54% of American homes had TVs

1955› The civil rights campaign› Warsaw Pact agreement signed› 60% of Americans were considered “middle class”

Incomes between $3,000 and $10,000 per year.

Cont. 1956

› The Suez Canal was nationalized› Elvis Presley- “Love Me Tender”

1957› Sputnik 1 was launched into space

1958› NASA was founded› Shorter skirts to the knees› Family income reaches $5,000

1959› Castro took power in Cuba› Alaska and Hawaii joined the US as states of North America

Music to song! Rock around the clock