AFFLUENCE AND ANXIETY: THE

1950S

A.P. U.S. History

Mr. Krueger

Cultural Shift – the 1950’s

Suburbs and the Baby Boom? May 7th, 1947 – Levittown

Built 4,000 homes and rented them to vets1951 – 17,000 homes built – Levittown was finishedMany babies were born – called “Fertility Valley” or “Rabbit House”

Suburbs grew 46% by 1960 Baby Boom Families – 3-5 children+ Economy boom

Residential Construction soaredSupermarkets replaced corner storesNew Affluence replaced poverty

For 15 years the U.S. had unparalleled growthThe government’s Cold War spending added stimulus to the

economy

Postwar Prosperity Economic Upsurge

Great Depression and WWII scarcity created a need to indulge their suppressed appetite for material goods, factories could not produce enough auto and appliances

The Cold War provided additional stimulus – Marshall Plan financed heavy export and the Korean War provided a market for guns and planes.

1952 – U.S. spent $44 billion on defense (2/3rds of the budget)Detroit sold a record 8 million cars (oil abundant, gas less than 30

cents a gallon)1st generation computers Industry averages more than $10 billion/year in capital investment

ProblemsSteel industry production fallsAgriculture overproduction = low prices

Life in the Suburbs Some viewed this life as classless = middle class

Religious affiliation became the identifying feature○ Protestant○ Catholic○ Jewish

More Americans search for a more personal faith Schools created problems – federal aid was needed

because more children attendedEducation controversy – what to teach?Increase in need for college 1.5 million (1940) – 3.6 million

(1960) TV!!!!!

Commercials, soaps, quizzes and game showsExcitement and glamour a must!Cash prizes and eventually ongoing series

Consumer Society Self Criticism was constant

“The Crack in the Picture Window” – book describing the endless rows of tract houses vomited up by developers

Occupants were called Drones, Amiables, and Fecunds, who lost all sense of individuality in their obsession for material goods

Many psychological studies – result – loss of personal identity Richard and Catherine Gordon – toll of suburban life William H Whytes – Change of old Protestant ethics to new David Riesman – Values of the Past compared to the values of the consumer

Beats – rebelled against materialism Jack Kerovac’s novel “On the Road” based the tone for this group on Zen

Buddhims Called Beatniks – quest for beatitude

○ Long Hair○ Bizarre Clothing○ Sexual Promiscuity○ Drugs ○ High School Dropouts

Kerovac proclaimed “Billy Graham, the Big Ten, Rock and Roll, Zen, apple pie, and Ike – we dig it all.”

The beat style will foster the counter culture of the 1960’s

Sputnik American insecurity burst into view as the Soviets launched Sputnik.

Public reacted with panic. President Ike and Congress moved to restore national confidence.

Appointed James R. Killian (President of MIT) as a special assistant to the US Crash Program in missile development

Congress followed with the creation of NASA (1958) Astronauts became national heroes

John Glenn – 1962 – 5 hour flight around the globe Congress passed the National Defense Education Act to match

Soviet education in physics and math Many still believed that Americans lost their competitive edge

Ike appointed the Commission on National Goals – Henry Writson (reporter) issued a report that called for increased: Military Spending Economic Growth Broad and Educational opportunities Government support for scientific research and advancement in the arts

Truman and Ike

You tell me…and the class!Truman and the Fair Deal

○ Plans?○ How would it work/did it work?○ Lasting effects?

Eisenhower and the Modern Republicans○ Plans/Goals?○ How would it work/did it work?○ Lasting effects?

Civil Rights

What do you know?

Civil Rights as Political Issues Truman was the 1st president to attempt to alter racial discrimination in the U.S. 1946 – appointed a presidential commission on Civil Rights – the commission

reinstated the Fair Employment Practices Committee (FEPC) Formed a permanent civil rights commission – denied federal aid to states that

condoned segregation Southern Resistance blocked action by Congress Democratic Platform included a strong civil rights plank, which led to a

walkout by Southern Democrats They form a separate State’s Rights Ticket (Dixiecrats)

1948 – Black northerners backed Truman – ensured victory in key cities – Civil Rights included in “Fair Deal” Southern opposition blocked his anti-lynching legislation Truman did succeed in adding civil rights to the liberal agenda

Truman issued an order calling for the desegregation of armed forces Navy and air force quickly complied, but the army resisted until needs of the Korean

War forced them to comply 1950s – the armed forces were more integrated than other aspects of

society

Desegregating Schools Schools became the target of the Civil Rights movement

NAACP targeted universitiesThurgood Marshall moved to public schools and challenged Plessy v.

Ferguson as a violation of the 14th Amendment Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka – Chief Justice Earl

Warren declared separate educational facilities are unequalWarren knew this would be difficult – needed to move at a deliberate

pace, left it to lower courts. South fought for racial separation – Southern Manifesto (1956) –

101 representatives and senators denounce the Brown decisionSchool boards showed defiance – pupil placement laws – assigning

students to schools based on:○ Scholastic aptitude, ability to adjust, morals, conduct, health, personal

standardsBy the end of the decade less than 1% of black children attended white

schools

Ike’s Plan Ike was not a racist, but he believed people’s attitudes couldn’t

be changed by lawmaking alone. Quietly worked towards desegregationVet hospitalsNavy yardsD.C. school system

Ike did not endorse the Brown decision – he believed it set progress back 15 years

Southern leaders mistook Ike’s silence for support 1957 – Governor Orville Faubus (Arkansas) called the National

Guard to prevent the integration of Little Rock’s Central High SchoolGuards turned away 9 black students, the court ordered the guards

removed.500 whites jeered the students. Ike told Faubus the Constitution will be

upheld, sent in 1000 paratroopers to ensure students’ right to attendLittle Rock authorities closed the school

Solution?

Ike proposed the first general civil rights legislation since ReconstructionPermanent Civil Rights Commission2 federal efforts aimed at securing and

protecting the right to vote In the south – the black vote remained

symbolic. Southern registrars used a variety of devices:IntimidationUnfair tests

The Beginnings of Activism The most dynamic change came from the blacks themselves – shift from legal struggles to protests. Rosa Parks and Montgomery Alabama Found a leader in Martin Luther King, Jr. MLK lead a boycott of the city’s bus system. Seats should be offered on a

1st come, 1st served. Boycott ends in victory (1 year) – Supreme Court ruled the Alabama

segregated seating law was unconstitutional. MLK emerged as a Civil Rights leader

Visited 3rd world countries and paid homage to India’s Mahatma Gandhi Led a Prayer Pilgrimage to Washington (1958) on the 3rd anniversary of the

Brown decision. Strategy and message that inspired his followers, “passive resistance.” – if

cursed, do not curse back. If hit, do not hit back. Show love and goodwill to all. Turn lack of power into a conquering weapon.

Message to southern whites, “we match your capacity to inflict suffering with our capacity to endure suffering.” Ultimate goal – unite broken community through bonds of Christian Love.

Activism Continued MLK founded the Southern Christian Leadership

Conference (SCLC) to crusade against segregation.

Greensboro, N.C. – 4 black students from the Ag and Tech College sat down in a dime store lunch counterSimilar sit ins took place throughout the southKneel ins at churches, and wade ins at pools

Success at desegregating public facilities in the southLeads to the formation of the SNCC – Student Non-

Violent Coordinating CommitteeThe SCLC and the SNCC would replace the NAACP

JFK and the New Frontier Sept. 26, 1960 – JFK vs. Nixon in 1st televised debate

Nixon looked tired and tense – JFK looked tan, fresh, and confident before a national audience of 77 million.

Polls taken showed JFK won the TV debateThose listening to the radio thought Nixon wonNixon would improve his image by using make – up. Helped in the

next 3 debates – but the damage was already done. JFK also selected LBJ(Texas) to run as vice president –

attempt to block Nixon’s southern strategy. JFK’s platform included reform in:

Education, Health Care, Civil Rights – “The New Frontier”Pledged renewed commitment to the Cold War – would lead the

nation against the SovietsTold Protestant ministers he would place the needs of the country

over religionHe was able to get MLK released from a Georgia jail

New Frontiersman JFK was a congressman at the age of 29 and won a

Senate seat in 1952 – criticized the RepublicansSluggish with economic growth, healthcare, and educationHe was attractive to young peopleMajor cabinet appointments went to activistsUnlike Ike, JFK relied on academics and intellectuals to

help infuse the nation with energy His greatest asset was his personality – cool,

attractive, and intelligentHis speeches were filled with Emerson and Shakespeare –

he seemed to be the new Lancelot After some foreign policy failures – his standing went

up in the polls – JFK remarked, “It’s like Ike, the worse I do the more popular I get.”

Congress and Economic Advances JFK struggled with Congress

N. Republicans and S. Democrats stalled his reform bills for healthcare and education

JFK gives up the fight for healthcare and settled for a modest increase in minimum wage and the passage of a manpower training program and a trade expansion act designed to lower tariff barriers

JFK gave priority to the economy – wanted to recover from Ike’s recession Problems came from technology – needed to redevelop and modernize programs Needed more federal spending to rebuild nation’s public facilities (ports, bridges,

cities) The stimulation of the economy came not from social programs but from

increased defense and space budget. 1961 - $6 billion increase to arms budget JFK’s decision to go to the moon ($25 billion) 1962 – ½ budget was space and defense

Unemployment still remained high in NE and Midwest JFK helped to negotiate a deal with the steel industry Switched focus and gave tax cuts to improve consumer spending

Moving Slowly on Civil Rights JFK portrayed himself as a crusader for Civil Rights

Did not want to lose Southern Democrats so he downplayed Civil Rights legislation

RFK was instructed to continue Ike’s attempts at southern civil rights and voting LBJ worked with the Presidential Commission on Equal Employment

Opportunities that worked to hire black workers JFK appointed African Americans

Civil Rights movement refused to accept JFK’s indirect approach Congress for Racial Equality (CORE) – Freedom Ride – tested the Supreme

Court decision. They were attacked in Birmingham, Alabama RFK dispatched the federal marshals to protect the riders – JFK caught up with

the Berlin Crisis, viewed this as a distraction James Meredith sought admission to the all white Mississippi

University. On the eve of Meredith’s entry a mob attacked. Federal Marshals sent in. 2

died, 375 injured, but Meredith did graduate. 1963 – JFK sent RFK to Governor George Wallace, who promised to stand in

the school’s door to prevent integration at the University of Alabama. Wallace yielded to the Federal Marshals – and 2 African American students

attended.

“I have a Dream…” 1963 – MLK led a massive protest in Birmingham – many arrests

were made in an attempt to crush the Civil Rights movement. MLK was arrested, but promised to bring the incident to national attention from jail.

6,000 children had marched and authorities broke the demonstration with clubs and dogs. They played into MLK’s hands.JFK intervened – said voting rights and civil rights were extended to

blacks. March on Washington

20,000 marchers gathered at the Lincoln MemorialMLK gave his inspiring speech

The movement still waited on JFK to wipe out housing discrimination

JFK had raised hope for racial equality, he never fulfilled. He chose to be a fox instead of a lion.

Johnson Administration

Compare JFK to LBJ LBJ on Civil Rights LBJ on Economy Election of 1964 LBJ and Reforms