HA2 – 26/29 February1950s Topics, Post-war anxiety, Research projects

Bellwork

PICK UP A SYLLABUS!You have 5 minutes to get with your group and finalize your mini-presentations. REMEMBER, you need:• 4 major points written on the board• Approximately 2 minutes to present• Everyone in the group participating in the

presentation

The Interstate Highway System• Signed into action by

Eisenhower in 1956• 41000 miles of expressways• Made long-haul trucking

faster and feasible• Encouraged development of

more suburbs• Encouraged travel within

continental U.S.• Caused decline in reliance on

railways• Towns near highways

prospered; towns farther from highways languished

Suburbs Attract Families• Cheap homes on a massive

scale in small communities outside of urban centers (suburbs)

• With the booming auto industry, more and more families owned cars and were lured to suburbs

• Suburbs promised affordable housing, congenial neighbors, fresh air and open spaces, good schools, and easy access to urban jobs and culture

• Predominantly inhabited by white, middle-class families

Victory over Polio• Polio is a crippling and often

fatal disease, especially in children

• Dr. Jonas Salk developed a vaccine against polio in early 1950s

• U.S. government sponsored a free inoculation program for children shortly thereafter

• By 1974, only seven new cases of polio were reported in the U.S.

Computers for Businesses• Computers were originally

developed for research and military purposes

• UNIVAC (Universal Automatic Computer) and ENIAC (Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer) were adapted for business purposes as well

• First business-oriented computers developed in UK (1951), but US researchers rapidly overtook the market

• Massively increased productivity and efficiency in business

Rock ‘n’ Roll• Musicians in the 1950s added

electronic instruments to traditional blues music, creating rhythm and blues

• 1951: Alan Freed starts playing this music; dubs it rock ‘n’ roll

• Culture of music that was “black and white,” something “American”

• Themes of love, cars, and problems of youth

• Controversial among older generations, who saw the music as a gateway to delinquency

• Elvis Presley and Johnny Cash

U.S. Satellites Launched• 1958 – US launches its

first successful satellite Explorer 1 (pictured) less than one year after Sputnik• Follows with series of

satellites, including communications satellite (Telstar, 1961)

Integration of Public Schools

• 1954: SCOTUS rules in Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka that schools must racially integrate• Overturned Plessy v.

Ferguson “separate but equal” policy

Art: The New York School• Known for abstract

expressionist painting, as well as poetry, music, dance, and theatre• Drew upon

surrealism, action painting, jazz, and improvisational theatre as well

Eisenhower for President• First elected in 1952; re-

elected 1956• Championed American

values; Republicans argued Democrats plundered at home and blundered abroad

• Dynamic conservativism / Modern republicanism: conservative on finances; liberal on “human beings”

• Pushed for balanced budget

Cold War Anxieties

Red Scare

• Red Scare = fear the communists both inside and outside the US were working to destroy American life

Supported by the Long Telegram from Moscow, George Kennan

• Attorney General J. Howard McGrath:• Communists “ are everywhere – in factories, offices,

butcher shops, on street corners, and private businesses.”

Red Scare

• Truman – created the Federal Employee Loyalty Program• FBI + other security agencies can

investigate federal employees• ~ 3000 people are dismissed or

resign from government service1940 – Smith Act – makes it unlawful to teach / advocate the violent overthrow of the US government• NY jails 11 communists under the

Smith Act

HUAC

• House (of Reps) Un-American Activities Committee• Investigates alleged

facsists, Nazis, or communists

• Investigates government, armed forces, unions, news papers, education, movie industry, etc.

Red Scare – Hollywood Ten• Hollywood Ten = left wing writers, directors, and

producers that refused to answer questions about possible communist connections • Plead the 5th amendment, held in contempt of

court• Blacklisted from Hollywood – killed their careers

and their reputations

• 1957 – Watkins v. US = Supreme Court rules that witnesses cannot be forced to name political radicals they know

Oppenheimer• Creator of the atomic bomb• Works for Atomic Energy

Commission (AEC)• Denied access to

confidential information because his wife was a communist

• No evidence that he was ever disloyal to the US

Spy Cases – Alger Hiss

• Government worker• New Deal programs• Helped organize the UN• Named by a former

communist party memberDenies the charge• Charged with perjury and

sentenced to 5 years in jail

Spy Cases – Rosenbergs

Julius and Ethel Rosenberg• Poor Jewish couple from

NYC• Charged with conspiring to

share info about atomic science with a Soviet agent

• Sentenced to death and executed• Too harsh?Evidence in 1990s – Julius was a spy, no evidence against Ethel

McCarthyism• Joseph McCarthy – senator• Claims he has a list of 205

government workers who are security threats, 57 communists *never produces actual list*

• Accused government workers lose jobs and reputations

• George Marshall• Caught in lies, but covered it

up

McCarthyism• 1954 – Goes after the US

Army• Army accuses McCarthy of

personal motivations behind attacks

• Televised trials (badgering of witnesses, twisting of truth, laughing at the suffering of the questioned)

• McCarthy loses power and support

Fear of Nuclear War

• 1949 – Communists get atomic bomb

• Constant fear

• Education

Duck and Cover• Who created this video?• What is Bert the mascot of?• How will students know if a nuclear attack

comes?• Where and when might a nuclear attack happen?• What is the job of the civil defense worker?• How will you know when the danger is over?• Post-Movie Questions• If you had been shown this video in elementary

school, how do you think you would have felt?

Red Scare effects pop culture

• Page 738-739 (orange textbook)• Look at the infographic and answer the “Thinking

Critically” questions

What is an Infographic?• Infographics = information graphics = visual representations of

information, data, or knowledge• Used to explain complex information quickly, clearly, and

visually.

Present Data Meaningfully• Information with narrative