8-3: u.s. society in the 1950s - coach jacobson's classes · 2018. 3. 28. · demographic...
TRANSCRIPT
8-3: U.S. Society in the 1950s
Affluence, Conformity, and Paranoia
1950s Prosperity• GNP doubled between 1945 and 1960
• Stimulated by defense spending
New industries
New electronics
Aviation improvements
New chemicals
• Near-monopoly on world trade
Due to devastation of WWII
• Home ownership increased 50%
Consumer appliances
Refrigerators
Washing machines
televisions
Demographic Changes• Baby Boom
Contributes to growth of suburbs, consumerism, and increase in college enrollment (GI Bill)
• Workforce
Unions
U.S. government as labor mediator
Union power curbed by Taft-Hartley Act (1947)
Women
Return to housewife (I Love Lucy, Honeymooners)
Growth of the Suburbs• Federal Highway Act (1956)
• Migration of middle-class from cities to suburbs
• William Levitt and “Levittowns”
• Federal Housing Administration
Encouraged home ownership by insuring mortgages
Social Critics and Nonconformists• Criticized conformity
Television as a “vast wasteland”
• Beatniks
Disillusionment and rejection of the middle class
• Rock n’ Roll
• Abstract Expressionism
Shift away from reality and towards a state of mind
• Movie Stars
Symbolized youthful rebellion
The 2nd Red Scare• Background
Illegal to advocate the overthrow of government since 1940
House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC)
Joseph McCarthy—accusations that the State Department was “thoroughly infested with Communists”
McCarthyism—making public accusations of disloyalty without specific evidence
• Contributing Factors
Fall of China
USSR development of the bomb
Containment
Alleged Soviet spies
The 2nd Red Scare• McCarthy Hearings
Tactics
Played on fears
Created a climate of paranoia
Requirement of loyalty oaths and investigations
Blacklists
Major Cases
Alger Hiss
Ethel and Julius Rosenberg
Propelled careers of John Kennedy, Richard Nixon, and Ronald Reagan
Fall of Joseph McCarthy
Accused army of infiltration by Soviet spies
Boorish conduct and lack of evidence turned public against him
Contemporary Ideologies
• Liberalism
Government involvement in economy
Higher taxes
Equal opportunity for all
Generally vote for Democrats
Union members, minorities, young adults, single women
• Conservatism
Limited role of government
Lower taxes
Individualism leads to economic growth
Generally vote for Republicans
Rural areas, white males, middle-aged
Truman (D), 1945-1953
• Fair Deal
Civil rights
Enlargement of the New Deal
Increased minimum wage
Health insurance
Federal aid to education
Public housing
Repeal of Taft-Hartley Act (workers rights)
Coalition between Republicans and Southern Democrats limited Truman’s ability to achieve his goals
Eisenhower (R), 1953-1961
• Conservative economic policy
Basic features of the New Deal
Lower taxes
Controlling government spending
Warnings about “military-industrial complex”