Affluence and Conformity Flashcards
How much did disposable income increase from 1950-60?
1950: $206.90 to 1960: $350 - increase of $143.10
Why did cities become more deprived?
White flight - white families moved out and were no longer helping with the city upkeep through taxes. Suburbia growth in popularity - better amenities
What happened to white collar jobs?
They become more common - more white collar jobs than blue collar - more money for the economy.
When did consumerism begin to grow?
1949-55
What happened to the birth rate?
It rose - more people having the money to raise kids.
What was Eisenhower’s greatest achievement?
National Interstate and Defence Highways Act 1956
How many people owned their own homes in 1960?
3/5 families - 18 million move to the suburbs
What did the establishment of highways lead to?
Cars, suburbs, industries, drive ins, national parks, beaches, malls, motels.
How much did car production grow between 1946 and 1955?
From 2 million to 8 million
What was car ownership at in 1960?
75% of Americans had at least one car
15% of people own two cars
Lead to rise in tourism, employment and independence.
What were the big three car producers?
Ford, Chrysler and General Motors
What cars were associated with Black Americans?
Cadillacs
How many cars were discarded each year?
7 million
What percentage of women have a job by 1960?
40% compared to 33% in 1950
What happened to US GNP between 1950 and 1960?
Almost doubled.
Buying power rose fivefold
What did the GI Bill of 1944 do?
Army veterans benefitted from no down payments on a house - houses and mortgages more accessible to some people
What did houses become?
Expensive commodities rather than just a place to live
What were women expected to do after the war?
Become housewives
What jobs did women tend to have?
Shopping/sales assistants - low salaries and very few benefits.
What did women have to conform to?
Beauty standards and experiencing oppression - housewifery.
What became mandatory as a result of suburbs?
Owning a car - public transport was poor.
How was affluence different in the South/
South per capita income was less than half the national average.
What was the median income of a white family?
$4392
What was the median income of a non-white family
$2461
What does the gap grow to by 1960
$5835 for white families, $3233 for non-white
What percentage of the suburbs were occupied by ethnic minorities?
5%
Where was there still segregation?
South
What did the FHA do?
Implemented restrictive covenants - houses in the suburbs cannot be sold to certain people - white families didn’t want neighbourhoods to be tainted.
What concept describes white people moving if a black family moved next door?
White Flight
What did the suburbs reinforce?
Class and racial divides - white people didn’t want black people moving in - believed it would put their investment in jeopardy.
What was hit hard by white flight?
Education - local taxes pay for local education - poorer areas would not have the same opportunities as more affluent areas.
What benefit did men receive that women didn’t?
Low VA mortgages as a result of the veteran status - additional credit benefit that home ownership made available.
Who’s name did the credit card have to be in?
The man’s/ husband’s
What does the NAACP stand for?
National Association for the Advancement of Coloured People
What was the aim of the NAACP?
Aimed to make black citizens economically, intellectually, politically and socially free and equal
What was the NAACP’s strategy?
Litigation - focussing on overturning Plessy vs Ferguson.
How successful was the NAACP?
Succeeded in de jure change but rarely had speedy and practical solutions.
What does the SCLC stand for?
Southern Christian Leadership Conference
Who founded the SCLC?
MLK
When was the SCLC founded?
1957 - after the Montgomery Bus Boycott.
What did the SCLC do?
Stage the Birmingham campaign, organise the March on Washington and Selma.
What was the aim of the SCLC?
Force positive federal response
What does CORE stand for?
Congress of Racial Equality
What was the aim of CORE?
Force a positive federal response.
What did CORE do in 1961?
Initiate the Freedom Rides - exposing southern white bigotry and prompted RFK to enforce Boynton vs Virginia
What does SNCC stand for?
Students Non-violent Coordinating Committee
What did SNCC do?
Participate in sit-ins
Organise grassroots activism - drives to register black votes in the Mississippi Delta.
How many students participated in counter sit-ins?
70,000
When was Freedom Summer?
1964
How many black voters tried to register in Mississippi?
17,000
What does WCC stand for?
White Citizen Councils.
When was the WCC set up?
1954
Why was the WCC set up?
In response to Brown vs Board 1954
Which group supported segregation by all means?
Southern Manifesto
What % of schools were desegregated in the South by 1963?
9%
What did the membership of WCC peak at in 1956?
250,000
What methods did the WCC use?
Propaganda, sponsoring white schools, threatened civil rights activists.
What does the KKK stand for?
Klu Klux Klan
Who were the KKK?
Armed racist group
When was the KKK established?
1866
When was the KKK revived?
1915 and after Brown
What suggested that the KKK had lost its impact?
Montgomery Bus Boycotts
When did the KKK bomb MLK’s house?
1956
When did the KKK bomb MLK’s hotel room?
1963
Where else did the KKK bomb in 1963?
Birmingham Church
What other violent methods did the KKK use?
Cross burnings, church burnings, beatings, shootings and murders
What happened to its membership in the 1970s.?
It tripled.
When was Little Rock?
1957
Who was the first child to desegregate white schools
Ruby Bridges
Who were the first students to enroll in UoA in 1963?
James Hood and Vivien Malone
Who was the first African American student at the UoM?
James Meredith in 1961
What supreme court decision did the MBB trigger?
Browder vs Gayle
What lead to the passing of the CRA?
Birmingham Protest
Who was the leader of the opposition at Birmingham?
Bull Connor
What grabbed media attention at Birmingham?
The violence of the police
What commission desegregates interstate transit?
1961 Interstate Commerce Commission
Where did the KKK firebomb freedom riders in 1961?
Anniston Alabama
What was the date of the Little Rock Nine?
3rd September 1957
Example of one of the children:
Melba Beals
What was the intention of the governor at Little Rock?
No intention to allow black students to attend the school - ordered the national guard to surround the school.
Who escorted the children into school?
National Guard
Who wrote about the differences between the life of a white and a black man?
James Baldwin
What methods did the police use at Birmingham?
Hoses, dogs, rubber bullets etc.
When was the March on Washington?
August 28th 1963
How many people attended the March on Washington?
250,000 - including Marlon Brando
Who was the chairman of SNCC in 1963?
John Lewis
How many people did Lewis lead at Selma?
600 peaceful demonstrators.
Who were considered the Big Six of the civil right movement?
MLK, James Farmer, A. Phillip Randolph, Roy Wilkins, John Lewis and Whitney Young
What happened to Emmett Till in 1955?
He was lynched by the KKK
What happened to Emmett Till’s murderers
They were acquitted
Who was the NAACP secretary for Mississippi?
Medgar Evers
When was Medgar Evers assassinated?
1963
Who were the beats?
Individuals protesting against the conformity in society
What became more mainstream?
Beatnik culture
What was generally associated with Beats?
Literature and Poetry
Where were the Beats?
Greenwich Village and North Beach
What happened to comics in 1955?
13 states banned the sale of comics due to the rise of juvenile delinquency.
What book did Frederick Wortham write?
“Seduction of the Innocent”
When were the Senate hearings on juvenile delinquency?
1955 and 1956
How big were the gangs roaming the streets and where were they?
Between 10 and 250 teens in NYC and Chicago.
What was the minimum wage raised to in 1961?
$1 to $1.25
What was the Equal Pay Act proposed?
1963
What was the aim of the Equal Pay Act?
Women get paid the same as men for the same job
How much was social security taxes proposed to be increased by?
0.25%
Why was social security tax going to be increased?
In order to pay for Medicare for the poor and the elderly.
What act was passed in 1961?
Area Development Act
Why wasn’t social security tax raised?
House Ways and Means Committee killed it off
Who was the chair of the House Ways and Means Committee?
Wilbur Mills
What did the Area Development Act do?
$394 million provided over four years to aid areas like Appalachia.
How many jobs did the Area Development Act create?
26,000 jobs
How many laundry workers didn’t benefit from the rise in minimum wage?
150,000
What act was passed in 1962?
Development and Training Act
What did the Development and Training Act do?
Provided job training to the poorly educated.
How many states applied for the funding under the Development Training act?
40 states
How many people got trained?
12,600
When was the Housing Act passed?
1961
How much was the fund for the housing projects?
$4.8 billion
When was the School Assurance Bill submitted?
1961
What was the School Assurance Bill?
$2.3 billion over the next three years to construct schools and raise teachers salaries.
What schools were excluded from the bill?
Church schools - Kennedy was a Catholic
Who criticised the bill?
Roman Catholic Bishops.
How did JFK increase school lunch and milk programmes?
Executive order
How many kids got free lunches?
700,000
How many kids got milk?
85,000
When was the Higher Educational Facilities Act Passed?
1963
What did the Higher Education Facilities Act do?
Gave $145 million in grants to graduate schools - science, languages and engineering.
What department did Kennedy make?
Department of Urban Affairs
When was the Trade Expansion Act passed?
1962
What did the Trade Expansion Act do?
Cut tariffs on average of around 35%. President could cut tariffs up to 50% with other countries that would welcome US goods.
What Committee was created through an executive order?
Committee on Equal Employment Opportunity?
What was the COEEO?
The first attempt at affirmative action
How high was black unemployment?
Twice that of white unemployment
When were Food Stamps issued?
1962
How many people were fed through food stamps?
240,000
How much did food stamps cost the state?
$22 million
What was the Food and Agriculture Act?
Provided subsidies to farmers.
What did Kennedy declare alarming?
River and Stream Pollution
When was the Water Pollution Control Act Amendment passed?
1961
What happened in 1961 in terms of environmentalism?
More than 6000 bird were reported dead
When did Rachel Carson release Silent Spring?
1962
What was Silent Spring?
Book - pointing the finger of the birds at chemical pesticides.
What was Silent Spring deemed as?
The most controversial book of the year - calling out industrial malpractice.
Who did Carson take on in 1962?
Big companies who produced chemicals and supplied them.
What did her book become?
A wake up call for society for them to realise that their actions have the power to destroy the habitat and the lives of animals.
What was the impact of silent spring on Kennedy?
Kennedy’s administration revealed that their pesticide control would be looked over again.
What was Carson accused of?
Being anti-business and anti-American.
How did sexism come into play with Carson?
Businesses used her gender to justify her “hysterics”
What happened in April 1963?
Special 60 minute broadcast on ABC on pesticides.
What happened 6 weeks after the broadcast?
JFK completely back Carson’s case - not just a threat to animals but also humans.
What act was passed in 1963 (environmentalism)?
Clean Air Act
What did the Clean Air Act do?
Limited pollution emissions and set up an advisory committee on pesticides.
When did Stuart Udall publish the Quiet Crisis?
1963
Who was appointed as Head of Service to achieve Udall’s aim?
George Hertzog
Who was Stuart Udall?
Secretary of the Interior
Who was Stuart Udall?
Secretary of the Interior
How many acres were acquired for Nationalism Park Service?
3.85 million
How many national monument were added?
6
How many national recreation areas were added?
9
How many historic sites were protected?
20
How many wildlife refuges were established?
50
How many national seashores were added?
8
When were the Peace Corps created?
1961
How were the Peace Corps created?
Executive Order
What were the Peace Corps?
A programme to send American men and women to developing countries to help transport technical and economic aid.
How many volunteers were there in the first year?
5000
How many countries were a part of the programme?
46
Who was the Peace Corps runs by?
Kennedy’s brother in law - Sergeant Shriver
What was the approval rating for the Peace Corps?
71%
Why were the peace corps so popular?
general hope that it could combat soviet propaganda and win support for capitalism.
What did critics think the peace corps was?
Yankee Imperialism - young people wanting a holiday.
How much investment did JFK ask for for the Space Programme?
$7-9 billion over 5 years.
Who was the first man in space?
Yuri Gagarin
When did Yuri Gagarin get to space?
1961
Who were the two astronauts to travel to space in 1961?
Shepard and Grissom
When did John Glenn orbit the earth?
1962
What did JFK call for in his 1961 speech?
A man on the moon before the end of the decade.
What did the technology from the Space Race make?
NON STICK PANS!!!!!!!!!!!!!
How many people in favour of the moon landing?
58%
What book did Kinsey write?
Sexual Behaviour in the Human Male
How many teenagers were sexually active?
95%
What film was James Dean in?
Rebel without a Cause
What was Marlon Brando in?
Wild One
What was so scandalous about Elvis?
His hips
How was rock and roll categorised?
“Black music”
What happened to top 10 hits by black people between 1955-63?
Increased by 50%
What did music allow teens to have?
Their own culture
What show did Elvis appear on?
Ed Sullivan Show
What film represented Latinx people?
West Side Story
What film had the first interracial couple?
Island in the Sun 1957
What film challenged sex in marriage?
Baby Doll 1956
What film did Sidney Poitier win Best Actor for?
Lilies of the Field
When did the Dick Van Dyke show get cancelled?
1966
What happened to Paths of Glory?
Anti-war film 1957 - critically acclaimed but didn’t succeed at the box office.
What did suburbs lead to?
De Facto segregation
What book did William Whyte write?
The Organisation Man - mass society - everyone is the same and owns the same thing.
What was I Love Lucy about?
A housewife
When did Father Knows Best start?
1953
What did advertising target?
Subculture to enhance consumerism - companies told people what to buy
How much money was spent on advertising in 1950
$5.7 billion
How much was spent on advertising in 1960?
$11.9 billion - more than spent on education
How much did TV companies revenue increase?
1000%
What happened to some “black music”?
Southern stations wouldn’t play it.
Why did Nat King Cole’s show get cancelled?
Didn’t bring enough money in from advertisement - television not as progressive as film.
What did cars mean for teenagers?
They had more independence
What book did Jack Kerouac write?
On the Road
Who wrote Howl?
Alan Ginsburg
How many copies of playboy were sold within its first year?
100,000
Who was the first playmate?
Marilyn Monroe
When did American Bandstand go national?
1957
