America 1920-73 - Part three: Post-war America Flashcards
What was ‘The American Dream’?
The belief that anyone could succeed through hard work.
What were some goods that were affordable and popular?
Refrigerators, ovens, vaccum cleaners, cars and televisions.
Why was demand high during this period?
Luxury goods were rare during the war.
What encouraged people to spend money?
- Powerful advertising industry
- ‘Buy now, pay later’ schemes
How did the sudden appearance of malls affect the in-town businesses?
It hurt the small businesses as the malls were out-of-town.
End of the 1950s.
Proportion of US households with a television.
9 out of 10
End of the 1950s.
Proportion of US households with a car.
8 out of 10
End of the 1950s.
Proportion of US households with a washing machine.
7 out of 10
What was the ‘baby boom’?
A 40% increase in population.
When did FDR die?
April 1945
Who replaced FDR?
Harry S Truman
What did Truman call his plans?
The ‘Fair Deal’
What were the two main issues Truman tried to tackle?
Poverty and the rights of African Americans.
Truman minimum hourly wage increase.
Raised from 40 cents to 75 cents.
What did the GI Bill do?
- Made cheap home loans available to war veterans
- Paid grants for ex-soldiers to attend college
How much money did the government pay to veterans?
From 1944 to 1949, around $4 billion to 9 million veterans.
What happened to Truman’s proposal for a national health insurance scheme?
It was blocked by Republicans.
What happened to Truman’s attempt to improve rights of African Americans?
Halted when many Southern politicians voted against it.
Who was elected president in 1952?
Dwight D Eisenhower
What was the state of the country in 1952?
- Booming economy
- Still vast areas of severe poverty
How much did the average teenager spend a week?
Early 40s, $1 - $2
In 1957, $10 - $15
What did teenagers spend their money on?
Music, cars, fashion, and alcohol.
What reputation did teenagers have?
Being independent, rebellions, secretive and aggressive.
What music was popular among teenagers?
Rock and roll
What did the older generation think about Rock and Roll?
That it was ‘dangerous’ and was linked to teenage crime and gang culture.
What was the famous Elvis Presley TV performance?
In 1956; watched by 82% of Americans.
Average income of elderly compared to average factory earnings.
In 1960, 68% people over 65 had annual income less than $1000. Average factory earnings over $4000.
When did the second Red Scare start and finish?
Immediately after WW2 to mid-‘50s.
What was the reasons for the second Red Scare?
- Containment was failing
- USSR was powerful, and communist
- Spies were caught in government jobs
What people were accused of spying for the USSR?
- Alger Hiss, member of US govenment
- Americans Ethel and Julius Rosenberg, found guilty of spying, executed June 1953.
(These became headline news)
What did HUAC stand for?
House of Representatives Un-American Activities Committee
What did the HUAC do?
Searched for communists in the government, workplaces, media and movie industry.
Who was Joseph McCarthy?
A US Senator.
What did Joe McCarthy claim?
In 1950, he claimed he had a list of 200 communists working for the government.
What did people think of McCarthy 1950-55?
He was seen as an anti-communist hero.
Why did no-one criticise McCarthy?
People who did were deemed communists and could be sacked.
How did ‘McCarthyism’ lose support?
In 1954, he accused 45 army officers of being communist.
He had no proof. McCarthy’s campaign began to lose public support.
What was the ‘Civil Rights Movement’?
The campaign for equal civil rights between black and white Americans.
What are civil rights?
Opportunities with regards to employment, housing and education, right to vote and freedom from racial discrimination.
When did the Civil Rights Movement start and end?
It began in early ’40s, ended in late ’60s.
What small successes for the CRM were passed in the 1940s?
- ‘Fair Employment Law’, 1941
- Truman’s 1946 President’s Committee on Civil Rights, to try to eliminate segregation.
What was the cause of ‘Brown v Board of Education of Topeka, 1954’?
In 1951, Father of African-American girl Linda Brown took Board of Education to court for his daughter to attend local whites only school.
What happened when Brown lost the case in Topeka?
He appealed to the Supreme Court.
What did the Supreme Court rule in 1954?
It declared in May 1954 all education boards had to de-segregate schools.
What was the reaction in Mississippi to the SCOTUS decision?
(To end segregation)
White Citizens Council formed to ensure segregation would remain.
1956, number of states not ending segregation.
In 1956, not a single African-American was attending a white school in six Southern States.
How did the Montgomery Bus Boycott start?
Rosa Parks refused to move from the whites only section of the bus.
When was Rosa Parks arrested?
1st December 1955
What did NAACP stand for?
National Association for the Advancement of Coloured People
What did the NAACP do?
Helped fight discrimination and segregation.
Where did the Montgomery bus boycott happen?
Montgomery, Alabama
What proportion of the Montgomery Buses’ clients were African Americans?
About 75%
What was the outcome of the bus boycott?
A year after it started, the Supreme Court ruled that segregated buses were illegal.
What was the Little Rock case?
Nine African American students tried to attend Central High School in Little Rock.
In what state is Little Rock?
Arkansas
What made the Little Rock case so scandalous?
The governor of Arkansas sent National Guard soldiers to prevent the black kids from entering.
When did the black kids try to attend Cental High School?
September 1957
What was the outcome of the Little Rock case?
They won - the kids now had the right to attend the white school.
Proportion of black students attending white schools 1960.
(Arkansas)
1960: Arkansas has 2 million black students
Only 2500 were going to white schools.
States with segregated schools 1962.
By 1962, still no black children attending white schools in Alabama, South Carolina, or Mississippi.
What did the Civil Rights Act of 1957 do?
It gave all African Americans the right to vote.
Was the CRA 1957 enforced?
No. Very little was done.
What were the main Civil Rights protests?
Alabama, May 1963
Washington DC, August 1963
Selma, March 1965
In what city was the May 1963 protest?
Birmingham, Alabama
Why did MLK protest in Birmingham?
It was one of the most segregated cities in the USA.
Who was the police chief who ordered to attack the protesters in Birmingham?
Eugene ‘Bull’ Connor
What happened to the protesters in Birmingham?
They were attacked by the police with tear gas, cattle prods, dogs and water cannons.
Many people were arrested on the march in Birmingham. How many children were arrested?
900 children were arrested
How can the Birmingham march be considered a success?
All of it was shown on TV, which raised awareness.
What did the President do in response to the violence at the Birmingham march?
He sent in troops to restore order.
He ordered Birmingham to end segregation.
When was the march on Washington DC?
August 1963
What march happened in August 1963?
The march on Washington DC
How many people marched in Washington DC?
About 250,000 people.
What famous speech did King give at the Washington DC march?
‘I have a dream!’
What march happened in March 1965?
Selma
When did the Selma march happen?
March 1965
What did the day of the Selma march come to be known as?
‘Bloody Sunday’
What happened at the Selma march?
The protesters were brutally attacked by the police.
When did the sit-ins and freedom rides happen?
During the early 1960s
What were Freedom Riders?
Civil rights campaigners who travelled in the whites only sections of buses in protest of segregation.
What were sit-ins?
African-American students who would sit down in whites only part of cafes and refuse to leave.
How many sit-ins were there 1960-61?
Around 70,000 campaigners had staged ‘sit-in’ protests across the South.
Who passed the Civil Rights Act of 1964?
Lyndon B Johnson
What day was Kennedy assassinated?
22nd November 1963
What did the CVR of 1964 do?
Outlawed racial discrimination in employment and segregation in public spaces.
When was the Voting Rights Act passed?
1965
What did the Voting Rights Act do?
Gave all Americans the right to vote.
When were interracial marriages legalised?
1967
What was the Fair Housing Act?
Made racial discrimination illegal when buying and renting houses.
When was the Fair Housing Act passed?
1968
Who was Malcom X?
Fought for Civil Rights. Was part of the Nation of Islam until 1964.
What was the Nation of Islam?
Extreme organisation that fought against white society.
What did the Nation of Islam believe?
- White society was racist and corrupt
- Christianity is a white man’s religion
- Wanted separatism
What organisation did Malcom X set up?
Organization of Afro-American Unity (OAAU)
How did Malcom X die?
He was shot by Nation of Islam members while at an OAAU meeting.
What was the Black Panther party?
An extreme militant group that rejected King’s non-violent ideas.
What did the Black Panther party argue?
That African-Americans had to protect themselves from white racists using violence if necessary.
What organisations were part of the ‘Black Power’ movement?
- Nation of Islam
- Black Panther Party
What is the Civil Rights Act of 1968 also known as?
The Fair Housing Act
What were the reforms JFK brought commonly known as?
‘New Frontier’
What were LBJ’s reform programmes known as?
‘Great Society’
JFK’s tax policy.
JFK cut taxes
How much did JFK spend to create new jobs?
Gave $900 million to businesses to create new jobs
JFK, minimum wage.
JFK increased the minimum hourly wage
What did JFK do to help the unemployed?
He opened training schemes.
What did JFK’s Social Security Act do?
Gave more benefits for the elderly and unemployed.
Were JFK and LBJ D or R?
They were Democrats
What did JFK do to help those living in poverty?
He invested $4.9 billion in the clearing of slum areas, and rebuilding neighbourhoods with the proper facilities. He built roads and telephone lines.
Unemployment in 1960 and 1963.
Unemployment in 1963 was 4.5 million - only 1 million less than 1960.
What year was JFK elected?
1960
What was the main criticism of the ‘New Frontier’?
It didn’t do much for unemployment - it only helped people with existing jobs.
What year did LBJ become president?
1963, after JFK’s death
What was ‘Operation Headstart’?
LBJ’s policy that gave money to poor schools in cities.
How did LBJ give more money to schools?
- ‘Operation Headstart’, for schools in cities
- Elementary and Secondary Education Act, major funding for schools.
What was the National Endowment for the Arts and Humanities?
It gave grants to fund artists and galleries.
LBJ’s reform that gave grants to fund artists and galleries.
National Endowment for the Arts and Humanities.
What was the Job Corps?
LBJ’s plan to help high school leavers get jobs.
By how much did LBJ increase the minimum wage?
From $1.25 to $1.40 an hour.
What did LBJ’s Housing Act do?
Funded low-income housing.
What did LBJ’s Model Cities Act do?
Cleared up inner-city slums.
What did LBJ’s Air and Water Quality Acts do?
Tightened controls over pollution.
What was LBJ’s ‘Medicare’?
It funded healthcare for the elderly and low income families.
How did LBJ Fund low-income housing?
Housing Act
How did LBJ clear inner-city slums?
Model Cities Act
How did LBJ limit pollution?
Air and Water Quality Acts
How did LBJ fund healthcare for the poor?
‘Medicare’
How was LBJ perceived by the public?
- He dramatically lowered poverty
- He spent too much on his reforms
- He supported Vietnam, which was unpopular
African-Americans living in poverty, 1959 and 1970.
1959: 56% of black families lived in poverty
1970: only 30%
White families living in poverty, 1959 and 1970.
1959: 18% lived in poverty
1970: only 8%
Unemployment rising or falling, 1968?
In 1968, unemployment was rising and there was widespread rioting in poorer areas.
What was the ‘Report on women in the workplace’?
President Kennedy set it up to see what problems there were.
In what year was the report on women in the workplace published?
1963
(Report on women in workplace)
Percentage of lawyers and doctors who were women.
Only 4% of lawyers and 7% of doctors were women.
(Report on women in workplace)
What could happen to a woman if she married?
She could legally be dismissed.
(Report on women in workplace)
Percentage of managers who were male?
95% of managers were male.
(Report on women in workplace)
Women/Men pay gap?
Women earned around 60% less than men.
What kicked off feminism? When?
A book called The Feminine Mystique by Betty Friedan, published in 1963.
What did The Feminine Mystique argue?
It called for equality between men and women.
When was the Equal Pay Act passed?
June 1963
What was the Equal Pay Act?
It made law that women and men should be payed the same amount for the same job.
What did NOW stand for?
National Organization for Women
When was NOW established?
1966
What did NOW campaign for?
- Complete equal rights for women
- Abortion rights
How many members did NOW have?
Within a few years, it had 40,000 members.
What was the Women’s Liberation movement?
Younger women who were more extreme in the way the protested.
What did the Women’s Liberation movement colloquially come to be known as?
‘Women’s Lib’
What did the Women’s Liberation Movement famously disrupt in 1968?
Miss World Beauty Contest of 1968
When were married couples allowed to use contraceptives?
1965
When were couples allowed to divorce by ‘mutual consent’?
1969, in California. Other states soon followed.
When was the ‘Equal Rights Amendment’ passed by Congress?
1972
Who led the ‘Stop ERA’ campaign?
Phyllis Schlafly
What did Schlafly argue ERA would lead to?
That ERA would lead to women in combat, greater abortion rates, unisex bathrooms and homosexual marriages.
Was Schlafly’s campaign successful?
Yes. ERA failed to become part of the US constitution.
What did ERA state?
That ‘Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied by the United States or by any State on account of sex.’
When was the ‘Roe v Wade’ case?
1973
What was one of the key feminist goals?
To legalise abortion.
To have total equality.
What was the Educational Amendment Act?
It banned sexual discrimination in education - that girls can study same subjects as boys.
What did SCOTUS rule in 1973, pertaining to the ‘Roe v Wade’ case?
That women in all states had the right to a safe, legal abortion.
What did the ‘Roe v Wade’ case entail?
- Lawyers argued that 21yo ‘Roe’ (real name Norma McCorvey) had the right to an aborition.
- Roe already had two children both of which had been put up for adoption.
When was the Educational Amendment Act passed?
1972
What important reform for women’s rights was passed in 1972?
The Educational Amendment Act.
