Post war America 1945-1973 American dream/ civil rights

Question 1

Name 6 factors that caused prosperity in post war america?

Answer 1

1. The impact of ww 2-half a million new businesses set up
2. The g i bill of rights- this ensured soldiers who returned from ww2 were looked after employed, got loans to buy houses etc so this sudden increase in work force benefited the economy
3. the baby boom- more births meant need for more business to support it such as nurseries and parks so it created more jobs.
4. house building- house builders bought up land in suburbs and built up areas outside of cities which created more jobs.
5. Cold war spending: The rivalry between ussr and usa meant the government was spending on arms race and space race- this created more jobs
6. the american dream- people wanted the american dream life style- they wanted to consume and be entertained- they wanted to spend money on gadgets and going out.

Question 2

what % of the world income have after ww2?

Answer 2

42%

Question 3

what % of the world gold supply did the us have after WW2

Answer 3

75%

Question 4

what was Mccarthysism

Answer 4

Joseph McCarthy led a ruthless anti-communist campaign against suspected communists in America

Question 5

what was the red scare?

Answer 5

Many feared that immigrants from Russia, Southern Europe and Eastern Europe intended to overthrow the government in America. This is why the period was known as the Red Scare.

Question 6

Was the the USA the only country that emerged from WW2 economically better off than before? yes or no?

Answer 6

yes The USA was the only country that emerged from WW2 economically better off than before.

Question 7

How many soldiers returned from the war and added to the work force?

Answer 7

1.2 million

Question 8

At this time what % of the world income did the usa have?

Answer 8

42% of the world’s income

Question 9

At this time what % of the gold supply did the usa have?

Answer 9

75% of its gold supply

Question 10

At this time what % of the world’s cars did the us have?

Answer 10

80% of its cars

Question 11

Name 5 events happened outside of America that caused the red scare?

Answer 11

1. The USSR’s control of eastern 2. Europe at the end of WW2.
2. China becomes Communist in 1949.
3. The USSR tests its own atomic bomb.
4. The Arms Race.
5. The Korean War.

Question 12

Name 4 Events in America causing the Red Scare

Answer 12

1. US congress sets up the House of Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC).
2. The Hiss Case – Alger Hiss, a member of the US State Department, was accused of being linked to a Communist.
3. The Rosenbergs are executed for being spies.
4. McCarthyism .

Question 13

What was McCarthyism?

Answer 13

Senator Joe McCarthy started a campaign against possible Communists using half-truths, rumours, smears and lies. There was a common phrase: ‘reds under the bed’, suggesting Communists were ‘everywhere’ in America. McCarthy claimed that many Communists worked in the US government. Many were put on trial and were found guilty without much proof.

Question 14

What happened with McCarthysim- did he go too far?

Answer 14

YES- The FBI, led by J Edgar Hoover, kept files on about 1 million suspects. McCarthy also accused some officers in the US army, however, by this point, many people felt he had gone too far and he was discredited.

Question 15

Give 6 examples of problems and racial tensions in the 1950s

Answer 15

1.Segregation in the southern states – Jim Crow Laws. E.g. parks and restaurants
2.Segregated schools and very limited access to universities
3. Worst jobs, low pay, discrimination in the work place
4.African Americans were prevented from voting, e.g. they had to pass literacy tests, or were threatened with violence
5.Law officers failed to prevent attacks on African Americans. White juries were often biased against African Americans.
6. Race riots in 47 cities during the war-Tensions between white and black communities

Question 16

What was Brown v Board of Education Topeka 1954

Answer 16

Black student Linda Brown had to travel several kilometres to school, crossing a dangerous rail track. She was not allowed to go to a nearby white school. The NAACP took the case to the Supreme Court and it ruled in favour of Brown.
AS A RESULT Integrated schools in the southern states were set up.

Question 17

What was the Montgomery Bus Boycott 1955-6

Answer 17

Rosa parks refused to give up her seat on a bus to white man. She was arrested for breaking the Alabama bus laws. This triggered a non-violent boycott of the buses in Montgomery. Martin Luther King supported the boycott. It was a success. AS A RESULT The Supreme Court declared the bus laws to be illegal.

Question 18

What was Little Rock Arkansas 1957

Answer 18

In Arkansas, 9 black students were prevented from attending a white school. State troops were stopping them. President Eisenhower sent federal troops to protect the students and make sure they could get into school.

Question 19

What happened in the Sit-ins 1960

Answer 19

Greensboro, North Carolina. Black students sat on the whites only seats at a lunch counter in Woolworths. Within a week 400 students, black and white, were involved in sit-ins at lunch counters across the town. By the end of 1960, lunch counters had been desegregated in 126 cities. Similar protests took place in other towns too and not just at restaurants.

Question 20

What happened in the Freedom rides 1961

Answer 20

Many states were not obeying the order to desegregate buses, so freedom riders rode buses in Birmingham. It was black and white people sat side by side on the buses. They were met with violence.

Question 21

What happened in the March on Washington 1963

Answer 21

250,000 people march to Washington to put pressure on Kennedy to pass a Civil Rights Bill. It is a peaceful protest. Martin Luther King gives his famous ‘I have a dream’ speech.

Question 22

What did malcom x believe?

Answer 22

Believed that non-violence was not achieving enough and therefore force was justified. He wanted more force! Malcolm X wanted to create a separate black state in the USA

Question 23

what was black power?

Answer 23

This term was first used by a radical black student called Stokely Carmichael. He had more radical views and was often critical of Martin Luther King.

Question 24

Who were the black panthers?

Answer 24

Radical group. Had around 2,000 members. Had a small private army. They clashed many times with the police.

Question 25

When were the race riots and what happened?

Answer 25

Race riots were in 1965-7 -cities suffered a wave of riots. Cities in the north and west were most affected. They were most often caused by poor relations between the police and black communities.

Question 26

When was the civil rights act passed?

Answer 26

Civil Rights Act 1964

Question 27

Which president passed the civil rights act?

Answer 27

Passed by President Johnson. Made it illegal for local government to discriminate in areas such as housing and employment. Following this act, more black people registered to vote too.

Question 28

What happened in Selma 1965?

Answer 28

600 people marched in a peaceful protest. They were brutally attacked.

Question 29

What did the Voting Rights Act 1965 do?

Answer 29

This Act allowed government agents to inspect voting procedures to make sure they were taking place properly. It ended literacy tests that voters had previously had to complete before being allowed to vote.

Question 30

What was new in the Civil Rights Act 1968

Answer 30

Housing could not be sold or rented on the basis of race, religion, national origin or sex

Question 31

Name 4 things that Kennedy’s new frontier consisted of?

Answer 31

Kennedy’s ‘New Frontier’ consisted of:
1. The extension of unemployment benefit
More aid to poor cities
2. Increases in social security benefits
3. Aid to economically distressed areas
4. The expansion of rural electrification programmes to help rural farming

Question 32

Examples of success of new frontier

Answer 32

He made $900 million available to businesses to create new jobs, and gave grants to companies to buy new hi-tech equipment.
❖ Poverty: He made $4.9 billion available for loans to improve housing, clear slums, and build roads
❖Education: JFK set up the Peace Corps, an organisation that sent volunteers abroad to help in poorer countries.

Question 33

example of failures of new frontier

Answer 33

There are 4 key reasons it may be considered a failure.
❖Civil Rights: The CEEO only helped those employed by the government.
❖Economy: Unemployment only declined by 1 million, and it was twice as high for African Americans as it was for whites.
❖Healthcare: Congress defeated JFK’s proposals for cheaper and, in some cases free, healthcare.
❖Education: Congress was dominated by southern politicians, who refused to support his plans for funding for schools after they clashed over Civil Rights

Question 34

Who became president after Kennedy was assassinated?

Answer 34

Lyndon Johnson (LBJ) became president. Johnson introduced even more reforms to help improve America’s economy and society. These reforms are known as:
Johnson’s ‘Great Society’

Question 35

Name 3 main purposes of the great society by Johnson?

Answer 35

To help the economy:
To tackle poverty:
To improve civil rights

Question 36

What did Johnson do to help the economy?

Answer 36

Cut taxes, improved transport, increased funding for universities, introduced a range of consumer laws. HOWEVER, unemployment and inflation continued to rise.

Question 37

What did Johnson do to tackle poverty?

Answer 37

The Medical Care Act: funded healthcare for elderly people and families on low incomes
Increased the minimum wage from $1.25 to $1.40 per hour
Poorer families received food stamps
The Elementary and Secondary Act put federal funding into improving education in poor areas.
Job schemes like VISTA and a Job Corps were set up
The Model Cities Act improved inner city environments by clearing slums.

Question 38

What did Johnson do to improve civil rights?

Answer 38

1.The Civil Rights Act: made it illegal for local government to discriminate in areas such as housing and employment
2. The Voting Rights Act: allowed government agents to inspect voting procedures to make sure they were taking place properly. It ended literacy tests that voters had previously had to complete before being allowed to vote.
3. The Immigration Act: ended the system of racial quotas for immigrants.

Question 39

Name 7 ways the role of women changes in this time?

Answer 39

1. 1940-45: the number of women in work rose from 12 million to nearly 19 million.
2. They occupied a 1/3 of all America’s jobs.
3. 200,000 women worked in shipbuilding.
4. 350,000 women joined the women’s sections of the armed forces.
5. In munitions and electronics industries ½ the workers were women.
6. Many women were earning higher wages than they ever had before.
7. In a survey, 60% of American plant managers said that women were their best workers. Women were being rewarded and recognised.

Question 40

Why did this change in the role of women cause tension?

Answer 40

However, it was still accepted by many families that a woman’s place was in the home. When soldiers returned home from war, many people expected that things would go back to the way they were before and they didn’t. This caused tension. The 1960s was a decade for the change in attitude towards women.

Question 41

Who was betty fiedan

Answer 41

Betty Friedan wrote a book in 1963 called ‘The Feminine Mystique’. She argued that for middle class women the home had become a concentration camp and that most women wanted to break out of this limited environment. It was a very popular book.

Question 42

What was The National Organisation for Women, 1966. (NOW)

Answer 42

Set up by a group of women, including Betty Friedan. It adopted a ‘bill of Rights’. They campaigned for laws to ban sex discrimination in employment, maternity leave rights, child day-care centres, equal job training, the right for women to control their reproductive lives.

Question 43

Why in the later 1960s were women protesting?

Answer 43

In the later 1960s many women petitioned, threatened legal action and went on strike to persuade employers to provide equal opportunities and wages. An Equal Pay Act of 1963 had established the principle of equal pay for women doing the same job as men, but there were exceptions ad women continued to protest for more equality.

Question 44

What happened in the Supreme Court ruling on equal rights 1972?

Answer 44

The Supreme Court ruled that contraception should be legally available to unmarried couples on the same terms as married couples.

Question 45

What happened in Roe v Wade 1973?

Answer 45

This court case made abortion legal. Abortion was declared a fundamental right for women.

Question 46

was there an anti feminist movement?

Answer 46

yes- A high profile anti-feminist movement was the STOP ERA group, led by Phyllis Schlafly. ERA stood for Equal Rights Amendment. The STOP ERA campaign was very successful; the measure was finally defeated in Congress in 1982, and was not passed.