The 1950s Flashcards by bob beard

Growth in Seatle, California and Rocky Mountains from aircraft, guided missiles, and radar systems

Growth of government bases in the South

Growth in New England of aircraft engines and submarines

Economic Benefits of Cold War

How well did you know this?

Not at all

Perfectly

Factory labor fell slightly in 1950s

Clerical workers grew by 25%

Salaried workers in large corporations grew by 60%

White collar workers outnumbered blue collar in 1956

Growth of Services Economy

How well did you know this?

Not at all

Perfectly

Efficient machinery

Chemical fertilizers and insecticides

Use of irrigation on open land

Development of new crop strains

Causes of Shift to Larger and Fewer Farms

How well did you know this?

Not at all

Perfectly

First suburban neighborhood built after World War II

Built on 1,200 acres of potato field on Long Island

10,000 houses assembled quickly from pre-fabricated parts

Soon home to 40,000 people

Develoed by William and Alfred Levitt

Levittown

How well did you know this?

Not at all

Perfectly

30m people moved west of the Mississippi between WWII and 1975

California population surpassed New York in 1963

Growth of “centerless” cities united by a web of highways: Houston, Phoenix, Los Angeles

Growth of the West

How well did you know this?

Not at all

Perfectly

“The consumer is the key to our economy. Our ability to consume is endless. The luxuries of today are the necessities of tomorrow.”

Jack Staus

Chairman of Macy’s

How well did you know this?

Not at all

Perfectly

During WWII: 100,000 units

1948: 1m units
1952: 15.3m units

Nearly 9 of 10 Americans owned one

Replaced newspaper as the most common source of information

Provided a common cultural experience

Television

How well did you know this?

Not at all

Perfectly

The Goldbergs*
The Honeymooners*
Leave it to Beaver*
The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet*

Early TV Shows

How well did you know this?

Not at all

Perfectly

Part of the “standard socialogical package”

80% of American familes owned one by 1960

14% of American familes owned two

Most were manufactured in the United States

Designed to be replaced every year or two

Enabled long distance commuting and vacationing

Led to growth of motels, roadside eating

Automobile

How well did you know this?

Not at all

Perfectly

Opened in Illinois in 1954

Franchised by Ray Kroc

McDonalds

How well did you know this?

Not at all

Perfectly

After WWII, most went back to low-salary jobs

By 1940, 36% grew to 60% in 1960

Earned only 60% of men

Women at Work

How well did you know this?

Not at all

Perfectly

American population rose by 30m or 20%

Mostly driven by large number of births

Other factors included longer life expectancy and availability of miracle drugs like penicillin

Led to growth of suburbia and the “youth culture”

Baby Boom

How well did you know this?

Not at all

Perfectly

“If we sell one house to a Negro family, then 90 or 95 percent of our white customes will not buy into the community.

Levitt

Refusal to allow blacks to rent or purchase

How well did you know this?

Not at all

Perfectly

Supreme Court ruling that did not stop racial covenants – considered them private agreements

Declared that courts could not enforce them because the process of enforcement violated the Fourteenth Amendment

Shelley v. Kraemer

How well did you know this?

Not at all

Perfectly

Authorized construction of 800,000 units of public housing

Provided a “decent home for every American family”

Set low ceiling on the income of residents

Confined to segregated neighborhoods in the city

Housing Act of 1949

How well did you know this?

Not at all

Perfectly

Destroyed poor neighborhoods in cities

Developers built retail centers in place of the old neighborhoods

States built urban universities and stadiums

“Urban Renewal”

How well did you know this?

Not at all

Perfectly

500,000 moved to New York in 1950-1970

Had been forced off of small farms by expanding sugar plantations

Most ended up in New York City’s East Harlem

West Side Story dramatized their conflicts with older residents of East Harlem

Puerto Ricans

How well did you know this?

Not at all

Perfectly

Dramatized the conflict between Puerto Ricans and more established residents of East Harlem

West Side Story

How well did you know this?

Not at all

Perfectly

“He’s probably a nice guy, but every time I see him, I see $2,000 drop off the value of my house.”

White Suburbanite

Quoted in Life Magazine and expressing preference for on-going racial exclusion

How well did you know this?

Not at all

Perfectly

Tactic of real-estate brokers of circulating exaggerated warnings of influx of blacks

Persuaded white residents to quickly sell their houses

Converted all white neighborhoods to all black neighborhoods

Earned brokers very fast commissions

“blockbusting”

How well did you know this?

Not at all

Perfectly

Idea that all Americans shared values of…

…individualism

…respect for private property

…belief in equal opportunity

Result was a relatively placid time compared to 1930s and 40s

End of Ideology

How well did you know this?

Not at all

Perfectly

Idea that Catholics, Protestants and Jews shared the same history and values

Freedom of religion differentiated America from communism

Reflected decline of anti-Semitism and anti-Catholicism

“Judeo-Christian” Heritage

How well did you know this?

Not at all

Perfectly

Evangelist who used radio, TV to spread Christianity

Became an advisor to many presidents

Billy Graham

How well did you know this?

Not at all

Perfectly

Book that promoted the idea that religion had…

… less to do with spiritual activities

…more to do with personal identity, group assimilation, promotion of traditional morality

Written by Will Herberg in 1955

Protestant-Catholic-Jew

How well did you know this?

Not at all

Perfectly

System resting on private ownership that united the free world Truman replaced Freedom from Want and Freedom from Fear Advertising Council used images like Statue of Liberty and Liberty Bell to promote

Free Enterprise

Group of thinkers who.. ...opposed strong national government ...believed in individual autonomy ...believed in unregulated capitalism ...belived in limited government

Libertarian Conservatives

Identified the free market as the foundation of individual liberty Called for turning over government functions to private sector, Repeal of minimum wage laws, graduated income tax and Social Security Wrote *Capitalism and Freedom* in 1962

Milton Friedman

Argued that free markets were the foundation for individual liberty Writen by Milton Friedman in 1962

*Capitalism and Freedom*

Argued that government should regulate personal behavior Belived that toleration of differences was no substitute for the search for absolute truth Wanted to create the "good man" Wrote Ideas Have Consequences

Richard Weaver

Emerged as the leader after World War II with the greatest political appeal Had a fatherly persona Decided to become a Republican in order to blunt Robert Taft's ambitions and likely promotion of isolationism

Dwight D. Eisenhower

Vigorous anti-communist who pursued Alger Hiss while a member of the HUAC Won election to the Senate in 1950 Developed a reputation for dishonesty and opportunism Transformed the Republican Party to be the champion of the "forgotten man" who paid heavy taxes

Richard Nixon

Nixon's televised broadcast on September 23, 1952 Defense against charges of secret payments by the rich Acknowledged that he got a dog from friends and that would not return the dog Revived Nixon's political career Highlighted the importance of TV to political campaigning

Checkers Speech

Eisenhower's campaign slogan for the Election of 1952

"I Like Ike"

Eisenhower won 55.1% of the popular vote and 442 electoral votes Stevenson won 44.4% of the popular vote and 89 electoral votes Republicans won a thin margin in Congress

Election of 1952

Democrats regained control of Congress

Election of 1954

Eisenhower beat Stevensen Democrats held Congress Eisenhower became the first president elected when his party controlled neither houses of Congress

Election of 1956

"What is good for the country is good for General Motors, and vice versa"

Charles Wilson Secretary of Defense Speaking in support of big business

"Should any political party attempt to abolish Social Security, unemployment insurance, and eliminate labor laws and farm program, you would not hear from that party again in our political history"

Eisenhower Speaking about the Republican idea to roll back the New Deal

Eisenhower's domestic agenda Sever public opinion association with prior Republicans especially... ...Herbert Hoover, Great Depression, general indifference Continued or increased several New Deal programs

Modern Republicanism

Largest public works enterprise in American history Built 41,000 miles of roads Encourage the American reliance on the automobile Supported in part by the idea that it would allow for rapid exit of cities in the event of a nuclear war as well as the facilitation of troop movements

Interstate Highway Act of 1956

Formed single organization representing 35% of workers

AFL-CIO Merger

Elements included... ...long term contracts with labor ...decisions on capital investment, plant location, output in management hands ...prevent unauthorized "wildcat strikes" ...employers stopped effort to eliminate existing unions

New "Social Contract" between Labor and Management

Unauthorized strike New Social Contract between labor and management limited the prevalence of these

Wildcat Strikes

Atomic weapon much more powerful than the bomb dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki U.S. tested in 1952 Soviets tested in 1953

Hydrogen Bomb

"Every gun that is made, every warship launched...signifies a theft from those who hunger and are not fed."

Eisenhower Speaking against War

Doctrine announced by John Foster Dulles, Secretary of Defense, in 1954 Any Soviet attack on an American ally would be countered by a nuclear assault on the Soviet Union itself Update to the policy of containment Led to nuclear proliferation

Massive Retaliation

Eisenhower's Secretary of Defense Announced the doctrine of Massive Retaliation

John Foster Dulles

Nuclear warheads rose from 1,000 in 1953 to 18,000 in 1960 Brought about in part by the doctrine of Massive Retaliation

Nuclear Proliferation

Strategy of getting very close to war in order to press an advantage or make a point

Brinksmanship

Idea that all out war would lead to so much devestation that both the U.S. and the Soviets became very cautious Inspired widespread fear in the populations

Mutual Assured Destruction

First since Potsdam in 1945 Led to Khrushchev detailing in a speech to the Communist Party the details of some of the crimes that Stalin had committed Called for "peaceful coexistance" with the United States

Summit of 1955 Eisenhower and Khrushchev

Anticommunist uprising that had been urged by United States Republicans Dulles had declared "liberation" as the goal of U.S. policy Eisenhower refused to extend aid, believing it impossible to roll-back Soviet domination

Hungary Uprising

Demanded halt to nuclear weapon testing Rationale was public health frisk from radioactive fallout U.S. and Soviets agreed to stop nuclear testing from 1958 but it restarted in 1961

National Committee for a Sane Nuclear Policy

U.S. reconnaissnce over Soviet Union at 80,000 feet, belived to be well above Soviet anti-aircraft Plane shot down -- the pilot was not able to set the automatic self-destruct Eisenhower initially denied the plane was doing espinage Soviet Union produced the pilot Increased Cold War tensions and caused the cancellation of another summit meeting

U-2 Incident

Developing countries not aligned with the two Cold War powers Most desired to find their own model of development between the extremes of Soviet centralized planning and free market capitalism

Third World

U-2 pilot Shot down over Soviet Union in 1956

Gary Powers

Meeting of leaders of 29 Asian and African nations Appeared to be emergence of a new force in global affairs but none of the countries could avoid being affected by the Cold War

Bandung Conference of 1955

Process that began when... India and Pakistan acheived independence Many nations followed: Ghana, Indonesia, Nigeria, Kenya, Tanzania

Decolonization

Third World nation whose land reform policies threatened the commercial interests of the United Fruit Company

Guatemala

British owned oil company that made enormous profits in Iran Mossadegh, the Iranian Prime Minister, nationalized it

Anglo-Iranian Oil Company

Affected both... ...Jacobo Arbenz Guzman of Guatemala ...Mohammed Mossadegh of Iran

CIA Ouster

After Nasser nationalized the Suez Canal, Israel, France and Britain invaded Egypt Nassar turned to the Soviets for arms Eisenhower forced Israel, France and Britain to stop the invasion

Suez Canal Crisis

Pledged US defense of Middle Eastern governments Established to prevent communism from gaining ground First used to help King Hussein of Jordan defeat rebels

Eisenhower Doctrine

Eisenhower funneled billions of dollars to help French in Vietnam

Nation Building

Vietnamese forces defeated French in 1954 French decided to leave Vietnam and all of Indochina Led to the Geneva Peace Accords

Battle of Dien Bien Phu

Conference in 1954 Divided Vietnam into north and south along 17th parallel U.S. not a party to the conference; installed anti-communist government in the south Set schedule for elections in 1956

Geneva Peace Accords

New leader of Iran after the U.S. ousted Mohammed Mossadegh Agreed to give British and American oil companies 40% of the nations oil revenue

Shah of Iran

Critisized the corporate accumulation of power in the 1950s claiming it was dangerous to individual freedoms

Hans Morgenthau

Challenged the vision of democratic pluralism Pointed out the "power elite" -- interlocking directorate of corporate leaders, politicians -- made political democracy obsolete

C. Wright Mills

Book arguing that Americans lacked the inner resources to lead independent lives "Organization men" are not capable of independent thought Written by David Riesman

The Lonely Crowd

Described the American economy and society as being enraptured with appliances and homes

The Affluent Society by John Kenneth Galbraith

Books critical of the monotony of modern work, emptiness of suburban life, and the persuasive influence of advertising

*The Organization Man* and The Hidden Persuaders

Books and movies that captured the alienation of youth in the 1950s

* The Catcher in the Rye* by Salinger * Blackboard Jungle* * Rebel Without a Cause*

Emerged in 1950 from black rhythm and blues Popular in the south Revealed the growing economic power of teenagers Became a form of rebellion

Rock and Roll

First published in 1953 and soon reached 1m copies per month Highlighted, reinforced the sexual liberation

*Playboy* magazine

Small group of poets who critisized the conformity of American society Included Jack Kerouac and Allen Ginsberg Celebrated impulsive action, immediate pleasure, sexual experimentation

Beat Generation

Wrote the beat generation classic *On The Road* about a spontaneous roadtrip

Jack Kerouac

"I saw the best minds of my generation destroyed by madness, starving hysterical naked"

Allen Ginsberg in *Howl*

Included.. ...destabilization of the racial system during WWII ...mass migration out of the segregated south ...black voters who became important to the Democratic coalition ...gap between American rhetoric and reality was an embarrasment

Causes of the Freedom Movement

Formed by a group of Mexican-Americans in 1929 Won Mendez v. Westminster in California, repealing all laws requiring segregation

League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC)

Led NAACP challenges against Plessy

Thurgood Marshall

Ruling by the Supreme Court that the University of Texas Law School did not meet the "seperate but equal" standard marked the begining of the end of segregation

*Sweatt v. Painter*

Attacked unequal funding in schools Local school board had spent $179 on white children and $43 on black children One of five cases that got combined for the Supreme Court

Claredon Case

Marshall argued segregation was inherently unequal Drew on work of New York psychologists Kenneth and Mamie Clark showing segregation did lifelong damage Earl Warren managed to create unanimous opinion Segregation violated equal protection clause

*Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas*

"In the field of education, the doctrine of 'seperate but equal' had no place. Seperate educational facilities are inherently unequal."

Earl Warren in *Brown v. Board of Education*

Refused to give up her seat on a bus on Dec 1, 1955 Was arrested

Rosa Parks

For 381 days, black maids, janitors, teachers refused to take the bus. Supreme Court ruled in November 1956 that bus segregation was illegal

Montgomery Boycott

Pastor of Baptist church in Montgomery Emerged as leader of the freedom movement

Martin Luther King

"one hundred years later, the Negro still is not free"

King in opening of "I Have a Dream" speech

"Free at last! Free at last! Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!"

King closing of the "I Have a Dream" speech

Coalition of black ministers and civil rights activists Pressed for desegregation

Southern Christian Leadership Conference

Denounced the Brown decision as a "clear abuse of judicial power" Signed by 8 of 106 southern congressmen Signed by all but three southern Senators

Southern Manifesto

Eisenhower action to integrate Little Rock Central High School Resulted in the 101st Airborne escorting nine black children into the school Opposed Arkansas Governor Orbal Faubus effort to use Arkansas National Guard to block integration

Executive Order 10730

Democratic nominee was John F. Kennedy Kennedy won 49.7% and 303 electoral votes Nixon won 49.6% and 219 electoral votes

Election of 1960

Soviet sattelite launched on October 4, 1957 Shocked the United States and eroded confidence Prompted federal support for the sciences

*Sputnik*

"I do not speak for my church on public matters, and the church does not speak for me."

Kennedy Defending his Catholic faith

New type of missile that was able to cross the ocean

Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM)

Included warnings against... ...the drumbeat of calls for a new military buildup ...the danger of the military-industrial complex

Eisenhower's Farewell Address

Arose during Republican administration and put the US at a disadvantage in delivering nuclear warheads

Missle Gap