The 1950’s Ch. 29 and 30 : The 1950’s Ch. 29 and 30
The Korean War : The Korean War The Divided Peninsula
By the end of 1945, the US and the Soviet Union both had troops in Korea and refused to leave. So, they temporarily divided the nation along the 38th parallel. By 1949, the Russians departed and left a communist government with a Soviet-equipped army in the north. A few months later, the US departed and left control to the anticommunist, pro-western government of Syngman Rhee in the south, who had a relatively small military.
With hopes of reuniting the country, the North Korean government invaded South Korea. The Truman administration ordered limited American military assistance to South Korea and appealed to the UN to intervene. Due to the Soviet Union’s boycott of the UN security council, the US won agreement to a resolution calling for international assistance of the Rhee government. The US sent its own ground forces in and largely contributed to the UN armies.
The Korean intervention was the first expression of the new US foreign policy outlined in NSC-68. The administration decided the war would achieve not only containment but also “liberation”. After the communists were pushed back over the 38th parallel, Truman gave his general permission to pursue them into their own territory. The UN resolution was to create a “unified, independent, and democratic Korea”.
The Korean War : The Korean War From Invasion to Stalemate
At first, the North Korean invasion went smoothly. The capital, Pyongyang, fell to UN forces. Then, communist China intervened, using eight divisions of the Chinese army. The UN and American forces were pushed back over the 38th parallel and the communists were able to capture the South Korean capital of Seoul again. Then, the war became a stalemate.
Truman feared another world war and was determined to avoid direct conflict with China. General MacArthur, however, resisted limits placed on his military discretion and believed that the US should attack China itself or bomb the communist forces massing north of China’s border. In a letter to a house republican leader he stated his unhappiness with Truman’s decisions. His position had wide public support but Truman, having warned him to keep his objections to himself, relieved him of his command. The public was outraged at the president, but hostility toward him gradually faded.
The Korean stalemate continued and negotiations between opposing forces began at Panmunjom in July 1951, but the war dragged on until 1953.
The Korean War : The Korean War Limited Mobilization
The Korean War created only a limited economic mobilization at home, though the government tried to control the wartime economy.
Truman set up the Office of Defense Mobilization to fight inflation by holding down prices and discouraging high union wage demands. When this failed, the president took more drastic actions. Railroad workers walked off the job in 1951 and the government seized control of the railroads to keep them running (workers eventually got most of what they wanted). During a nationwide steel strike in 1952, Truman seized the steel mills (citing power as commander in chief) but the supreme court ruled that the president had exceeded his authority, a long strike followed.
The war boosted economic growth because government funds were pumped into the economy.
Many Americans believed something to be very wrong not only in Korea but also in the US, because of America’s inability to end the seemingly minor (in relation to WWII) Korean conflict. These fears contributed to the rise of the second major campaign against domestic communism.
The Crusade against Submersion : The Crusade against Submersion p. 792 - 796
Sources of the Red Scare : Sources of the Red Scare Stalin and the Soviet Union
Searching for someone to blame
Other factors rooted in American Domestic Policy
HUAC and Alger Hiss Much of the anticommunist furor emerged out of the Republican search for an issue with which to attack the Democrats and out of Democratic efforts to stifle that issue.
HUAC (House Un-American Activities Committee) : HUAC (House Un-American Activities Committee) Held widely publicized investigations to prove that, under Democratic rule, the government had tolerated, if not encouraged, Communist subversion.
Hollywood- infiltrated by communists
Blacklisted- “suspicious loyalties”
Hollywood 10- writers and producers (some former Communists) refused to answer questions about their own political beliefs and about those of their colleagues, jailed for contempt.
Alger Hiss : Alger Hiss Former high-ranking member of the State Department
Allegedly passed on classified State Department documents through Whittaker Chambers in 1937-38.
Hiss sued Chambers
“pumpkin papers”- microfilms of documents hidden by Chambers in pumpkins
Hiss couldn’t be tried because the statue of limitations had expired (7 years)
Convicted of perjury and served several years in prison thanks to a young Richard M. Nixon
Discredited Hiss and cast suspicion on a generation of Liberal Democrats and made many Americans believe that Communists had actually infiltrated the government.
The Federal Loyalty Program : The Federal Loyalty Program Widely publicized program to review the “loyalty” of federal employees
1950, President Truman authorized sensitive agencies to fire people deemed no more than “bad security risks”
FBI director J. Edgar Hoover investigated and harassed alleged radicals
The McCarran Internal Security Act
Required all communist organizations to register with the government and to publish their records
Vetoed by Truman, veto over ridden by Congress
Detonation of a Soviet nuclear weapon convinced many people that there had been a conspiracy to pass American atomic secrets to the Russians
Klaus Fuchs- testified that he delivered to the Russians details of the manufacture of the bomb
Julius & Ethel Rosenberg : Julius & Ethel Rosenberg Members of the Communist Party
Government claimed they were the masterminds of the Soviet nuclear weapon conspiracy
Sentenced to death on April 5, 1951
Died in electric chair on June 19, 1953, proclaiming their innocence to the end
David Greenglass (Ethel’s brother)
Machinist who had worked on the Manhattan Project
Passed secret information to Soviet Union through agents (including Fuchs)
Claimed that Julius and Ethel planned and orchestrated the espionage.
Anticommunist Hysteria : Anticommunist Hysteria HUAC investigations, the Hiss trial, loyalty investigations, the McCarran Act, the Rosenberg case
Fear of communist infiltration and fear of being suspected of communism
The Rosenbergs
McCarthyism : McCarthyism Joseph McCarthy
Republican senator from Wisconsin
Speech in Wheeling, WV- list of 205 known communists working in the state department
Emerged as the nation’s prominent leader in the crusade against subversion
Chairman of special subcommittee (1952)
Assistants, Roy Cohn and David Schine, sauntered arrogantly through federal offices and American embassies over seas looking for evidence f communist influence
Never produced solid evidence of communist ties
Only a change of parties could rid the country or subversion
Slide13 : McCarthyism’s Appeal- provided followers with an issue into which they could channel a wide range of resentments: fear of communism, animosity toward the country’s “eastern establishment”, and frustrated partisan ambitions
Few opposed McCarthy
Eisenhower- didn’t speak out against him although he disliked his tactics and was outraged at his attacks on General George Marshall
The Republican Revival : The Republican Revival 1952 was a bad year for the Democratic Party
Public frustration over stalemate in Korea and popular fears of internal subversion
United behind Governor Adlai E. Stevenson for president- McCarthy deliberately confused him with Hiss
Dwight Eisenhower
Military hero, commander of NATO, president of Columbia University in NY
Running mate- Richard Nixon
Attracted attention with geniality and statesmanlike pledges to settle the Korean Conflict
Nixon
Exploited issue of domestic subversion
“Checkers Speech”
Launched harsh attacks on Democratic “cowardice”, “appeasement”, and “treason”
Publicized Stevenson’s early support for Hiss as opposed to his exposing him
Slide15 : Eisenhower and Nixon promised to “clean up the mess in Washington”
Republican Party gained control of both houses of Congress
End of some of the worst turbulence of the post war era
The EXPLOSION of Science and Technology : The EXPLOSION of Science and Technology p. 803 - 808
Medical Breakthroughs : Medical Breakthroughs Antibiotics
English physician Joseph Lister discovered that antiseptic solutions prevented
infection during
surgery
Sulfa drugs
Treated strepto-
coccal blood
infections aka strep
Lister: Like Listerine!
Medical Breakthroughs continued… : Medical Breakthroughs continued… Penicillin
Howard Florey and Ernest Chain produce large quantities of stable, potent penicillin
Mass availability was hindered by WWII
Immunization
Smallpox – Jenner late 18th C.
Typhoid – Wright 1897, used a lot in WWI
Tuberculosis – 1920s
Yellow fever – 1930s
Influenza – 1945
Polio – Salk 1954
FDR had polio
So what does it all mean? : So what does it all mean? Infant mortality and death rate among children declined significantly
Life expectancy rose by five years, to seventy one
Pesticides : Pesticides Dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT)
1939
Paul Muller, Swiss scientist
Seemed harmless to humans and other mammals
Used on a large scale in the war to protect soldiers from insects carrying typhus and malaria
It worked, but it apparently has toxic long term effects
Electronic Stoof : Electronic Stoof TV
First available commercially in the 1940s
Color TV 1950s
Transistors
1948
Amplified electronic signals
AT & T research lab
Allowed for miniaturization of many appliances
Integrated circuits
Took a whole bunch of separate devices (transistors, resistors, diodes, etc.) and glommed them into one small appliance
Basically led to the invention of the computer
Computers! : Computers! Mostly used as fancy schmancy calculators until the 50s
Used by businesses for data-procesing
Ex. Universal Automatic Computer (UNIVAC)
Developed by Remington Rand, Co.
Used for the US Census
First computer to handle both numerical info and alphabetical info
Predicted Eisenhower’s landslide victory based on early polls
International Business Machines Company (IBM)
Mid 1950s
First major data-processing computers
Worldwide market
Bomb Bomb B-Bomb B-Bomb! : Bomb Bomb B-Bomb B-Bomb! Hydrogen bombs
1952 for US, Soviets 1953
Got its power from fusion
Resparked research in far range,
unmanned missiles and rockets
US benefited from immigration of German scientists
Soviets and US race to produce ICBMs
Americans launch the Atlas and Titan ICBms in the 1950s
Eventually ICBMs were successful because of a more stable, solid fuel and a miniature guidance system
Minuteman – base of America’s atomic weapon arsenal
Polaris – missile fired underwater by submarines
The Space Race : The Space Race Basically the US freaked out when the Soviets launched a satellite named Sputnik into space in 1957
So the government encouraged improving science in schools, building laboratories, and developing the US’s space program (or lack thereof)
US launches Explorer I in 1958
The Space Race continued… : The US creates the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)
Astronauts become national heroes
1961 – Alan Shepard is the 1st American launched into space
This is months after the Soviets send Yuri Gagarin, who actually orbits the earth
The 1st American to orbit the earth is John Glenn in 1962
Programs
Mercury – Manned vehicles
Gemini – Two man missions
Apollo – Fly me to the moon
The Space Race continued…
Oh Apollo… : Oh Apollo… Goal: Fly me to the moon
1969
Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and Michael Collins orbit the moon
Armstrong and Aldrin were the first men to walk on a body other than earth
Mucho problemos
Notably: a fire in 1967 killed three astronauts on the launch pad during training
Space : The Final Frontier : Space : The Final Frontier After Apollo, the government cut lots of funding and the program lost its popularity
Notable projects since then
The Hubble Space Telescope in 1990
Spacelab
Instead of venturing off to other planets, the new goal was developing safer and more practical ways to travel in space
Along comes the space shuttle
First successful launch in 1982
Challenger blew up in 1986
Program stalls for two years and resumes in the late 80s
People of Plenty : People of Plenty p. 808 - 818
The Consumer Culture : The Consumer Culture center of middle-class culture in the 1950s: growing absorption with consumer goods result of:
increased prosperity
increasing variety and availability of products
advertisers’ adeptness (proficiency) in creating demand for products
growth of consumer credit: credit cards, revolving charge accounts+ easy payment plans
consumer crazes:
automobile, dishwashers, garbage disposals, televisions, hi-fis, and stereos
Mickey Mouse accessories (made popular by cartoons on TV)
Disney Land success: recreation of characters+ events
prosperity of 1950s was consumer driven (as opposed to investment driven)
The Surburban Nation : The Surburban Nation by 1960, 1/3 of US population lived in suburbs
increased wealth made it possible to buy homes+ land
GI bill (p. 786) provided war veterans w/ govt. aid, moved to inexpensive homes
desired to escape crowding, crime, pollution, high costs, better schools, racial diversity
wanted homogeneous community (all-white, same age, same background)
found it easier to make friends, form social circles (women in particular)
quiet yearning to escape urban spread: contact with nature
more grass, trees, gardens, cleaner air, less noise
after WWI, importance placed on Family Life > contributed to Baby Boom
larger homes made it easier to raise more children, affordable
larger homes offered more space for consumer goods
cars, boats, appliances, outdoor furniture
William Levitt, was famous for “Levittown”, housing development
located on Long Island, near NYC
brought production line to construction: completed several houses per day
several thousand 2-bedroom Cape cod-style houses, w/ identical interiors
each sold for under $10, 000
The Surburban Family : The Surburban Family rigid division btw working+ personal worlds
professional men working in the city, far away from home
married women experienced increased isolation from the workplace
1950s enormous cultural emphasis on family life
strengthened popular prejudices against women entering professions
many men considered it demeaning for their wives to work
prevailing ideas of motherhood made women believe it was there duty to stay home full-time with children
Dr. Benjamin Spock’s book Baby and Child care enforced Motherhood ideas
purpose of motherhood was to help children realize their potential
mother’s physical and emotional requirements must be subordinated to the needs of the child
expectations of material comfort rose
many middle-class families needed second income to maintain that comfort
in result # of working mothers increased during post-war years
by 1960 1/3 of married women worked
increasing # of women in workforce laid groundwork for equal-treatment demands
the feminist movement would be reborn in 1960s, 1970s
joined organizations, ie League of Women Voters, Red Cross, PTAs, YWCAs
gained organizational and political skills that would come in handy later
growing frustrations of women stuck @ home would heighten demand for professional opportunities
The Birth of Television : The Birth of Television the most powerful medium of mass communication in history
central to postwar era culture
1946: 17,000 sets in US
1957: 40 million sets (1 for every family)
more people had TVs than refrigerators (1920, same w/ radio/bathtubs)
industry emerged directly out of radio
NBC, ABC, CBS all started as radio co.
Driven by advertising
early shows: Chrysler Playhouse, Camel News Caravan
Soap operas: sponsors were always household goods co. targeted @ women
Created vast market for fashions+ products
by late 1950s, TV replaced Newspapers+ radios as Primary News source
Televised athletic events popularized pro+ college sports
Television entertainment programs replaced movies+ radios as primary source
created dominant image of American Life
predominantly white, middle-class, and suburban Leave it to Beaver
image of women, reinforced gender roles Father Knows Best
contributed to sense of alienation+ powerlessness among groups excluded from this world
TV sometimes showed other types of Life, domesticating issues by turning them into comedies:
The Honeymooners: gritty, urban working-class
I Love Lucy: childless show-biz family
Our Miss Brooks: unmarried professional women
Amos ‘n Andy: hapless (miserable) African Americans
Travel, Outdoor Recreation, and Environmentalism : Travel, Outdoor Recreation, and Environmentalism vacation travel became widespread among middle-income Americans
interstate highway system contributed dramatically to growth of travel
increasing wealth of workers, could afford cars, + garages (in suburbs)
healthy market for travel vehicles: small vans, trailers
mainly a desire to escape crowding+ stress of densely populated areas
experience the natural world
many flocked to national parks: hike, camp, fish, hunt, landscape
fight to preserve Echo Park
spectacular valley in the Dinosaur National Monument (border of UT+CO)
govt proposed building a dam: create lake for recreation+ hydroelectric power
Environmental movement was crushed after last defeat: dam @ Hetch Hetchy
The Sierra Club was reborn, led by David Bower
later became nation’s leading environmental organization
a large coalition of environmentalists, naturalists, opposed dam
in 1956, Congress bowed to public pressure
major victory began environmental movement that would later peak
Organized Society and its Detractors : Organized Society and its Detractors 1st time, white collar workers outnumbers blue
corporate settings, rigid hierarchical structures
every worker performed a particular, well-defined function
more and more people realized success= specialized training+ skills
educational system responded w/ changes in curriculum+ philosophy
elementary+ secondary schools concentrated more on math, science, languages
1958, National Defense Education Act
in response to Soviet Union’s Sputnik success
provided federal funding for development of programs
Universities expanded: making higher education a training ground for specialists in a wide variety of fields “multiversity”
some found new values of society appalling: William H. Whyte Jr.
1956 bestseller The Organization Man: “the ones of our middle class who have left home, spiritually as well as physically, to take the vows of organization life, and it is they who are the mind and soul of our great self-perpetuating institutions. Only a few are top managers or ever will be.”
The Beats and Restless Culture of Youth : The Beats and Restless Culture of Youth group of young poets, writers, and artists known as the “beats”
wrote harsh critiques of what they considered the sterility and conformity of American Life, the meaningless of American politics, and the banality (predictability) of popular culture
bible of beat generation On the Road (1957) by Jack Kerouac
an account of a XC automobile, hitch-hiking trips that depicted rootless, iconoclastic lifestyle of Kerouac and his friends
evidence of widespread restlessness among youths in the 1950s
growing sense of limitless possibilities
declining power of traditional values: thrift, discipline, self-restraint
culture expected youth to live wholly-fulfilling lives, of which many obstacles
growing phenomenon of “Juvenile Delinquency”
1995 film Blackboard Jungle, depicted crime+ violence in city schools
despite journalistic exposés that contributed to alarm, no real crime increase
wore clothes+ hairstyles that mimicked popular images of juvenile gangs
culture: teenage rebelliousness, youthful fascination w/ fast cars and motorcycles, increasing teenage sex (availability of birth control), automobile culture
James Dean represented youth culture in 1955 film Rebel Without a Cause
Rock ‘n’ Roll : Rock ‘n’ Roll one of the most powerful signs of the restiveness of
American youth
defined both culture + experiences of generation
indirect voice to anxieties+ pent-up impulses of young
people
Elvis Presley: the greatest early rock star
symbol of pushing borders of the conventional + acceptable
sultry good looks
dressed in rebellious gang style (motorcycle jackets, slicked back hair)
product of rural south despite open sexuality of music
1st great hit “Heartbreak Hotel” 1956
remained a national phenomenon until death in 1977
new type of music
drew mostly from black rhythm & blues traditions
pulsing, sensual rhythms, hard-edged lyrics
Buddy Holly and Bill Haley (Rock Around the Clock) also drew fr. These traditions
Rise of Presley’s popularity was a result of limited willingness of white audiences to widely support black artists
Rock ‘n’ Roll : Rock ‘n’ Roll Still, many Black Musicians rose to prominence, among them:
Chuck Berry, Little Richard, B.B. King, Chubby
Checker, the Temptations…
Many were recorder by famous black producer
Barry Gordy (founder of Motown Records)
innovations in TV and radio greatly contributed to
rising popularity in Rock
radio stations aired recorded songs
TV took over other entertainment functions
Popularized Disc Jockeys aka DJs
“Payola” Scandals, promoters would pay DJs to play certain songs
American Bandstand (1957) was a televised showcase for Rock ‘n’ Roll
TV & radio encouraged record sales by promoting music
inexpensive 45 rpm format, small records that held one song on each side
jukeboxes became a popular form of entertainment, about 5 cent per song
proliferated in youth hangouts: soda fountains, diners, bars
further promoted rock music
btw 1954-1960, record sales increased from $182 million to $521 million
The Civil Rights Movement : The Civil Rights Movement p. 821 - 823
The Civil Rights Movement : The Civil Rights Movement Brown v. Board of Education
In the early 1950's, racial segregation in public schools was the norm across America. Although all the schools in a given district were supposed to be equal, most black schools were far inferior to their white counterparts.
In Topeka, Kansas, a black third-grader named Linda Brown had to walk one mile through a railroad switchyard to get to her black elementary school, even though a white elementary school was only seven blocks away. Linda's father, Oliver Brown, tried to enroll her in the white elementary school, but the principal of the school refused. Brown went to McKinley Burnett, the head of Topeka's branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) and asked for help. The NAACP was eager to assist the Browns, as it had long wanted to challenge segregation in public schools. With Brown's complaint, it had "the right plaintiff at the right time." Other black parents joined Brown, and, in 1951, the NAACP requested an injunction that would forbid the segregation of Topeka's public schools. The U.S. District Court for the District of Kansas heard Brown's case from June 25-26, 1951. At the trial, the NAACP argued that segregated schools sent the message to black children that they were inferior to whites; therefore, the schools were inherently unequal. One of the expert witnesses, Dr. Hugh W. Speer, testified that:
The Civil Rights Movement : The Civil Rights Movement The Board of Education's defense was that, because segregation in Topeka and elsewhere pervaded many other aspects of life, segregated schools simply prepared black children for the segregation they would face during adulthood. The board also argued that segregated schools were not neccessarily harmful to black children; great African Americans such as Frederick Douglass, Booker T. Washington, and George Washington Carver had overcome more than just segregated schools to achieve what they achieved.
The request for an injunction put the court in a difficult decision. On the one hand, the judges agreed with the expert witnesses; in their decision, they wrote:
Segregation of white and colored children in public schools has a detrimental effect upon the colored children...A sense of inferiority affects the motivation of a child to learn. On the other hand, the precedent of Plessy v. Ferguson allowed separate but equal school systems for blacks and whites, and no Supreme Court ruling had overturned Plessy yet. Because of the precedent of Plessy, the court felt "compelled" to rule in favor of the Board of Education.
Brown and the NAACP appealed to the Supreme Court on October 1, 1951 and their case was combined with other cases that challenged school segregation in South Carolina, Virginia, and Delaware. The Supreme Court first heard the case on December 9, 1952, but failed to reach a decision. In the reargument, heard from December 7-8, 1953, the Court requested that both sides discuss "the circumstances surrounding the adoption of the Fourteenth Amendment in 1868." The reargument shed very little additional light on the issue. The Court had to make its decision based not on whether or not the authors of the Fourteenth Amendment had desegregated schools in mind when they wrote the amendment in 1868, but based on whether or not desegregated schools deprived black children of equal protection of the law when the case was decided, in 1954.
The Civil Rights Movement : The Civil Rights Movement On May 17, 1954, Chief Justice Earl Warren read the decision of the unanimous Court:
"We come then to the question presented: Does segregation of children in public schools solely on the basis of race, even though the physical facilities and other "tangible" factors may be equal, deprive the children of the minority group of equal educational opportunities? We believe that it does...We conclude that in the field of public education the doctrine of 'separate but equal' has no place. Separate educational facilities are inherently unequal. Therefore, we hold that the plaintiffs and others similarly situated for whom the actions have been brought are, by reason of the segregation complained of, deprived of the equal protection of the laws guaranteed by the Fourteenth Amendment. The Supreme Court struck down the "separate but equal" doctrine of Plessy for public education, ruled in favor of the plaintiffs, and required the desegregation of schools across America.
The Supreme Court's Brown v. Board of Education decision did not abolish segregation in other public areas, such as restaurants and restrooms, nor did it require desegregation of public schools by a specific time. It did, however, declare the permissive or mandatory segregation that existed in 21 states unconstitutional. It was a giant step towards complete desegregation of public schools. Even partial desegregation of these schools, however, was still very far away, as would soon become apparent.
The Civil Rights Movement : The Civil Rights Movement Aug. 1955
Fourteen-year-old Chicagoan Emmett Till is visiting family in Mississippi when he is kidnapped, brutally beaten, shot, and dumped in the Tallahatchie River for allegedly whistling at a white woman. Two white men, J. W. Milam and Roy Bryant, are arrested for the murder and acquitted by an all-white jury. They later boast about committing the murder in a Look magazine interview. The case becomes a cause célèbre of the civil rights movement.
Dec. 1
(Montgomery, Ala.) NAACP member Rosa Parks refuses to give up her seat at the front of the "colored section" of a bus to a white passenger, defying a southern custom of the time. Montgomery's buses were segregated, with the seats in the front reserved for "whites only." Blacks had to sit at the back of the bus. But if the bus was crowded and all the "whites only" seats were filled, black people were expected to give up their seats—a black person sitting while a white person stood would never be tolerated in the racist South. Rosa had had enough of such humiliation, and refused to give up her seat. "I felt I had a right to stay where I was," she said. "I wanted this particular driver to know that we were being treated unfairly as individuals and as a people." The bus driver had her arrested. In response to her arrest the Montgomery black community launches a bus boycott, which will last for more than a year, until the buses are desegregated Dec. 21, 1956. As newly elected president of the Montgomery Improvement Association (MIA), Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr.,
is instrumental in leading the boycott.
The Civil Rights Movement : The Civil Rights Movement Jan.–Feb. 1957
Martin Luther King, Charles K. Steele, and Fred L. Shuttlesworth establish the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, of which King is made the first president. The SCLC becomes a major force in organizing the civil rights movement and bases its principles on nonviolence and civil disobedience. According to King, it is essential that the civil rights movement not sink to the level of the racists and hatemongers who oppose them: "We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline," he urges.
The Civil Rights Movement : The Civil Rights Movement The Little Rock Nine
The Little Rock Nine pictured with Daisy Bates, the president of the Arkansas NAACP.
The Little Rock Nine, as they later came to be called, were the first black teenagers to attend all-white Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas, in 1957. These remarkable young African-American students challenged segregation in the deep South and won.
Although Brown v. Board of Education outlawed segregation in schools, many racist school systems defied the law by intimidating and threatening black students—Central High School was a notorious example. But the Little Rock Nine were determined to attend the school and receive the same education offered to white students, no matter what. Things grew ugly and frightening right away. On the first day of school, the governor of Arkansas ordered the state's National Guard to block the black students from entering the school. Imagine what it must have been like to be a student confronted by armed soldiers! President Eisenhower had to send in federal troops to protect the students.
But that was only the beginning of their ordeal. Every morning on their way to school angry crowds of whites taunted and insulted the Little Rock Nine—they even received death threats. One of the students, fifteen-year-old Elizabeth Eckford, said "I tried to see a friendly face somewhere in the mob. . . . I looked into the face of an old woman, and it seemed a kind face, but when I looked at her again, she spat at me." As scared as they were, the students wouldn't give up, and several went on to graduate from Central High. Nine black teenagers challenged a racist system and defeated it.
Eisenhower Republicanism : Eisenhower Republicanism p. 823 - 825
Eisenhower Republicanism : Eisenhower Republicanism Eisenhower was the least experienced politician to serve
in the White House in the 20th century
One of the most popular and politically successful
presidents of the postwar era, Eisenhower
generally pursued fairly moderate policies at home.
He didn’t begin new initiatives, but did accept work
from previous reformers.
Eisenhower strengthened US opposition to communism
abroad, but was also able to bring restraint to this
commitment that many of his successors could not.
Similarly to the 1920s, the Republican administration consisted of wealthy men from the business community. However, these leaders in the 1950s now had different social and political outlooks than those of earlier decades, such as in their resigned acceptance to the outline of the Keynesian welfare state launched by the New Deal (supporters hoped it would maintain social order, increase mass purchasing power, and stabilize labor relations).
Eisenhower Republicanism : Eisenhower Republicanism Eisenhower consistently encouraged
private enterprise over federal activities,
and supported private development of
natural resources, rather than public.
He lowered federal support for farm prices
and removed the last limited wage and price
controls left from the Truman administration.
He opposed the creation of new social
service programs like national health
insurance, but strove to reduce federal
expenditures and balance the budget.
He ended his last full year in office, 1960, with a $1 billion budget surplus.
Eisenhower took little new initiative in domestic policy, but did resist right wing pressure to dismantle New Deal welfare policies. He in fact agreed to extend Social Security system to an extra 10 million, unemployment compensation to an extra 4 million, and raised minimum wage from 75 cents to $1.
Eisenhower began the Federal Highway Act of 1956, which was the largest public works project in US history. It authorized $25 billion for a 10-year project to build over 40,000 miles of interstate highways
Eisenhower Republicanism : Eisenhower Republicanism When Eisenhower ran for a 2nd term in 1956, even after suffering a serious heart attack, he won 57% of the popular vote and 457 electoral votes to opponent Adlai Stevenson’s 73 electoral votes.
Democrats held control of both houses of Congress, left over from 1954 elections, but during the recession of 1958, were able to greatly increase this control.
By 1954, the crusade against communism was gaining great popular support.
In Jan. 1954, Senator John McCarthy went too far in this debate, and attacked Secretary of the Army Robert Stevens, and the services in general. This led to the organization of the
Army-McCarthy hearings, which became among
the first congressional hearings to be nationally
televised. However, McCarthy acted poorly in
these hearings, creating a public image of himself
of both a “villain” and a “buffoon.”
In Dec. 1954, the Senate voted 67 to 22 to condemn
McCarthy for “conduct unbecoming a Senator.”
McCarthy died 3 years later with little public support,
a victim of complications arising from alcoholism.
Eisenhower, Dulles, and the Cold War : Eisenhower, Dulles, and the Cold War p. 825 - 829
Dulles and “Massive Retaliation” : Dulles and “Massive Retaliation” John Foster Dulles
Eisenhower’s secretary of state
Dominant figure in the nation’s foreign policy in the 1950’s
Thought US should pursue an active program of “liberation” to decline communism
Presented policy of “Massive Retaliation” in 1954 “Massive Retaliation”
Respond to communist threats by relying on “the deterrent of massive retaliatory power” (nuclear weapons)
Would force Soviet Union to brink of War with tense confrontations
Real force was economics
Pages 825-826
France, America, and Vietnam : France, America, and Vietnam In 1954,12,000 French troops were involved in a siege at the village of Dien Bien Phu in Vietnam (which the French were trying to restore authority over)
Only US intervention could prevent the total collapse of French military effort in Vietnam but Eisenhower refused
French forces finally collapsed on May 7, 1954
Agreed to settlement of conflict at international conference in Geneva Geneva accords on Vietnam (July 1954)established a supposedly temporary division of Vietnam along the 17th parallel
North would be governed by Ho Chi Ming, nationalist force opposing France
South governed by a pro-Western regime
Democratic elections in 1956 would be basis for uniting nation
French commitment ended & US became larger presence there
Established Pro-American government in South headed by Ngo Dinh Diem (Roman Catholic minority)
Diem would not premit 1956 elections because he knew he would lose Page 826
Cold War Crisis : Cold War Crisis On May 14, 1948 the new United Nations recognized Israel as a nation
The new Jewish homeland ended some conflicts but created others
Palestinian Arabs joined with other Arabic countries in the area to fight against the new state
US concerned with Israel but also stability with Arabic countries with which US petroleum companies had major investments
When Iran began to resist Western corporations, CIA became involved in replacing Muhammad Mossadegh (nationalist Prime Minister) with Muhammand Reza Pahlevi as an absolute ruler Suez Crisis
Dulles wanted to punish Egyptian government for their relationship with the Soviet Union
Dulles withdrew American offers to assist in building Aswan Dam across the Nile
Week later, Egypt retaliated by seizing control of the Suez Canal from the British (use the income to build dam)
October 1956, Israeli forces attacked Egypt; British & French landed troops in Suez
US helped pressure French & British to withdraw & persuade Israel to a truce with Egypt for fear that Arabic countries would go with Soviet Union
1959, Fidel Castro took over Havana, Cuba & established a new government
Ran US businesses out of Cuba with new policies
USD cut back on “quota” of Cuban sugar exports to US
Castro allied himself with Soviet Union
Pages 826-827
Europe and the Soviet Union : Europe and the Soviet Union 1955, Eisenhower & other NATO leaders met with the Soviet premier, Nikolai Bulganin, at a summit conference in Geneva
Turned into trying to resolve specific issues, so no basis for agreement was found
1956, Hungarian Revolution was a launch of a popular uprising to demand democratic reforms
Soviet tanks & troops entered Budapest to crush uprising
Eisenhower refused to intervene
Soured Soviet relationship with West even more Pages 827-828
The U-2 Crisis : The U-2 Crisis New Soviet leader, Nikita Khrushchev, renewed demands that NATO powers abandon West Berlin; US & allies refused
Eisenhower & Khrushchev planned to met personally (in both countries, & in Paris)
US visit in 1959 produced a polite public response Days before the summit conference in Paris & Eisenhower’s visit to Moscow, Soviet Union announced it had shot down an US U-2 (high altitude spy plane) over Russian territory
Pilot was in captivity
Khrushchev broke up Paris summit & withdrew invitation to Eisenhower to visit Soviet Union Pages 828-829
The Economic Miracle : The Economic Miracle p. 800 - 803
“The Economic Miracle” Chapter Thirty Page 800 : “The Economic Miracle” Chapter Thirty Page 800
-The most striking feature of American Society in the 1950s was a booming economic -growth hat made the 1920s look like nothing
-By 1949 an economic expansion began which lasted almost 20 years
-Between 1945 and 1960 the gross national product grew by 250% from $200 billion to over $500 billion
-Government spending continued to stimulate growth
*Sources of economic growth
~Through: public funding of schools, housing veteran's benefits, welfare, and the $100 billion interstate highway program (began in 1956) Economic growth was at its peak averaging 4.7% a year
-Economic growth was at its peak during the first half of the 1950s but in the second half it was down to 2.25%
-The baby boom began during the war and peaked in 1957
*the nations population rose almost 20% in the decade from 150 million in 1950 to 179 million in 1960
~the baby boom meant an increase in consumer demand and expanding economic growth
-The suburban population grew 47 percent in the 1950s
*helped stimulate growth in several important areas of the economy
~the number of privately owned cars doubled in the decade sparking a boom in the auto industry
~demand for new homes helped sustain a vigorous housing industry
~the construction of roads (was a cause and result of the growth of the suburbs)
-Due to unpredicted growth of the nation the economy grew nearly 10x as fast as the population in the 30 years after the war (affected most of society)
-American West experienced most of the economic growth
“The Economic Miracle” Chapter Thirty Page 800 : “The Economic Miracle” Chapter Thirty Page 800 -The discovery of the power of the American economic system led to the confident and even arrogant tone of the political life of the 50s
*Keynesian Economics
*Ending poverty through economic growth
-Over 4000 corporate mergers took place in the 1950s
~by the end of the decade half the net corporate income was going only to slightly more than 500 firms aka 1/10 of 1% of the total number of corporations
-The “Postwar Contract”
~supported by the National Labor Relations Board
-The agricultural work force declined by more than half in the two decades after the war
~mechanization
-Economic success reunified the labor movement
~AFL-CIO
*David Beck
*United Mine Workers
~Limited Gains for Unorganized Workers