Adjustment of the 1950’s

1950-1960

Patterns of living

Move from city to suburb: city-center of population larger

than a town suburb-residential area on or

near the outskirts of a city Reasons for growth-farmers to

suburbs, people from cities, affordable housing

Changes in lifestyle-daily commute, need for automobile, lawn and home maintenance

CONFORMITY-similar homes, age and marital status, war experience, incomes

Levittown

1944-<William J. Levitt buys 1500 acre potato farm 30 miles east of New York City

mass produce the same house-one story ranch-2 tone or a cape cod

built-1. Bulldozers, 2. Street pavers, 3. Electricians, (signs) 4. Lots marked, 5. Put up houses

by 1951-17,500 houses Levittown homes

Suburban Sprawl

Auto is only way- no public transportation

drive to everything-6.7 million cars sold each year in the 1950’s

40m Americans owned cars in 1940-60m by 1960

America encouraged conformity- lifestyle-friendliness and informality-

buffet style casserole dinners-no formal dining room

living room is dining room men wore open necked sport shirts

(weekends) women-went to the grocery store w/

curlers in her hair more 50’s stuff

Lifestyle and the neighborhood

Almost everyone was on 1st name basis-even youngsters to adults

you were expected to keep up property and have an active part in your community affairs

pressure to conform-children outnumbered adults 2 to 1-Baby Boom

P.T.A., Little League <Education-boys and girls-

popular and well-adjusted-Schools are on the Corporate structure-1956-white collar workers

Consumerism and rebellion

High standard of living-consumer goods are purchased on credit-1952-1956 from $27b to $43 B

Beatniks-means 2 things-(beaten down) or beatitudes (mystics)

centered at a bookstore in San Francisco called City Lights-(Lawrence Ferlinghetti)

produced beat writers-Allen Ginsburg (poet) and <Jack Kerouac-novelist

Kerouac’s On the Road sold 1/2 M copies

Beatniks links page

Pop Culture

Informal Survey: 1. How many hours do you spend listening to the

radio each day? 2. How many hours do you spend watching the TV? 3. How much time do you spend on the computer? 4. How much of an impact do these have on you?

Pop Culture-The ideas, habits, beliefs and institutions that are supported by the public

Television

By 1950-9 of 10 homes-52m sets

a high school grad spent more time watching TV than in school

TV inspires fads also, develops videotape-

good technical quality without live broadcasts

1950’s pop culture

Movies

Admission to movies drop sharply

studios terminate contracts and sold their land

number of films dropped gimmicks rise-3-D or special

effect films lure them back each film made to influence

a particular age group or audience

Drive-ins become popular 3-D glasses

Music

Progressive Jazz replaced Jazz

Rock and Roll-combined country and western, rhythm and blues and black gospel

<Elvis

Civil Rights

Minority consciousness-awareness of the culture and heritage of minority groups

elements that contribute to this-increased education, social awareness, migration of minority groups, acceptance of minority workers during wartime

Names to know: Lloyd Gaines-black law student at the

University of Missouri-sued to enter the white law school-since no black law school exists, must be entered into the white law school

<Linda Brown-8 year old student in Topeka, Kansas-”separate but Equal” has no place in education

Civil Rights

Thurgood Marshall-attorney for NAACP-represented Linda Brown in lawsuit-later Supreme Court Justice

Earl Warren-Chief Justice of the US-delivered opinion on Brown Case

Orval Faubus-Governor of Arkansas-tried to block integration at Central High School in Little Rock

Dwight Eisenhower-President-sent Federal Troops to Little Rock to ensure desegregation

Rosa Parks-seamstress-Montgomery Alabama-triggered the bus boycott when she refused to move off to the back of the bus

<Thurgood Marshall© after winning Brown Case

Civil Rights

<Martin Luther King Jr.-minister; believed in nonviolent protest against injustice-led protest in Montgomery

Ignacio Lopez-Mexican American worker-founded the Unity League of California to register Mexican Americans to vote and promote candidates who would represent them

Civil Rights-Separate but Equal

Plessy v. Ferguson (1898)-allowed for Separate but equal

<Sweatt v. Painter- Herman N. Sweatt-University of Texas sets up Black school for him alone-not the same

McLaurin v. Oklahoma State Regents-can’t separate a black student in a white school

Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas-Marshall argues 14th Amendment-equal protection under the law-unanamous decision

Civil Rights-incidences

Little Rock Crisis-Gov. Orval Faubus-needed an issue to be reelected

Little Rock had carefully worked out a plan for integration-7 years

1957-9 black students would be enrolled at Central High School

<Faubus calls out the National Guard-fixed bayonets-turn the 9 away

Federal Court orders 9 be admitted-white mob stops them this time

Eisenhower-”Mob rule cannot be allowed to override the decisions of the our courts.” sent in the 101st Airborne Division-1000 paratroopers, federalized the National guard

Little Rock

<The Little Rock Nine Arrive

40th anniversary of the Little Rock Incident

Montgomery Bus Boycott

<Rosa Parks-said no to moving to the back of the bus-arrested and fined $10

within 48 hours-25,000 blacks made up 75% of business

boycott continued for more than a year

blacks walked, rode bicycles, car pooled,

Supreme Court rules that segregation of public transportation is against the 14th amendment

Martin Luther King

Philosophy: 1. Henry David Thoreau-refuse

to obey unjust laws-went to jail rather than pay taxes on an unjust war

2. Mohandas Ghandi-helped India become independent through nonviolent resistance to the British

3. A. Phillip Randolph-urged blacks to hold mass demonstrations

King-Soul Force-keep protests entirely nonviolent

Mexican-Americans and Native Americans

Mexican-Americans (Chicano)-shocked into action

<Felix Longoria, war hero killed in the Philippines-only funeral home in his hometown would not let the family use it.

Ignacio Lopez forms the Unity

League of California Indian Affairs-1953-termination

policy-federal government reservation system terminated Bureau of Indian Affairs-relocation

program-move to the city, job-training, failure

1963 termination program abandoned

Foreign Policy

Massive Retaliation-M.A.D.-Mutual Assured Destruction

Policy of Brinksmanship-<John Foster Dulles-Secretary of State

built up air force-let navy and army decline-no longer could we fight limited objective wars like Korea

Soviets take Hungary-1956-for a little while-looked like the Hungarians freed themselves

Soviet tanks roll into Budapest-we only send food and aid

US just protests invasion

The Cold War deepens

U-2 spy plane shot down CIA operates high altitude flights over

Soviet territory mission used U-2 spy planes, designed

to fly higher than Soviet fighters and beyond the reach of antiaircraft fire

May 1, 1960-U-2 pilot Gary Francis Powers is shot down over Soviet territory

US issues a false story about incident Soviet Premier Kruschev announces

capture of Powers and demands an apology

President Eisenhower takes full responsibility

<Powers is tried for espionage and is later traded for a captured Soviet spy

U-2 Spy Plane

Eisenhower and the Cold War

Suez Canal Crisis:(1954) Great Britain agrees to

withdraw troops from canal Suez is financed by both

Great Britain and French stockholders

1955-US and GB agree to finance Aswan Dam project

<Gamal Abdel Nasser-tried to get help from USSR

July, 1956-US and GB withdraw offer for help

Suez Canal Crisis

Nasser nationalizes and seizes the Suez-tolls will be used to build Aswan Dam

British and French are annoyed-2/3rds of their oil comes through there

Egyptians make terrorist raids into Israel-didn’t allow Israel to ship through the canal

October, 1956-GB, France and Israel-join forces v. Egypt

British and French get canal-Israel gets Gaza Strip, Sinai Peninsula

attack shocks Eisenhower-asks UN for a cease-fire, withdrawal of British, French and Israeli troops

April, 1957-canal reopens to traffic

Eisenhower Doctrine

January, 1957-US would defend the Middle East v. Soviet attack

Congress gave Eisenhower the power to defend at his discretion

6th fleet goes to Lebanon-about 14,000 marines

Counters moves by the Soviets in Syria

Cold War and the little battles

Indochina-Asia-France loses at Dien Bien Phu

Now a Civil War raged between anti-colonial Nationalists and anti-colonial Communist

How do we tell the difference?

In 1959-Hawaii and Alaska is added to the Union

Sputnik and the Space Race

Soviets launch <Sputnik, October 4, 1957

ICBM-unmanned space rocket (Satellite) can circle the earth at 18,000 MPH and in about 96.2 minutes

At 200 pounds-can lift and deliver a nuclear warhead

Americans react by: emphasizing education, especially science, math and foreign language

Kennedy challenges to put man on the moon by end of decade