apush ch 27 and 28 test

poverty in the postwar years

-great eco expansion of postwar years reduced poverty sig but doesnt eliminate... more than ⅕ continue to live below poverty line and millions j above so no security or comfort -most of poor experienced poverty intermittently and temporarily (80% classified at particular moment likely to find a job indicating how unstable employment could be at lower levels of job market) but 20% of poor lived in continuous poverty with no easy escape including half nations elderly and large proportion of blacks and hispanics -native americans constitute single poorest group in the country as result of govt policies that undermined eco of the reservations and drove many indians into cities where some lived in poverty worse than before -hard core poverty rebuked assumptions of those who argued eco growth would eventually lead everyone into prosperity bc postwar growth hardly affected

travel in the 1950s

-idea of a paid vacation for American workers and the association of that idea with travel entered American culture beginning in 1920s but not until postwar years stop vacation travel became truly widespread among middle income AmericansMuch of programming of 19TelevAndsTV -construction of the interstate highway system contributed dramatically to the growth of travel as did the increasing affluence of workers which made it possible for them to buy cars -no where was the surge in travel and recreation more visible than an American national parks which experience beginnings of what became permanent surge in attendance in 1950s; people travel to hike and camp, fission hunt, look at landscape, etc.; many visitors came in search glass of conventional recreation the end of wilderness and importance of that search became clear in 1950s in first of many battles over development of wilderness areas: the fight to preserve Echo Park

Michael Harrington, The Other America

As described in his book, the poor were trapped in a vicious cycle of want and a culture of deprivation. Because they could not afford good housing, a nutritious diet, and doctors, the poor got sick more often and for longer than more affluent Americans. creates sensation by publishing the other america where he chronicles continuing existence of poverty in america; only attention was new not conditions

causes of the civil rights movement

Blacks serving in WWII. Flourishing of the urban black middle class. Education opportunities were more present. Television showed how whites lived. Also since TV showed the activities of national demonstrators to a national audience, it helped inspire other blacks. Cold War- USSR had equality for all of its citizens. Political mobilization of northern blacks -other forces were at work mobilizing many white americans to support movement once it began too; cold war made racial injustice an embarrassment to americans trying to present their nation as model to the world; political mobilization of N blacks who were now voting dem; politicians from N ind cities cant ignore their views; labor unions with sub black membership also plays imp part in supporting and funding civil rights movement

levittowns

Planned suburban communities of cheap, mass-produced houses built by WIlliam Levitt all over the country during the 1950's. -most famous postwar suburban developer william levitt used new mass production tech to construct large housing development on long island; first levittown consisted of several 1000 2 bed cape cod style houses, sold for under 10,000 and helped meet enormous and growing demand for housing youg couples often newly married and husband being war vet assisted by low cost, govt subsidized mortgages provided by GI bill rushed to purchase inexpensive homes

the goal of missiles

-future of the man space program did not live primarily in efforts to reach Dassin planets and instead became more modest effort to make travel in your space easier and more practical through the development of the space shuttle, airplane like device launched by a missile but capable of both navigating in space and landing on earth like conventional aircraft; first space shuttle successfully launched in 1982; explosion of one shuttle, the Challenger, in 1986 killed seven install the program for two years -missions return in late 1980s driven by commercial purposes and space shuttle launch and repaired communication satellites and inserted the Hubble space telescope into orbit in 1990; problems continue to played the program into early 21st-century

Employee Loyalty Program

Truman's program a part of Red Scare- set a precedent for government review of who could be considered a threat due to a belief system -partly to protect itself against repub attacks and partly to encourage support for presidents foreign policy initiatives, truman admin in 47 initiated widely publicized program to review the loyalty of fed employees; authorized sensitive agencies to fire ppl deemed "bad security risks" and by 1951, more than 2000 resigned under pressure and 212 fired -employee loyalty program est widely cited list of supposedly subversive organization; director of FBI J Edgar Hoover investigated and harassed alleged radicals and in 1950, congress passed the McCarran Internal Security Act, requiring all communist orgs to register with the govt; congress overrode truman veto

Martin Luther King Jr.

U.S. Baptist minister and civil rights leader. A noted orator, he opposed discrimination against blacks by organizing nonviolent resistance and peaceful mass demonstrations. He was assassinated in Memphis, Tennessee. Nobel Peace Prize (1964) -kings approach to black protest was based on doctrine of nonviolence; drew from teachings of gandhi, henry david thoreau, and christian doctrine; produced approach to racial struggle that captured the moral high ground for his supporters and urged blacks to engage in peaceful demonstrations and respond to hate w love; for next 13 years, as leader of the S christian leadership conference he founded after bus boycott, was most influential and widely admired black leader in country; pop movement came to represent soon spread throughout S ad country

the china problem

US hoped for a strong, independent china but Chiang Kai-shek's nationalist gov't was corrupt and incompetent, engaged in bitter conflict with Mao Zedung's communist armies who was gaining control. Truman decided to keep supporting Chiang, but only by sending $ and supplies, not military intervention. (basically a lost cause) -Long struggle between the nationalist and communist irrupt it into full-scale war and the US continue to send money and weapons to chiang; eventually Truman sans General George Marshall to study Chinese problems and recommend policy for the US; American friends in China known as the China lobby pressured Marshall to expand American military presence as way to combat the continuing expansion of communist control and marshal came to believe that nothing short of an all out war with China would be necessary to defeat the communists that was unwilling to recommend that the president should except such a war; decision was the source of embittered attacks on marshall and truman for decades -instead of the American government beginning to consider alternative to China as the strong pro western force in Asia: a revive Japan; abandoning strict occupation policies of the first years after the war, the US lifted restrictions on industrial development and encouraged rapid economic growth in Japan; vision of open united world giving away in Asia to acceptance of divided world with strong pro American sphere of influence

James dean

United States film actor whose moody rebellious roles made him a cult figure (1931-1955) -pop of James Dean in movies ike rebel without cause, east of eden, gian convey powerful image of youth culture; dean becomes icon of unfocused rebelliousness of american youth in his time

elvis Presley

United States rock singer whose many hit records and flamboyant style greatly influenced American popular music (1935-1977) -presley becomes symbol of youthul determination to push at borders of conventional and acceptable; dresses rebelliously like urban gangs and open sexuality of music and public performances made him widely pop; first great hit = heartbreak hotel and remains powerful figure thru death -presley's music drew heavily from black rhythm and blues traditions which appeals to some white youths in early 50s bc of pulsing, sensual rhythms and hard edged lyrics

the housing crisis

With returning veterans starting new families, the US faced a housing shortage after WWII that was addressed by developers who came up with new ways to mass-produce houses

the big three

allies during WWII; Soviet Union - Stalin, United Kingdom - Churchill, United States - Roosevelt

restlessness of youths

most visible in the beats -culture of alienation that the beats vividly represented had counterparts even in ordinary middle class behavior: teens rebelling agains parents, youth fascination w motorcycles and fast cars, increasing visibility of teen sex assisted by birth control

rock n roll

music that grew out of rhythm and blues and that became popular in the 1950s -one of most powerful cultural forces for US youth was enormous pop of rock n roll and greatest early rock state elvis presley -others besides presley include buddy holly, bill haley who were closely connected to black musical traditions -rock also drew from country western music, gospel, and jazz but most important influence was in rhythm and blues -rise of white rock musicians was result in part of the limited willingness of white audiences to accept black musicians; 50s did see growth in pop of black bands and singers among whites and blacks; many recorded by black producer berry gordy who was founder and president of motown records in detroit but never rivaled presley in pop among white youths; still develop sig audience -rapid rise and enormous pop of rock owed great deal to innovations in radio and tv programming; by 1950s radio stations no longer feel obliged to present mostly live programming so devote themselles entirely to playing recorded music; new breed of radio announcers (DJS) began to create programming aimed at young fans of rock music and were v successful; american bandstand becomes televised showcase for rock n roll and helps spread pop of host Dick Clark -radio and TV imp to recording industry bc encouraged the sale of records; also imp is jukeboxes; sales increased threefold from 182 to 521 mill; promoters v eager to get songs on air so make secret payments to showcase artists... known as payola and produced sensational series of scandals when exposed

election of 1956

saw a popular Dwight D. Eisenhower successfully run for re-election. The 1956 election was a rematch of 1952, as Eisenhower's opponent in 1956 was Democrat Adlai Stevenson II, whom Eisenhower had defeated four years earlier. Democrats retained control of both houses of Congress which they won back in 1954 and in 1958 during serious recession, they increase the control by substantial margins

Thomas e dewey

the Governor of New York (1943-1955) and the unsuccessful Republican candidate for the U.S. Presidency in 1944 and 1948 -republicans once again nominated governor Thomas E Dewey of New York who substantial reelection victory in 1946 made him one of nations leading political figures; austere dignified and competent and seem to offer an unbeatable alternative to president; Paul show he had insurmountable lead bedroom and believe he could win and became more and more aggressive turning the fire away from himself and towards Dewey and they do nothing good for nothing Republican Congress which he told voters were responsible for fueling inflation and abandoning workers and the middle class; call Congress into special session in July to give it a chance to enact the liberal measures the Republicans had recently written into platforms but did nothing

"the american scientist"

"Time" magazine man of the year 1961 -1961 time magazine man of the year was "the american scientist"; indication of the widespread fascination with which americans viewed science and tech and sign of the remarkable and rapid scientific and tech adv in postwar years

national security act

Passed in 1947 in response to perceived threats from the Soviet Union after WWII. It established the Department of Defense and the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and National Security Council. --national security act of 1947 reshaped nations major military and diplo institutions; created new department of defense to oversee all branches of armed forces, combining war and navy departments; national security council out of white house would oversee foreign and military policy; central intelligence agency would replace wartime office of strategic services and would be responsible for collecting info thru open and covert methods -NSA gave the pres expanded powers with which to pursue the nations international goals

new economics

Planning and shaping the national economy through the use of tax policies and federal spending as recommended by Keynesian economics. -discovery of the american eco system was major cause of the confident tone of much american political life in 1950s; during depression, politicians, intellections, etc questioned viability of capitalism but doubt vanishes and two features made post war eco a source of national confidence.... -first is believe that keynesian eco made it possible for govt to regulate and stabilize eco without intruding directly into priv sector; british economist john maynard keynes argued that by varying the flow of govt spending and taxation and managing the supply of currency, the govt could stimulate the eco to cure recession and dampen growth to prevent inflation; by mid 1950s theory rapidly becoming fundamental article of faith -called "new economics" and finally won official acceptance in 1963 when kennedy proposed tax cut to stimulate eco growth; took kennedys death and political skills of lyndon johnson to win passage in 1964, result confirmed all that keynesians predicted: increase in private demand, which stimulated eco growth and reduced unemployment

intensified fear of communist subversion

-all those factors (HUAC investigations, hiss trial, loyalty investigations, mccarran act and reosenburg case) helped intensify the fear of communist subversion; by early 1950s fear gripped much of the country and state and local governments, judiciary, schools, and labor unions sought to purge themselves of real or imagined subversives; pervasive fear of country not only a communist infiltration but fear of being suspected of communist subversion; climate that made possible the rise of an extraordinary public figure his behavior at any other time might've been dismissed as preposterous

expansion of middle class lifestyle

-among most striking social development of postwar era was rapid expansion of middle class lifestyle and outlook -new prosperity of social group that previously lived on margin, growing availability of consumer products at affordable prices, and rising public fascination w products and massive pop movement from cities to suburbs all helped make american middle class larger, more powerful, homogenous, dominant force than ever

new ideas about poverty

-as eco continued to expand beyond predictions, many americans assumed growth was now without bounds; by mid 1950s, reformers concerned abt poverty were arguing that the solution lay not in redistribution but in eco growth; affluent wouldnt have to sacrifice in order to eliminate poverty but nation j needs to produce more abundance raising the quality of life

consumer culture of the 1950s

-at center of middle class culture in 1950s was growing absorption with consumer goods -result of increased prosperity, increasing of variety and availability of products, and of advertisers adeptness in creating demand for products -also a result of growth of consumer credit, which increased 800% thru development of credit cards, revolving charge accounts, and easy payment plans -prosperity fueled the automobile industry, and detroit responds to boom with more styling and accessories -consumer also respond eagerly to development of dishwashers, garbage disposals, tvs, h-gis, stereos; to lg degree, prosperity of 50s and 60s was consumer driven Consumer goods so often marketed nationally so 1950s was notable for the rapid spread of great national consumer crazes; ex: hula hoop, disney's mickey mouse club house

sources of soviet american tension

-at heart of rivalry between the United States and Soviet union in 1940s was a fundamental difference in the way is the great powers envision the postwar world US outlined in the Atlantic charter was worlds in which nations abandon their traditional beliefs in military alliances and spheres of influence and governed their relations with one another through democratic processes with an international organization serving as arbiter of disputes in the protector of every nations right of self-determination -other vision belong to Soviet union and to some extent great Britain; Stalin and Churchhill signed the Atlantic charter but Britton always was uneasy about implications of self determination for its enormous empire and Soviet union was determined to create secure sphere for itself in Central and Eastern Europe as protection against possible future aggression from West -Churchhill and Stalin envision a postwar structure in which the great powers would control areas a strategic interest to them, vaguely similar to traditional europan balance of power would re-emerge

iron curtain

A political barrier that isolated the peoples of Eastern Europe after WWII, restricting their ability to travel outside the region -phrase used to describe the boundary that separated communist countries in E europe and capitalist one in W europe; beginning of cold war.... State of heightened hostility and conflict that does not involve direct military combat

Postdam Conference

This is the conference where Stalin, Truman, and Churchill came together to decide how Germany would be administered. Their goals were to establish order, settle peace treaty issues, and deal with the effects of WWII. -Truman decides immediately to get tough with the Soviet union and meets with Soviet foreign minister Molotov and sharply chastised him for violations of the Yalta Accords; insisted that the US should be able to get 85% of what it wanted but was ultimately forced to settle for less -Truman first concedes on Poland; one stall and made a few minor concessions to the pro western exiles, Truman recognized the Warsaw government hoping that non-communist forces might gradually expand their influence there but won't until the 1980s -above all other questions is that of Germany; to settle the questions, Truman met in July at Postdam in Russia occupied Germany with Churchill and Stalin; reluctantly excepted the adjustments of the Polish German border that Stalin had long demanded but refused to permit the Russians to claim any reparations from the American, French, and British zones of Germany; stance effectively confirmed that Germany would remain divided with the western zones united into one nation -final meeting in potsdam ; meeting to determine the details of administering post war europe; divide germany into 4 zones of occupation; berlin also divided into 4 zones; each zone occupied by an allied country, the big 3 nations and france

lightnings first strike

detonation of the first nuclear bomb by the soviet union; RDS-1 is code name for the device and US calls it Joe-1

the suburban family

families living in single family homes. Father had a job and mother stayed home or had a clerical position. 2 cars in the driveway, kids attended school. -for professional men, suburban life generally mean rigid division between working and personal world -for many middle class married women, meant increased isolation from the workplace -enormous cultural emphasis on fam life in the 1950s strengthened pop prejudices against women entering professions or occupying any paid job -many middle class husbands considered it demeaning for wife to work and many women sied away from workplace when they could afford to stay at home with kids

mutual assured destruction

idea that both sides would face certain destruction in a nuclear war -mutual assured destruction: doctrine in which full scale use of high yield weapons by opposing sides wil better result in utter and irrevocable reciprocal destruction of all parties involved; basically cancel eachother out

Eisenhower and Khrushchev

khrushchev far more willing than stalin to be flexible- but he was inconsistent- began criticizing stalin- "de-Stalinization" led to a period of peaceful coexistence -stalin dies v prematurely so nikita khrushchev eventually gains power as premier of russia; he is the hero of stalingrad -this relaxed tensions between the two nations bc eisenhower and khrushchev dont have any bad blood for the time

GI bill

law passed in 1944 to help returning veterans buy homes and pay for higher educations aka servicemen readjustment act intended to ease the transition of returning WWII veterans to civilian life; informally referred to as the GI bill of rights; includes college tuition reimbursement, one year unemployment comp benefits, and low interest loans

echo park

located near boarders of Utah, Colorado and Wyoming) where the gov't sought to build a dam to create source of hydroelectric power. American environmentalists led fight to maintain Echo park and won. Helped create widespread environmental consciousness. in early 1950s, federal governments Bureau of reclamation which was created early in the century to encourage irrigation, develop electric power, and increase water supplies, propose building a dam across the Green River which runs through Echo Valley to create lake for recreation and a source of hydroelectric power; American environmental movement was quiet since hatch hatch Valley but Echo Park proposal helped rouse -in 1950, Bernard Devoto published essay in the Saturday evening post titled shall we let them ruin our national parks; had sensational impact arousing opposition to the Echovalley dam from many areas of the country; sierra club moved into action and controversy helps elevate new and aggressive leader David Brower who eventually transform the club into nations leading environmental organization; by mid 1950s large coalition of people mobilize in opposition to the gym and a 1956, Congress blocked the project and preserved Echo Park and it's natural state -Controversy was major victory for those who wish to preserve the sanctity of national parks and important impetus to the dawning environmental consciousness that would become important later

failure of the fair deal

many of the fair deal programs fell victim to the same public and congressional conservatism that crippled last year's of the new deal; conservatism intensifying as 1946 elections approach and republican party won both houses of Congress -New Republican Congress quickly move to reduce government spending and Chipaway at new deal reforms; president bowed to what he claimed was the most popular mandate to lift most remaining wage and price controls and Congress moved further to the regulate the economy; inflation rapidly increased republican Congress refused to appropriate funds to education, increase social security, or support reclamation and power projects and west; defeated proposal to raise minimum-wage and past tax measures that cut rates dramatically for high income families and moderately for lower incomes

reconversion

social and economic transition from war time to peace time -bombs that destroyed hiroshima and nagasaki ended war months earlier and propelled nation precipitously into process of reconversion -predictions that peace would bring a return of depression unemployment as were production ceased and returning soldiers flooded into labor market but no general economic collapse in 1946 for several reasons

prevention of depression

spending dropped sharply in abruptly and $35 billion of war contracts were canceled but increased consumer demand soon compensated; consumer goods were generally unavailable during war so many workers had saved a substantial portion of their wages and now ready to spend; $6 billion tax cut pumps additional money into general circulation and the service 's readjustment act of 1944, known as the GI bill of rights provided economic and educational assistance to veterans,further increasing spending

education and increasingly organized society

-American educational system responded to demands of increasingly organize society by experimenting with changes in curriculum and philosophy; elementary and secondary schools give increased attention to science, mathematics, and foreign languages that educators considered important for the development of skilled specialized professionals; universities expanding their curricula to provide more opportunities for students to develop specialize skills; idea of the multiversity represented a commitment to making higher education a training grant for specialists in a wide variety of fields

Cold War crisis in Middle East

-American foreign policy in 1950s rested on reasonably consistent foundation of the containment policy but nations leader spent much of time reacting to both real and imagined crises and far-flung areas of the world; among Cold War challenges the Eisenhower administration confronted were a series of crises in the Middle East -on May 14, 1948, after years of Zionist efforts and dramatic decisions by new UN Israel proclaimed its independence; Truman recognize the new Jewish homeland the next day but creation of Israel created other problems; Palestinian Arabs unwilling to except being displaced from own country joined with Israel's Arab neighbors and fought determinedly against new state in 1948, first of several Arab-Israeli wars -US government committed to Israel but also concerned about the stability and friendliness of the Arab regimes in oil rich Middle East in which American petroleum companies had major investments -US reacted with alarm as it watch muhammad mossadegh the Prime Minister of Iran begin to resist the presence of western corporations and in 1953, American CIA joined forces with conservative Irani and military leaders to engineer a coup against mossadegh; CIA helps elevate young shah of Iran Mohammad Reza Pahlavi to replace him and shah remained closely tied to US for the next 25 years

1954 conflict with Guatemala

-Cold War concerns also affect American relations in Latin America; in 1954 Eisenhower administration ordered CIA to help topple new leftist government of Jacobo Arbenz Guzman in Guatemala that dulles argued was potentially communist

popular scholarly work work surrounding the individual

-Debilitating impact of bureaucratic life on the individual slowly became central theme of popular and scholarly debate; William H White Junior produced one of the most widely discussed books of decade, the organization man, which attempted to describe a special mentality of the worker in large bureaucratic setting; claims self-reliance was losing place to the ability to get along and work as a team husband's value trait in the modern character; sociologist David Reisman made similar observations in the lonely crowd in which he argued that the traditional interrupted man who is judged on basis of them values and a steamer family was giving away two new other directed man more concerned with winning approval of the larger organization or community -novelist also express misgivings in their work about the him personality of the modern society; Saul Bello produce series of novels that chronicle difficulties American Jewish man tied in finding for filming in modern urban America; JD Salinger wrote in the catcher in the rye about prep school student who was unable to find any area of society in which you can feel secure or committed

Decline of McCarthyism

-Eisenhower administration did a little in first years to discourage anti-communist for that grips nation; By 1954 though crusade against the version was beginning to produce significant popular opposition which was indication that the anti-communist passion was beginning to abate; clear signal of change was political demise of Senator Joseph McCarthy -in January 1954 McCarthy over reached himself and he attacked the secretary of the army Robert Stevens in the arm services in general; administration and influential members of Congress organize a special investigation of the charges which became known as army McCarthy hearings; among first congressional hearings to be nationally televised and result was devastating to McCarthy -watching McCarthy in action, much of public began to see him as a villain or buffoon and in December 1954, Senate voted to condemn him for conduct unbecoming of a senator; with little public support left, he died three years later from alcoholism

eisenhower policies

-Eisenhower's consistent inclination was to limit federal activities and to encourage private enterprise; supported private rather than public development of natural resources -to the annoyance of farmers, he lowered federal support for farm prices -also remove the last limited wage and private controls maintained by the Truman administration, oppose the creation of new social service program such as national health insurance, and stroke constantly to reduce federal expenditures and balance the budget; he ended in 1960 with $1 billion budget surplus -President took a few new initiatives in domestic policy but he resisted pressure from the right wing of his party to dismantle those welfare policies of the new deal that had survived conservative assaults of the war years and after -agree to extend the social security system to an additional 10 million people in unemployment compensation to additional 4 million and agreed to increase the legal minimum hourly wage to one dollar

communism in cuba

-No nation in region has been more closely tied to America than Cuba; leader Fulgencio Batista had a ruled as military dictator since 1952 when with American assistance he toppled more moderate government; Cuba's relatively prosperous economy has become virtual five them of American corporations which controlled most of islands natural resources and over half the vital sugar crop; American organized crime syndicates also controlled much of Havana's lucrative hotel a nightlife business -in 1957, popular movement of resistant to the Bautista regime began to gather strength under final Castro and on January 1, 1959, with Batista exiled in Spain, Castro establish new government -Castro begin implementing medical policies of land reform an expropriating foreign owned businesses and resources; Cuban-American relations deteriorate rapidly and when Castro began excepting assistance from Soviet union in 1960, US cut back the quota by which Cuba could export sugar to America at favorite price; Eisenhower administration severed diplomatic relationships with Castro in 1961 and isolated by the United States, Castro seen cemented alliance with Soviet union

end of Eisenhower presidency

-after eight years in office, Eisenhower and failed to eliminate and in some respects actually increase tensions between US and Soviet union; Eisenhower had brought to the Cold War his own sense of the limits of American power and had resisted military intervention in Vietnam; placed a measure of restraint on those who urged the creation of an enormous American military establishment and warned of unwarranted influence of us military industrial complex -caution of domestic and international fairs stood in marked contrast to attitudes of his successors who argued that the US must act more boldly and aggressively on behalf of its goals at home and abroad

conflict with Vietnam

-almost simultaneously US was being drawn into long bitter struggle in southeast Asia; Vietnam, a colony of France, was facing strong opposition from nationalist led by Ho Chi Minh, a communist -French troops surrounded in disastrous siege in North Korea clear only American intervention could prevent the total collapse of the French military effort; despite origins of Secretary of State goals, VP Nixon, and others, Eisenhower refused to permit direct American military intervention in Vietnam claiming that neither Congress nor Americas other allies but support the action

rural poverty

-among those on margins of affluent society were many of rural americans -in 1956 farmers only receive 4.1% of national income compared to 8.9 in 1948; decline reflected steadily shrinking farm pop as rural pop moved into or was absorbed by cities and declining farm prices -due to enormous surpluses in basic staples, prices fell 33% even tho national income rose 50%; most who farmers managed to survive experienced sub losses of income at the same time prices of many consumer goods rose -not all farmers are poor and some sub landowners profit from changes; others move from considerable to only modest affluence -agrarian eco did produce sub #s of genuinely impoverished ppl; black sharecroppers and tenant farmers continue to live at or below subsistence level throughout south bc of mechanization of cotton and development of synthetic fibers that reduce need for cotton -migrant farm workers concentrated in W and SW containing many mexican american and asian american workers also live in dire circumstances -in rural areas without much commercial agri like appalachian rgn of E were decline of coal eco reduced sug source of support for rgn, whole communities live in desperate poverty and increasingly cut off from market eco; all groups vulnerable to malnutrition or starvation

the inner cities

-as white fams moved from cities to suburbs in vast numbers, many inner city neighborhoods became for poor and called ghettos where there was no east escape -growth of these neighborhoods owed to vast migration of blacks out of the countryside and into industrial cities; more than 3 mill move from S to N cities between 1940 and 60; chicago, detroit, etc and eastern/midW industrial cities experienced great expansion of black pop in number and even more in percentage as a whole

republican administration of the 1950s

-first Republican administration in 20 years staffed itself with men drawn from same quarter as those who staffed in 1920s: business community -By 1950s, many business leaders had acquired a social and political outlook very different from predecessor 's; above all men he had reconciled themselves to at least the broad outlines of the keynesian welfare state the new deal had launched; some corporate leaders had come to see it as some thing that actually benefited them by helping them maintain social order, increasing mass purchasing power, and stabilizing labor relations -to his cabinet, Eisenhower appointed wealthy corporate lawyers and business executives who were not apologetic about backgrounds

brown 11

-following year, cort issue another decision known as brown 11 to provide rules for implementing the order; ruled communities must work to desegregate their schools with all but deliberate speed but set no timetable and left specific decisions up to lower courts

urban renewal

-for many years the principal philosophy in response to poverty of inner cities was urban renewal or the effort to tear down buildings in the poorest and most degraded areas; in 20 yrs after WWII, these projects destroyed 400,000 buildings or the homes of 1.5 mill; in some cases provides new public housing for poor residents that was better but some of it poorly designed and constructed so turn into dangerous slums

poor inner city communities populated by racial and ethnic communities

-debate over why so many inner city communities pop by racial and ethnic minorities remained so poor during growing affluence; some argue new migrants were victims of their own past they brought w them from rural homes that were poorly adapted to needs ot industrial city; others say inner city itself with crippling poverty, crime, violence, hopelessness created a culture of poverty that made it difficult for ppl to adv -many others argue that combo of declining blue collar jobs, inadequate support for minority dom public schools, and abrriers to advancement rooted in racism was source of inner city poverty; unskilled industrial jobs diminishing and employers relocating factories and mills to new locations in suburbs, smaller cities, and abroad where cost of labor was lower and automation reducing number of unskilled jobs in those that remain; eco opps that had helped earlier immigrant groups rise up from poverty were unavailable to most postwar migrants; also historic patterns in racial discrimination

federal government compelled to act on segregation

-eisenhower admin was not eager to commit itself to that battle; pres greeted brown decision with skepticism but in sept 1957 faced case of direct state defiance of fed authority and felt compelled to act -fed courts had ordered the desegregation of central high school in little rock and angry white mob tried to prevent implementation of order by blockading entrances to school and gov orval faubus refuses to do anything; pres eisenhower responds by federalizing the national guard and sending troops to little rock to restore order and ensure courts would be obeyed

eisenhower republicanism

-eisenhower was one of least experienced politicians to serve in 20thcentruy; among most pop and politically successful of post war era - at home pursued essentially moderate policies, avoiding most new initiatives but accepting the work of earlier reformers -abroad he continued and even intensified american commitments to oppose communism but brough to some of those commitments a measure of restraint that successors dont always match

Krushchev

-in November 1958, Nikita Khrushchev who became Soviet premier renewed the demands of his predecessors that the NATO powers abandon West Berlin US and allies refuse so Khrushchev suggested that he and Eisenhower discuss the issue personally and visit to each other's countries and at summit meeting in Paris in 1960... US agreed -Khrushchev's 1959 visit to America produce cool but mostly polite public response; plans proceeded for summit conference and for Eisenhowers visit to Moscow; days before scheduled meeting in Paris, Soviet union announce that it is shot down an American U2

large organizations

-industrial workers also confronted large bureaucracies in workplace and in unions; consumers discovered frustrations of bureaucracy and dealing with large national companies from whom they bought goods and services more and more Americans were becoming convinced that the key to successful future lying and acquiring the specialized training and skills necessary for work in large organizations

end of the Korean War

-most troubling foreign policy concern of the Truman years, the war with Korea, played Eisenhower administration only briefly; on July 27, 1953 negotiators at Panmunjom sign agreement ending hostilities and each was to withdraw its troops a mile and a half from existing battle line along the 38th parallel, prewar border between North and South Korea -conference at Geneva wants to consider means by which to reunite the nation peacefully but produces no agreement and left the cease-fire line as the apparently permanent border between the two countries

fund/checkers speech

-nixons performance in the fund/checkers speech helps eisenhower win even when it should hurt him -about stealing money from the campaign

the 1950s civil rights movement

-open battle begins in 1950s against racial segregation and sicriminationl whites playing important role but pressure from blacks themselves was crucial element in raising the issue of race to prominence -brown decision helped spark growing number of pop challenges to segregation in S -montgomery boycott leads to rise of MLK -pressure from courts, N liberals, and blacks themselves also sped pace of racial change in other areas -one imp color line had been breached when jackie robinson signs to dodgers as first black MLB player; by 1950s, blacks est themselves as powerful force in almost all pro sports -within govt, eisenhower completed the integration of the armed forces, attempted to desegregate the fed workforce, and in 1957 signs civil rights act passed by dem congress providing fed protection for blacks who wished to register to vote... was weak bill with few mechanisms for enforcement but 1st civil rights bill of any kind to win passage since end of reconstruction and served as signal that the exec and leg branches were beginning to join judiciary in second reconstruction

principal concern of Eisenhower administration

-prob of third world were moving slowly towards center of american foreign policy, the direct relationship with soviet union and effort to resist communist expansion in europe remained principal concerns of eisenhower admin

the "other" America

-relatively easy for white middle class americans in 1950s to believe that world of eco growth, personal affluence, and cultural homogeneity was world all americans experience but assumptions false; within middle class, considerable restiveness among women, intellectuals, young ppl, etc who found middle class consumer culture unsatisfying or sultifying -more imp was large groups of americans remained outside circle of abundance and share neither affluence of values of middle class

hispanic neighborhoods

-similar migrations from mexico and puerto rico expand poor hispanic neighborhoods at same time; 1 million puerto ricans go to US cities and largest group to NY; mexican workers crossed border in tx and cali and swelled latino communities in san antonio, houston, LA, est

turning attention to the third world

-threat of nuclear war with soviet union created sense of high anxiety in international relations in 1950s but nuclear threat had another effect too... w potential devastation of atomic war, both superpowers began to edge away from direct confrontations and attention of both US and SU begin to turn to rapidly escalating instability of third world nations

juvenile delinquency

-tremendous public attention directed at phenomenon of juvenile delinquency in politics and pop culture ; film blackboard jungle and lots of other things all contribute to sense of alarm about the spread of delinquency even tho youth crime did not dramatically increase

emergence of white collar jobs

-white-collar workers came to outnumber blue-collar laborers for first time in 1950s and an increasing proportion of them worked in corporate settings with rigid hierarchical structures

Brown v. Board of Education

1954 - The Supreme Court overruled Plessy v. Ferguson, declared that racially segregated facilities are inherently unequal and ordered all public schools desegregated. -brown decision was culmination of many decades of effort by black opponents of segregation and group of talented NAACP lawyers trained at howard university by charles houston -thurgood marshall, william hastie, james nabrit, etc spent yrs filing legal challenges to segregation in one state after another and finally file suit against school boards of topeka kansas that became basis for brown v board -topea suit involved case of a black girl who had to travel several miles to a segregated public school every day when she lived next to white elementary school; justices examine it in terms of history, sociology, and psychology; concluded that school segregation inflicted unacceptable damage on those it affected regardless of relative quality

Suez Canal Crisis

1956 *International waterway through Isthmus of Suez *Egypt had been receiving aid from the Soviets, leading Eisenhower to promise money to Egypt to curtail the Soviets *Eventually, Eisenhower took back his offer and Egypt attempted to nationalize the Canal *Britain, France, and Israel invaded to gain control of the canal *Fearing escalation, Eisenhower forced France, Britain, and Israel to withdraw -dulles and Eisenhower fear this will drive the Arab states toward the Soviet union and precipitate a new world war so refusing to support invasion and by joining UN denunciation of it, US helped pressur the French an British to withdraw and helps persuade Israel to agree to truce with Egypt

Hungarian revolution

1956. Led by students and workers, installed Liberal Communist Imre Nagy. Forced soviet soldiers to leave and promised free election, renounced Hungary's military alliance with Moscow. Revolution was crushed by the Soviet Union. -in 1955 eisenhower and other nato leaders meet with soviet premier nikolai bulganin in geneva but when subsequent conference of foreign ministers met to try to resolve specfic issues, could find no basis for agreement -relations between soviet and west soured further in 56 in response to hungarian revolution... hungaria dissendents launched pop uprising to demand dem reforms but soviet tanks and troops enter budapest to crush uprising and eisenhower admin refused to intervene

U2 crisis

A US U2 spy plane flown by Gary Powers crashed into Soviet territory, thus revealing that the US was spying on the Soviets. This angered Khrushchev who then called off the Paris Summit.

John Foster Dulles

Eisenhower's tough-talking secretary of state who wanted to "roll back" communism aristocratic corporate lawyer with store in moral revulsion to communism -denounced the containment policies of Truman as excessively passive and argued that the US should pursue an active program of liberation which would lead to a rollback of communist expansion; once in power he had to differ to the more moderate views of president -most prominent of dulles innovations was the policy of massive retaliation; explained the US would respond to communist threats to its allies not by using conventional forces and local conflicts but by relying on the deterrent of massive retaliatory power or nuclear weapons

the hollywood ten

Group of people in the film industry who were jailed for refusing to answer congressional questions regarding Communist influence in Hollywood writers and producers have to testify and "the hollywood ten" refuse to answer questions about their own political beliefs and colleagues so jailed for contempt; some writers barred from employment in movie industry when hollywood develops blacklist of "suspicious loyalty" to protect its image

Montgomery Bus Boycott

In 1955, after Rosa Parks was arrested for refusing to give up her seat on a city bus, Dr. Martin L. King led a boycott of city busses. After 11 months the Supreme Court ruled that segregation of public transportation was illegal. -bus boycott owes much of its success to the prior existence of well-organized black citizens group; black womens political caucus had been developing plans for boycott of segregated buses for some time and seized on rosa parks as symbol for movement; once launched, boycott almost completely effective; ppl form carpools, walk, etc; boycott put eco pressure on bus company but also on many montgomery merchants... bus boycotters found it difficult to get to downtown stores and tended to shop in own neighborhoods; boycott may have failed if not for supreme court decision inspired in part by the protest that declared segregation in public transport illegal... buses abandoned discriminatory seating and boycott came to close -imp result of montgomery boycott was rise to prominence of new figure in movement for civil rights... head of boycott is MLK and at first reluctant to lead but once accepted, became consumed by it

NATO

North Atlantic Treaty Organization; an alliance made to defend one another if they were attacked by any other country; US, England, France, Canada, Western European countries -crisis in berlin accelerates consolidation of alliance among US and countries of W euro; on april 4, 1949, 12 nations sign agreement est north atlantic trade agreement and declared an armed attack against one would be considered against all; NATO would maintain standing military force in europe to defend threat of soviet invasion -formation of NATO spurred soviet union to create alliance of its own with the communist govts in eastern europe formalized by warsaw pact in 1955

Charles wilson

Secretary of Defense under Eisenhower was president of General Motors and insured senators considering his nomination for secretary of defense that he saw no conflict of interest because he was certain that what was good for our country was good for General Motors

executive order 9835

Signed by Harry Truman in 1947 to establish a loyalty program requiring federal employees to sign loyalty oaths and undergo security checks east loyalty review board and investigates govt employees and dismissed those found to be national security threats

massive resistance

Southern movement resisting school integration -in some communities like DC, compliance came relatively quickly and quietly but more often strong local opp produced long delays and bitter conflicts; known as massive resistance in the south -some school districts ignore ruling or circumvent it with purely token efforts to integrate; more than 100 S members of congress sign manifesto in 1956 denouncing the brown decision and urging their constituents to defy it; s officials all work to obstruct desegregation and many school districts enact pupil placement laws allowing school officials to place students in schools according to their scholastic abilities and social behavior but transparent devices for maintaining segregation and in 1958 in shuttlesworth v birmingham board of edu, supreme court refuses to declare unconstitutional -in fall 1957, only 684/3000 affecting school districts in S had even begun to desegregate schools and many white parents simply withdrew their children from public schools and enrolled them in all white segregation academies that some govts divert money to; brown decision was far from ending segregation and launched prolonged battle between fed authority and state and local govt and between those who believed in racial equality and those that dont

the economic miracle

Term contemporaries used to describe rapid economic growth, often based on the consumer sector, in post-World War II western Europe. -among most striking features of US society in 1950s and early 60s was booming eco growth way more than 20s; better balanced and more widely distributed prosperity but not as universal as some like to believe

Massive Retaliation

The "new look" defense policy of the Eisenhower administration of the 1950's was to threaten "massive retaliation" with nuclear weapons in response to any act of aggression by a potential enemy. -New doctrines reflect dulles inclination for tense confrontations, and approach wants to find as brinksmanship or pushing Soviet union to the brink of war in order to exact concessions -Real force behind the massive retaliation policy was economics though; with pressure growing for reduction in American military expenditures, increasing reliance on atomic weapons seem to promise more bang for the buck

election of 1948

The U.S. presidential election of 1948 is considered by most historians as the greatest election upset in American history. Virtually every prediction (with or without public opinion polls) indicated that incumbent President Harry S. Truman would be defeated by Republican Thomas Dewey. Truman won, overcoming a three-way split in his own party. Truman's surprise victory was the fifth consecutive win for the Democratic Party in a presidential election. Truman's election confirmed the Democratic Party's status as the nation's majority party, a status they would retain until the 1980's. -President travel nearly 32,000 miles and delivered blunt, extemporaneous attacks; called for repeal of the Taft Hartley act, increased price supports for farmers, and strong civil rights protections for blacks; sought to create much of FDR's new deal coalition and succeeding; one narrow but decisive victory with electoral vote of 303 to 189 and Democrats regained both houses of Congress by substantial margins

the beats

This cultural group/movement supported bohemianism and harsh critiques of U.S. society; strong influence on 1960s counterculture -most caustic critics of bureaucracy and middle class society in general was 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, meaningless of politics, banality of pop culture -allen ginsberg wrote dark bitter poem called howl; jack kerouac produced bible of beat generation in novel On the Road of cross country trip that depicted rootless, iconoclastic lifestyle of ppl -beats were the most visible evidence of widespread restlessness among young americans in 1960s; restlessness was result of prosperity and growing sense among them of limitless possibilities, declining power of traditional values; growing up in culture that encouraged them to expect rich and fulfilling lives but most experience obstacles to this

Dr. Benjamin Spock, Baby and Child Care

This was one of the most influential books in postwar American life; it was a famous guide to child rearing. Dr. Benjamin Spock's approach to raising babies was child- centered and he believed that the purpose of motherhood was to help children learn and grow and realize their potential.

Postwar Electronic Research

-1940s and 50s saw dramatic new developments and electronica technology -researchers in 40s produced first commercially viable televisions and created technology that made it possible to broadcast programming over large areas -in late 1950s, scientist that RCA's David Sarnoff laboratories develop tech for color television which becomes widely available and early 60s -in 1948 bell labs, the research arm of AT&T produced first transistor, small solid-state device capable of amplify and electrical signals which was smaller and more efficient than vacuum tubes; made a possible the miniaturization of many devices and also important in aviation, weaponry, and satellites; contributed to major breakthrough and Electronics: the development of integrated circuitry in late 50s Integrated circuit combined a number of one separate electronica elements and a better them into single -microscopically small advice; made it possible to create increasingly complex electronic devices requiring complicated circuitry that would've been impractical and helps advance development of computer

1949 events propelling the Cold War

-1949 series of events propel the cold war in new directions... announcement in sept that soviet union successfully exploded first atomic weapon much earlier than predicted which scares US; also scary is collapse of chian kai-shek's nationalist government in china who fled w his allies to and remnants of army to offshore island formosa (taiwan) and entire mainland china came under control of communist government that US thot was extension of soviets -US refuses to recognize new regime and devotes increased attention to revitalization of japan as buffer against asian communism ending US occupation in 1952

harry s truman and the Cold War

-Harry S Truman succeeds Roosevelt and had a little familiarity with international issues; did not share Roosevelts a parent faith in the flexibility of the Soviet union -FDR had hoped that Stalin was a reasonable man who he could reach an ultimate accord with but Truman sided with those in the government who considered Soviet union fundamentally untrustworthy and who viewed Stalin with suspicion and loathing -trumans mistake is that he tries to get tough on stalin by giving him no lead way; makes stalin not respect truman

stalemate of korean war

-Macarthur invasion of N korea smoothly for weeks and pyongyang capital falls to UN forces; victory near until communist govt of china intervened; 8 divisions of chinese army entered the war and UN offensive stalls and then collapsed -push back US below the 38th parallel and captured S korean capital seoul; by march UN armies manage to regain much of lost territory and take back seoul again and push communists N.... war degenerated into protracted stalemate -truman determined to avoid a direct conflict with china that could lead to new world war and once china entered war, began seeking a negotiated solution to the struggle and insisted that there be no wider war; faced a formidable opponent in gen macarthur who resisted limits on military discretion and argued US was fighting the chinese so should attack china itself by bombing communist forced N of chinese border; wide pop support -sends letter to martin about unhappiness and president warns general to keep objections to himself so letter = intolerable insubordination and relieves macarthur of command -storm of public outrage as 69% of people support macarthur; criticism of truman somewhat abades when other prominent military figures like gen omar bradley support pres decision but sub hostility towards truman remains -stalemate drags on and negotiations between the two at panmunjon in july 1951 but war and talks drag on till 53

the question of Poland

-Origins of future disagreements visible and most important question of the future was Poland; Roosevelt and Churchhill willing to agree to movement of the Soviet border westward that would allow Stalin to annex some Polish territory; both support claims of the Polish government in exile that had been functioning in London since 1940 but Stalin wish to install another pro communist exiled government that had spent the war in lublin.... avoid bitter conclusion to conference by leaving issue unresolved

truman in election of 1948

-Truman and his advisers believed that the American public was not ready to abandon the achievements of the new deal despite election results; as planned strategy for the 1948 campaign, placed their hopes in an appeal to enduring democratic loyalties and throughout 1948, sherman continues to propose reforms that were denied but building campaign issues for fall -remained problems of Truman's personal unpopularity; believe among much of the electorate that he and his administration were weak and inapt and deep divisions within the Democratic Party; at Democratic convention, to factions a band in the party and southern conservatives reacted angrily to Germans proposed civil rights bill into approval at the convention of a civil rights plank in the platform, walked out and form the states rights or Dixiecrat party with Governor Strom Thurmond of South Carolina; parties left wing formed a new progressive party with Henry a Wallace; Wallace supporters objected to what they considered the slow and ineffective domestic policies of Truman administration but resented the presidents confrontational stance towards the Soviet union even more many democratic liberals unwilling to leave the party attempted to dump the president in 1948; Americans for democratic action try to entice Dwight D Eisenhower to contest the nomination and only after Eisenhower had refused to liberals bow to the inevitable and conceived nomination to Truman

mobilization at home

-US containment policy commitment clear in 1947-48 thru series of measures designed to maintain american military powers at wartime levels -at pres trumans request in 48, congress approves new military draft and revived selected service system -US failed to reach agreement w Soviets on international control of nuclear weapons so redoubled its own efforts in atomic research and elevated nuclear weaponry to central place in arsenal

american society and politics after the war

-crises overseas not only frustrations... nation faced serious eco difficulties adapting to peacetime and result is instability and heated political climate

the divided peninsula of korea

-before end of WWII, US and Soviet union sent troops to korea to weaken japanese occupation but soviets support communist regime in N and US supports pro western govt in S -divided nation along the 38th parallel and russians depart in 1949 leaving behind strong communist govt in N with soviet equipped army; americans leave giving control to pro western govt of syngman rhee, who was anticommunist but only nominally democratic, had relatively small military which he uses to suppress internal opp --weakness of S offered strong incentive to nationalists in the N korean govt who wanted to reunite the country; temptation to invade grows stronger when US govt implied it did not consider S korea within defensive perimeter -reason to believe that the N koreans acted without stalin's approval but soviets support once it began -truman admin responds quickly to invasion and on june 27 pres appealed to united nations to intervene; soviet union was boycotting the security council at time so unable to exercise veto power... US delegates able to win UN agreement to resolution calling for international assistance to the rhee govt; US orders own ground forces into korea on june 30 and appoints gen douglas macarthur to command UN operations

sources of economic growth

-between 1945 and 1960 GNP grows by 250% to over 500 bill and unemployment remains at 5% or lower; inflation around 3% a year or less -causes of growth and stability varied... govt spending continued to stimulate growth thru public funding of schools, housing, veteran benefits, welfare, 100 bill interstate highway program, and above all military spending -eco growth at its peak during first half of the 1950s when military spending highest bc of krean war; annual rate of growth declines by more than half when spending on armaments does -national birth rate reversed long pattern of decline with the baby boom beginning during war and peaking in 1957; nations pop grows by 20% a decade; contributed to increased consumer demand and expanding eco growth -rapid expansion of suburbs (suburban pop gew 47%) helped stimulate growth in several imp sectors of eco; # of priv owned cars more than doubled so great boom in car industry; demand for new gomes helped sustain vigorous housing industry; new construction of roads and highways stimulate eco -bc of unprecedented growth, eco grew nearly 10x as fast as pop and while growth far from = distributed, affected most of society; avg american had over 20% more purchasing power than 1945 in 1960; per capita income over 1800; american ppl achieved highest standard of living of any society in the history of the world

the suburban nation

-by 1960s, ⅓ of nations pop living in suburbs -suburbanization was partly result of important innovations in home building which made single fam homes affordable to millions -reasons why so many americans move to suburbs include enormous important postwar americans placed on fam life after 5 years of war; suburbs provide fams with larger homes than cities and many ppl attracted to living in community largely pop by ppl of similar age and background and find easy to make social groups -women value presence of other nonworking mothers living nearby to share tasks of child raising -another factor was race; some black suburbs but most restricted to white bc few blacks can afford and formal and informal barriers; black pop growing in cities and many white fams move to suburbs to escape integration -suburban neighborhoods have commonalities but not uniform; levittowns and inexpensive development ultimately become homes of lower middle class ppl one step removed from inner cities; more affluent suburbs become enclaves for wealthy fams; clear hierarchy emerged of upper class suburban neighborhoods and more modest ones

origins of the containment doctrine

-by end of 1945, any hope of postwar constructed according to atlantic charter ideals FDR and churchill agreed upon = in shambles; new american policy known as containment was merging and rather than attempting to create unified open world, US and allies would work to contain threat of soviet expansion -new doctrine emerged in part response to events in europe in 1946; in turkey, stalin trying to control over the vital sea lanes to mediteranean and in greece communist forces threatening pro western govt; british announce cant provide assistance so truman decides to enunciate firm new policy drawing from ideas of diplomat george f kennan -appears before congress and used kennans warning on long term patient but firm containment of russia as basis of the truman doctrine; also requests 400 mill- partly to bolster armed forces of greece and turket and another part to provide eco assistance to greece; congress approves -US commitment ultimately eased soviet pressure on turkey and helped greek govt defeat communist insurgents; est basis for american foreign policy that survives for 40 years

labor unrest

-compound in the economic difficulties was a sharp rise and labor unrest, driven by the impact of inflation; by end of 1945 there had already been a major strikes in the automobile electrical and steel industries -in April 1946, John L Lewis lead the United mine workers on strike shutting down the coalfields for 40 days; fears grew rapidly that without biological, entire economy might virtually grind to Holt and Truman finally forced minors to return to work by ordering government seizure of the minds; in the process, he pressured mine owners to grant the union most of its demands which he had announced earlier; simultaneously, nations railroad suffered a total shut down the first in the nations history as two major unions walked out on strike; by threatening to use the army to run the trains, Truman pressured the workers back to work -reconversion was particularly difficult for the millions of women and minorities who would enter the workforce during the war; employers tend to push women, blacks, spandex, and Chinese out of plants to make room for white males some workers, particularly woman, left the workforce voluntarily out of desire to return to domestic life but as many as 80% of women workers and all of the minorities wanted to continue working -postwar inflation, the pressure to meet the rising expectations of high consumption society, the growing divorce rate which left many women responsible for our own economic being, all combined to create among women a high demand for paid employment; excluded from industrial jobs so moved increasingly into other areas in our economy, above all service sector

concessions to unions

-corporations enjoying booming growth were reluctant to allow strikes to interfere with operations; business leaders make important concessions to unions as a result; Walter Reuther, president of the united automobile workers, obtained contract from GM that included a built an escalator clause, and automatic cost-of-living increase page to the consumer price index; in 1955 received guaranteed from Ford motor company of continuing wages to auto workers even during layoffs and by mid 1950s factory wages in all industries had arisen substantially -by early 1950s, large labor unions had develops new kind of relationship with employers known as the post war contract; workers in steel, automobiles, and other large unionized industries were receiving generous increases in wages and benefits and in return, unions tacitly agreed to refrain from raising other issues involving control of the workplace invoice for workers in planning of production; strikes become far less frequent

the fair deal revived

-despite dem victories, 81st congress little more hospitable to trumans fair deal than repub predecessor; does win some important victories tho -congress raised legal minimum wage from 40 cents to 75 cents an hour, approved expansion of social security system, increased benefits by 75% and extending them to 10 million more ppl, passed national housing act of 1949 (provided for construction of 810,000 units of low income housing with long term rent subsidies) -on other issues, like national health insurance and aid to education, truman made no progress and was not able to persuade congress to accept the civil rights legislation proposed in 49 which would make lynching fed crime, provided fed protection for black voting rights, abolished poll tax, and est new fair employment practices commission to curb discrimination -truman did proceed on own to battle several forms of racial discrimination... ordered end to discrimination in hiring of govt employees, began to dismantle segregation in armed forces, allows justice department to become actively involved in court battles against discriminatory staties

immunization advances

-dramatic progress in immunization; first great triumph was development of smallpox vaccine by Edward Jenner; typhoid vaccine developed by all moth right was widely used in World War I; vaccination against happiness during World War II; medical scientist also develop a vaccine, BCG, against tuberculosis but controversy over at safety start adoption

reunification of the labor movement

-economic successes of 1950s helped pave way for reunification of the labor movement; and December 1955, American Federation of labor and Congress of industrial organizations ended rivalry and merged to create the AFL-CIO under george Meany; relations not always comfortably alr and cio leaders believe AFL hierarchy was dominating relationship; afl leaders suspicious of radical past of cio leadership; union survives and tensions subside

origins of the Cold War

-few issues in 20th century american history aroused more debate than origins of the cold war -some claim that soviet duplicity and expansionism created the international tensions while others propose that american provocations and imperial ambitions equally to blame -most agree that both US and soviet union contributed to atmosphere of hostility and suspicion that quickly clouded peace

inflation

-flood of consumer demand ensure that there would be no new depression but it contributed to more than two years of serious inflation during which prices rows at rates of 14 to 15% annually; truman vetoes an extension of the authority of the war time office of Price administration that's eliminating price controls and inflation sore to 25% before he relented a month later and signed a bill like the one he rejected -demand is so high so prices go up 25% ... dangerous position ; us public developed savings and war bonds mature; service pay is paid out to veterans; cold war conflict returns defense spending to high levels; marshall plan and other foreign aid creates markets overseas

impact of television

-impact of TV on American life is rapid, pervasive, and profound; by late 1950s, TV news how to replace newspapers, magazines, and radios as nations most important vehicle of information -TV advertising helps to create vast market for a new fashions and products and televised athletic events gradually made professional in college sports one of the most important source of entertainment -television entertainment programming almost all of it controlled by three national networks replace movies and radio as principal source of diversion for American families -Match of programming of 1950s and early 60s created common image of American life... An image that was predominantly white, middle-class, and suburban that was seen in popular sitcom's like Ozzie and Harriet and leave it to beaver -programming also reinforce concept of gender roles that most men I don't think a bully embrace; most sitcom's share families in which father knows best and in which women were mothers and housewives driving to serve their children and please their husbands -television also conveyed other images: Grady, urban, working class families in Jackson Gleason's the honeymooners, childless show business family of the early I Love Lucy, unmarried professional woman in our Miss Brooks and my little Margie, African-Americans in Amos and Andy; TV sought to create an idealized image of homogeneous suburban America but also site to convey experiences at odds with that image that you can wear them and warm unthreatening terms -television also in advertently created conditions that would accentuate social conflict; even those unable to share and affluence of the era could through TV acquire a vivid picture of how the rest of their society lived in at the same time that TV was reinforcing the homogeneity of the white middle-class and also contributing to the sense of alienation and powerlessness among groups excluded from the world it portrayed

penicillin discovery

-in 1928, Alexander Fleming discovered antibacterial properties of penicillin; group of researchers at Oxford directed by Howard Flori and Ernest chain learn how to produce stable potent penicillin in sizable enough quantities to make it a practical weapon against bacterial disease; first trials dramatically successful but progress stalled because World War II; America takes crucial steps in developing methods for the mass production and commercial distribution of penicillin which became widely available to doctors and hospitals by 1948; bacterial infections now magma successfully treated of all human illnesses

detonation of the hydrogen bomb

-in 1952 US successfully detonates first hydrogen bomb; derives power from fusion and capable of producing explosions of vastly greater power than earlier fission bombs -development of hydrogen bomb gave considerable impetus to stalled scientific project in US an soviet union: effort to develop unmanned rockets and missiles capable of carrying new weapons that were not suitable for planes to targets; both nations put tremendous resources into it and US benefits from emigration to america of some of german scientists who helped with rocketry during WWII

Teheran Meeting

-in November 1943, Roosevelt and Churchhill travel to Teheran Iran for a first meeting with Stalin; Roosevelts most Effective bargaining tool of soviet's need for American assistance against Germany was removed and the German advance against Russia had been halted so Soviet forces were now launching their own westward offensive -teheran conference seemed a success and Roosevelt and Stalin establish a cordial personal relationship; Stalin agreed to American request that Soviet union enter the war in the Pacific soon after end of hostilities in Europe and Roosevelt promised in Anglo American second front would be established within six months -tehran conference: failed to determine the future of occupied poland, postponing decision to a later meeting; start disagreeing here and FDR doesn't want to jeopardize relationship with stalin so pushes it off

beginning of korean war

-intervention in korea was first expression of newly expansive american foreign policy outlined in NSC-68 but quickly goes beyond and decided war would be an ffort not simply at containment but also at liberation; after surprise US invasion at inchon routed N korean forces from S and sent them back, truman gave macarthur permission to pursue communists into their own territory in effort to create unified independent and democratic korea

the nuclear age 0-

-looming over political, eco, and diplo struggles was image of nuclear bombs in japan ... both fear, awe, and expectation; postwar culture town in many ways bc dark image of nuclear war they feared, but also bright image of dazzling tech future of atomic power -fear of nuclear weapons found in pop culture... film noir was kind of filmmaking from france that portrayed loneliness of individuals in impersonal world and suggested the mancing character of the age, the looming possibility of vast destruction; some address nuclear fear explicitly like the twilight zone which portrays nuclear war or comic books which show superheroes saving world -images resonated with public bc awareness of nuclear weapons increasingly build into daily lives; schools and offices had regular drills, radio stations test emergency broadcast, fallout shelters spring up; america = filled with anxiety -US also exuberant nation tho, dazzled by own prosperity and excited about tech innovations changing world; among innovations is nuclear power which could lead to dazzling future and ⅔ thing atomic energy would do more good than harm; nuclear pwr plants spring up giving cheap and unlimited electricity, with potential dangers scarcely even discussed by those who celebrate creation of atomic power

the rise of the modern west

-no rgn of country profited more from eco growth than american W; pop expanded dramatically, cities boomed, ind eco flourished -by 1960s some parts of west had become among most important industrial and cultural centers of the nation; much of growth of W results of fed spending and investment (dams, highways, etc) and on military contracts that continued to flow disproportionately to factories in CA and TX -other factors also play role,,, huge increase in automobile ise after WWII gave lg stimulus to the petroleum industry and contributed to rapid growth of oil field in TX and CO and metropolitan areas serving them of houston,dallas, and denver -state govts in west invest heavily in universities and UT and UC systems become among nations largest and best as centers of research and helped attract tech intensive industries to the rgn -climate also contributes to eco growth; CA, NV, AZ attract migrants from E bc warm and dry; growth of LA after WWII v remarkable and more than 10% of all new business between 45-50 were in LA; pop rose by over 50%

crusade against subversion

-no single definitive explanation on why ppl develop internal fear of communism -one factor is obvious... had tangible hape in stalin and soviet union; america encountered setbacks against its battle in stalemate, the loss of china, and soviet development of atomic bomb -many search for someone to blame and were attracted to idea of a communist conspiracy within US -other factors rooted in US domestic policies

nuclear arms race with soviet union

-nuclear arms race with soviet union; development of H bombs which soviet follow up with in a yr (we were spied on and plans stolen and given to soviet union); H bomb must more massive and destructive

the Korean War

-on june 24,150, armies of communist north korea invade pro western half of peninsula to south; within days occupied much of S korea including seoul; US immediately commits itself to defeating N Korean offensive and nations first military engagement of cold war

origins of the space program

-origins of US space program can be traced most directly to event in 1957 when soviets announced that it launched earth orbiting satellite sputnik into space; US govt reacts with alarm as tho it was massive american failure and fed policy began encouraging strenuous efforts to improve scientific edu in schools, create research labs, and adobe all speed development of US exploration of space; launch first satellite explorer I in jan 1958 -centerpiece of space exploration became manned space program est in 1958 thru creation of agency the National Aeronautics and Space Admin (NASA) and thru selection of astronauts who became among nations most revered heroes -Space program, like the military development of missiles, gave tremendous space to American aeronautics industry and was responsible for development of many technologies that prove valuable in other areas

pesticides

-other scientists developing new kinds of chemical pesticides which they hoped would protect crops from distraction by insects and protect humans from insect carry diseases as typhus and malaria -most famous of new pesticides known as DDT which was discovered by Swiss chemist Paul Mueller; found that DDT seemed harmless to human beans and other mammals but extremely toxic to insects; American scientist learn of discovery in 1942 just as army was grappling with insects born tropical diseases especially malaria and typhus that threatened American soldiers overseas during World War II -DDT seemed a godsend and was Used on a large scale in Italy in 1943 to 44 during Titus outbreak which helped to end; sprayed in mosquito infested areas of Pacific Islands where American troops fighting and no soldiers suffer any apparent Ella fax from sprains but incidence of malaria drops; DDD quickly gained reputation as a miraculous tool for controlling insects and saved thousands; scientist later discover it has long term toxic a fax on animals and humans

corporate merges and consolidation of the economy

-over 4000 corp merges take place in 1950s, and more than ever before relatively small # of lg scale orgs controlled enormous proportion of nations eco activity -particularly true in industries benefiting from govt defense spending; fed govt tended to award military contracts to a few lg corps; half of net corp income in nation going to 1/10 of corps -similar consolidation in agri eco; increasing mechanization reduced need for farm labor and agri workforce declined by more than half; mechanization also endangered family farm; relatively few can affort to buy and equip modern farm and much of nations productive land had been purchased by financial institutions and corps

new antibacterial drugs

-particularly important advance in medical science was development of new antibacterial drugs capable of fighting infections that impasse have been untreatable -development of antibiotics had origins and discovery of Louis past year and Jules Francis Joubert who produced first conclusive evidence that viral and bacterial infections can be defeated by other more ordinary bacteria; English physician Joseph Lister revealed value of anti-septic solutions in preventing infection during surgery -practical use of antibacterial agents to come back disease did not begin until decades later; in 1930s, scientist in Germany, France, and England demonstrate power of sulfa drugs which could be used effectively to treat streptococcal blood infections ; developed at astonishing rates and produce dramatic results in treating major cause of death

postwar computer technology

-prior to 1950s, computers constructed mainly to perform complicated mathematical tasks but in 1950s began to perform commercial functions for first time as data processing devices by businesses and other organizations first significant computer of 1950s was universal automatic computer which was first developed for a Remington rand company; first computer able to hand both alphabetical and numerical information easily and use tape storage and could perform calculations faster than predecessor ENIAC; Remington rand were searching for larger market than the census for a very expensive new device so arrange to use a Univac to predict results of the 1950 election for CBS TV that they thought would produce valuable publicity for machine -Univac accurately predicted any Normas landslide victory for Eisenhower over Stevenson and Univac television debut was critical breakthrough in public awareness of computer tech -Remington rand had a limited successIn marketing the Univac button mid-1950s, International Business Machines company introduce it's first major data processing computers and began to find wide market for them among businesses in US and abroad; early success is combine with enormous amount of money IBM invested in research and development made a company worldwide leader in computers for years

public unease due to three criminal trials

-public unease increased by three criminal trials involving espionage: -alger hiss (helps link democratic party to a communust actor) -klaus fuchs (confessed to and was convicted of passing nuclear secrets to the soviet union' -ethel and julius rosenburgs (convicted of passing on nuclear secrets KGB; first and only US citizens to be executed for espionage)

Casablanca Conference

-serious strains began to develop in alliance with Soviet union in January 1943 when Roosevelt and Churchhill meet in Casablanca to discuss allied strategies; leaders would not accept Stalin's most important demand of the immediate opening of a second front in Western Europe but tried to reassure Stalin they announcing that they would except nothing less than the conditional surrender of the axis powers saying that they would not negotiate separate peace with Hitler and leave Soviets to fight alone

space race: soviet vs us

-space race has a military tinge to it; soviets best us in launching of the r-7 rocket and sputnik -explorer 1 is first american artificial satellite launched by the jupiter c rocket

the inevitability of war

-stalin immediately violates the agreements made by est communist govts in many eastern european countries: albania, bulgaria, czech, hungary, romania, poland, yugoslavia -stalin wants defensive buffer against western europe -stalin says communist and capitalism are incompatible so they can't coexist peacefully... ultimately declaration of war

corruption in union bureaucracies

-success bred corruption and some union bureaucracies; in1957 teamsters union became the subject of congressional investigation and its president David back charge with misappropriation of union funds,; back steps down and replace with Jimmy Hofer who government investigators pursue for a decade and finally convicted of tax evasion; United mine workers who spearheaded industrial movement in 1930s became tainted by suspicions of corruption and violence and John our Lewises last year's as head of union were plagued with scandals and dissent within an organization; successor Tony boyle was convicted of complicity in 1969 murder of the leader of a dissident faction within the union

the importance of the automobile

-success of disneyland largely depending on ease of highway access from dense urban areas around it and vast parking lots; symbol of overwhelming influence of automobiles on US life and landscape in postwar eral nations pop increased by 50% but numbers of cars owned by 400% -highways dramatically reduced time necessary to travel and made trucking a more economical way than RR to transport goods to markets; made travel by car truck or bus as fast or faster than trains so trains decline -also encouraged movement of eco activities, esp manufacturing, out of cities and into suburban or rural areas where land was cheaper; decline of many traditional downtowns followed as many workers move outside urban core; rapid growth of edge cities and other new centers of industry and commerce outside traditional city centers -proliferation of cars and spread of highways also made it easier for fams to move into homes that were far away from where they worked; could have larger lots and houses; garages began to be built and suburban amenities like swingsets, bbqs, and priv pools become more common as backyards became focus of fam life -shift of travel from train to car helped launch tremendous proliferation of motels and first holiday inn opes along highway between memphis and nashville -drive in theaters spread rapidly after war and 4000 by 1958 -also transformed landscape of retailing; encouraged fast food chains which began with drive in restaurants; first drive in restaurant opened in dallas and white tower becomes first to create franchises; mcdonalds spread -lg supermarket chains catering to customers with cars replace small family owned markets and large shopping centers and malls moved the center of retailing out of cities and into widely separate complexes surround by large parking lots

the birth of television

-television, most powerful medium of mass communication in second half of 20 cent, was central to culture of postwar era -experiments in broadcasting as early as 1920s but commercial tv began only shortly after WWII; phenomenally rapid growth and almost as many sets as families; more ppl have tv than fridges -TV industry emerge directly out of the radio industry and all three of the major networks, the national Broadcasting company, the Columbia broadcasting company, and the American broadcasting company had started as radio companies; TV business was driven by advertising and need to attract advertisers determined most programming decisions; in early days, sponsors played direct powerful in continuing role in determining content of programs they chose to sponsor; many early TV shows for the names of corporations that were paying them and some daytime cereals were actually written and produced by Procter & Gamble and other companies

containment doctrine

A foreign policy strategy advocated by George Kennan that called for the United States to isolate the Soviet Union, "contain" its advances, and resist its encroachments by peaceful means if possible, but by force if necessary. -truman adopts doctrine of containment to prevent the spread beyond the USSR -first sig implementation of containment policy = greece and turkey which are susceptible to communism; decides to send monetary aid over military which rebuilds eco

virus treatment

-viruses are much more difficult to prevent and treat then bacterial infections and progress towards vaccines against viral infections besides small pox was relatively slow; not until 1930s when scientist discovered how to grow viruses in labs could researchers study them with any real effectiveness; gradually discovered how to produce forms a virus in capable of causing disease but I've tree green antibodies in vaccinated people that would prevent them from contracting; effective vaccine against yellow fever developed in 1930s and one against influence that appears in 1945 -particularly dramatic post were trying plus development of vaccine against polio; Jonas Salk in 1954 introduced effective vaccine against a virus and it was provided free to the public by the federal government beginning in 1955 after 1960, oral vaccine developed by Albert Saban made widespread vaccination even easier and by early 1960s, vaccines had virtually illuminated polio from American life and much of rest of worlds -as a result of advances, infant mortality and death rate among children declined significantly an averagel life expectancy rose by five years to 71

limited mobilization of korean war

-war in korea produced only limited military commitment so created only limited eco mobilization at home; govt did try to control wartime eco in several ways -first, truman set up office of defense mobilization to fight inflation by holding down prices and discouraging high union wage demands; these fail so pres takes more drastic action -when RR workers walk off job in 51, truman orders govt to seize RR which keeps trains running but had no effect on union demands and most workers ultimately get what they want -during 1952 steel strike, truman seized steel mill using commander in chief powers but Supreme court ruled he exceeded authority so had to relent -korean war gave sig boost to eco growth by pumping new govt funds into eco at point many thot succession would begin; as long stalemate continues, frustration turns to anger and many think that something must be deeply wrong within korea and US... contributed to rise of the second major campaign of the century against domestic communism

overall labor movement in 50s

-while labor movement enjoyed significant success in winning better wages and benefits for workers already organized and strong unions, majority of laborers who were unorganized made fewer advances -total union membership remained relatively stable at about 16 million which was part of a result of shift in the workforce from blue-collar to white-collar jobs but also results of new obstacles to organization; 1947 Taft Hartley act and the state right to work laws made it more difficult to form many unions; CIO launched major organizing drive in the south shortly after World War II targeting the poorly paid workers in textile mills but operation Dixie was failure as are most other organizing drives

working women in 50s

-women who could afford not to work faced pressures to remain home and concentrate in raising kids but as expectations of material comfort rose, many middle class fams needed second income for desired salary... number of married women working outside the home actually increased in post war years eve tho pressure to stay home grew; by 1960, ½ of all married women were part of paid workforce

Yalta Conference

1945 Meeting with US president FDR, British Prime Minister(PM) Winston Churchill, and and Soviet Leader Stalin during WWII to plan for post-war -Churchhill Roosevelt and Stalin meet at peace conference in Soviet city of Yalta in February 1945 -reach agreements on a number of issues and in return for Stalin's renewed promise to enter the Pacific war, Roosevelt agreed that the Soviet union should receive some of the territory in the Pacific that Russia has lost in the 1904 Russo Japanese war -negotiators also agreed to a plan for a new international organization that had been hammered out in conference at the Dumbarton Oaks estate in DC -New United Nations would contain a general assembly in which every member would be represented and a security council with permanent representatives of the five major powers (US, Britain, France, Soviet union, China) and temporary delegates from several other nations -agreements became basis of the united nations charter which was drafted at conference of 50 nations in SF; US Senate ratified charter in July by vote of 80 to 2 -on other issues, Yalta conference produced no real accord; basic disagreement remained about postwar Polish government and Stalin whose armies now occupied Poland had already installed government composed of the pro communist Lublin poles; Roosevelt and Churchhill insist on pro western London polls must be allowed a place in the Warsaw regime and Roosevelt envisioned a government based on free democratic elections; Stalin agreed only to very compromise with unspecified number of pro western polls and reluctantly consented to hold free and unfettered elections in Poland on an unspecified future date which don't take place for 50 years -No agreement about the future of Germany; Roosevelt wanted a reconstructed and reunited Germany and Stalin wanted to impose hubby reparations on Germany and ensure a permanent dismemberment of the nation; final agreement was vague and unstable and decision on reparations would be referred to a future commission; US, Great Britain, and Soviets would each control its own zone of occupation in Germany which were determined by position of troops at end of war -because of symbolic importance of Berlin, it was divided into four sections, one for each nation and at unspecified date, Germany would be reunited but there was no agreement on how the reunification would occur -conference produced a murky cord on the establishment of governments throughout rest of Europe based on broadly representative of all democratic elections and responsible to the well of the people -Yalta acords were less a settlement of postwar issues then a set of loose principles that side stepped the most difficult questions -all 3 leaders return home convinced they each had signed an important agreement but soviets interpretation of the records difference so sharply from American interpretation that illusion endured only briefly and in weeks that follow, Roosevelt wash with alarm as Soviet union move systematically to establish pro communist governments in one central or eastern European nation after another and refused to make changes in Poland

Roosevelt death

1945; Roosevelt did not abandon hope and goes to Georgia for vacation where he suffers massive stroke and dies -truman takes his place

Truman Doctrine

1947, President Truman's policy of providing economic and military aid to any country threatened by communism or totalitarian ideology, mainly helped Greece and Turkey -policy of providing eco support to free nations threatened by communism

McCarran Internal Security Act

1950 - Required Communists to register and prohibited them from working for the government. Truman described it as a long step toward totalitarianism. Was a response to the onset of the Korean war.

alger hiss

A former State Department official who was accused of being a Communist spy and was convicted of perjury. The case was prosecuted by Richard Nixon. in 1948, Whitaker Chamber a former communist who had turned against party and became editor at Time Mag told committee that Hiss had passed classified state docs through him to the soviet union in 1937 and 1938; hiss sues him for slander and chamber produces microfilms of the documents; hiss cant be tried for espionage due to statute of limitations but largely bc efforts of Richard Nixon, hiss was convicted of perjury and several yrs in prison; hiss case discredited him and cast suspicion on a generation of liberal dems and made it possible for many to believe that communists actually infiltrated the govt

Joseph McCarthy

1950s; Wisconsin senator claimed to have list of communists in American gov't, but no credible evidence; took advantage of fears of communism post WWII to become incredibly influential; "McCarthyism" was the fearful accusation of any dissenters of being communists -Joseph McCarthy was relatively understand wish first term republican senator from Wisconsin when burst to national prominence in February 1950 -in speech, raised sheet of paper and claim to hold a list of 205 known communist currently working in the American state department; largest charge against the federal government and continues to repeat and expand his accusations so became most prominent leader of the crusade against domestic subversion -within weeks of the charges against the state department, McCarthy leveling accusations at other agencies and conducted highly publicized investigations of subversion in many areas of the government after 1952 when Republicans control the Senate and McCarthy was the chairman of a special subcommittee -had ambitious assistance Roy con and David schine -senator belligerently and often Krully badgered witnesses and destroyed public careers; never produced solid evidence of actual communist subversion but a growing constituency adored him still for his course and fearless assaults on government establishment that many considered arrogant elitist and even traitorous -republicans particularly rally to his claims that the Democrats have been responsible for 20 years of treason and that only change of parties can read country of subversion; McCarthy provided his followers with an issue into which they could channel a wide range of resentments: fear of communism, animosity towards countries eastern establishment, and frustrated Partisan ambitions -McCarthy intimidated all but a few people from opposing him; in 1952 election even highly popular Eisenhower did not speak against him even though he disliked his tactics and was out raged at the fact that he attacked General George Marshall -mccarthy begins to try to target military personnel bc ran out of ppl to target; this fails miserably bc has they have highly documented life and he has no evidence; mccarthy begins losing public support and eventually senate censures him for improper conduct

Shelley v Kraemer

A 1948 Supreme Court decision that outlawed restrictive covenants on the occupancy of housing developments by African Americans, Asian Americans, and other minorities. Because the Court decision did not actually prohibit racial discrimination in housing, unfair practices against minority groups continued until passage of the Fair Housing Act in 1968. -supreme court signals own growing awareness of issue by ruling in shelley v kraemer that the courts couldnt be used to enforce private covenants meant to bar blacks from residential neighborhoods

communist control act

A 1954 act denying legal rights to the Communist party -most unconstitutional; criminalizes membership in communist action organization

the marshall plan

A United States program of economic aid for the reconstruction of Europe (1948-1952) -integral part of containment policy = proposal to aid eco reconstruction of W europe; many motives... humanitarian concern for euro ppl, fear euro would remain an eco grain on US, desire for strong euro market for US goods; above all, policymakers believe that unless something can be done to strengthen the shaky pro american govts in W europe, those govts might fall under control of rapidly growing domestic communist parties -sec of state george C marshall announced plan to provide eco assistance to all euro nations that would join in drafting program for recovery -russia and eastern satellites quickly reject plan but 16 W euro nations eagerly participated -domestic opp largely vanished after sudden coup in czechoslovakia that est soviet dom communist govt in feb 1948 -congress approved creation of eco cooperation admin, agency that would administer the marshall plan in april -over next 3 years, marshall plan channels 12 bill of american aid into europe sparking substantial eco revival and by end of 1950, euro industrial production rose 64%, communist strength decline, ad opps for american trade revived -provided 13 billion to 16 nations of europe to rebuild and revive their economies; basically building markers for ourselves

House Un-American Activities Committee

A congressional committee created to search out disloyal Americans & Communists. -much of anticomm furor emerged out of the republicans partys search for issue with which to attack the dems and dems efforts to stifle that issue -beg in 1947, the house un-american activities committee held widely publicized investigations to prove that under dem rule, the govt had tolerated communist subversion; committee first turns to movie industry arguing that communists had infiltrated hollywood -more alarming to public was HUAC's investigation into charges of disloyalty levels against former high ranking member of st department Alger Hiss -HUAC investigates alleged subversive behavior in private citizens

CIA

Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) is a civilian intelligence agency of the United States government. Its primary function is obtaining and analyzing information about foreign governments, corporations, and persons in order to advise public policymakers -USSR responds to CIA with KGB

election of 1952

A race between Dwight D. Eisenhower for the republicans and Adlai Stevenson for the democrats. Eisenhower won in a landslide. -public frustration over stalemate in Korea and popular fears of internal subversion combined to make 1952 bad year for democratic party -Truman decides not to run again because unpopularity greatly diminished and party united instead behind governor Adlai E Stevenson who's dignity, wit, and eloquence made him beloved figure too many liberals and intellectuals republicans charge that Stevenson locked the strength or the world to come back communism sufficiently and McCarthy describes him as soft -Stevenson's greatest problem was the Republican candidate opposing him; Republicans turn to man who had no previous identification with the party: general Dwight D Eisenhower, military hero, commander of NATO, president of Columbia university; Eisenhower why nomination with the first ballot and chose as his running mate Richard M Nixon, the man who gay national prominence the crusade against Algar Hiss -Eisenhower and Nixon were powerful combination and while Eisenhower track and support through his geniality and statesman like pledges to settle the Korean conflict, Nixon effectively explored the issue of communist aversion; after surviving early accusations of financial improprieties Nixon went on to launch harsh attacks on democratic cowardice, appeasement, and treason -Eisenhower wins both popular and electoral vote by a landslide with 442 to 89; republicans gain control of both houses of Congress for only a second time in two decades and election of 1952 and did 20 years of democratic government; also sing will be end of some of the worst turbulence of the postwar era

Taft-Hartley Act

Act passed in 1947 that put increased restrictions on labor unions. Also, it allowed states to pass "right to work" laws: prohibited "union" shop (= workers must join union after being hired). It also prohibited secondary boycotts and established that the President has power to issue injections in strikes that endangered national health & safety ("cooling off" period) -most notable action of the new Congress was the sole on the Wagner act of 1935; conservatives always resented new power still legislation had granted unions and result of resentments is the labor-management relations act of 1947 or the Taft Hartley act; made illegal the so-called close shop and although it continued to permit the creation of so-called union shops in which workers must join a union after being hired, it permitted states to pass right to work laws prohibiting even that; repealing this provision, the controversial section 14 B would remain a goal of the labor movement for decades and outraged workers and unions denounce the measure as a slave labor bill; trim video but Senate and House overturn -Taft Hartley act did not destroy the labor movement as union leaders predicted by dead damage weaker unions in relatively lightly organize industries like chemicals and textiles and made it more difficult to organize the workers who have never been union members at all especially women, minorities, and most in south

the fair deal

An economic extension of the New Deal proposed by Harry Truman that called for higher minimum wage, housing and full employment. It led only to the Housing Act of 1949 and the Social Security Act of 1950 due to opposition in congress. -after Japanese surrender, Truman submits to Congress a 21 point domestic program outlining what he later termed the fair deal called for expansion of Social Security benefits, the raising of the legal -minimum-wage from $.40-$.65 an hour, a program to ensure full employment through aggressive use of federal spending and investment, a permanent fair employment practices act, public housing and slam clearance, long range environmental and public works planning, and government promotion of scientific research -later as other proposals like federal aid to funding for St. Lawrence seaway, nationalization of atomic energy, and most importantly national health insurance (dream for welfare state liberals) -President was declaring an end to the war time moratorium of liberal reform

atomic energy commission

Created in 1946 to oversee the research and production of atomic power. -atomic energy commission became supervisory body charged w overseeing all nuclear research, both civilian and militarily and in 1950 truman admin approved development of new hydrogen bomb, far more powerful than others

Federal Highway Act of 1956

Federal legislation signed by Dwight D. Eisenhower to construct thousands of miles of modern highways in the name of national defense. Officially called the National Interstate and Defense Highways Act, this bill dramatically increased the move to the suburbs, as white middle-class people could more easily commute to urban jobs. -most significant legislative accomplishment of the Eisenhower administration this was largest Public Works project in American history and program was to be funded through Highway trust fund whose revenues would come from new taxes on the purchase of fuel, automobiles, trucks, tires

ICBMs

Inter Continental Ballistic Missile. They have the power to shoot a missile from one country to another. This makes it easier to attack a country without getting to close to them. -in US early missile research conducted almost entirely by air force; sig early successes capable of traveling 100s of miles by US and Soviet leaders both struggling ot build longer range missiles that could cross oceans and continents (ICBMs) -american scientists experiment w first the Atlas and then Titan ICBM -many setbacks bc of difficulty of massing sufficient stable fuel to provide tremendous power needed to launch missiles into atmosphere -new generation known as the Minuteman with range of 1000 miles became basis of american atomic arsenal -also develop nuclear missile capable of being carried and fired by subs ; polaris could launch below surface and 1st successful = 1960

rosenberg case

Involved Julius and Ethel Rosenberg who were American communists. They were executed for passing nuclear weapons secrets to the USSR. -successful Soviet detonation of a nuclear weapon in 1949 convinced many people that there had been a conspiracy to pass American atomic secrets to the Russians; klaus fuchs a British scientists confirmed fears when he testified that he had delivered to the Russians details of the manufacture of the bomb; case ultimately settles on an obscure New York couple Julius and Ethel Rosenberg who were members of the communist party whom the federal government claimed had been the mastermind of the conspiracy -case against the Rosenbergs rests in large part on testimony by Ethel's brother David green glass a machinist who had worked on the Manhattan project; green gas admits to channeling secret information to the Soviet union through other agents and claimed that the Rosenbergs orchestrated the espionage; Rosenburgs sentence to death

NASA

National Aeronautics and Space Administration -NASA's initial effort the mercury project was designed to launch manned vehicles into space to orbit earth; alan shepard became first american launched into space but comes month after soviet yuri gagarin; john lenn becomes first to orbit globe and NASA later introduced gemini program whose spacecraft could carry 2 at once -Mercury and Gemini were followed by the Apollo program, whose purpose was to land man on the moon; had some catastrophic setbacks most notably a fire in January 1967 that killed three; on July 20, 1969, Neil Armstrong, Edwin Aldrin, and Michael Collins successfully traveled in space capsule into orbit around moon and Armstrong and Aldren then detached and land on the moon to become first humans to walk on body other than earth; six more missions follow but government began to cut funding for missions and popular enthusiasm began to wane

nsc-68

National Securtiy Council memo #68 US "strive for victory" in cold war, pressed for offensive and a gross increase ($37 bil) in defense spending, determined US foreign policy for the next 20-30 yrs -truman calls for thorough review of US foreign policy due to escalating crisis... result = national security council report issued in 1950 known as NSC-68 which outlined shift in US position; first statements of containment doctrine made at least some distinctions between areas of vital interest to US and less importance but april 1950 doc argue US couldn't rely on other nations to take initiative in resisting communism and must itself est firm and active leadership in noncommunist world and must stop communist expansion anywhere regardless; report calls for major expansion of military power with defense budget 4x more -a comprehensive review of US military capability; report includes following: enhance nuclear stockpile, recommended diversion of funds to defense purposes, advocated conducting offensive operations to inhibit soviet war making capacity

Berlin blockade

The blockade was a Soviet attempt to starve out the allies in Berlin in order to gain supremacy. The blockade was a high point in the Cold War, and it led to the Berlin Airlift. The Road to NATO -US moving to strengthen military capabilities of W europe -truman convinced reconstructed germany was essential to hopes of the west so reached agreements with england and france to merge the 3 western zones of occupation into new W german republic (including berlin zones); stalin responds fast and imposes tight blockade around W sectors of berlin; implied that if germany was to be officially divided, they would need to abandon outpost in soviet controlled zone but truman refused -unwilling to risk war thru military challenge so ordered massive airlift to supply the city with food, fuel, etc ... kept city of 2 mill alive and transformed W berlin into symbol of W resolve to resist communist expansion -flights conducted around the clock for 327 days; 277,000 flights, transported 2.3 million tons of material; wildly successful and makes Stalin look bad so has to lift blockade -in spring 1949 stalin lifts the blockade and in oct division of germany into 2 nations - fed rep of W and dem rep of E becomes official