Notes on Cold War Culture “1950s America”
Watch the video and identify 3 characteristics of life in America in the 1950s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a4TLSBolPVc
The end of WWII led to an era of wealth & spending in the 1950s: The war stimulated the economy & ended the Great Depression The economic boom allowed Americans to enjoy the highest standard of living in the world
Consumerism returned in the 1950s because for the 1st time since the 1920s Americans had money and access to consumer goods
Baby Boom: dramatic inc birthrates following WWII (1946-1964) Effect: Levittown – the first postwar suburb (Long, Island, NY) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OApZePeJSdU Q) Write down 3 ways the houses were made so cheaply
2. Effect: Pres. Esienhower’s Interstate Highway Act created 41,000 miles of new highway to connect major cities
Television Impacts society by modeling social values & the ideal Americans I Love Lucy Superman Davy Crockett “Bonanza” “Leave it to Beaver”
2. TV & Political Influence Senator Joseph McCarthy: Claimed to have list of known communists in state department Targets: government employees, Hollywood entertainers, educators, union activists Red Scare witch hunts https://www.youtube.com/w atch?v=RGsnolpHr0A&inde x=22&list=PLfSJcPVp3MW ylzqElzEuujby6kflGolj5&t=4 s
Hollywood used aliens as a metaphor for whom ?? ii. Popular movies reflect the fears of the time “Invasion of the Body Snatchers” “The Blob” https://www.youtube.com/w atch?v=baoC7F7EWn4 Hollywood used aliens as a metaphor for whom ?? (HINT: look at the colors) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TdUsyXQ8Wrs
iii. Presidential debates (Kennedy / Nixon, 1960) http://www.history.com/topics/us-presidents/presidential-elections/videos/the-first-jfk-nixon-debate Q) Write down 2 ways that Nixon lost the debate OR how Kennedy won it? iv. Civil Rights Movement – shows violence in South
Cold War’s Impact on technology Space Race US develops hydrogen bomb map location of testing site https://www.google.com/maps/place/Bikini+Atoll,+Marshall+Islands/@11.6038666,165.1038531,10z/data=!3m1!4b1!4 m2!3m1!1s0x644c2180a24fadbf:0x4c3f21ce9753a027?hl=en Binki Atoll testing https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-l6Q8Q1smwg Soviets launch Sputnik: orbiting satellite US (Neil Armstrong) lands on the moon (1969)
July 1969 https://www. youtube. com/watch. v=cwZb2mqId0A https://www
b. Computers, televisions, remote phones, & air conditioning i. AC = increased migration to the Sunbelt
I’m gonna make bigger and better guns than you!!! HA!
Cold War’s impact on education… NASA – National Aeronautic Space Administration National Defense of Education Act of 1958: improve science and math in schools to defeat Soviets
Cold War’s impact on daily Life Atomic Anxieties: “Duck-and-Cover Generation” 2. Atomic Testing: 1946-1962 → U. S. exploded 217 nuclear weapons over Pacific and in Nevada.
Red Scare: “Bert the Turtle” teaches kids how to duck and cover https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IKqXu-5jw60
Time Out 37. What was the Baby Boom? 38. What was Levittown? 39. What was the Interstate Highway Act? 40. How are the items above related?
Time Out 14. Who was Joseph McCarthy? 15. What kind of accusations did he make? 16. What is the Red Scare? 17. How was the Red Scare of the 1940s and 1950s different from the Red Scare in 1919? (look back to unit 6)
Time Out 41. What impact did TV have on the American family in the 1950s? 42. What impact did TV have on the 1960 Presidential election?
Time Out 43. How has the development of the personal computer and air conditioning changed American society? 44. What was Sputnik? 45. What impact did the launch of Sputnik have on American society? 46. What did the launching of Sputnik start?
Crash Course Cold War Overview: https://www. youtube. com/watch