Presenters: Stella Kim Ashley Lee Freddalicia Escobar Christian Uriarte :]

The invention of transistor expanded the technology field immensely. As a result, the rise of new technology carried the U.S. out of the industrial era. With the prosperity of the era, the prevailing social attitude was one of belief in science, technology, progress, and futurism. Effects of Affluence

In 1955 Disneyland opened in Anaheim, California. Fast food became extremely popular. Television was the new uprising technology in the fifties and every American had at least one television in their house. Sports played a big role in American life. The New York giants moved to San Francisco and the Brooklyn dodgers moved to Los Angeles creating a movement of population towards the West and South. Consumer Culture in the fifties

Black population: 15 million (1950) Segregated by Jim Crow laws : “whites only”& “colored only” schools, restrooms, theaters, drinking fountains, bus seats, etc. Blacks were economically inferior and politically powerless Segregation

Jackie Robinson breaks the racial barrier (1947) – 1 st African American player in major league team President Truman integrates armed forces and introduces civil rights legislation (1948) The Great African American Migration: African Americans move to urban areas/cities in North and South for jobs Changing attitudes due to Cold War: fight against communism accentuated democracy and freedom Origins of Civil Rights Movement

Brown decision (Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka): May 1954 – NAACP lawyers like Thurgood Marshall and Chief Justice Earl Warren overturned the 1896 Plessy v. Ferguson decision – “separate but equal” nine African American students attend Little Rock Central High School in Arkansas with armed protection Desegregation

Montgomery Bus Boycott: Rosa Parks gets arrested from refusing to move from “whites only” seat; Supreme Court rules that segregation laws are unconstitutional. Martin Luther King Jr. forms Southern Christian Leadership Conference in 1957 – “sit in” movement on February 1, 1960 at whites only Woolworth’s lunch counter; inspired others to do “sit in” movements in libraries, pools, etc. Nonviolent Protests

February 1, 1960: African American students protest in whites only Woolworth’s lunch counter. SCLC “Sit in” movement

In the early 1950s, Western Europe seemed secure thanks to the Marshall Plan and NATO; however, in Southeast Asia the situation was different The Vietnamese leader, Ho Chi Minh, had tried to appeal personally to Woodrow Wilson in Paris as early as 1919 to support self-determination for the people of Southeast Asia. However, the Cold War soon changed his views as he started to lean more towards communism. At the same time, the U.S became more anti-communist. The Vietnam Nightmare

Despite French fears, Germany was eventually welcomed into the NATO in 1955 This is connected to the political area since it strengthened the unity of the nations that had joined together, despite the fears that arose on the inside. Still, they were all fighting for the same cause. Cold War Crises in Europe & the Middle East

President Eisenhower was running against Adlai Stevenson in the elections of Democrats tried to find ways to attack the general in a time of prosperity & peace, but the voters made clear that they still liked Ike. Round Two for Ike

Eisenhower piled up an enormous majority of 35,590,472 popular votes, to Stevenson's 26,022,752. The same way in electoral college votes, the count was unbalanced 457 to 73

The president put his effort into labor & legislation, since congressional investigations produced scandalous revelations of gangsters, fraud, & brass-knuckles tactics in many American unions. Such investigations led to Eisenhower to persuade the congress to pass the Landrum-Griffin Act. The Soviets jump in technology in 1957 worried Americans as they began to doubt the American scientific superiority leading to the rise of military questions.

This led to a "Rocket Fever" that swept the nation completely and led to the establishment of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA); directing billions of dollars to missile development. The sputnik success led to critical comparisons of the American educational system, but congress rejected the demands for federal scholarships. However, in 1958, the National Defense & Education Act (NDEA) authorized $887 million in loans to needy college students & grants for the improvement of teaching the sciences and languages.

Bailey, Thomas A., Cohen, Lizabeth, and Kennedy, David M.The American Pageant. Thirteenth. Boston: Charles Hartford, Print. Newman, John J. and Schmalbach, John M.United States History Preparing for the Advanced Placement Examination. Second. AMSCO School Publications, Print. Works Cited