Soviets take the lead  Oct The Soviets are the first to put a satellite into outer space  Called Sputnik  Sputnik was no larger than a beach ball  4 antennae  It was shiny, so you could see it from earth  It transmitted sound so it could be heard  Otherwise, it didn’t do much else

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U.S. Reaction  People were filled with astonishment and fear  No one knew what it was capable of doing  Afraid it could shoot an atomic warhead.

 The U.S. tries to launch a satellite too, but it fails: Vanguard=Flopnik

Affects on American Culture  The government wanted math and science to be more important at schools  More money put into education  Students take more math and science courses!

Man on the Moon  July, 1969 – The U.S. puts a man on the moon  Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin were the first humans to walk on the moon  6% of Americans believe it was a hoax 28% of Russians believe it was a hoax All Cubans are taught it was a hoax

Question:  Who was the first to take the lead in the space race?  Do you think the moon landing was a hoax? Why or why not?

The Soviets Create A Bomb  The Soviets originally had trouble developing a bomb because they had no material: uranium or plutonium  Sept – The Soviet Union develops their own atomic bomb  This triggers a wave of fear in the U.S.

5:47  The Soviets develop the bomb because of spies leaking plans to them  The Soviets find uranium in Czechoslovakia, which they controlled

McCarthy

Joseph McCarthy  Republican Senator of Wisconsin  Conservative  Claimed that President Truman and the democratic party were in league with the Communists  Claimed to have a list of 205 “known Communists” serving in the State Dept.

McCarthyism  Joseph McCarthy led the nation in its “witch hunt” for Americans with communist ideas  He really believed that communist had infiltrated American society  Targeted most liberals, Protestants, Jews, entertainment, and political opponents  A majority of the public believed him

McCarthyism  Led to the House of Un-American Activites Committee in charge of investigating all suspects  Held trials in which people were questioned about their political beliefs  Many people’s careers were ruined (especially Hollywood)  The play “The Crucible” is an allegory of this period

McCarthyism  People turned on their friends and co-workers  The hysteria called the “Red Scare”  McCarthy accused the Army of having Communists  1 st Publicized hearings of this – televised

Truman  “It is now evident that the present Administration has fully embraced, for political advantage, McCarthyism. I am not referring to the Senator from Wisconsin. He is only important in that his name has taken on the dictionary meaning of the word. It is the corruption of truth, the abandonment of the due process law. It is the use of the big lie and the unfounded accusation against any citizen in the name of Americanism or security. It is the rise to power of the demagogue who lives on untruth; it is the spreading of fear and the destruction of faith in every level of society.”

End of the Hysteria   1:00  Showed McCarthy as a paranoid and as a bully  Public opinion reversed  Congress censures McCarthy

Vocabulary  Allegory – literary device in which characters or events represent or symbolize ideas or concepts  Subversive – An attack on the public morale, or any action intended to overthrow or undermine an established government  Censure – to issue an official reprimand

 What do you think of Joseph McCarthy?  Why do you think that?  Draw a piece of propaganda that might have been seen at the time.