1. The Cold War Culture in America

2. Arms Race The destructiveness of the atomic bomb was well known by all
Both America and Soviet Union used nukes as chess pieces during different times of the cold war
Leads to the Great Arms Race: Both Sides create nukes by the thousands

3. The Atomic Era Fear of Total Destruction
Late 1940s, USSR successfully test an H-Bomb
700 times more powerful than A-bomb
Threat of total destruction
Paranoia and panic surround the cold war

4. Civil Defense Programs
Atomic Bomb in popular culture- Civil Defense programs like “Duck and Cover.”
Other drills were made mandatory

6. “Duck and Cover”
Duck and Cover!

7. Fallout Shelters Found in many cities like New York
Safe houses from nuclear radiation
Nuclear Fallout Video Clip

8. Personal Bomb Shelters

9. Home Bomb Shelter
Home bomb shelter, Garden City Long Island

10. Fallout Shelter Video Clips
Denver Model Homes with Fallout Shelters
Do it yourself Fallout Shelter
The Fallout Shelter: Protecting People from Radiation

11. The Cold War at home- The Red Scare
Who’s a “Commie”?
Mass paranoia of internal Communists plots to take over America
Fear of Communism ran rampant
1947-Federal Loyalty Program
FBI background checks on federal employees
Video Clip

12. HUAC 1938 HUAC- House Un-American Activities Committee
Investigate communists in the entertainment industry
1947- Hollywood 10 put on trial and blacklisted after hearings
Freedom of Speech?

13. Spies Julius and Ethel Rosenberg
Couple charged with conspiracy to commit espionage and accused of passing secrets to Russians
Found guilty and executed in 1953
Only Cold War spies ever executed in U.S. History
Today, evidence proves Julius’s guilt and Ethel’s innocence
Let this be a worthy tribute to the memory of those people. Let my words serve as an expression of gratitude to those who sacrificed their lives to a great cause of the Soviet state at a time when the U.S. was using its advantage over our state to blackmail our state and undermine its proletarian cause...“[ - Stalin

14. Conformity
No one wanted to be accused of being a communist, communist sympathizer or supporter
People put on the perfect life to be very conservative
The more you conformed to the American ideal, the safer you were

15. The McCarthy Witch Hunts
Sen. Joseph McCarthy from Wisconsin
In 1950 he went on a witch hunt accusing over 200 people in the government and armed forces of being communists
Mostly false accusations
Many lives were ruined
Video Clip

16. McCarthyism Name calling: “Commie” and “Pinko”
Hearings were unfair, speedy, and devastating
Many found guilty by accusation and no evidence
Senator was eventually proved wrong but the damage was already done
1954: Censured by the Senate
He lost credibility and power
1957: Died ruined and humiliated

17. Was Tailgunner Joe paranoid or was he on to something?
On to Something? – many influential Americans did have ties to communist organizations
But this usually occurred in the 1930s when fascism was a bigger threat
USSR did have a spy network which allowed them to develop an atomic bomb (1949) & a hydrogen bomb (1954)
Julius & Ethel Rosenberg convicted of treason and executed
Controversial decision at the time
Paranoid? – no responsible effort to separate fact from fiction
1954 – McCarthy accused the US Army of being overrun by commies
Provoked Eisenhower to launch an investigation into McCarthy

18. Senator Joseph McCarthy
All Write:
What is your opinion of Joe McCarthy?
Was he on a crusade to protect the US from communists? or
Was he on a witch hunt to further his own career?

19. Freedom of Speech takes a hit
Hollywood Ten
Blacklisted
People were fired for connections and associating with groups on Attorney generals list
All walks of life-Teachers, Librarians, mail carriers, electricians, construction workers

20. The Space Race Begins: Sputnik
1957- Soviets sent the first spacecraft into outer space
Sputnik, a satellite, caused a tremendous stir in the US
Nuke from space?

21. Sputnik sparks Space Race
If they can do it, why can’t we?
It started the Space Race and the creation of NASA in 1958
Space race Video Clip 1
Space race Video Clip 2

22. Change in schools and funding
Called for changes in all schools
National Defense Education Act- (NDEA)
NDEA was instituted primarily:
Math and Sciences
Low-interest loans to students
Federal Government insists on science and math – shift away from humanities and arts

23. Today’s Benefits to the Space Race
NASA 1958
Technology
Gave birth to the digital revolution
Transistor

24. Cold War Culture
Cold war culture developed in the US in response to this
Everything revolved around the threat of the Commies and total world destruction
Pop-culture and the Cold war- Books, movies, TV, songs, etc.

25. 1950s Movies
…reflect Cold War Fears!

26. The Baby Boom
The baby boom, or rise in birth rates, that had begun in the 1940s continued into the 1950s.

27. The Economic Boom! Wartime savings – money to spend!
Consumer demand spurs economic growth!
By 1955 – US produces half of world’s goods
Incomes rise (twice as much as the 20s)

28. The GI Bill
Provided returning soldiers opportunities to higher education that they otherwise would not have had
Free Books
Tuition
Stipend
GROWTH OF WHITE COLLAR JOBS!

29. Changes in the Work force
White Collar Workers
Corporate expansion
Office work was less dangerous and exhausting than factory work, and provided more opportunity for advancement.
White collar workers often had little connection to their companies’ products, and often felt pressure to dress, think, and act alike.
Blue Collar Workers
New machines reduced the number of manual labor-intensive jobs.
Working conditions and wages improved.
Labor Unions grow! All time high in membership

30. Suburbs, Cars, and Highways
The GI Bill of Rights ALSO provided low-income mortgages, enabling many to buy homes in newly built suburbs.
Same house, prefabricated materials, built quickly and cheaply
Levittown

31. Interstate Highway System
Connect Major Cities (and Defence Installations)
Easy to move troops and weapons if necessary
Rest Areas
No traffic lights or railroad crossings

32. Changes in the way we spend!
From Main Street
to shopping mall

33. From restaurant
to fast food!

34. From Radio…
To Television!
The Honeymooners
I Love Lucy

35. All Purpose Credit Cards
Use in stores, hotels, gas stations, etc
Don’t Leave Home Without It!

36. Cars became part of American culture as new businesses such as drive-in movies emerged.

37. Cars are now seen as status symbols!

38. Comfort and Security
Enjoying prosperity and recovering from war and economic depression, most Americans in the 1950s valued security over adventure.
Youth in the 1950s enjoyed more time for school, and for recreation, than youth in earlier generations.

39. …in God we trust! Renewed interest in religion Fear of communism, etc
References to God were added to the Pledge of Allegiance and imprinted on U.S. currency.

40. Men’s and Women’s Roles
Men and women were expected to play strictly defined roles in the 1950s.
Men hold jobs and support their families
Women were expected to perform domestic duties.

41. music style based on black rhythm and blues,
Rock and Roll
music style based on black rhythm and blues,
Many adults disliked rock-and-roll music, claiming that it encouraged immorality.

42. Rock and Roll in the ‘50s

43. Expressed themselves with poetry and modern jazz music
Youthful Rebellions
Beatniks
Young people (often artists and writers) rejected money, power and conformity (no traditional jobs for us!)
Beatniks shocked many Americans with their open sexuality and use of illegal drugs.
Expressed themselves with poetry and modern jazz music

44. Abstract Expressionism – unstructured, no rules (non-conformist)
Looking for an emotional response, not your intellectual appreciation

45. Rural and Urban Poverty
Hidden behind the new gadgets and houses was Poverty
Some argued that 50 Million were below the poverty line
Minorities moved into the cities in large numbers while Middle class whites move out
Cities lose economic and political power due to this change in classes
This will lead to more crime in what becomes termed the “inner city”

46. Urban renewal
Federal and State, and local governments tried to reverse the trend
Cleared large tracts of older housing and built freeways and developments to “revitalize” downtown areas
Drives the poor into overcrowded areas