1. “Happy Day’s” The 1950’s

2. Essential Question: What were the events of the 1950’s that impacted North Carolinians and helped shape American culture during the decade?

3. President Harry S. Truman (1945-1953)
Native of Missouri
FDR’s last Vice-President
Truman Doctrine- Contain the Spread of Communism
Programs were Called the “Fair Deal”
Married Bess Wallace Truman

4. The Cold War
Icy Relations Between the Soviet Union and the United States between until the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991.
Warsaw Pact- Eastern European Countries such as Poland, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, and Yugoslavia that the Soviet Union had invaded
NATO-North Atlantic Treaty Organization, USA’s Allies
Arms Race- Stockpiling of Nuclear Weapons

6. The Cold War Begins

7. The Korean War
( )

9. US Joins United Nations Troops to Stop Communist Advancement of the N
US Joins United Nations Troops to Stop Communist Advancement of the N. Koreans and Chinese

10. The Korean War Highlights
Americans became more fearful of communism as Mao Zedong established a communist government in China
Japan had held Korea as a colony.
Following WWII Soviet troops occupied and established a communist government in Korea north of the 38th Parallel. American troops controlled south of the 38th.
North Korea also was supported by China.

11. Korean War Highlights
Gen. Douglas Macarthur was the commander of US and United Nations troops was fired by President Truman after he kept insisting to invade or bomb the Chinese who were aiding the N. Koreans
President Truman believed that he was the commander and chief and that such a plan could take the world into another World War

12. Results of the Korean War
55, 000 Americans Killed
No Border Changes
The war sent a clear message to China and the Soviet Union was committed to fighting the spread of Communism

13. Television 1949- WBTV: Charlotte, NC’s 1st TV Station 1954- WLOS:
CBS,NBC, ABC-First Networks
Popular Shows: I Love Lucy, Leave it to Beaver, Mickey Mouse Club

14. “Rock-n-Roll”
Origins in Southern Gospel, Southern Appalachian, and Jazz music
Elvis was born in Tupelo, Mississippi and later moved to Memphis, Tennessee
Other Rock-n- Rollers: Buddy Holly, Bill Haley, Little Richard, Chuck Berry
Popular African American Producer: ”Motown” short for Detroit, “The Motor Town”

15. Baby Boomers
Increased Birth Rates following WWII and into the 1950’s

16. President Dwight Eisenhower (R)
Thirty-Fourth President
Born: October 14, 1890 in Denison, Texas .
Married to Mamie Dowd Eisenhower
West Point Graduate
1956-Created Interstate Highway System
1953- Cease Fire of the Korean War
Vice- President Richard Nixon- Calif.

17. Soviets Launch Sputnik-1957

18. The Civil Rights Movement Begins Rosa Parks-1955
Rosa Parks was arrested for not going to the back of a city bus according to Montgomery, Alabama city ordinance

19. Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr
Born in Atlanta, Georgia-1929
Baptist Pastor
Organized the Montgomery Bus Boycott following the Rosa Parks incident through his church the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church
Practiced Non-Violent Protest

20. 1954- Brown-vs- Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas
8 year old Linda Brown’s case that her Constitutional Rights were being denied because she had to attend a segregated school reaches the United States Supreme Court
The Supreme Court ruled that segregated schools were unconstitutional and order that all public schools be integrated

21. Alaska and Hawaii Join the Union
Alaska and Hawaii joined the Union in 1959
Alaska- 49th State Juneau
Hawaii-50th State Honolulu