4. What is the “American Dream?”

5. The Nifty Fifties… CONFORMITY
Ike
Baby Boom
An “affluent” nation
Life in the 50s
Suburbs
Cars
Television

7. Economic growth in 50s Why??? 1 Federal spending
Roads, houses, schools
GI Bill (next slide)
Cold War spending
2 Baby boom (3,548,000 “consumers” born in 1950 alone)
3 Increased productivity w/ new technology
Computers, nuclear power plants

8. G.I. Bill billions of Fed. $ to WW2 veterans Pays for College tuition
Cheap loans for homes, businesses, farms

9. Levittown and the Growth of Suburbs
“Mass production” of homes
GI Bill- cheap loans

10. The Baby Boom Generation is born:
“Greatest Generation” grows up in Great Depression (30s), comes of age in WW2 (40s)
1950s?- lots and lots of BABIES!

11. 1950s- Baby Boom

12. Eisenhower (Ike)

13. Ike, cont’d WW2 hero “middle of the road” president Grandfatherly
Very popular

14. Television 1946- 17,000 tv’s exist 1950- 7,000,000 sold
What are some effects of television on
American life (political, economic, social)?

15. Rock n’ Roll ELVIS!!! Birth of the idea of a separate youth culture
for Baby Boom Generation

16. Beatniks Founders of “counter culture”
Reject materialism, shallowness of 50s
Sets stage for counterculture of 60’s

17. 1950s “Automania” 1956- Interstate Highway Act
$250,000,000,000 for highways
41,000 miles of highway

18. Civilians could move out of URBAN AREAS
Suburbs can be further and further away
“White flight”- Poorer people remain in urban areas
MILITARY could quickly move in event of war
One of the reasons Eisenhower signs it
Easier to TRANSPORT goods around country
“trucking” leads to a decline in railroad use
Stimulates other areas of the economy
Hotels, fast food, tourism (Disneyland opens)

19. The Cold War at Home: MCCARTHYISM

20. Effect at home: the “Red Scare”

21. Communists at the State Department:
- State Department official Alger Hiss was imprisoned for perjury in 1950.
- Hiss had lied under oath, denying that he was a part of a Soviet spy ring that sent U.S. government secrets to the Soviet Union.

22. Example of American fears of Communism:
- Americans, Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, were accused of stealing nuclear secrets for the Soviets.
- The Rosenbergs were executed for their crimes in 1953.

23. McCarthy’s reckless claims:
· In 1950, Senator Joseph McCarthy announced that he had a list of 205 State Department employees that were members of the Communist party.
“McCarthyism” definition
Since 1950s- unfair tactic of accusing people of disloyalty without providing evidence
Audio: Senator Joseph McCarthy Responds to E.R. Murrow on CBS's See It Now

24. House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC)
Investigates communist influence inside and outside the government
1947- investigates the movie industry
“The Hollywood Ten”- did not cooperate
Sent to prison
Blacklist- list of people considered to have communist backgrounds
Careers were ruined

25. Television 1946- 17,000 tv’s exist 1950- 7,000,000 sold
What are some effects of television on
American life (political, economic, social)?