1. Notes on Cold War Culture “1950s America”

2. Watch the video and identify 3 characteristics of life in America in the 1950s

3. The end of WWII led to an era of wealth & spending in the 1950s:
The war stimulated the economy & ended the Great Depression
The economic boom allowed Americans to enjoy the highest standard of living in the world

4. Consumerism returned in the 1950s because for the 1st time since the 1920s Americans had money and access to consumer goods

5. Baby Boom: dramatic inc birthrates following WWII (1946-1964)
Effect: Levittown – the first postwar suburb (Long, Island, NY)

6. 2. Effect: Interstate Highway Act created 41,000 miles of new highway to connect major cities

7. Time Out 37. What was the Baby Boom? 38. What was Levittown?
39. What was the Interstate Highway Act?
40. How are the items above related?

8. Television
Impacts society by modeling social values & the ideal Americans
I Love Lucy
Superman
Davy Crockett
“Bonanza”
“Leave it to Beaver”

9. 2. TV & Political Influence
Senator Joseph McCarthy: Claimed to have list of known communists in state department
Targets:
government employees,
Hollywood entertainers,
educators,
union activists
Red Scare witch hunts

10. ii. Popular movies reflect the fears of the time
“Invasion of the Body Snatchers”
“The Blob”
Hollywood used aliens as a metaphor for whom ??
(HINT: look at the colors)
/watch?v=WFnSxeDfENk

11. Time Out
14. Who was Joseph McCarthy?
15. What kind of accusations did he make?
16. What is the Red Scare?
17. How was the Red Scare of the 1940s and 1950s different from the Red Scare in 1919? (look back to unit 6)

12. iii. Presidential debates (Kennedy / Nixon, 1960)
iv. Civil Rights Movement – shows violence in South

13. Time Out
41. What impact did TV have on the American family in the 1950s?
42. What impact did TV have on the 1960 Presidential election?

14. Cold War’s Impact on technology
Space Race
US develops hydrogen bomb
map location of testing site m2!3m1!1s0x644c2180a24fadbf:0x4c3f21ce9753a027?hl=en
Binki Atoll testing
Soviets launch Sputnik: orbiting satellite
US (Neil Armstrong) lands on the moon (1969)

15. July 1969

16. b. Computers, televisions, cell phones, & air conditioning
i. AC = increased migration to the Sunbelt

17. I’m gonna make bigger and better guns than you!!! HA!

18. Time Out
43. How has the development of the personal computer and air conditioning changed American society?
44. What was Sputnik?
45. What impact did the launch of Sputnik have on American society?
46. What did the launching of Sputnik start?

19. Cold War’s impact on education…
NASA – National Aeronautic Space Administration
National Defense of Education Act of 1958: improve science and math in schools to defeat Soviets

20. Cold War’s impact on daily Life
Atomic Anxieties:
“Duck-and-Cover Generation”
2. Atomic Testing:
→ U. S. exploded 217 nuclear weapons over Pacific and in Nevada.

21. Crash Course Cold War Overview: https://www. youtube. com/watch

22. Investigate the question of what life was like for suburban women in the 1950s, specifically: Is the image of the happy 1950s housewife accurate?

23. Round ONE: Documents A & B

26. Round TWO: Documents C & D

29. Were women in the 1950s just staying at home
Were women in the 1950s just staying at home? (Give evidence to bakc up your answer)
Documents A & B say women were staying at home; but Document C & D say that women were politically involved and even working. Who should we believe? Why?
Were housewives happy with their lives? (Give evidence to back up your answer)
Do you think African American, Latino, Asian American, and women from other minority groups had similar experiences to those depicted in these documents? Explain your answer.
Wrap up Questions: