1. Chapter 27 – Early Years of the Cold War
Section Notes
Video
Adjusting to Peace
War in Korea and a New Red Scare
The Nation Prospers
The Impact of Television
Maps
Cold War Europe, 1955
The Korean War
History Close-up
Inside a Bomb Shelter
Images
Quick Facts
Jackie Robinson
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Linking to Today: The United Nations
Primary Source: Fear of Communism
The Yalta and Potsdam Conferences
The Fair Deal
Postwar Boom,
Chapter 27 Visual Summary

2. The Nation Prospers The Big Idea
An expanding economy led to new ways of life for many Americans in the 1950s.
Main Ideas
America’s economy boomed in the 1950s.
Americans enjoyed new forms of popular culture.
Social critics found fault with 1950s society.

3. Main Idea 1: America’s economy boomed in the 1950s.
Millions of Americans earned more money than ever and could spend more. (Cars, homes, vacations.)
Young Americans getting married and starting families led to a baby boom, a significant increase in births.
Economy

4. Main Idea 1: America’s economy boomed in the 1950s.
Many businesses and workers moved to the Sun Belt– southern and western states that offered a warm climate year-round and low tax rates.
1956 Highway Act encouraged travel and made commutes easier.
41,000 miles of interstate highway
Easier to move to suburbs and commute to city
On the
Move

5. Suburbs and Cities
Rising demand for homes encouraged development of new suburban neighborhoods.
William Levitt created preplanned suburbs- Levitttown
Houses mass produced, simple and affordable.
By mid-1950s, builders were constructing preplanned suburbs all over the country.
By 1970 more Americans lived in suburbs than in cities.
Suburban life appealed to many.
Many enjoyed the additional space and convenience.
Driveways, lawns, and labor saving appliances

6. Suburbs and Cities Suburban life was criticized by others.
Critics believed suburban life too heavily based on consumer culture
Lacking in diversity– most people living in suburbs were white and middle-class
Discrimination– some communities refused to sell homes to black families
Move to suburbs meant cities collected fewer taxes and began to decline.
Federal government began urban renewal program to improve life in cities.

7. Main Idea 2: Americans enjoyed new forms of popular culture.
Television
By end of 1950s, nearly 90 percent of American families owned television sets.
Americans shared the experience of watching the same news, comedies, and sports shows.
The Lone Ranger, Gunsmoke and I love Lucy.
Television
American families watched about six hours of television a day.

8. Main Idea 2: Americans enjoyed new forms of popular culture.
Music
New styles of music helped reshape American Culture.
New style of jazz, known as bebop, became popular.
Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie
Music
Rock ’n’ roll swept the nation.
Elvis Presley, Buddy Holly, Chuck Berry, Little Richard
Teenage fans bought more than 70 percent of all records sold in the late 1950s.

9. Main Idea 3: Social critics found fault with 1950s society.
Some women were frustrated at lack of opportunities.
Could only find work in limited fields (Teaching, office jobs, nurses)
Discouraged by expectation that they would give up jobs when they got married

10. Main Idea 3: Social critics found fault with 1950s society.
Novelists commented on society in their work.
J.D. Salinger criticized culture filled with love of money and conformity. Catcher in the Rye
Ralph Ellison wrote of how African Americans were excluded by society. Invisible Man

11. Main Idea 3: Social critics found fault with 1950s society.
Young people known as beatniks, or beats, criticized society with unusual writing styles and rebellious behavior.
Beat authors inspired many to question the rules of mainstream society.
Many identified with rebellious characters in popular movies of the 1950s.

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