2. Post-war affluence ‘The American Century’ 1940-60 GDP increased by 85% Per capita disposable income rose by 37% 1945-1973: production of goods and services doubled By 1960 US 6% of world’s population, but consuming 50% of world’s production

3. Baby Boom  The baby boom (1942-64)  After war Americans begin to marry younger and create families at a younger age  1950 Average marriage age 20.3 (women), 22 (men)  After a century of declining birth rates we see an increase  Why?  Both Push and Pull Factors

4. Push 1) Peace and Prosperity 2) Fear - Prosperity may end (remember Great Depression) 3) WWII - the women who had entered workforce during war are now replaced by returning men 4) Education - G.I.Bill (1944) democratizes education among white men women discouraged from education - men come with money Non-whites often sent to technical schools

5. Pull People want security and normalcy after the Great Depression and WWII The idea of consumer culture takes hold More is better Spending on goods up 250% in 50s

6. Percentage of U.S. families owning specific items, by year By 1960 87% of families owned a TV 19201930 1970 Washing Machine82470 Mechanical Refrig.-899 Vacuum Cleaner93092

7. The Growth of Suburbia  G.I. Bill creates a new middle class 8 million strong  G.I. Bill or Serviceman’s readjustment act  Paid for college  Gave one year of unemployment pay  Provided, cheap, government secured loans for homes and business

8. Federal Housing Administration (FHA) cheap new housing but only in new suburbs Didn’t look towards urban centers - often the poorer neighborhoods Suburbs grow 40x as fast as cities

9. Levittown Levittown, Long Island, 1947

10. Malls

11. An automobile society Interstate Highway Act (1956) largest ever public works program in US 1955: 8 million cars sold By 1956 73% of families owned a car

12. Ray Kroc’s first McDonald’s hamburger restaurant, Des Plaines, Illinois, 1955

13. Challenges to attempt for normalcy Beat culture 1953 Alan Ginsberg produced “Howl” brought up on obscenity charges 1953 Playboy first published All these changes are white based

14. Rise of youth culture In 1959 Teenagers spent $20m on lipstick, $25m on deodorant, $75m on “pop” singles Rebels without Causes

15. 1953 1955

16. Rock and Roll - Elvis July 1954 records ‘That’s alright Mama’ Nov 1955 signs for RCA 1956 ‘Heartbreak Hotel’ No.1 for 8 Weeks (his songs filled the slot for 25 weeks in 1956, and again in 1957) 1956 TV appearances 1957 Drafted into army

17. From Hot to Cold

18. The Beginnings of the Cold War WWII - a “hot war” - i.e. Military action Ideological conflict that developed between USA and USSR a “cold war” - i.e. No direct military confrontation between the two super powers

19. America showed its strength as it dropped two nuclear bombs on Japan Recognizing the threat that this posed to its system of government the USSR and others began working on their own weapons 1949 - 4 years after Hiroshima USSR has bomb

20. Truman and Communism Post WWII president Truman put in place various programs to strengthen his own position - with regard to communism Set up a federal loyalty program Increases funding to FBI Attorney general asked to draw up list of threatening people

21. The Truman Doctrine (1947) Although the catalyst for this speech was the crisis in Greece and Turkey, Truman and his advisors seized the opportunity to delineate their broader concept of the postwar world and America's obligations. By pledging to resist Communism anywhere and everywhere, Truman established a dangerous precedent.

22. 1947 U.N. Resolution to remove troops from Korea after national elections. 1948 President Truman orders withdrawal of US troops from Korea

23. 1950 June 25 North Korea invades south Korea UN Security Council demands NK stop its attack and return to its borders June 30 President Truman commits US Troops to enforce UN demand October 14 China's support of North Korea begins February 1 UN resolution to end the Korean War 1953 July 27 Cease-fire signed.

24. June 25, 1950 - July 27, 1953 54,246 Americans, died during the Korean War. 228,000 South Korean soldiers and untold numbers of civilians American estimates of enemy casualties, including prisoners, exceed 1,500,000, of which 900,000, almost two-thirds, were Chinese.

25. HUAC The House Committee on Un-American Activities Set up in 1938 to look at subversive activities Republicans get control of House of Representatives in 1946 Becomes focussed on Communists

26. International Affairs and Internal Fears McCarthyism Both a Political mass movement And a Tool for political advancement

27. Senator Joseph McCarthy Unknown Republican senator from Wisconsin claims that President Truman FDR New Deal are all communist

28. Wheeling West Virginia Feb 9 th 1950 Claimed to have a list of names of communists who had infiltrated the State Department Claimed that Owen Latimore of Johns Hopkins was the ring leader Proved to be a fraudulent claim McCarthy responded by pointing to new names The number of names on the list varied from 57 to 205 no one ever saw the list

29. McCarthy’s wild claims are believed or at least listened to because of the fear of nuclear war The fears of the external threat are brought home McCarthy was a very aggressive and Politically aware politician Made use of TV to promote his message You are either with us or against us Accusation alone could destroy a life

30. Hooray for Hollywood!! Early on McCarthy began to focus on the entertainment industry and Hollywood in particular Why? There were communists in Hollywood There were exiles from Fascist Europe

31. But, there were Communist elsewhere e.g. Communists led Unions Did not get as much attention Why? Hollywood brings more attention and has its own publicity department Higher exposure for McCarthy

32. The Hollywood Ten 1947 1st subpoenas issued against Hollywood Congress cited ten screenwriters for contempt. Produces meeting at the Waldorf Astoria hotel days later signaled their capitulation to the investigators by announcing that "no Communists or other subversives will be employed by Hollywood."

33. An appeal by the "Hollywood Ten" was turned down and by mid-1950 most of them had begun to serve one-year terms in prison Spies Black list produced

34. The era of the Blacklist The blacklist mentality spread elsewhere 15,000 Federal employees resigned 20% of Longshoremen in San Francisco 13 million Americans within range of the screening tests (20% of population)

35. 1953 Executive order 10450 Tightens up Truman’s Security Acts Revises loyalty oath Becomes more difficult to prove you are not a communist

36. Homosexuality become focus and reason for exclusion By 1950s anti-semitism was reducing - due in part to the horrors of WWII But Jews were major victims of attacks Rosenbergs

37. One of the Manhattan Project scientists working in Los Alamos was a British physicist named Klaus Fuchs. Twice in 1945 Fuchs met with a Soviet agent named Raymond and provided notes on the working design for the atomic bomb. Link to middle-aged chemist, Harry Gold Link to David Greenglass machinist-soldier stationed in Los Alamos. Link to David Greenglass machinist-soldier stationed in Los Alamos. In his first interview, Greenglass admitted that he had passed information to Gold. Also identified his wife, Ruth, and his brother-in- law, Julius Rosenberg, as participants in the Soviet spy ring.

38. June 19, 1953: Julius and Ethel Rosenberg are executed 2001: David Greenglass admits that the trial testimony concerning Ethel Rosenberg's role in the conspiracy was perjured.

39. Power corrupts McCarthy’s power as head of HUAC was immense and could not be ignored (Both Nixon and JFK launched careers as anti-communists) Eventually power goes to McCarthy’s head and he oversteps his mark McCarthy begins to attack the Army Formally condemned by Senate in 1954