1. The Fabulous Fifties Unit 5 HUSH

2. The Mood of the 1950s
After WWII, many Americans were blessed with wealth, success, and leisure.
Conformity seemed the order of the day.
Even the suits were the same!
The Man in the Grey Flannel Suit

3. The American Dream
The ‘American Dream’ came true for many people in the postwar years
For millions of Americans the 1950’s meant peace and prosperity
American life was characterized by a home in the suburbs and a car in the garage
However, this high standard put pressure on many Americans to live up to the ‘Joneses’
Father Knows Best

4. Technology Transforms Life
Television
Computers-transistors
Nuclear Power
Advances in Medicine

5. GI Bill Formally known as the “Servicemen’s Readjustment Act of 1944”
Offered low interest loans for new homes
WWII veterans benefited from the legislation
Created a new phenomena
Suburbia

6. Changes in the Workforce
By 1956 a majority of American workers held white-collar jobs
Growth of the service industry
Blue-collar workers saw improved working conditions
American Federation of Labor and Congress of industrial Organizations merged into the AFL-CIO

7. Consumer Credit Grows Credit cards, used to charge goods and services
Diner’s Club, 1950
American express
BankAmericard (VISA)

8. Challenges to Conformity
Music: Rock and Roll – Elvis Presley
Films: Rebel Without a Cause
Books: The Catcher in the Rye
The “Beat Generation”

9. James Dean “Rebel without a Cause”

10. The Beat Generation
The Beat movement began in the early 1950's with a small and tightly connected group of young writers who demonstrated a care-free, often reckless and unquestionably fresh approach to literature as well as a demonstrative social stance toward what was sometimes referred to as "The Establishment
The term "beat" bears connotations of down-beat, worn out, down-and-out, drop-out and beatitude.

11. Who were the “Beats”?
The term “Beat” was reportedly coined by Jack Kerouac in the late 's, but became more common at about the time that writers like himself, Allen Ginsberg and Lawrence Ferlinghetti were beginning to get noticed.
The term ‘beat’ soon gave this generation with a definitive label for their personal and social positions and perspectives.
The most famous book by a Beat poet was On the Road by Jack Kerouac.

12. Beat Poetry
The Beat Generation's poems had 5 major themes, or big ideas the poets thought were important.
·Rebellion/revolution
·Not fitting in/being on the fringe of society
·Exploration of self
·Exploration of words & ideas
·Search for enlightenment

13. “Domestic Politics and Policy”
Presidents Harry S. Truman and Dwight D. Eisenhower used two different styles of leadership.

14. Election of 1948 Election of 1948 – Truman defeats Thomas E. Dewey
Had to deal with a Republican Congress
The nation moved to a peacetime economy

15. The Fair Deal
The Fair Deal was the policy of social improvement of President Truman he outlined in his 1949 State of the Union Address
It was an ambitious social and economic program concerning:
economic security
Conservation
housing
Civil rights
Health insurance
Education
And agriculture subsides

16. The Taft-Hartley Act -1947
The Taft-Hartley Act amended the Wagner Act which Congress had passed in during the New Deal in 1935.
It severely restricted the activities and power of labor unions in the US
still largely in effect today

17. Dwight Eisenhower WWII hero and talented diplomat
Modern Republicanism – “conservative when it comes to money, liberal when it comes to human beings.”
Chose Richard Nixon’s as his VP
Checkers Speech
Wins election in 1952 and 1956

18. Technology Challenge Soviet Union launched Sputnik in 1957
Americans afraid of nuclear attack
National Defense Education Act of 1958
Funded math and science classes for American students
Title II funds
Still available today

19. H-Bomb Test

20. Fallout Shelters

21. “Demands for Civil Rights”
Following WWII, African Americans began to push harder in the civil rights movement and brought about significant results.

22. The Struggle for Equality
Truman supported civil rights
Congress refused to act
Truman ended discrimination in hiring federal employees
Truman ordered an end to segregation in the armed forces

23. The Struggle for Equality
Jackie Robinson – first African American in pro baseball
Played for the Brooklyn Dodgers
1947, league’s most valuable player
Opened the way for other African American athletes

24. Brown v. Board of Education
May 1954 Supreme Court declared that “separate but equal” was no longer permissible in public education
“separate facilities are inherently unequal”
Struck down Plessy v. Ferguson , 1896

25. Little Rock 1957 Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas
The Governor posted National Guard to keep African American students out
Eisenhower sent soldiers to protect the nine students

26. Montgomery Bus Boycott
In 1955 Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat to a white man
Boycott – African Americans did not ride the bus system until segregation on buses changed
Martin Luther King, Jr. became spokesperson
Supreme Court ruled bus segregation illegal

27. Rosa Parks

28. General Douglas Macarthur

29. Althea Gibson

30. Mickey Mouse Club

31. The New York Yankees

32. Dick Clark and the American Bandstand

33. Allen Freed

34. Businesses Reorganize
Ray Croc
and the
First MacDonald's
Businesses Reorganize
Per capita income, the average income per person, increased from $1,526 to $2,788
Conglomerates, a large corporation that owns many smaller companies that produce entirely different goods and services
Franchises, the right to open a restaurant using a parent company’s brand name and system

35. Billy Graham

36. Bill Haley and the Comets “Rock around the Clock”

37. Betty Friedan

38. U2 Spy Plane Shot Down Over the USSR

39. Brown v Board

40. Polio Vaccine

41. Charles Van Doren “21”Game Show Scandal

42. Read and study your notes!