1. An attempt to return to normal…
Post WWII America
An attempt to return to normal…

2. When war ended in 1945, Americans were jubilant
When war ended in 1945, Americans were jubilant! But returning soldiers would face challenges upon their return

3. Challenges for Returning Soldiers
“Not so long ago when the bullets screamed, many was the happy dream I dreamed”…….”Now the mighty war over there is won, troubles and trials have just begun. As I face that terrible enemy sign, “No Vacancy””
Industrial output declined dramatically after WWII, which meant less jobs…
Millions returned from war with no hope of finding a job and thus experienced economic distress..

4. The GI Bill
June President Roosevelt signed the Servicemen’s Readjustment Act aka the GI Bill
Included:
Features aimed at helping veterans make a smooth entry into civilian life
Provided money for veterans to attend college or receive advanced job training
Arranged loans for those wishing to buy homes
Provided help in finding employment

5. American Life
The GI Bill helped returning soldiers return to normal, but the nation also began to go through major social changes post WWII….
Consumerism
American industry transformed back to its pre- war condition, producing American consumer goods
Consumers responded and began to buy, buy, buy!!
Baby Boom
During the 1950s, American experienced a dramatic increase in the birthrate

6. America gets the H-Bomb
Throughout the 1950s, America kept adding to their stockpile of nuclear weapons and even developed a new one……the hydrogen bomb.
Hydrogen Bomb- a fusion of hydrogen atoms
Creates a blast hundreds of time more powerful than an atomic bomb
Many scientists argued against it, because it was so powerful
November 1, America tested their first H- Bomb, nicknamed “Mike”
The island that the bomb was tested on vanished after the blast….

7. The Soviets Get a Bomb!
Now what?

9. The Soviets Get a Bomb!
August The Soviets finally caught up to the United States and tested their own hydrogen bomb
Now, each side of the cold war tension had nuclear weapons  created even more tension and fear of each other

10. The Arms Race
Throughout the 1950s, the tension between the United States and the Soviet Union began to be a race – a race to see which nation could create and have the most advanced technology
America
Soviet Union
st H-Bomb
1954- Launches a nuclear powered submarine
1957- test a missile with a 2,000 mile range
1958- Launches a satellite
1958- NASA is formed to lead US space exploration programs
1953- tests H-Bomb
1957- Soviets test a missile with a 4,000 mile range
1957- Soviets launch the first satellite into space, Sputnik
Sputnik II is launched carrying the first living being into space…a dog

11. Fear of Nuclear War Fallout Shelters
Another consequence of the Cold War tension and arms race was widespread fear of nuclear war. Americans prepared for anything…
Fallout Shelters
Nuclear Fallout- streams of radioactive particles produced by nuclear explosions – exposure can cause burns and future health problems
As a way to protect against fallout, Americans built bomb shelters
Shelters were even thought to protect against a nuclear attack
May be near homes…even in the backyard!
FCDA- Federal Civil Defense Administration- to help educate and prepare the public for nuclear emergencies
Books
Educational films
Practice drills (Operation Alert) and air-raid sirens

13. Duck and Cover
Infamous Duck and Cover cartoon - YouTube

14. Daisy Commercial
Lyndon Johnson - Daisy - YouTube

15. Second Red Scare & McCarthyism

16. Nuclear Fear  Social Hysteria
Fear of communists soon became a fear of the spread of communism to America. Could they have spies here? What may occur if a communist is within our borders??
HUAC: House Un-American Activities Committee
Committee that investigated the full range of radical groups in the United States, especially communists
Hollywood Ten
The most famous HUAC investigation whose goal was to explore possible communist influence in the American film industry
Ten suspected communists refused to answer questions about their beliefs and were found guilty of contempt of Congress – sentenced to a year in jail.
Caused many other to name drop
Those that refused to provide names  blacklisted

17. Nuclear Fear  Social Hysteria
Smith Act 1949
This law made it a crime to call for the overthrow of the US government or belong to an organization that did so
McCarran Act 1950
Required Communist organizations to register with the government and established a special board to investigate Communist involvement
Also prevented Communists from entering the United States
Spies
Several cases involving spying for the Soviet Union were given national attention throughout the 1940s – several were found to have given atomic secrets to the Soviet Union
One couple- Ethel and Julius Rosenberg- were accused of being leaders of a spy ring- they refused to answer questions- found guilty of conspiracy to commit espionage – received the death sentence and were executed in 1953

18. The Rosenbergs

19. Joseph McCarthy

20. Joseph McCarthy Republican Senator from Wisconsin
Claimed he had the names of over 200 government officials that were Communists
Created a national up-roar
McCarthy never produced the list of names and a Senate Committee found no evidence of communists, the damage had already been done…
Held Senate hearings– televised all over the U.S.
McCarthyism- tactic of spreading fear &
making baseless charges