3-5: U.S. Society, 1950s-1960s. Affluence, Conformity, and Paranoia

Transcription

1 3-5: U.S. Society, 1950s-1960s Affluence, Conformity, and Paranoia

2 1950s Prosperity GNP doubled between 1945 and 1960 Stimulated by defense spending New industries New electronics Aviation improvements New chemicals Near-monopoly on world trade Due to devastation of WWII Home ownership increased 50% Consumer appliances Refrigerators Washing machines televisions

3 Demographic Changes Baby Boom Contributes to growth of suburbs, consumerism, and increase in college enrollment (GI Bill) Workforce Unions U.S. government as labor mediator Union power curbed by Taft-Hartley Act (1947) Women Return to housewife (I Love Lucy, Honeymooners)

4 Growth of the Suburbs Federal Highway Act (1956) Migration of middle-class from cities to suburbs William Levitt and Levittowns Federal Housing Administration Encouraged home ownership by insuring mortgages

5 Social Critics and Nonconformists Criticized conformity Television as a vast wasteland Beatniks Disillusionment and rejection of the middle class Rock n Roll Abstract Expressionism Shift away from reality and towards a state of mind Movie Stars Symbolized youthful rebellion

6 The 2 nd Red Scare Background Illegal to advocate the overthrow of government since 1940 House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) Joseph McCarthy accusations that the State Department was thoroughly infested with Communists McCarthyism making public accusations of disloyalty without specific evidence Contributing Factors Fall of China USSR development of the bomb Containment Alleged Soviet spies

7 The 2 nd Red Scare McCarthy Hearings Tactics Played on fears Created a climate of paranoia Requirement of loyalty oaths and investigations Blacklists Major Cases Alger Hiss Ethel and Julius Rosenberg Propelled careers of John Kennedy, Richard Nixon, and Ronald Reagan Fall of Joseph McCarthy Accused army of infiltration by Soviet spies Boorish conduct and lack of evidence turned public against him

8 Contemporary Ideologies Liberalism Government involvement in economy Higher taxes Equal opportunity for all Generally vote for Democrats (or Green Party) Union members, minorities, young adults, single women Conservatism Limited role of government Lower taxes Individualism leads to economic growth Generally vote for Republicans (or Libertarians) Rural areas, white males, middle-aged

9 Truman (D), Fair Deal Civil rights Enlargement of the New Deal Increased minimum wage Health insurance Federal aid to education Public housing Repeal of Taft-Hartley Act (workers rights) Coalition between Republicans and Southern Democrats limited Truman s ability to achieve his goals

10 Eisenhower (R), Conservative economic policy Basic features of the New Deal Lower taxes Controlling government spending Warnings about military-industrial complex

11 Election of 1960 JFK vs. Nixon Role of Catholicism Role of televised debates Results

12 Kennedy (D), New Frontier Emphasis on addressing poverty Aid to education Urban renewal Medical care for elderly Lower taxes Coalition between Republicans and Southern Democrats limited Kennedy s ability to achieve his goals Assassination

13 Johnson (D), Great Society Goals Build of ideas of JFK Use the federal government to enhance social welfare End the cycle of poverty Legislation Civil Rights Act Voting Rights Act Medicare Medicaid

14 Johnson (D), Great Society Legislation War on Poverty Economic Opportunity Act Job Corps Head Start Funding for the Arts Housing and Urban Development Rent supplements for low-income families Funding problems (Vietnam War)

15 Controversy over the Safety net President Barack Obama: What President Johnson understood was that equality required more than the absence of oppression. It required the presence of economic opportunity. A decent job. Decent wages. Health care. Those too were civil rights worth fighting for. Former Cabinet Member David Califano: From 1963 when Lyndon Johnson took office until 1970 as the impact of his Great Society programs were felt, the portion of Americans living below the poverty line dropped from 22.2 percent to 12.6 percent, the most dramatic decline over such a brief period in this century.

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17 Controversy over the Safety net Historian Alan Brinkley: The gap between the expansive intentions of the War on Poverty and its relatively modest achievements fueled later conservative arguments that government is not an appropriate vehicle for solving social problems. Economist Thomas Sowell: The black family, which had survived centuries of slavery and discrimination, began rapidly disintegrating in the liberal welfare state that subsidized unwed pregnancy and changed welfare from an emergency rescue to a way of life.

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