Georgia and the American Experience

Chapter 12: Baby Boomers,

Rebellion, and Wars

Study Presentation

©2005 Clairmont Press

Georgia and the American Experience

Section 1: The Postwar PeriodSection 2: Georgia After WWIISection 3: The Civil Rights

MovementSection 4: A Period of Protests and

Challenges

©2005 Clairmont Press

Section 1: The Postwar Period

• ESSENTIAL QUESTION:– How was life in the U.S. different

after WWII?

Section 1: The Postwar Period

• What words do I need to know?– suburbs– baby boom– Cold War– Korean War

Television Changes America• Television use expanded in the 1950s• Frozen dinners were invented to heat

quickly and eat in front of the TV• More televisions were in homes and

people spent more time watching• ABC, CBS, NBC were major networks• Entertainment was important• People could now watch news events

almost as they happened

The Cold War• Relations between the US and USSR

became tense• Cold War: a war of words and diplomacy• US and USSR were world’s most powerful

countries• USSR kept eastern Europe in communism

behind the “iron curtain”• Containment of communism led to war in

Korea and Vietnam

The Korean War• Korea was divided after WWII• 38th parallel was line between communist North

and democratic South• June 25, 1950: North Korea invaded South

Korea• United Nations countries sent troops to assist

South Korea• 25,000 Americans killed; 500 Georgians• Peace declared in July 1953; no winner• Many businesses benefited from doing business

with the military bases and armed forcesClick to return to Table of Contents.

Section 2:Georgia After WWII

• ESSENTIAL QUESTION:–What events affected Georgians

after World War II?

Section 2:Georgia After WWII

• What words do I need to know?– National School Lunch Act– Georgia Minimum Foundation Program for

Education Act– one-person, one-vote concept– reapportionment

An Atlanta Tragedy

• December 7, 1946: Winecoff Hotel fire• Hotel was Atlanta’s tallest at 15 floors• There were nearly 300 guests; 119 killed• 1948: Georgia enacted stricter fire codes for

hotels and other businesses

Industries Move into Georgia

• Businesses continued to move into the state• Air conditioning began to be installed

making year round work more comfortable• Georgia’s low taxes were attractive to

workers and businesses• Lockheed became largest employer• CDC: Centers for Disease Control – Atlanta

headquarters established

The Three Governors Episode

• Newly re-elected governor Eugene Talmadge died before taking office

• The previous governor, Ellis Arnall, the Lieutenant Governor, and Talmadge’s son, Herman, fought over who would govern

• The Georgia Supreme Court ruled that a special election must be held

• Herman Talmadge was elected

Georgia Governors• Melvin Thomas: purchased Jekyll Island to

build a state-owned resort; established UGA Veterinary School

• Herman Talmadge: Minimum Foundation Program for Education Act – established 9-month school year raised standards for schools

• Marvin Griffin: began educational television; oversaw purchase of Stone Mountain for park

“One Person, One Vote”

• The concept that each citizen’s vote should equal every other citizen’s vote

• County-unit system was declared unconstitutional in 1962

• This change caused more representatives to come from urban areas

• General Assembly had to reapportion (redraw) voting districts to ensure districts of equal population size

Georgia Governors• Carl Sanders: elected in 1962; worked to

diffuse racial violence; increased spending on education; used television ads to campaign

• Lester Maddox: elected 1967; surprise winner; appointed more African Americans to state office than all other governors combined; integrated the State Patrol; “People’s Days” – any Georgian could visit and talk with the governor

Click to return to Table of Contents.

Section 3: The Civil Rights

Movement• ESSENTIAL QUESTION

– What advances were made in civil rights during the postwar period?

Section 3: The Civil Rights

Movement• What words do I need to know?

– Brown v. Board of Education– Southern Christian Leadership Conference– Sit-in– Student Nonviolent Coordinating

Committee– Civil Rights Act of 1964– Voting Rights Act of 1965

Section 3: The Civil Rights

Movement• What people do I need to know?

– Martin Luther King, Jr.– Charlayne Hunter & Hamilton Holmes– Ivan Allen– Andrew Young

The Supreme Court and Education

• 1948: racial integration ordered in armed forces

• 1950: Brown v. Board of Education – case struck down “separate but equal” concept; schools were to be integrated

• Sibley Commission: found that most Georgians would rather close schools than integrate

• More private schools opened• 1961: Charlayne Hunter and Hamilton Holmes

first African American students at UGA • 1971: All Georgia public schools integrated

Montgomery Bus Boycott

• Dec. 1, 1955: Rosa Parks, African American, refused to give up her bus seat to whites in Montgomery, AL

• Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and the NAACP organized civic leaders and prepared marches

• Supreme court ruled segregation on public transportation unconstitutional

A Nonviolent Movement is Born

• Martin Luther King, Jr. of Atlanta • Developed a nonviolent approach to social

change• Four-prong approach:

– direct, nonviolent actions– legal remedies– ballots– economic boycotts

• SCLC: Southern Christian Leadership Conference – civil rights group led by Dr. King

• Sit-in: Dr. King’s strategy to people refuse to leave a public building until their demands are met

The Albany Movement• 1961: Albany, GA becomes center of civil

rights activity• SNCC: Student Nonviolent Coordinating

Committee – challenged segregated bus system in Albany

• Nearly 500 people jailed• Biracial committee formed to study

concerns of African Americans

Protests Move to Alabama• 1963: Martin Luther King, Jr. begins work to

integrate all aspects of public life in Birmingham, AL

• Over 3000 people arrested• Bomb killed 4 black children in their church• African Americans and whites from the

north and south began to join together to stop the violence

The Civil Rights Act• President Kennedy created new civil rights

laws• Kennedy was assassinated before the new

laws came into effect• Lyndon Johnson became president and

pushed for passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964

• All public facilities had to be integrated• Discrimination was prohibited in business

and labor unions

The Voting Rights Act• 1964: Freedom Summer – Martin Luther

King, Jr. and SNCC worked to get African Americans registered to vote

• Selma-to-Montgomery, AL march led by Dr. King

• Nearly 30,000 marchers • Congress passed the Voting Rights Act of

1965 – one million African Americans were registered to vote

A Shift in Mood• Some people moved from the nonviolent

strategies to more aggressive ones• SNCC and “Black Panthers” confronted

police• Malcolm X preached black separatism• Race riots in Los Angeles, Detroit, and

Newark• April 1968: Dr. King assassinated in

Memphis, TN while working with striking sanitation workers

Atlanta: A Case Study in Change

• Integration in Atlanta was relatively peaceful• Church leaders get much credit for this peaceful

change• William Hartsfield: Atlanta mayor who expanded

Atlanta’s airport and worked with African American and white leaders; worked to integrate Atlanta’s schools

• Ivan Allen: Atlanta mayor ordered removal of “white” and “colored” segregation signs in the City Hall; integrated police and fire services and city government

• Troubled times followed but were overcome• The city became known as “the city too busy to

hate” Click to return to Table of Contents.

Section 4: A Period of Protests and Challenges

• ESSENTIAL QUESTION– What problems faced Americans

during the 1970s?

Section 4: A Period of Protests and Challenges• What words do I need to know?

– Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority– women’s rights movement– affirmative action program– National Organization for Women– National Women’s Political Caucus– Equal Rights Amendment– Title IX– Vietnam War– Watergate

Georgia in the 1970s• Ted Turner: TBS television network expanded

from one station to a national network• MARTA: Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit

Authority – began rapid rail service in Atlanta• James Earl Carter: 1970 – elected governor of

Georgia; 1977-1980 served as President of the United States– As president, negotiated peace between Israel and

Egypt– Problems as president: high energy costs, high interest

rates, high inflation, 52 American hostages held in Iran• Georgia cities began to lose population to the

suburbs• Cities have worked to attract residents

The Women’s Rights Movement

• Women’s Rights Movement: women gained confidence that they could do the same jobs as men and should have the same rights

• Women often could not get credit at banks • NOW: National Organization for Women –

promoted women’s rights issues• ERA: Equal Rights Amendment – never became

part of the Constitution• 1972: Title IX – President Nixon signed law which

prohibited discrimination in education (academics or athletics)

Vietnam Divides America• North Vietnam: communist• South Vietnam: democratic• USA began support South Vietnam against

the North• 1968: Over 500,000 Americans involved in

Vietnam War• Protests against the war increased• 1973: war ended with no clear victor –

Vietnam is now united and communist

Watergate

• 1972: Group of men arrested for breaking into the Watergate building in Washington, DC to “bug” Democratic National Committee offices

• Evidence supported that President Nixon knew of the burglary and tried to cover it up

• Nixon resigned and Vice-President Gerald Ford became president

The Energy Crisis

• 1973: US supports Israel in its war with Egypt

• Arab nations stop selling oil to the US• Price of gas went up and there were

shortages• Georgians began to drive less and purchase

fuel-efficient cars• Prudhoe Bay, Alaska: Alaskan Pipeline

brought oil to the “lower 48” statesClick to return to Table of Contents.

Click to return to Table of Contents.