Those Fabulous Fifties

Prosperity & Progress in the United States of America.

1950-1959

Returning US Soldiers

• After WWII, come back to America and want to live the Dream!

• People wanted families, homes, furniture and cars.

• Industry was more than happy to provide those things!

• Many people who had saved, rationed and scraped during the War were ready to spend!

The American Dream!

America Booms!• Gross National Product of Country goes up

from $212 billion in 1945 to $504 billion by 1960!

• Per Capita Income increases from $1526 to $2788!

• Real Purchasing Power (amount of goods or services

people can actually buy with their money) increases by 22%

• The United States is now the Richest Nation in the World!

• Americans go on a spending spree like never before!

New Companies formed!• 1954 - Ray Kroc buys

idea for McDonalds from 2 brothers in California.

• Assembly line fast food is cheap, efficient and new!

• People could go anywhere in the country and get the same tasting food from a McDonald’s!

• Burger King, KFC and many others soon follow!

First McDonald’s Restaurant sells burgers,

fries and milkshakes!

Franchise System• Born in the 1950’s.• Muffler shops, furniture

stores, clothing chains dominate new business!

• Individuals could invest for a small amount in company that they run, control and profit from!

• Plus, they enjoy national ads from the parent company!

Technology of the Times• By 1953 - 2/3 of American

Homes own at least one TV!• 1955 - Average family

watches 4-5 hours of TV per day!

• Mickey Mouse Club, Howdy Doody and American Bandstand are popular in the daytime.

• I Love Lucy & Father Knows Best popular at night!

Computer Industry• Computers created in the

1940’s that took up entire rooms and could do basic math calculations!

• Bell Labs creates the transistor and efficiency of computer is improved!

• It now fits on top of a desk!• First Multi-function Computer

called ENIAC.– Could perform basic math

calculations in about 4-6 hours time.

Suburbs of America Grow!

Suburban America• Baby Boom Generation - People born after WWII.• Large families wanted to escape the city and

build a better life for themselves!• WWII Vets bought houses with low interest loans

from the Govt. as part of the GI Bill (1944).• New Communities built in the suburbs by people

like William J. Levitt.• Levitt mass produced pre cut houses that came

with walls, floors, etc., already assembled, took about 3 weeks to put house together!

If you build it...• Houses all looked alike.• Streets, roads, bridges

all built to deal with growth!

• Automobiles improve!• 8 million new cars

produced in the 1950’s!• Federal Government

stepped in to connect the towns of America.

• USA needed an Interstate road system!

1956 Interstate Highway Act

• $26 billion provided for Road Construction.

• Length - 40,000 Miles!• The Interstate Highway

System would provide for a network of roads in the USA.

• Odd # Roads run North & South.

• Even # Roads run East & West!

• The Higher the Number, the further east it is if it runs North & South.

•Example I 95

• The Higher the Number, the further North it is.

•Example I 80

Political & Social Change in the 50’s

Election of 1948• Truman decided to

seek re-election.• Runs against Thomas

Dewey for President.• Truman had

introduced the “Fair Deal” during his first term.

• It was an extension of FDR’s New Deal, but not as successful.

Trumans Fair Deal covered unemployment compensation, national health insurance and

atomic energy regulation.

•Most people thought that Truman was a bungler, a bureaucrat, and generally a failure as President.

•He barnstormed across the country in the fall of 1948 and launched attacks against the Republican controlled Congress.

•He called Congress the “Do Nothing” Congress and was able to use it to his advantage!

•He wins the election in a landslide.

Election of 1952• Truman announces that he will not run.• Democrats choose Adlai Stevenson.• Republicans choose Dwight

Eisenhower.• Eisenhower’s running mate will be

Richard M. Nixon.• Eisenhower focused on a “K1C2”

platform.• It stood for “Korea, Communism and

Corruption”.• He promised to end the Korean War.• The Republicans promised to root out

Communism.• Nixon was put in charge of ending

corruption.

Stevenson

Eisenhower

The Checkers Speech• Democrats accuse Nixon of taking

improper campaign funds.• They say that he lives off of

Campaign slush fund!• Public immediately calls for him to

quit!!• Nixon asks for and gets TV air time.• Sept - 1952 - Nixon goes on TV and

gives a detailed account of his finances, personal life and even his mortgage and employment history.

• He ends the speech by saying that he had taken one gift from a supporter.

“It was a little cocker spaniel dog…Black and white spotted.

And our little girl, the six year old - Tricia - named it Checkers. And you know the

kids love that dog and I just want to say right now, that

regardless of what they say about it,

we’re going to keep it!”

Within hours, Eisenhower has

received overwhelming support

for Nixon on the ticket!

Life under Eisenhower• Eisenhower favored big business and put successful

business leaders in his cabinet.• He was not a brilliant leader in terms of economic

growth but per capita disposable income for the average American family tripled.

• Three recessions: 1953-54, 1957-58, 1960-61.Accomplishments:• Social Security extended to 10 million more workers.• 1955- minimum wage raised to 75 cents per hour.• He helped to maintain a mood of stability.• Americans felt like he was their father figure and

would always ensure their safety!

Sputnik• 1957 - USSR launches a

satellite into space and beats the USA into outer space.– Americans are horrified!– It sped around the world at

the speed of 18,000 miles per hour.

– It launches the space race between USA and USSR.

• The USA immediately is gripped by a nuclear fear.

• Response:– National Defense Education

Act of 1958 (NDEA)– National Aeronautics and

Space Administration (NASA)

Life in the Fallout Shelter• People built fallout

shelters in their back yard!

• Brought on by fear of Nuclear fallout!

• People thought that they could survive a nuclear disaster.

• Nuclear half life is 182 years!

• Most public buildings had signs posted that detailed what to do in case of a nuclear attack.

•Schools, Colleges and other public gathering places were required to practice for possible nuclear attacks.

Early Civil Rights Events

• African Americans had lived under laws of “Jim Crow” since the end of the Civil War.

• South was far more repressive than the North.

• But, segregation existed everywhere in the USA.

• During World War II, African Americans segregated by Unit!

• Example: Tuskegee Airmen

Jackie Robinson • First recognized African

American baseball player in the Major Leagues.

• Had been others before him.

• Robinson joined the Dodgers and was named “Rookie of the Year” in 1947.

• Received Death Threats and Harassment all around the Country.

First Black Professional Baseball Player was actually Larry Doby

Brown vs Board of Education (1954)

• Board of Education in Topeka, KS had bused black children to a different school from whites.

• Most black children went right past the white school on their way to the black school.

• Oliver Brown sued the school board and the case went all the way to the Supreme Court.

May 17, 1954 • Thurgood Marshall argued

the case for Brown.• The Supreme Court ruled

that “separate but equal” was unconstitutional.

• Overturns Plessy v Ferguson 1896

• Eisenhower did not privately agree with the decision but publicly vowed to “uphold the laws of the Constitution”.

• One year later, School systems are ordered to desegregate with “All deliberate speed”

Little Rock• Central High School.• Violent confrontation

between whites and blacks over integration of high school.

• Governor Orval Faubus refused to allow integration to occur and ordered the National Guard to block the entrance to the school.

• The 9 African American students become known as the “Little Rock Nine”

Soldiers to Protect Students ?

Fate of the Little Rock Nine

• Eisenhower ordered the Army to assume control of the National Guard in Arkansas.

• Army soldiers escorted the students to class and allowed them to cross the lines.

• For the next three months, those students had an armed escort to take them to class each and every day!

• The Civil Rights Movement had begun!