Core Concepts of Sec. 2Healing the Wounds of

War

BIG IDEA: Americans

transitioning from wartime to peacetime

Great Post-War Fear

U.S. would go back into a depression as 12 million

soldiers returned and government war

spending decreased.

Would these soldiers come back and find jobs

or unemployment?

What was the GI Bill?(Servicemen’s Readjustment Act of

1944)PURPOSE: Helped Veterans returning from WWII make a smooth transition back into civilian life.

• Provided money for Veterans to attend college/vocational school - 8 million Vet’s took advantage of education benefits - US Government spent $14 billion.

• Provided loans for Veterans wanting to buy a home (2.4 million used this benefit)

What were the results of the

GI Bill?• Millions of Veterans were educated

allowing them to get better jobs in the post-WWII economy- More education better jobs Larger

middle class Educated children • Educated men + jobs + wives +

housing = BABIES! • Leads to the development of the

middle class & the suburbs in post WWII America

Marriage Rate • GI’s return home & start

families• Marriage rate jumps 50%

after 1945• Average marriage age

drops– 22.5 yrs. (males)– 20.1 yrs. (females)

THINK: Why were people getting married younger & more often after WWII than they were before?

What was the Baby Boom?

• Dramatic rise in birthrate after WWII

1946 - 1964

• 77.3 million babies born

• Families averaged 3.77 children (1957)

The Boomer Generation• Boomers grow up in the “age of

affluence”• Children & teens become a consumer group development of the consumer culture of the 50’s & 60’s• Historians label the Boomers as narcissistic (focused on self) and in a vain quest for satisfaction.• Concerned with social justice … become the “hippies” and “protesters” of the 60’s/70’s

The Age of AffluenceThe 1950’s

• GNP doubled• 61% of people owned homes• 80% of families owned at least 1

car• Life expectancy rose 11% (medical

advancements/vaccines)• Homes at 7x more gadgets & goods

than in the 1920’s. • 60% part of the Middle Class

Suburbs grow!Families have money & kids…move out of cities

How does this effect the economy

Creates huge INCREASE in demand for consumer products

 

The Second Red Scare

The fear of communism within the U.S. after World War II.

Americans were determined to keep Communism out of

American government and life.

Soviets Get the Bomb!• 1949: American flying

over Pacific Ocean pick up signs of radioactivity.

• September 1949: Truman confirms that Soviet Union does have the Atomic Bomb.

• America can’t rely on A-Bomb as a deterrent

• Strengthen military (nuclear arms race!)

First Soviet Atomic Bomb

Copy of U.S. A-Bomb

“Fat Man” Soviet RDS-1

U.S. SpiesKlaus Fuchs – Nuclear Physicist in the Manhattan Project. Gave the drawings/plans of “Fat Man” to the Soviets. Julius and Ethel Rosenberg – Communists convicted for sending information from the Manhattan Project to the Soviets. Executed for Espionage against the United States.

China Falls to Communism• Mao Zedong –

leader of the Chinese Communist Party.

• Civil war between Nationalists and Communists

• Mao & Communists gain control of China

Fighting Communism at Home

House Committee on Un-American Activities

Committee of the House of Representatives that

investigated Communists threats within the United States.

Alger Hiss • Worked in the State Department

under FDR• Accused of being a Soviet . . . Denied

espionage to HUAC.• Later evidence presented showed he

was guilty• Convicted of perjury (lying under

oath) & sentenced to 5 years in Fed. prison.

Investigation of Hollywood

• Investigated Hollywood writers & directors who held radical views

• Ten refused to answers questions about their beliefs and others

• “The Hollywood Ten” found guilty of contempt of court

• Sentenced to jail and blacklisted– Blacklisted – Denied work in

Hollywood because of suspicion of communist/radical ties.

Hollywood Ten

Hollywood releases anti-communist films

The Smith Act • 1940: Law making it a crime to call for

the overthrow of U.S. government or belong to a group that called for it.

Whoever, with intent to cause the overthrow or destruction of any such government, prints, publishes, edits, issues, circulates, sells, distributes, or publicly displays any written or printed matter advocating, advising, or teaching the duty, necessity, desirability, or propriety of overthrowing or destroying any government in the United States by force or violence, or attempts to do so; or Whoever organizes or helps or attempts to organize any society, group, or assembly of persons who teach, advocate, or encourage the overthrow or destruction of any such government by force or violence; or becomes or is a member of, or affiliates with, any such society, group, or assembly of persons, knowing the purposes thereof - Shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than twenty years, or both, and shall be ineligible for employment by the United States or any department or agency thereof, for the five years next following his conviction.

Joseph McCarthy• U.S. Senator from

Wisconsin• 1950: Claims he has

list of 205 Communists working at Department of State.

• Accused many of being Communists

“McCarthyism”Term given to

McCarthy’s tactic of making baseless charges against individuals and inciting fear among the American public.

McCarthy Extra Credit

What events of the Cold War era did McCarthy use to promote fear in Americans?

How did McCarthy first come to national attention?

Who did McCarthy accuse and investigate as being Communists?

What were the problems with McCarthy’s accusations?How does the article describe McCarthy’s personal character?

What led to the fall of Joseph McCarthy?

What happened to McCarthy on December 2, 1954?

Analyze what McCarthy symbolized about the Cold War era. What was his significance in American history?

OGT Blue Books• Read page 55 – Cold War at Its

Height• Read pages 72 – 74: McCarthy

Hearings, Space Race, Civil Rights, Counter Culture