Download - AMERICA in the ’50s And 60s
*Changes
*There were four major changes in the US during the 1950s and 60s1. Social2. Science/Technology3. Music/Art4. Political
*Social Changes
Suburbs = The American Dream Affordable
single-family housing
Good schools Friendly
neighbors like themselves
13 million homes built in
the 1950s –
85% were
suburban
New highways, affordable automobiles, low gasoline prices
A safe, healthy environment for children
The Generation GapThe generation gap was the cultural
separation between children and their parents.
Many parents viewed rock ’n’ roll as loud and dangerous.
The music was banned in some communities.
The music united teens in their own
world and helped to create what became known as the generation
gap.
Juvenile Delinquency
Another problem facing the nation was juvenile
delinquency, which was antisocial or criminal
behavior by teenagersJuvenile crime rose 45% between 1948 and 1953. Car thefts by juveniles increased and more teenagers joined
street gangs
From 1946-1960, the number of teenagers in the US rose from 5.6 million to 11.8 millionAttributed to changes in pop
culture, such as Catcher in the Rye and “Rebel Without a Cause”
The Hippie MovementIn the 60s, thousands of
teenagers became part of the “counterculture.” These “hippies” rebelled against the traditional American culture.
Hippies believed in a world free of war
and hate and full of peace and love
The hippie look was long hair, tie-dyed shirts, and use of drugslike marijuana, LSD and heroin
The Counter-Culture
Famous music groups of the Hippie Movement
The Beatles
Jimi Hendrix
Bob Dylan
Jim Morrison and the Doors
Music played a large part
of the Hippie Movement
Jefferson Airplane
Family LifeWomen in the 50s and 60s were seen as wives and not much else; they usually stayed at home and were expected to cook, clean, and serve the husband and rest of the family
This is a popular show from the time, Leave it to Beaver, which portrays the “nuclear” family
The Baby Boom
From 1945 -61 more than 65 million children were
bornContributing factors:The end of wars led to more young couples
getting married
This period became known as the Baby Boom
The American birthrate exploded after World War
II.
Pop culture glorified pregnancy, parenthood
and large families
*Science/Technology
Science/Technological Breakthroughs
*The Space Race1957-1975
The Space Race started when Russia sent Sputnik and the first man into space. The U.S. got the people thinking, “If Russia can send satellites into space, then they can send nuclear weapons from space to the U.S. and destroy the U.S."
It also showed that Russia had better educated students to take Russia into space, and the U.S. was falling behind in education.
Sputnik, the world’s first artificial satellite, launched by Russia in 1957
* The Space Race
Causes
*One cause of the Space Race was the Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union, the most powerful countries after WWII.
*Both these countries were competing to be the number one world leader, so space was a critical area for battle.
Birth of television
Shows like I Love Lucy and The
Honeymooners were the
most popular TV
shows of the ’50s
By 1957, there were about 40 million television sets in
use and TV became an important source of
information
First McDonald’s
(1955)
America became a more homogeneous nation
because of the automobile.
Drive-In Movies
Holiday Inn
The Automobile Culture
*Music/Art
*Music
* New music began hitting the scene, such as: * Bebop
* Dizzy Gillespie, Charlie Parker* "Hot House”* The Supremes, The Temptations, The Jackson 5* "My Girl," by The Temptations
* Rock-n-roll* Rolling Stones* Jimi Hendrix* The Beatles* "Twist and Shout," by The Beatles
Birth of Rock ’n RollIn the 1950s, many teenagers
rebelled against the middle-class suburban values,
particularly conformity and wanted to be unique. It was during this period
that many youths turned to new and unconventional styles of music
Soon white artists began making music that was based on African American rhythm and blues
This form of music became known as rock ‘n’ roll and it became wildly popular with the nation’s teenagers
Elvis Presley
The King of Rock ’n Roll
Presley’s extraordinary popularity established
rock ’n’ roll as an unprecedented mass-market phenomenonHis reputation as a
performer endured up to his death in 1977 at the
age of 42. Graceland, his home in Memphis, is now a public museum visited by upwards of 600,000 people annually.
WoodstockMusic festival held in upstateNew York in 1969 that exemplified the counterculture of the 1960s
Thirty-two of the best-known musicians of the day performed in front of nearly half a million concert-goers
Woodstock is regarded as one of the greatest
moments in pop music history
Pop Culture of the 50s
The Lone Ranger
TopTV
Shows
The Honeymooners Father Knows Best
*Political Change
* 1950: * The Korean War began* Senator Joseph McCarthy began Communist “witch-hunt”
* 1955:* Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat
* 1957:* Sputnik launched by Soviets
* 1958:* NASA founded
* 1960:* Lunch counter sit-in at Woolworth’s in Greensboro, NC
* 1961:* Soviets launched the first man in space
* 1963:* JFK assassinated
* 1965:* First US troops sent to Vietnam
* 1968:* MLK Jr and robert Kenedy assassinated
* 1969:* Neil Armstrong was the first man on the moo
THE TURBULENT ’60s
Kennedy beats Nixon
“Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do
for your country.”-- John F. Kennedy
Inauguration Speech, 1961
In one of the closest presidential elections in U.S. history, Kennedy defeated Nixon
“Let the word go forth from this time and place, to friend and foe alike, that the torch has been passed to a
new generation of Americans.”-- John F. Kennedy, Inauguration Speech, 1961
In his inauguration speech, Kennedy inspired people with his optimism, his youthfulness and his ability to handle the media.
CamelotJFK was a very popular president
with the American people.
His youthful energy, looks, glamorous wife Jacqueline, and their young children led to
constant coverage by the media.
People often refer to Kennedy’s presidency as “Camelot” because of the
potential and promise for the future, and the period was symbolic of hope
The Kennedy White HouseJFK’s closest
confidant was his brother Bobby
RFK was appointed to the important
position of Attorney General
The New FrontierJFK’s
domestic programs became
known as the New Frontier.
Main goals of the New Frontier:
Increase federal aid to education
Provide health insurance to the elderly
Create a Department of Urban Affairs to deal with problems in
the inner cities Create an organization of
volunteers to help fight poverty in other countries
Assassination in DallasOn Nov. 22, 1963, Kennedy
and his wife traveled to Dallas to make some political appearancesAs the motorcade rode
through downtown Dallas, JFK was shot in the head
Lee Harvey Oswald was the man who was
accused of shooting Kennedy
*1968: Turbulent YearMartin Luther King shot in April of 1968
Robert F.
Kennedy shot
in June of 1968
Tet Offensiveshowed U.S. was not winning the Vietnam War
Riots occurred at
the Democratic
National Convention in August of
1968
THE VIETNAM WAR
Vietnam in the ’50s
Southeast Asia (aka: French Indochina)
Following World War II, the French controlled southeast Asia (known as Indochina)
Ho Chi Minh led a revolt against the French to gain independence for Vietnam
By 1954, the French fell to the Vietminh and they withdrew from Indochina, leaving Vietnam a divided country
Domino Theory
The Domino Theory was the belief that if one country fell to communism, the other Southeast Asian nations would eventually
fall to communism as well
This map from an American magazine published 14th November 1950 shows how much they feared the spread of Communism in the Far East.
South Vietnam problems
A Buddhist monk commits suicide in protest to the harsh policies of the S. Vietnamese government
The people of South Vietnam hated South Vietnamese president Ngo Dinh
Diem. He was corrupt and did not govern in the best interest of the citizens.
Diem was disliked because he discriminated against the Buddhist populationSome Buddhist monks protested Diem’s rule by setting themselves on fire
Vietcong Guerrilla army based in
South Vietnam (also known as the NLF) that
fought the U.S. and South Vietnamese governments during the Vietnam War
The Vietcong were South Vietnamese communistswho fought for Vietnamese unification on the side of the North Vietnamese
Vietcong Advantages They were familiar with
the landscape (rivers, lakes, etc.)
They could find a safe haven in Cambodia, Laos or South Vietnam
They could often count on the support of the local population
Tet OffensiveJanuary 30 – June 8, 1968
In early 1968, the Vietcong
and the North Vietnamese launched a
surprise attack on the South
during the Tet, which is the Vietnamese
New Year A Vietcong agent is shot during the Tet Offensive
Credibility Gap
William Westmoreland
Robert McNamara
Opposition to the Vietnam War grew in the United States
in the late 1960sMany Americans
were suspicious of the government’s
truthfulness about the war
Many Americans believed a credibility gap had developed (people lost trust in what the
government was telling them)
My Lai MassacreMarch 16th,
1968
Unidentified Vietnamese man and child killed by US soldiers
A village set afire during the My Lai Massacre
American platoon had massacred more than 200 South Vietnamese civilians who they thought were members of the Vietcong in a village called My Lai
Most of the victims were old men, women and children
My Lai massacre increased feelings among many
Americans that the war was brutal and senseless
Draft Lottery BeginsDecember 1st, 1969
Many Americans who were against the war believed the United States had an unfair draft system
Minorities made up a large percentage of soldiers in Vietnam. As the war continued, more people were drafted
26th Amendment ratifiedDuring the Vietnam
War, the average age of U.S. soldier
was 19Most soldiers were old enough to fight, but not old enough
to voteAnger over the draft led to numerous protestsThe 26th Amendment lowered the voting age from 21 to 18
The Draft
Minorities made up a large percentage of soldiers in Vietnam. As the war continued, more people
were drafted
The Draft
Many men refused to go into the military. As a sign of protest, many
burned their draft cards or dodged the draft by leaving the country
Kent State MassacreMay 4, 1970
In April of 1970, President Nixon announced that
American troops had invaded Cambodia
Anti-war protestors saw this as an
escalation of the war, sparking violent
protests on college campuses
At Kent State University in Ohio, protestors became violent. The Ohio National Guard was called in and fired upon the student
demonstrators, killing four students
OhioNeil Young
Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=68g76j9VBvM
Four dead in Ohio.
Television impact on war
Television coverage from Vietnam brought the war into many people’s
living rooms and helped to turn many people against the war.
Television impact on war
When CBS anchorman Walter Cronkite said following the Tet
Offensive that the war was unwinnable, most Americans
believed him
Anti-War Protests Escalate
As the Vietnam conflict dragged on into the 1970s, more and more
Americans called for the U.S. to get out of Vietnam
VietnamizationVietnamization called for a gradual withdrawal of
American troops as South Vietnamese took more
control
Even though the U.S. had begun cutting back its involvement in the Vietnam War,
the American home front remained divided and volatile as Nixon’s war policies stirred
up new waves of protest
U.S. pulls out of Vietnam
In January of 1973, North and South Vietnamese reach a cease-fire
agreement; by 1975, the United States withdraws all of its people
from Vietnam