Key Terms
• Mao Zedong: communist leader of North China
• Chiang Kai-Shek: leader of Nationalists in south
China
• Taiwan: small island off coast of eastern mainland
China
• 38th parallel: imaginary line dividing North and
South Korea by their resources
• Korean War: war between North and South Korea
Civil War In China
• Civil war breaks out between North and South
• Mao Zedong was leader of communists and
Chiang Kai-Shek was leader of Nationalists
• May 1949- Chiang and his army fled to Taiwan
because Zedong’s army was too powerful
• China became a communist
Koreans Go to War
• June 25, 1950, North Korea invades South
Korea
• June 27,1950, UN Security Council called on
nations to help the Republic of South Korea
• Total number of troops in war were 590,000
all under the command of Douglass
MacArthur
• October 7, 1950, UN vote to tell MacArthur to
go across 38th parallel to unite Korea
Koreans Go to War (contd.)
• November 25, 1950, 300,00 chinese soldiers push
south Koreans back across 38th parallel
• March 1951, Matthew B. Ridgway and the Eighth
Army advance Korean forces back across 38th
parallel and retake Seoul
• April 11,1951, Truman and Joint Chiefs of Staff
relieve MacArthur of his duties for wanting to go
to war with China
• July 1953, the two sides of the war signed an
armistice ending the war in a stalemate
Section 26.2 The Cold War at
Home
By Joe anonuevo
Key Words
• HUAC-The House Committee on Un-American Activities- a congressional
committee that investigated Communist influence inside and outside the
U.S. government in the years following World War II.
• Hollywood Ten- Ten witnesses from the film industry who refused to
cooperate with the HUAC’s investigation of Communist influence in
Hollywood
• Ethel and Julius Rosenberg-Minor activist in the American Communist
Party who leaked information about the atomic bomb. They were
sentenced to death by electric chair and were declared the first U.S.
civilians executed for espionage.
• Senator Joseph McCarthy-The most famous anti-communist activist. He
was a republican senator of Wisconsin who used the growing suspicion of
communism as a means to be reelected in 1952.
• McCarthyism-The making of public accusations of disloyalty without
sufficient evidence, as in Senator Joseph McCarthy’s campaign against the
alleged Communist in the 1950’s.
Fears of Communism
• The fears of a communist
takeover was fueled by the
Soviet domination of Eastern
Europe and China becoming
communist which raised much
concern over the increasing
spread of communism to the
United States and her allies.
Soon civilian loyalty was put into
question as incidents began to
arise in which members of the
U.S. government began to leak
documents and information to
Communist.
Communist Opposition
•
To combat the increasing suspicion of
Communist activity in the US; several
programs and groups were conceived as
to observe suspicious behavior that
would be otherwise a threat to National
Security. President Truman set up the
Loyalty Review Board which examined
government officials and see whether
they were found to be “disloyal” yet, it
wasn’t fount out what would be
considered “disloyal.” Those accused
would be dismissed of their position.
Another major group to investigate
Communist influence in the US was the
HUAC or House Committee on UnAmerican Activities which sought out to
search out suspicious behavior
especially Communist-linked behavior
at the height of the Cold War.
Spies at Home
•
•
Alger Hiss, who held the position of former State
Department official, was accused by the former
Communist Spy Whittaker Chambers for spying on
behalf of the USSR. Chambers’ accusation was that
Hiss used microfilm to send messages to other Soviet
spies. He wasn’t charged with espionage until it was
proven in the 1990’s but at the time he was charged
with perjury for lying about passing the documents and
was sent to jail.
Another case involved the minor Communist activistJulius and Ethel Rosenberg. At the time, the US was
ahead as far as arms race goes with the advent of the
atomic bomb. Many experts concluded that it would
take the USSR 3-5 years to figure out how to produce
atomic bombs. It wasn’t until the British physicist
Klaus Fuchs admitted to passing information to the
Soviet’s and as a result the Soviets created an atomic
bomb 18 months earlier than expected. In his trial, he
also mentioned the Rosenberg’s involvement. They
were also tried but denied any accusations and chose
not to release any information. They were found guilty
and were given the death sentence. They became the
first US civilians executed for espionage.
Senator McCarthy’s Campaign
• Joseph McCarthy was a
republican senator from
Wisconsin, who manipulated the
nation’s fears of Communist for
votes to a re-election. His
technique of exposing
Communist became known as
McCarthyism. Whenever he
was spoken against, he would
blame the accuser of being
Communist. His accusation
went as high as the US army
which would mark his downfall.
After further investigation the
Senate punish him for
misconduct.
McCarthyism and its Effects
• McCarthyism was a tactic used by
Joseph McCarthy as a means to gain
votes by addressing the fear of
Communist whenever he was
spoken against. His victims would
be blacklisted but, McCarthyism also
struck fear into the public as more
and more people would be accused
be it civilians or government
officials. It forced the public to take
loyalty oaths and go through loyalty
investigations. Many people were
also in fear of speaking out in fears
that they would be accused. Labor
union activity was also put on the
decline so as to not be suspicious of
Communist or Communist-related
activity.
GI Bill of Rights
• Congress passed the GI Bill of Rights in 1944
• The Bill was constructed to help ease veterans’ return to
civilian life
• It guaranteed people a year’s unemployment benefits while
they looked for jobs, and offered low-interest, federally
guaranteed loans
• Families used the Bill benefits to buy homes and start
businesses
Housing Problems
• Many returning veterans returned home from
war and faced severe housing shortage
• People began to leave the cities and settle in
the suburbs
• Suburb is a residential town or community
near a city
• William Levitt and Henry Kaiser used an
efficient assembly line to build homes in the
suburbs to help fix the housing shortages
Levittown
Next Man Up
•
•
•
•
•
•
Harry S. Truman abruptly became president after Franklin D. Roosevelt’s death in
1945
Truman took initiative right away by convincing the Congress to draft striking
workers into the army
Truman was blamed for the nation’s inflation and labor unrest, but was still
nominated president in 1948 by the Democrats
His “Give ‘em hell, Harry” campaign helped him win the election by such a small
margin to Dewey.
Dixiecrat was one of the Southern delegates who, to protest President Truman’s
civil rights policy, walked out of the 1948 Democratic National Convention and
formed the States’ Rights Democratic Party
The economic program Truman used was called the Fair Deal - an extension of
Franklins New Deal- which included measures to increase minimum wage, to
extend social security coverage, and to provide housing for low-income families
Ike Has Arrived
• Dwight D. Eisenhower was commonly called “Ike” and became the
Republican President of the United States in 1952, winning 55 % of the
popular vote against Adlai Stevenson
• Governor of Arkansas did not allow blacks to enroll in an all white high school
• Eisenhower raised minimum wage, extended social security and
unemployment benefits, increased funding for public housing, and backed
the creation of the interstate highways which increased his popularity greatly
• Ike became a more popular figure and was reelected in 1956
Racial Discrimination
• The Brown vs. Board of Education of Topeka was a
major court case that the Supreme Court ruled stating
public schools should be racially integrated
• In 1955 Rosa Parks sparked the Civil Rights Movement
by refusing to give up her seat to a white man on the
bus
• Orval Faubus, the governor of Arkansas tried to keep
blacks out of an all-white high school in Little Rock in
September 1957
• Eisenhower promoted his power by sending the First
Airborne to help ensure that black students were able
to attend class
Little Rock Nine
• The nine African – American students who
were initially not allowed to enroll in an all
white high school in Little Rock, Arkansas
The Organization of Man
• Conglomerates- A major corporation that
includes smaller companies in unrelated
industries
• Franchise- A company that offers similar
products and services at numerous locations
Suburban Lifestyle
• Post WWII Americans moved to the suburbs
to raise their families
• The Baby Boom was a time of high American
birth rate from 1946-1964
• Dr. Jonas Salk- developed a vaccine for polio
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Consumerism-the buying of material goods
• With many new products coming out businesses began to advertise more
than ever.
Advertisements showed up on tv, billboards on the side of major roadways,
magazine adds etc.
• The use of credit cards also became prevalent. “Buy Now, Pay Later”]
The first credit card was issued by the Diner’s Club in 1950.
• Manufacturers also had strategies to bring in more profit.
One of which is called planned absolescence. Manufacturers began to create
products so they would wear out in a short period of time.
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Automobiles
• The Interstate Highway Act
was signed by president
Eisenhower in 1956.
This created a nationwide
highway network. 41,000
miles of expressways.
• The highways were
originally created for
military use but ended up
being used by many
suburban families to
commute to and from
work, social events ect.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
Road_trip
Rock n’Roll
The Beatniks
1948 TV
Nat Cole
Vocab
•
Mass Media- Means of communication that reach large audiences.
•
Federal Communications Commission (FCC)- The government agency that regulates and
•
licenses television, telephone, telegraph, radio, and other communications industries.
•
The Beat Movement- A social and aristocratic movement of the 1950s, stressing unrestrained
literary self-expression and nonconformity with the mainstream culture.
•
Beatniks- Followers of The Beat Movement.
•
Rock n’ Roll- a form of popular music, characterized by heavy rhythms and simple melodies,
•
that developed from rhythm and blues in the 1950s.
•
The Golden Age- The period of the rapid expansion of television.
People To Know
• Milton Berle- Attracted huge audiences with The Texaco
Theatre.
• Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz- Stars of the situation
comedy I Love Lucy.
• Nat Cole- The first African- American to have a weekly
half-hour show on national television.
The Expansion of Mass Media
• Television- Television became a large part of the American culture
during the 1950s. It was in traduced in 1948, and by 1960 about 90% of
homes had a TV set.
• Poetry- Poetry was a prominent style of media during this time and it
began to become more popular, especially with the Beatniks.
• Movies- Were very popular in the 50s even through the emergence of
television;.
The Emergence of Subcultures
• Beatniks- Followers of The Beat Movement
• Rock n’ Roll- a form of popular music,
characterized by heavy rhythms and simple
melodies.
• African- American Radio- after radio became
integrated, the amount of stations aimed at
black listeners sprouted. By 1954 there were
250 black stations.