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
First McDonald’s Restaurant
food from a McDonald’s!
sells burgers, fries and
• Burger King, KFC and
milkshakes!
many others soon
follow!
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
•• The
$26 Higher
billion provided
for
the Number,
Road Construction.
the further east it is if it
• Length - 40,000 Miles!
runs North & South.
• The Interstate Highway
System would
•Example
I 95 provide for
a network of roads in the
• The
Higher the Number,
USA.
the
further
Northrun
it is.
• Odd
# Roads
North &
South.
•Example I 80
• Even # Roads run East &
West!
Political & Social Change in the 50’s
Election of 1948
•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
TrumansCongress
Fair Dealand
covered
Nothing”
was
unemployment
able to use
it to his advantage!
compensation, national
•He
wins
the election
a
health
insurance
andin
atomic
landslide.
energy regulation.
• 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.
Election of 1952
•
•
•
•
Stevenson
•
•
•
•
Eisenhower •
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.
The Checkers Speech
“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!”
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
Within hours,
Eisenhower has received mortgage and employment history.
overwhelming support• He ends the speech by saying that he
for Nixon on the ticket!
had taken one gift from a supporter.
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”
• 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”
Little Rock
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!