Name: _________________________
The Century: America’s Time
Best Years
Hi. I’m Peter Jennings.
We will be focusing on the
1950’s during this episode of
The Century: America’s Time.
1. Who did Harry Truman bring to his home state of Missouri?
Winston Churchill
2. Who was warning the US about when he gave his “Iron Curtain” Speech?
Winston Churchill
3. What was now happening to factories that worked around the clock during the war?
Factories had few jobs to offer
4. What two things did the G.I. Bill of Rights provide returning soldiers?
Higher education and low cost mortgages.
5. What was the driving force behind the booming economy?
The american consumer
6. How many houses could Bill Levitt’s fast-paced approach build in a week?
180 in a week
7. Between 1946 and 1952 American families added how many children?
25 million
8. What did Harry Truman’s “Civil Rights Message to Congress” desegregate?
Armed forces and federal government
9. What was the significance of Jackie Robinson joining the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1947?
He was the first African American in MLB
10. Who was in charge of the 400,000 G.I.’s in Japan?
Douglas MacArthur
11. Describe the conditions in Germany. List 3.
Unemployment, homelessness, and starvation
12. How much aid did the United States send to Europe (Marshall Plan)?
13 billion
13. Where was the first confrontation of the Cold War?
Berlin
14. How did the United States get supplies to West Berliners after Stalin blocked off the West?
Flew in supplies
15. How did Stalin shock the West again 3 months later?
Tested atomic bomb
16. What was another shock for the US regarding China?
Mao Zedong and communist took country over.
17. What country were American soldiers sent to in order to protect them from communism?
Korea
18. How were the returning veterans treated upon their arrival back in the United States?
no bands or parades to greet veterans
19. Who went on the attack in search for communists in the United States?
Joseph McCarthy
Hollywood
20. Nowhere was the fear more damaging than that in _________________.
21. What happened to the actors and actresses that refused to testify against fellow actors & actresses?
They were black listed
22. What did Harry Truman do to General Douglas Mac Arthur when he did not follow Truman’s orders?
Fired him
23. What did America test in November 1952?
Hydrogen bomb
24. Who was the WWII hero at the top of the Republican Party’s ticket in 1952?
Dwight Eisenhower
25. What new appliance became extremely popular during this time period?
Television