1950’s: The Other side of American Life—
Poverty amidst Prosperity
Lesson 7-6 (Non-MC3)
SCORE:
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25
Name: _______________________________________ Hour: ______
Objectives: Examine social and economic issues that challenged Americans during the 1950’s. Minorities throughout the country had to
battle both discrimination and poverty amidst a theoretical boom of prosperity for most of “main stream” America.
Foundation Material: Silent reading of textbook pages 582-587 (old book 607-615).
Additional Foundation Material: Watch the 5-minute video entitled “1950s: Homelife, Suburban Sprawl, and the
Baby Boom” located on the Internet at http://player.discoveryeducation.com/index.cfm?guidAssetId=3650F8B9-6A62-
442D-8B4C-40456B2CAFF9&blnFromSearch=1&productcode=US
U.S. HISTORY II – UNIT 7
Identification of Key Concepts/People/Events: Write out a description for the each of the following.
1.
Poverty Line: minimum income needed to support a family
2.
Urban Renewal: eliminate poverty in the cities by tearing down slums and building new housing
3.
Termination Policy: government policy to withdraw all recognition of Native American groups as legal entities and make
them subject to all federal laws
4.
Juvenile Delinquency: anti-social or criminal behavior of young people
5.
Appalachia: Geographic area in the U.S. stretching from New York to Georgia
Mini-Lecture and Note-Taking: Use the information provided during our class discussion to complete the following outline. All
sections of the outline must be complete and legible to receive credit.
I.
1950’s—Poverty amidst Prosperity
a. Middle class expands—creating a false sense of prosperity for all.
b. The invisible problem
i. Although it seemed that most were prospering, 1 in 5 Americans lived below the poverty line.
ii. Most Americans failed to see this issue because the vast majority living below this “imaginary marker”
were minorities
c. Most affected by poverty and discrimination
i. African Americans
ii. Puerto Ricans
iii. Mexican Americans
iv. Rural White (Appalachia)
v. Inner city residents
vi. Native Americans
II.
Inner City
a. Poverty of the 1950’s was most apparent in the inner cities
i. Middle class families moved out the cities to the “suburbs”
ii. Poor and less educated were left in the cities
iii. As people left the city so did their Tax dollars, which made it difficult to provide city services to those
that remained there.
b. Urban Renewal
i. Government program started to reduce poverty in the inner city
1. Tear down slums and build new housing for poor residents
2. New housing developments were crowded and led to an increase of violence and crime.
3. Income restrictions which kept people poor—if you earned a higher income you were removed
from the public housing thus putting the people back on the street.
4. Never created as much housing as it tore down
III.
African Americans
a. Most people left behind in the cities were African Americans
b. African Americans migrated to Northern cities seeking an escape from prosperity and discrimination
i. Unfortunately poverty and discrimination continued during the 1950’s in the north
1. Discrimination
a. Housing
b. Schooling
c. Hiring
d. Salaries
2.
e. Medical care
Life expectancy for African Americans during the 1950’s 5 to 10 times less than an average
white.
IV.
Mexican Americans
a. Bracero Program
i. Program that brought 5 million Mexicans to the U.S. to work on farms in the Southwest
ii. 350,000 permanently stayed in the U.S.
1. Discrimination
a. Extreme poverty and hardship
b. Long hours
c. Low pay
d. Horrible working conditions
e. Poor housing
f. Starvation
V.
Native Americans
a. Poorest ethnic group in the United States during the 1950’s
b. Termination Policy
i. Program to assimilate Native Americans (whether they wanted to or not) into mainstream society after
WWII
ii. Government officially withdrew all recognition of Native American groups as legal entities and made
them subject to the same laws as white citizens
iii. Helped them move off reservations (whether they wanted to or not)
iv. Although the program had good intentions it quickly became a race by greedy politicians to steal the
resource rich Native American lands
v. This policy deepened poverty for Native Americans
vi. Living conditions became unbearable as limited housing created miserable living conditions with as
many as 15-20 people living in two-bedroom homes
VI.
Appalachia
a. Coal mining was the backbone of the Appalachian economy (New York to Georgia)
i. Mechanization of Mining
1. Created massive unemployment
2. 1.5 million moved to the big cities in seek of work and a better life
3. Appalachia had fewer doctors
4. High rates of nutritional deficiency
5. Poor schooling
VII.
Juvenile Deliquency
a. Most of Middle America could ignore the plight of the minorities, but Juvenile Deliquency could not be ignored
i. 1948-1953 Juvenile crime increased 45%
1. Reasons for increase were wide-ranging (many disagreed)
a. Television
b. Movies
c. Racism
d. Busy parents
e. Divorce
f. Lack of religion
g. Anxiety of military draft
h. Lack of discipline
i. Rebelling against the conformity of parents
j. Poverty
2. Combating delinquency
a. Increase in schooling
b. Parenting classes
c. Increase in religion
d. Organized team sports and organizations
3. Education concerns
a. 1957 Soviet Union Launches Sputnik I and II
i. Increased the nations concern of the Public education system
ii. Increased the effort to promote math and science in the public schools
Reinforcement Activity/Homework - Identifying Key Details (12 points): Have students use their book along with online
resources to identify and examine the civil rights events listed below that occurred during the 1950’s. Each student should complete
the form and turn in for credit
Event
Explanation of Situation
http://library.thinkquest.org/J0112391/brown_v__board_of_education.htm
Brown v. Board of Education
Date: 1952
(ruling on case came in May of
1954)
Use this link to help as a guide to explaining the case and its outcome
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TTGHLdr-iak
People involved: Linda Brown,
Topeka Kansas Board of
Education
Little Rock Nine
Date: Sept. 1957
People involved:
http://littlerock9.com/History.aspx
Use this link to help as a guide to explaining this event and its outcome
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RGjNqrQBUno
Nine young African Americans!

http://www.watson.org/~lisa/blackhistory/civilrights-5565/montbus.html
Montgomery Bus Boycott
Date: Dec. 1955
People involved:
Most notable: Rosa Parks
Use this link to help as a guide to explaining this event and its outcome
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jJ1OO5iBWCQ&feature=related
Outcome of the Situation
Reinforcement Activity (Optional): Read the short Article entitled “Sputnik and The Dawn of the Space Age” below.
Have students write a short 1/2 opinion essay on whether or not the launching of Sputnik by the Soviets truly was a threat
to America. Have the students provide examples from the article.
Sputnik and The Dawn of the Space Age
History changed on October 4, 1957, when the Soviet Union successfully launched Sputnik
I. The world's first artificial satellite was about the size of a beach ball (58 cm.or 22.8
inches in diameter), weighed only 83.6 kg. or 183.9 pounds, and took about 98 minutes to
orbit the Earth on its elliptical path. That launch ushered in new political, military,
technological, and scientific developments. While the Sputnik launch was a single event, it
marked the start of the space age and the U.S.-U.S.S.R space race.
The story begins in 1952, when the International Council of Scientific Unions decided to
establish July 1, 1957, to December 31, 1958, as theInternational Geophysical Year
(IGY) because the scientists knew that the cycles of solar activity would be at a high point
then. In October 1954, the council adopted a resolution calling for artificial satellites to be
launched during the IGY to map the Earth's surface.
In July 1955, the White House announced plans to launch an Earth-orbiting satellite for the
IGY and solicited proposals from various Government research agencies to undertake
development. In September 1955, the Naval Research Laboratory's Vanguard proposal was
chosen to represent the U.S. during the IGY.
The Sputnik launch changed everything. As a technical achievement, Sputnik caught the
world's attention and the American public off-guard. Its size was more impressive than
Vanguard's intended 3.5-pound payload. In addition, the public feared that the Soviets'
ability to launch satellites also translated into the capability to launch ballistic missiles that
could carry nuclear weapons from Europe to the U.S. Then the Soviets struck again; on
November 3, Sputnik II was launched, carrying a much heavier payload, including a dog
named Laika.
Immediately after the Sputnik I launch in October, the U.S. Defense Department responded
to the political furor by approving funding for another U.S. satellite project. As a
simultaneous alternative to Vanguard, Wernher von Braun and his Army Redstone Arsenal
team began work on the Explorer project.
On January 31, 1958, the tide changed, when the United States successfully launched
Explorer I. This satellite carried a small scientific payload that eventually discovered the
magnetic radiation belts around the Earth, named after principal investigator James Van
Allen. The Explorer program continued as a successful ongoing series of lightweight,
scientifically useful spacecraft.
The Sputnik launch also led directly to the creation of National Aeronautics and Space
Administration (NASA). In July 1958, Congress passed the National Aeronautics and
Space Act (commonly called the "Space Act"), which created NASA as of October 1, 1958
from the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) and other government
agencies.
Extension Group Activity - (Optional)—Put students into small groups of 3 or 4 and have them pick
one of the minority groups discussed earlier in the lesson. Each group will need to create a poster
depicting their situation during the 1950’s. Clearly identify the troubles they encountered and provide a
slogan for change. Each poster needs to have 1 picture, 1 slogan, minimum of 3 troubles, and a
minimum of 5 colors. The posters need to be neatly drawn and written in order to receive credit.
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