1950s – Suburban Life
and the Affluent Society
1950s – Red Scare and
McCarthyism
Senator
Joseph
McCarthy
US Families enjoying
the prosperous 1950s
Anticommunist
propaganda
1950s – Suburban Life and the
Affluent Society
1950s a time of great prosperity,
millions of Americans could afford
TVs and new cars.
1950s a time when millions of middle
class Americans moved from the
cities to the outskirts called
suburban areas.
1950s – Suburban Life and the
Affluent Society
Americans spent the money they
had saved on war bonds and also
took out loans to buy TVs & Cars.
The Korean War kept US industry
booming and the average US wage
was three times more than in the UK.
However, while millions of middle
class Americans moved to the
suburbs. 30% of the population
were still living below the poverty
line. Mostly, Blacks, & Hispanics.
There wasn’t a national health service and the
poorest members of society continued to suffer
the most. Also, southern areas were less
developed and people in those areas were worst
off - Black and Hispanic.
1950s – Red Scare and McCarthyism
There was a second Red Scare in the late
40s and early 50s in America. Fear of
Soviet Russia made some American’s
paranoid about Communism.
In 1950 Senator Joe McCarthy announced that
he had a list with the names of 205 known
communists living in America. Names on the list
included Hollywood directors and also government
officials.
1950s – Red Scare and McCarthyism
By the mid 1950s McCarthyism had faded
away. Suspicions arose over his claims and
journalists began investigating him.
McCarthy did not have any real evidence to prove
people were communist. His claims were based on
rumours and he was removed from his job. The
term McCarthyism became a way of describing a
Witchhunt to silence the outspoken.
When Senator Joe McCarthy died in 1957 not
many shed a tear. McCarthyism and the Cold
War helped create a fear and hatred of
communism in the US that has never really
gone away.
In reality however, under 1% of the population had
any communist sympathies. Anti-Civil Rights
campaigners also used McCarthyism to say they
were communist.
Describe the Affluent Society [4]
Success Criteria
3 points mentioned and developed
Written in past tense
Chronological i.e. After the war…
1950s Segregated
School
Describe the effects of
McCarthyism on the people of the
USA [4]
Success Criteria
3 points mentioned and developed
Written in past tense
Chronological i.e. McCarthy helped create a fear…