COLD WAR & 1950’ S LIFE
Unit 9
POTSDAM CONFERENCE
Finalized the postwar plans for
Germany by dividing Berlin into
occupation zones
RED SCARE
MAJOR FEAR OF COMMUNIST SPIES IN
AMERICA
SENATOR JOSEPH MCCARTHY
ACCUSED MANY GOVERNMENT
EMPLOYEES OF BEING SOVIET SPIES.
HUAC
Investigated subversive
organizations such as
labor unions and the film
industry.
VENONA PROJECT
The program attempted to
decrypt messages sent by Soviet
Union intelligence agencies
THE ROSENBERGS
Husband and wife Ethel
and Julius Rosenberg
were charged with
passing atomic secrets
to the Soviets. They
were sentenced to death
amid protests of their
innocence.
BRINKMANSHIP
A foreign policy that is a
willingness to go to the edge
or brink of war
BERLIN AIRLIFT
The Soviets [Stalin] blockaded all
travel in and out of Berlin. The
U.S. responded by airlifting 2.5
million ton of supplies for the next
10 months
BABY BOOM
A large increase in the
number of babies born
in proportion to the size
of the population. It
happened in the 1950s
due to the large number
of marriages after WW2
INTERSTATE HIGHWAY ACT
CREATED BY PRESIDENT EISENHOWER
CONNECTED MAJOR CITIES FOR
EVACUATION AND MOBILIZATION
PURPOSES
SUBURBIA
LEVITTOWNS WERE THE FIRST
ORGANIZED COMMUNITIES
FAIR DEAL
A package of reforms by
President Truman that increased
the minimum wage, increased
spending on education and
enacted a national health
insurance program.
TAFT-HARTLEY ACT
It outlawed “Closed Shops” which
was a form of union security
agreement under which the
employer agrees to hire union
members only. It also banned
“sympathy strikes”
MEDICINE ADVANCEMENTS
The Polio Vaccine was
developed by Dr. Jonas
Salk it was made up of
very small parts of the
polio virus. It was deemed
90% effective
THE BEATNIKS
Members of a movement of
writers and poets who
rejected all forms of
convention or conformity.
They listened to Jazz,
smoked marijuana, practiced
Eastern religions and wore
berets
ROCK N’ ROLL
A popular style of music
started in the 1950’s with
roots in rhythm-and-blues,
jazz, country and folk
music. Early musicians
included Elvis Presley.
BROWN V. BOARD OF EDUCATION
Overruled Plessy v. Ferguson
deeming segregation illegal
in schools.
Once schools were forced to
integrate, a major push for
full integration will rise from
the black population.