america in the ’50s and 60s

AMERICA in the ’50s

And 60s

*Changes

*There were four major changes in the US during the 1950s and 60s1. Social2. Science/Technology3. Music/Art4. Political

*Social Changes

Suburbs = The American Dream Affordable

single-family housing

Good schools Friendly

neighbors like themselves

13 million homes built in

the 1950s –

85% were

suburban

New highways, affordable automobiles, low gasoline prices

A safe, healthy environment for children

The Generation GapThe generation gap was the cultural

separation between children and their parents.

Many parents viewed rock ’n’ roll as loud and dangerous.

The music was banned in some communities.

The music united teens in their own

world and helped to create what became known as the generation

gap.

Juvenile Delinquency

Another problem facing the nation was juvenile

delinquency, which was antisocial or criminal

behavior by teenagersJuvenile crime rose 45% between 1948 and 1953. Car thefts by juveniles increased and more teenagers joined

street gangs

From 1946-1960, the number of teenagers in the US rose from 5.6 million to 11.8 millionAttributed to changes in pop

culture, such as Catcher in the Rye and “Rebel Without a Cause”

The Hippie MovementIn the 60s, thousands of

teenagers became part of the “counterculture.” These “hippies” rebelled against the traditional American culture.

Hippies believed in a world free of war

and hate and full of peace and love

The hippie look was long hair, tie-dyed shirts, and use of drugslike marijuana, LSD and heroin

The Counter-Culture

Famous music groups of the Hippie Movement

The Beatles

Jimi Hendrix

Bob Dylan

Jim Morrison and the Doors

Music played a large part

of the Hippie Movement

Jefferson Airplane

Family LifeWomen in the 50s and 60s were seen as wives and not much else; they usually stayed at home and were expected to cook, clean, and serve the husband and rest of the family

This is a popular show from the time, Leave it to Beaver, which portrays the “nuclear” family

The Baby Boom

From 1945 -61 more than 65 million children were

bornContributing factors:The end of wars led to more young couples

getting married

This period became known as the Baby Boom

The American birthrate exploded after World War

II.

Pop culture glorified pregnancy, parenthood

and large families

*Science/Technology

Science/Technological Breakthroughs

*The Space Race1957-1975

The Space Race started when Russia sent Sputnik and the first man into space. The U.S. got the people thinking, “If Russia can send satellites into space, then they can send nuclear weapons from space to the U.S. and destroy the U.S."

It also showed that Russia had better educated students to take Russia into space, and the U.S. was falling behind in education.

Sputnik, the world’s first artificial satellite, launched by Russia in 1957

* The Space Race

Causes

*One cause of the Space Race was the Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union, the most powerful countries after WWII.

*Both these countries were competing to be the number one world leader, so space was a critical area for battle.

Birth of television

Shows like I Love Lucy and The

Honeymooners were the

most popular TV

shows of the ’50s

By 1957, there were about 40 million television sets in

use and TV became an important source of

information

First McDonald’s

(1955)

America became a more homogeneous nation

because of the automobile.

Drive-In Movies

Holiday Inn

The Automobile Culture

*Music/Art

*Music

* New music began hitting the scene, such as: * Bebop

* Dizzy Gillespie, Charlie Parker* "Hot House”* The Supremes, The Temptations, The Jackson 5* "My Girl," by The Temptations

* Rock-n-roll* Rolling Stones* Jimi Hendrix* The Beatles* "Twist and Shout," by The Beatles

Birth of Rock ’n RollIn the 1950s, many teenagers

rebelled against the middle-class suburban values,

particularly conformity and wanted to be unique. It was during this period

that many youths turned to new and unconventional styles of music

Soon white artists began making music that was based on African American rhythm and blues

This form of music became known as rock ‘n’ roll and it became wildly popular with the nation’s teenagers

Elvis Presley

The King of Rock ’n Roll

Presley’s extraordinary popularity established

rock ’n’ roll as an unprecedented mass-market phenomenonHis reputation as a

performer endured up to his death in 1977 at the

age of 42. Graceland, his home in Memphis, is now a public museum visited by upwards of 600,000 people annually.

WoodstockMusic festival held in upstateNew York in 1969 that exemplified the counterculture of the 1960s

Thirty-two of the best-known musicians of the day performed in front of nearly half a million concert-goers

Woodstock is regarded as one of the greatest

moments in pop music history

Pop Culture of the 50s

The Lone Ranger

TopTV

Shows

The Honeymooners Father Knows Best

*Political Change

* 1950: * The Korean War began* Senator Joseph McCarthy began Communist “witch-hunt”

* 1955:* Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat

* 1957:* Sputnik launched by Soviets

* 1958:* NASA founded

* 1960:* Lunch counter sit-in at Woolworth’s in Greensboro, NC

* 1961:* Soviets launched the first man in space

* 1963:* JFK assassinated

* 1965:* First US troops sent to Vietnam

* 1968:* MLK Jr and robert Kenedy assassinated

* 1969:* Neil Armstrong was the first man on the moo

THE TURBULENT ’60s

Kennedy beats Nixon

“Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do

for your country.”-- John F. Kennedy

Inauguration Speech, 1961

In one of the closest presidential elections in U.S. history, Kennedy defeated Nixon

“Let the word go forth from this time and place, to friend and foe alike, that the torch has been passed to a

new generation of Americans.”-- John F. Kennedy, Inauguration Speech, 1961

In his inauguration speech, Kennedy inspired people with his optimism, his youthfulness and his ability to handle the media.

CamelotJFK was a very popular president

with the American people.

His youthful energy, looks, glamorous wife Jacqueline, and their young children led to

constant coverage by the media.

People often refer to Kennedy’s presidency as “Camelot” because of the

potential and promise for the future, and the period was symbolic of hope

The Kennedy White HouseJFK’s closest

confidant was his brother Bobby

RFK was appointed to the important

position of Attorney General

The New FrontierJFK’s

domestic programs became

known as the New Frontier.

Main goals of the New Frontier:

Increase federal aid to education

Provide health insurance to the elderly

Create a Department of Urban Affairs to deal with problems in

the inner cities Create an organization of

volunteers to help fight poverty in other countries

Assassination in DallasOn Nov. 22, 1963, Kennedy

and his wife traveled to Dallas to make some political appearancesAs the motorcade rode

through downtown Dallas, JFK was shot in the head

Lee Harvey Oswald was the man who was

accused of shooting Kennedy

*1968: Turbulent YearMartin Luther King shot in April of 1968

Robert F.

Kennedy shot

in June of 1968

Tet Offensiveshowed U.S. was not winning the Vietnam War

Riots occurred at

the Democratic

National Convention in August of

1968

THE VIETNAM WAR

Vietnam in the ’50s

Southeast Asia (aka: French Indochina)

Following World War II, the French controlled southeast Asia (known as Indochina)

Ho Chi Minh led a revolt against the French to gain independence for Vietnam

By 1954, the French fell to the Vietminh and they withdrew from Indochina, leaving Vietnam a divided country

Domino Theory

The Domino Theory was the belief that if one country fell to communism, the other Southeast Asian nations would eventually

fall to communism as well

This map from an American magazine published 14th November 1950 shows how much they feared the spread of Communism in the Far East.

South Vietnam problems

A Buddhist monk commits suicide in protest to the harsh policies of the S. Vietnamese government

The people of South Vietnam hated South Vietnamese president Ngo Dinh

Diem. He was corrupt and did not govern in the best interest of the citizens.

Diem was disliked because he discriminated against the Buddhist populationSome Buddhist monks protested Diem’s rule by setting themselves on fire

Vietcong Guerrilla army based in

South Vietnam (also known as the NLF) that

fought the U.S. and South Vietnamese governments during the Vietnam War

The Vietcong were South Vietnamese communistswho fought for Vietnamese unification on the side of the North Vietnamese

Vietcong Advantages They were familiar with

the landscape (rivers, lakes, etc.)

They could find a safe haven in Cambodia, Laos or South Vietnam

They could often count on the support of the local population

Tet OffensiveJanuary 30 – June 8, 1968

In early 1968, the Vietcong

and the North Vietnamese launched a

surprise attack on the South

during the Tet, which is the Vietnamese

New Year A Vietcong agent is shot during the Tet Offensive

Credibility Gap

William Westmoreland

Robert McNamara

Opposition to the Vietnam War grew in the United States

in the late 1960sMany Americans

were suspicious of the government’s

truthfulness about the war

Many Americans believed a credibility gap had developed (people lost trust in what the

government was telling them)

My Lai MassacreMarch 16th,

1968

Unidentified Vietnamese man and child killed by US soldiers

A village set afire during the My Lai Massacre

American platoon had massacred more than 200 South Vietnamese civilians who they thought were members of the Vietcong in a village called My Lai

Most of the victims were old men, women and children

My Lai massacre increased feelings among many

Americans that the war was brutal and senseless

Draft Lottery BeginsDecember 1st, 1969

Many Americans who were against the war believed the United States had an unfair draft system

Minorities made up a large percentage of soldiers in Vietnam. As the war continued, more people were drafted

26th Amendment ratifiedDuring the Vietnam

War, the average age of U.S. soldier

was 19Most soldiers were old enough to fight, but not old enough

to voteAnger over the draft led to numerous protestsThe 26th Amendment lowered the voting age from 21 to 18

The Draft

Minorities made up a large percentage of soldiers in Vietnam. As the war continued, more people

were drafted

The Draft

Many men refused to go into the military. As a sign of protest, many

burned their draft cards or dodged the draft by leaving the country

Kent State MassacreMay 4, 1970

In April of 1970, President Nixon announced that

American troops had invaded Cambodia

Anti-war protestors saw this as an

escalation of the war, sparking violent

protests on college campuses

At Kent State University in Ohio, protestors became violent. The Ohio National Guard was called in and fired upon the student

demonstrators, killing four students

OhioNeil Young

Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=68g76j9VBvM

Four dead in Ohio.

Television impact on war

Television coverage from Vietnam brought the war into many people’s

living rooms and helped to turn many people against the war.

Television impact on war

When CBS anchorman Walter Cronkite said following the Tet

Offensive that the war was unwinnable, most Americans

believed him

Anti-War Protests Escalate

As the Vietnam conflict dragged on into the 1970s, more and more

Americans called for the U.S. to get out of Vietnam

VietnamizationVietnamization called for a gradual withdrawal of

American troops as South Vietnamese took more

control

Even though the U.S. had begun cutting back its involvement in the Vietnam War,

the American home front remained divided and volatile as Nixon’s war policies stirred

up new waves of protest

U.S. pulls out of Vietnam

In January of 1973, North and South Vietnamese reach a cease-fire

agreement; by 1975, the United States withdraws all of its people

from Vietnam