Identifications:
·
Klaus Fuchs
o
British physicist who worked on the atomic bomb
project at los alamos, was arrested in 1950 and confessed to divulging atomic
secrets to the soviets
·
Election of 1952
o
Eisenhower (rep) vs. Adlai Stevenson (dem),
Eisenhower wins
o
governor of Illinois; Stevenson had gained a
reputation in Illinois as an intellectual and eloquent orator
o
Dwight Eisenhower, a popular general who served
as allied commander during WWII and instilled calm confidence in the American
people with his traditions of diplomacy and security. His VP was Nixon.
§
Controversy resulted pre-election when people
began accusing Nixon of receiving gifts from political supporters and a fund
being set up in secret. Nixon fought back against these allegations where he
detailed his personal finances and, in a climax of the speech, told the
audience about his only gift, a cocker spaniel named checkers, which prompted
many to demand him to stay on the ticket and rallied enormous support,
guaranteeing Eisenhower victory
·
Dynamic conservatism/ Interstate highway act/ Army-McCarthy
hearings
o
Dynamic conservatism: Eisenhower’s philosophy of
being liberal in all things human and being conservative with all things
fiscal. Appealed to both republicans and democrats.
o
Interstate highway act: (1956) Eisenhower’s 20
yr plan to build 41,000 mi of highway, largest public works project in history,
expensive. Consisted of multilane expressways that would connect the nation’s
major cities. The new highways eased commutes from suburbs to cities, boosted
travel and vacation industries.
o
Army-McCarthy hearings: the trials in which
senator McCarthy accused the U.S. army of harboring possible communists. These
trials were one of the first televised trials in America, and helped show
America senator McCarthy’s irresponsibility and meanness. Led to his downfall.
·
Earl Warren
o
Chief justice during the 1950's and 1960's who
used a loose interpretation to expand rights for both African Americans and
those accused of crimes. The South hated him. Eisenhower hated that he appointed him.
·
Southern Manifesto/ Little Rock Central High
School/ Civil rights act of 1957/ Civil rights act of 1960
o
Southern Manifesto: a document written by
legislators opposed to integration and Brown vs. Board of Education. Most of
the signatures came from southern democrats, showing that they would stand in
the way of integration, leading to another split/shift in the Democratic Party.
o
Little Rock Central High School: was the site of
forced desegregation in 1957 when the governor of Alabama wouldn't allow the
"little rock nine" access to the school. President Eisenhower then
mobilized the 101st airborne division to force the school to admit the students
o
Civil rights act of 1957: primarily a voting
rights bill, was the first civil rights legislation enacted by republicans in
the united states since reconstruction; it created the civil rights commission
and special division within justice department that could fight against those
preventing people from voting. however, it was not particularly effective.
nonetheless, it paved the way for future laws, including the civil rights act
of 1964 and the voting rights act of 1965
o
Civil rights act of 1960: established federal
inspection of local voter registration polls and introduced penalties for anyone
who obstructed someone's attempt to register to vote or actually vote
·
John Foster Dulles/ Brinksmanship/ Atoms for
peace/ New look defense program
o
John Foster Dulles: Eisenhower’s sec. of state;
harsh anti-communist; called for more radical measures to roll back communism
where it had already spread (containment too cautious)
o
Brinksmanship: the principle of not backing down
in a crisis, even if it meant taking the country to the brink of war. policy of
both the U.S. and U.S.S.R. during the cold war
o
Atoms for peace: -title of a speech delivered by
U.S. president Dwight d. Eisenhower to the un general assembly in New York City
on December 8, 1953; us then launched an "atoms for peace" program
that supplied equipment and information to schools, hospitals, and research
institutions within the U.S. and throughout the world -started process of
trying to domesticate atomic energy
o
New look defense program: national security
policy during Eisenhower administration, balancing cold war military threats
with financial resources of us, strategic nuclear weapons to defer potential
threats
·
CIA/ Allen Dulles / Covert action / Iran and
Guatemala
o
CIA: carried out covert actions to control
communist regimes. Established in 1947 to conduct foreign intelligence
gathering. Used media, art, conferences to degrade communism.
o
Allen Dulles: director of CIA, appointed by
Eisenhower. he was a veteran of wartime OSS cloak-and-dagger operations. he was
also the brother of John Foster Dulles
o
Covert action: subverting governments, putting
foreign leaders on CIA payroll (like King Hussein of Jordan), supporting
foreign political parties (such as the Liberal Democratic Party of Japan), and
subsidizing foreign newspapers and labor unions that changed to a pro-American
line
o
Iran: “Operation Ajax” a coup to overthrow the
government of Iran in 1953. Fearing that the prime minister who had
nationalized oil fields might open oil-rich Iran to the Soviet Union, the CIA
replaced him with the pro-American Shah Reza Pahlavi, gaining a loyal ally on
the Soviet border, and American oil companies prospered with low-priced oil
o
Guatemala:
“Operation Pbsuccess,” a CIA-trained and financed band of mercenaries overthrew
Jacobo Arbenz Guzman’s elected government in Guatemala, who had nationalized
and redistributed tracts of land owned by the United Fruit Company. The new
pro-American regime restored United Fruit’s lands and trampled all political
opposition
·
Vietminh/ Ho Chi Minh/ Dienbienphu / domino
theory
o
Vietminh: a broad-based Vietnamese nationalist
coalition led by the communist Ho Chi Minh. The US gave funds to France to
fight off this coalition
o
Dienbienphu: spot where French gave up to the
Vietnamese.
o
Domino theory: if Vietnam fell to the
communists, then Thailand, Burma, Indonesia, and ultimately all of Asia would
fall like dominos. US refused to sign the Geneva Peace Accords, and in 1954
created the Southeast Asia Treaty Organization (SEATO), a military alliance
patterned on NATO.
·
Gamal Abdel Nasser/ Suez Crisis/ Eisenhower
Doctrine
o
Gamal Abdel Nasser: modernize Egypt, purchased
arms from Czechoslovakia, and recognized China. US took back offer of financing
construction of dam at Aswan.
o
Suez Crisis: Nasser nationalized British owned
canal. GB viewing it as lifeline decided to attack. France feared Arab nationalism
in Algeria colony, Israel feared Egyptian arms buildup. All attacked Egypt at
same time without informing Eisenhower. Ike made all 3 retreat from military
attack due to fear of driving Arab oil to Russians.
§
Consequences: It swelled anti-western sentiment
in the Third World; and US replaced Britain and France as the protector of
western interests in the Middle East, Eisenhower Doctrine
o
Eisenhower Doctrine: a proclamation that the
United States would send military aid and, if necessary, troops to any Middle
Eastern nation threatened by “Communist aggression.” To back up his words,
Eisenhower ordered fourteen thousand marines into Lebanon in July 1958 to quell
a threatened Muslim revolt against the Christian-dominated, pro-western regime.
·
Fidel Castro/ U-2 incident/ military-industrial
complex
o
Fidel Castro: became the leader in Cuba in 1959,
took US property without compensation
o
U-2 incident: American U-2 reconnaissance plane
was shot down over the Soviet Union as it was spying on Soviet military installations.
Soviets took pics of pilot and spying photos and showed to whole world. IKE
refused to apologize.
o
military-industrial complex: Eisenhower first
coined this phrase when he warned Americans against it in his last state of the
union address. The private corporations and governmental institutions which
control and equip the U.S. military - mainly the pentagon, the department of
defense, the department of energy (nuclear weapons and research), and the
private which operate military production plants for a profit would lead to too
much congressional spending.
·
John Kenneth Galbraith’s The Affluent Society
o
(1958); said that the nation's postwar
prosperity was a new phenomenon...before, there used to be an "economy of
scarcity" because of lack of resources and overpopulation, but due to the
US's and other industrialized countries' technology, it was an "economy of
abundance" (new business techniques and improved tech. enabled nations to
produce an abundance of goods and services)
·
IBM/ computers
o
IBM: international business machines, was part
of the historic shift to a mass consumer economy after World War II, and
symbolized another momentous transformation to the fast-paced "information
age."
o
Computers: Mark I calculator in 1944, Became a
billion-dollar business and Transformed the U.S. economy and way of life
·
·
David Riesman’s The Lonely Crowd / credit
cards/ consumerism/ suburbia/ Sun Belt/ Levittown
o
David Riesman’s The Lonely Crowd : (1950)
basic idea: the increasing ability to consume goods and afford material
abundance was accompanied by a shift away from tradition or inner-directedness.
how to define one's self became a function of the way others lived. another one
of those 50's non-conformism books
o
consumerism: increase in with use of credit
cards
o
suburbia: living American Dream. White’s 98%
o
Sun Belt: U.S. region, mostly comprised of southeastern
and southwestern states, which has grown most dramatically since world war 2.
o
Levittown: in 1947, William Levitt used mass
production techniques to build inexpensive homes in suburban New York to help
relieve the postwar housing shortage. Levittown became a symbol of the movement
to the suburbs in the years after WWII.
·
Baby boom/ Dr. Benjamin Spock’s Common Sense
Book of Baby and Child Care
o
Baby boom: prosperity led to young marriages and
more babies
o
Dr.
Benjamin Spock’s Common Sense Book of Baby and Child Care: Women need to
be stay-at-home moms, gave advice on raising kids. legendary message to mothers
= "you know more than you think you do.", advised parents to avoid
scolding, hold family meetings
·
Domesticity/ Billy Graham/ religious revival/
television culture/ rock and roll/beats
o
Domesticity: middle-class ideal that stressed
Women were most content when they fulfilled their “natural” roles of wife,
mother, and homemaker
o
Billy Graham: one of the most popular
evangelical ministers of the era. star of the first televised
"crusades" for religious revival. he believed that all doubts about
the literal interpretation of the bible were traps set by Satan. he supported
republicans and a large increase to money in the military
o
religious revival: Popularity of films and books
with religious themes, Growing church attendance, Inclusion of the “under God”
in the Pledge of Allegiance, Inclusion of “In God We Trust” on currency
o
television culture: influenced the economy and
culture, By 1960--90% of all households owned at least 1 TV, ABC, NBC, CBS
monopolized the industry, $1.5 billion in advertising revenue, TV commercials
influenced what people read, ate, and wore, avoided controversial or complex
issues, “soap, unsophisticated comedies, and violent westerns”, Fostered
consumerism, conformity, complacency, racial and gender stereotypes, politician’s
TV image became extremely important
o
rock and roll: youths loved, white teens danced
to Black records. Alan Freed brought rage to NY making national: radio program “Moondog’s
Rock and Roll Party,”
o
beats: Nonconformist writers scorned conformity
and materialism. Jack Kerouac’s On the Road (1957), Allen Ginsberg’s Howl
(1956)
·
Rosa Parks/ Martin Luther King Jr./ Montgomery
bus boycott/ civil disobedience/ SCLC
o
Rosa Parks: united states civil rights leader
who refused to give up her seat on a bus to a white man in Montgomery (Alabama)
and so triggered the national civil rights movement (born in 1913)
o
Martin Luther King Jr.: U.S. Baptist minister
and civil rights leader. a noted orator, he opposed discrimination against
blacks by organizing nonviolent resistance and peaceful mass demonstrations.
o
Montgomery bus boycott: in 1955, after Rosa Parks
was arrested for refusing to give up her seat on a city bus, dr. martin l. king
led a boycott of city busses. after 11 months the supreme court ruled that
segregation of public transportation was illegal.
o
civil disobedience: a form of political
participation that reflects a conscious decision to break a law believed to be
immoral and to suffer the consequences
o
SCLC: southern Christian leadership conference,
churches link together to inform blacks about changes in the civil rights
movement, led by MLK Jr., was a success
·
Sputnik/ NASA/ National Defense Education Act
o
Sputnik: first artificial earth satellite, it
was launched by Moscow in 1957 and sparked U.S. fears of soviet dominance in
technology and outer space. it led to the creation of NASA and the space race
o
NASA:
National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Created in 1961, Launched
missiles
o
National
Defense Education Act: Increased federal spending on education. Focus on
engineering, science, and math. passed in response to sputnik, it provided an
opportunity and stimulus for college education for many Americans. it allocated
funds for upgrading funds in the sciences, foreign language, guidance services,
and teaching innovation.
Questions:
1.
What did Eisenhower’s “Dynamic Conservatism” or
“Modern Republicanism” mean? What were some acts and programs covered under
Dynamic Conservatism?
a.
Dynamic Conservatism was Eisenhower's philosophy
of being liberal in all things human and being conservative with all things
fiscal. It appealed to both Republicans and Democrats by balancing economic
conservatism with some activism. Though he slashed the federal budget, he
plunged federal money into economy when the recessions struck. He expanded
social security benefits, raised minimum wage, raised federally financed lower
income families, created departments of Health, Education, and Welfare, and
supported public construction projects.
2.
List the major cases covered by your reading of
Earl Warren’s court. How was Earl Warren’s appointment regarded in the
South?
a.
Jencks v. United States (1957) the Court held
that the accused had the right to inspect government files used by the
prosecution.
b.
Yates v. United States (1957) the justices
overturned the convictions of communist party officials under the Smith Act and
emphasized the distinction between unlawful concrete acts and the teaching of
revolutionary ideology and ended further prosecutions of communists.
c.
Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka (May 17,
1954) black plaintiffs claimed that segregated public education was
unconstitutional; the case reversed the Plessey v. Ferguson
d.
Conservative opponents of the decision demanded
limitations on the Court’s powers and wanted to impeach Warren. The Deep South
completely ignored the decisions of Warren.
3.
Who was John Foster Dulles and what did he think
US foreign policy should be towards communism? What was Domino Theory and how
was it used to get the US involved in Vietnam?
a.
John Foster Dulles was Eisenhower’s Secretary of
State referred to as “Dull, Duller, Dulles.” He believed in liberating Eastern
European countries from communism and believed in using force to push back
Soviet communism even if it meant war. He signed mutual-defense pacts with 43
nations.
b.
The domino theory consisted of the belief that
if one country fell to Communism, then the surrounding countries would fall as
well. With China already falling to communism, the US had to stop the other
Asians countries from turning to communism in order to prevent a full communist
Asia.
- After WW2 the US enjoyed unprecedented prosperity. What caused that prosperity and what were some of its impacts?
a.
The main reason for the economic boom after WW2
was the GI Bill of Rights which gave soldiers low-interest government backed
loans, which the GIs used to start their own businesses, and buy homes and
farms. This greatly stimulated the construction industry and economy, and
suburbanization. During this time consumers spent their savings on homes, cars,
electronic appliances, and televisions. The employment Act of 1946 also ensured
economic growth and employment. With the increase of higher educated Americans
a generation of working class Americans rose to the middle class.
- Some of the effects of the increased prosperity were the increase in white collar jobs, consumerism with expanding credit and advertising. The purchase of the cars improved mobility and roads. Suburbs increased, so that by 1960 the suburban population equaled the population of the cities. This caused an increase in the numbers of conservatives, which helped the Republicans. The returning GIs married young and had many babies. Infant mortality decreased due to medical advances. Childcare became the role of women. A third of the workforce was women who worked dead-end jobs. With the increase of the numbers of families able to afford televisions, the tv began to dictate American life and culture. Renewed interest in religion occurred in books and films. God mentioned in pledge and on currency added to interest in religion.
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