The

1
The 50s, 60s and 70s
2
Truman succeeds FDR

• 1945 From VP to President
• The common mans common man
• Tried to continue New Deal policies failed
• S. Dems and N. Reps. opposed his liberal stance

No college education!!
3
Trumans Fair Deal Goals

• Civil Rights Legislation
• Federal Housing Program
• Unemployment insurance benefits
• New tax cuts for the poor
• Federal funding for education
• Federal health care health insurance prgm.

4
Trumans successes

• FHA/VA loans
• GI Bill of Rights
• Taft-Hartley Act

5
The Burbs -- Levittown

• Paradigm of postwar American suburb
• Housing crunch
• Ideal middle-class life
• Cookie-cutter homes
• Curvilinear drives
• Accommodated the White Flight

6
Birds eye view of Levittown
7
TV sitcoms

• Shows from radio
• Comedy-variety shows were popular
• I Love Lucy, The Milton Berle Show, Jack Benny
  Program, The Red Skelton Show Leave it to Beaver

8
Baby Boom

• 20s 3 m. births
• mid-30s 2.5 m births
• After WWII sharp increase in births
• Max of 4.3 m births in 1957
• At the end of the 50s 50 m. babies were born
• Baby Bust mid 60s to mid 70s

9
Repercussions of Baby Boom

• Increased demand for elementary teachers
• Shortage of school teachers
• Lowering standards for teachers

10
Economic Boom 1950-1970

• 50s and 60s national income doubled
• America had 40 of worlds wealth
• New welfare programs funded
• Middle class doubled
• Majority of new jobs of postwar era went to women
• Service sector outgrew industrial/manufacturing

11
Dwight D. Eisenhower

• CG of of victorious WWII forces in Europe
• Pop. Slogan I like Ike
• Emphasized balanced budget
• Sent troops to Little, Rock, AK for desegregation
• No 2nd class citizens

12
Interstate Highway Act 1956

• To improve movement across states
• Contd idea proposed by FDR in 1930s
• At the time only 6,500 miles of interstate
• Expanded to 41,000 miles -- 25 billion

13
Interstate picture
14
Launch of the Sputniks

• Soviets launched Sputnik I on Oct. 4, 1957
• Sputnik II in Nov. with a dog on board
• America caught off guard
• Missile threat?

15
Space Wars (US vs. Russia)

• Marked start of Space Wars
• Led to creation of NASA
• Explorer program
• Ushered new political, military, scientific and
  technological developments

16
Youth culture counterculture
17
Rock n Roll

• - Originated from blues, RB
• 1922- Trixie Smiths
• My Baby Rocks Me With One Steady Roll
• - New sound pioneered almost entirely by black
  performers
• New Technology
• - 45 RPM record 1949
• - 45 RPM jukebox 1951
• - Television
• First to coin term was Alan Freed
• DJ who started in Cleveland, later more famous
  from WABC Radio in New York City
• Seen as a cultural icon
• Moondoggers

18
Alan Freeds Moondog Coronation Ball

• March 21, 1952, Cleveland Municipal Hall
• Over 9,000 tickets printed and sold out
  immediately
• Lines outside would stretch for blocks
• Crowds filled the hall, but those left outside
  forced themselves in to start a riot
• Only one of the four performers made it to the
  stage, Paul Hucklebuck Williams, who was cut
  off during his first song
• First ever headlines and public skepticism of new
  music form

19
Elvis Presley

• Opened doors as one of the first white rockers
• After recording with Sun Records, his contract
  was bought by RCA in 1955 for an outrageously
  high 35,000
• 1956 first TV Performance
• In the following year, he had Five 1 hits, and
  was the first artist to ever go gold

20
Rebel Without A Cause

• Opened late October, 1955
• Affect of the film on teenagers was greatly
  increased by Deans death, crashing his sports
  car, one month prior to opening in theatres
• Told a tragic story which inspired many youths of
  the day to be more adventurous, play by their own
  rules, and for many, to discover who they really
  were
• Other films had a similar effect
• The Wild One (1953)
• Blackboard Jungle (1955)
• Youth rebellion reached a point never before seen

21
Response to Rebellion

• 1952 - Connecticut police cancel a Fats Domino
  show in fear of riots, then ban all rock shows in
  the state.
• 1955 Boston Bans all foul airplay from Radio
• 1956 - Gene Vincent arrested in Virginia for
  public obscenity, fined 10,000 for playing his
  song, Woman Love
• 1957 Elvis on Ed Sullivan
• Camera displayed only from the waist up
• Screams in the crowd reveal
• what home viewers missed
• ABC begins airing American Bandstand
• Aired every afternoon
• Targeted more well-behaved teenagers
• An attempt to sway rebellious teens back
• to more wholesome music

22
The End of An Era - 1959

• 1959 Congressional hearings over radio DJ
  payola result in Alan Freed being fined and
  removed from the air
• Elvis drafted and shipped overseas
• February 3, 1959 The Day the Music Died
• Death of Buddy Holly,
• Richie Valens, and
• The Big Bopper in Iowa
• plane crash

23
The British Invasion

• Huge rise of popularity in British progressive
  rock/pop styles
• Wave of new groups making their way up the
  American record charts
• The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Yardbirds,
  The Animals
• Beatlemania!
• Release of Meet the Beatles and television
  performances provide for huge record sales and
  incomparable popularity across England and America

24
Beatniks

• People who refused to conform, and sought
  expression and growth of consciousness through
  art, music, and intellectuality
• Had a hip language, referred to as hipsters
  (which developed to hippie)
• Leaders of the beatniks were close friends, often
  seen together in coffee shops and bars around New
  York. The three most popular
• Dr. Timothy Leary professor at Harvard,
  conducted experiments (first called the Harvard
  Psilocybin Project) in which he distributed
  psychedelics to friends and test subjects,
  recording the outcome. Eventually he would be
  fired for such, and went on to become an
  unofficial spokesman for LSD.
• Jack Kerouac Author of many beatnik hit novels,
  such as On the Road and Dharma Bums first coined
  the term beat generation. Heavily encouraged
  drug use for the expansion of mind and
  consciousness, and took part in Learys
  experiments, for research and recreation.
• Allen Ginsberg poet, author of Howl. A
  notorious bisexual, encouraged sexual freedom and
  exploration, and also heavily encouraged drug
  use took part in Ken Keseys Electric Kool-Aid
  Acid Test and Learys Psilocybin Project.

25
Counter Culture

• Bob Dylan and the Folk explosion
• Dylan became the frontman for the new popularized
  music style
• Fans were interested in the relevant, poetic
  lyrics
• Dylan strove to go against the sound of the
  Beatles, described it as bubble gum
• The Rolling Stones first group to abandon
  uniforms
• Inspired trend of outlandish/contraversial
  clothing and long hair

26
Counter Culture contd

• The Beatles Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club
  Band
• Revolutionary new sounds and style inspire a
  whole new genre
• In truth, much of the album was inspired by
  Dylans lyrical style
• Psychedelic Rock
• Rock that incorporated improvisational jams, new
  wild sounds
• Provided a message, often political or social
• Genre invoked an entire movement the hippies

27
Hippies

• Generation evolved from the beatniks
• Out of the coffee shops and onto campuses
• Sought equality in America and peace in Vietnam
  much more politically active than the beatniks
• Wore more outlandish clothing than beatniks, used
  more drugs, and were much more sexually
  explorative than beatniks in attempt to protest
  or rebel against mainstream ideas
• Radical counter-cultural ideals created a huge
  social gap in much of the population

28
Woodstock

• Culmination of the Hippie Movement
• August 1969
• 450,000 attended
• Overall would cost at least 2.4M
• An exemplification of the ideals, it would bring
  people together for a culmination of the hippie
  lifestyle
• Proved politically the depth and devotion of a
  sub-culture to their ideals

29
Presidencies of the 1960s
John F. Kennedy Lyndon B. Johnson
30
Presidencies During the 60s

• John F. Kennedy 61-63
• First Roman Catholic President
• "Ask not what your country can do for you -- ask
  what you can do for your country."
• Vision of a nation dedicated to the revolution of
  human rights
• Development of Peace Corps
• Brought American idealism to the aid of
  developing nations
• Fought against Communism
• Cold War Scare

31
Presidencies During the 60s

• Lyndon B. Johnson 63-69
• Sworn in after President Kennedys assassination
• Put into legislation a new Civil Rights bill and
  a tax cut
• Urged the nation "to build a great society, a
  place where the meaning of man's life matches the
  marvels of man's labor."
• The Great Society program
• War on Poverty and War in Vietnam

32
JFK

• His economic programs launched the country on its
  longest sustained expansion
• since World War II
• Took vigorous action in the cause of equal
  rights, calling for new civil rights legislation
• Developed the Peace Corps to bring American
  idealism to the aid of developing nations
• Responsibility for peace is the responsibility
  of our entire society.

33
JFK

• Shortly after his inauguration, Kennedy permitted
  a band of Cuban exiles to attempt to overthrow
  the regime of Fidel Castro.
• Led Russia to seek to install nuclear weapons in
  Cuba
• Space exploration
• Authorized space exploration
• Constant competition with Russia to establish
  space dominance.

34
JFK

• November 22, 1963
• President Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas,
  Texas.
• Before his death, he laid plans for a massive
  assault on persisting pockets of privation and
  poverty

35
LBJ

• In his first State of the Union Address Johnson
  declared a War on Poverty
• Making poverty a national concern set in motion a
  series of bills and acts
• The programs initiated under Johnson brought
  about real results, reducing rates of poverty and
  improved living standards for America's poor

36
LBJ

• Followed in Kennedys footsteps to build a Great
  Society
• January 1965 Approaches congress with The Great
  Society Program
• Aid to education, attack on disease, Medicare,
  urban renewal, beautification, conservation,
  development of depressed regions, a wide-scale
  fight against poverty, control and prevention of
  crime, removal of obstacles to the right to vote
  

37
LBJ

• Space exploration flourished
• 1965the Vietnam war had come about and LBJ
  fought against Communist rule in Vietnam
• 1968LBJ declares he will not run for re-election
  so that he may devote his time to the advancement
  of peace.

38
1968

• America was in somewhat of a disarray during 1968
  
• Racial and social tensions were at a high
• The Vietnam War had escalated and become even
  more unpopular.
• The nation was divided by race, social standards,
  and Vietnam

39
1968

• Early 1968 Viet Cong launches the Tet Offensive
• April 4 Dr. Martin Luther King is murdered in
  the courtyard of his hotel in Memphis Tenn.
• June 5 Presidential candidate Robert Kennedy is
  assassinated by a young Jordanian extremist

40
New Feminism

• Womens Liberation 1970

41
Why Womens Liberation Occurred at this Time?

• Womens Liberation was strong at this time in
  American history because of the influx of social
  turbulence in the 1960s.
• This turbulence gave new momentum to the Womens
  Rights Movement.

42
Equal Rights Amendment 1970

• The amendment passed in Congress in 1970 but
  failed to gain ratification by three fourths of
  the states.

43
Equal Rights Amendment 1972

• The amendment to the U.S. Constitution stated
  that "Equality of rights under the law shall not
  be denied or abridged by the United States or by
  any State on account of sex" and further that
  "the Congress shall have the power to enforce, by
  appropriate legislation, the provisions of this
  article."
• The amendment was first introduced to Congress in
  1923, shortly after women in the United States
  were granted the right to vote, and it was
  finally approved by the U.S. Senate 49 years
  later, in March 1972.

44
Gloria Steinem

• American journalist and feminist leader. As a
  writer and an activist, Gloria Steinem has been a
  leader in the late-twentieth-century Women's
  Rights Movement.

45
Senate Judiciary Committee Hearing

• Most important to me, I have been denied a
  society in which women are encouraged, or even
  allowed to think of themselves as fist-class
  citizens and responsible human beings.
• The truth is that all our problems stem from the
  same-sex based myths.

46
Myths

• Women are biologically inferior to men.
• Women are already treated equally in this
  society.
• American women hold great economic power.
• Children must have full-time mothers.
• The Womens Movement is not political, wont
  last, or is somehow not serious.

47
Importance of ERA

• The ERA was necessary to put an end to such myths
  and give women the equal rights that they
  deserve.
• It was also needed so that these rights would be
  honored and maintained.

48
New Feminism

• Other Controversial Issues during the 60s and 70s.

49
New Feminism

• Betty Friedans, The Feminine Mystique
• Title VII of1964 Civil Rights Act
• Roe vs. Wade

• National Organization for Women-NOW
• Title IX of Education Amendments Act

50
Wounded Knee

• The Wounded Knee Siege

51
Wounded Knee

• In 1968 a large group of the American Indian
  community assembled for a meeting to discuss
  various issues involving Native Americans
• Of the topics were police brutalities, high
  unemployment rates, and unfair governmental
  policies
• From this meeting the American Indian Movement
  (AIM) would form. Clyde Bellecourt

52
Native Americans

• American Indian Movement (AIM)

53
AIM

• Was created formally over 30 years ago
• Was founded to turn the attention of the Indian
  people toward a renewal of spirituality
• Created to reverse the ruinous policies placed
  upon Indians by the American government

54
AIM

• Have brought many successful suits against the
  federal government for the protection of the
  rights of Native Americans that were supposed to
  be guaranteed by treaties
• In November 1972 the AIM brought several issues
  to Congress. Some of them being relief for
  Native Americans for treaty rights violations,
  protection of religious freedoms, and the ability
  of Indian leaders to address Congress
• AIM has created various communities that are
  deeply rooted in spirituality, culture, and
  language

55
AIM

• The Indian Civil Rights Movement had distinct
  differences from the American Civil Rights
  Movement
• One of the major differences in the two movements
  was the fact that in the Indian Movement
  desegregation was not a goal
• Individual rights were not placed ahead of the
  sovereignty of the Native Nations

56
Hispanic Americans

• La Raza Unida

57
La Raza Unida

• Created during the 1960s La Raza Unida was an
  independent political organization created to
  fight the mainstream political mechanism that
  so-called abused the Mexican people.
• This concept spread like wildfire through
  California, Texas, and Colorado.
• Held their first national convention in 1972.
• Lead to other independent organizations fighting
  for Hispanic rights.

58
Cesar Chavez

• Created his own organization to support the
  Mexican people called the National Farm Workers
  Association (NFWA).
• Led many strikes to demand higher wages for farm
  workers.
• By 1977 his demands led to a decision by the US
  government to allow his organization, now named
  the United Farm Workers, to organize migrant
  field workers.

59
Immigration Reform Act 1965

• A change in policy

60
Immigration Reform Act 1965

• The 1924 Immigration Act limited the number of
  immigrants that could be admitted from any
  country.
• The 1965 Reform Act Abolished national-origin
  quotas that had been in place in the US since
  1924.
• Immigrants were now to be admitted on their
  skills and profession rather than just their
  nationality.

61
Undocumented Immigrants

• Californias Proposition 187

62
Californias Proposition 187

• Enacted by Californias voters on Nov. 8 1994
• Main objective was to drive out undocumented
  aliens and to deter their entry by cutting them
  off from medical, public services, and to deny
  their children from education
• The denial of education made the state face
  several lawsuits, and it was eventually shackled
  by restraining orders

63
Gay Liberation Front
64
Gay Bars in the 1960s

• Police raids on gay bars were very common
  throughout the 1960s
• Upon raiding, police would record the names of
  all present for publishing in papers
• People were arrested for kissing, holding hands,
  cross-dressing, or simply being in the bar at the
  time of the raid
• Raids became much less common after 1966, when
  homosexual kissing in public was no longer
  illegal

65
Stonewall Inn Riots

• The Stonewall Inn was a popular gay bar in
  Greenwich Village, and operated with ties to
  organized crime, without a liquor license, and
  brought an unruly element to Sheridan Square by
  incorporating male go-go dancers inside the bar
• June 28, 1969 police raid the Stonewall Inn
• Sparked a week of riots in the streets of
  Greenwich
• First account of gays violently striking back for
  their rights

66
Gay Liberation Front

• The homophile movement sought to have homosexuals
  live lifestyles similar to the typical, American
  heterosexual lifestyle.
• During the riots, a homophile group tried to
  organize a peaceful candlelight march in response
  to the riots
• Before they had their march, 37 members dropped
  out to form the Gay Liberation Front, who hosted
  a militant march to protest the persecution of
  gays.
• From 1969-71, the GLF gained incredible strength,
  with more than 80 chapters being founded
  worldwide.

67
Finally, the 1970s
68
Events in the 1970s

• 1st Earth Day April 22, 1970
• Anti-war March in D.C. (1971)
• 19 killed by terrorists at Munich Olympic Games
  (72)
• International Year of the Woman (1975)
• Radioactive Leak at 3-mile island in N.Y. (1979)
• Mass suicide of 900 people in Jonestown, Guyana
  led by American cult leader Jim Jones (1978)
• Arab oil embargo energy prices skyrocket
• Roe v. Wade (1973)

69
Watergate Timeline

• 1968 Nixon (Republican) elected
• June 1971 N.Y. Times publishes Pentagon papers
  about the Vietnam War
• (leaked by Daniel Ellsberg)
• Sept. 1971 Ellsbergs psychiatrists office
  burglarized by White House Plumbers Unit
• June 1972 5 men arrested trying to bug DNC at
  Watergate hotel

70
Timeline contd

• Nixon campaign check worth 25,000 traced to
  burglars bank account (8/72)
• AG controlled secret funds to spy on Democrats
  (9/72)
• FBI establishes Nixon campaign was spying and
  sabotaging Democrats (10/72)
• Nixon re-elected in November 1972

71
What happens next

• 2 Nixon aides convicted on conspiracy,
  wiretapping burglary
• 5 other men plead guilty
• 5 resignations
• 2 fired
• Oct. 1973 Congress demands impeachment

72
Nixon declares his innocence

• July 1973 Senate Watergate Committee demands
  Nixons tapes (phone conversations)
• Nov. 1973 I am not a crook
• Nixon fights a year-long battle over tapes
• July 1974 1st of 3 articles of impeachment are
  passed citing obstruction of justice
• Nixon resigns in August 1974

73
Kent State (Ohio)

• Protested bombing of Cambodia
• National Guard sent in
• 4 killed
• 9 wounded