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46 Cards in this Set
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General Motors Strike of 1946:
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-a part of the labour protests sweeping the United States during 1946.
-The strike involved United Automobile Workers against General Motors Corporation and was significant because of the standstill it created in a primary economic sector - direct challenge to traditional forms of industrial management and ushered in a new age in labour relations -The General Motors Strike was only one out of 4,895 strikes in 1946 – showcasing workers empowerment following the Second World War. |
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Catherine Bauer:
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-was an advocate for improving housing for low-income families in the United States and succeeded in establishing public housing as a component of social welfare
-public housing as a way to drive social change. -being labeled Socialist or Communist by some, she co-authored the Wagner-Steagall Act of 1937, which provided subsidies to improve living conditions for poor families. -awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship for her work and is generally recognized as one of the first social advocates |
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The Beats:
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-a youth movement that emerged during the 1950s that created seeds of rebellion among the younger generation. They rejected work ethic, materialism, and conservative values. They celebrated non-conformity, creativity, sexuality, and experienced with drugs. They laid the foundation for the eventual hippie movement.
-movement attempted to highlight the uniqueness of different people and tried to remove themselves from usual forms of living. Furthermore, the Beat movement showed that not all people were the same and that traditional modes of conduct did not fit all. This is contrast to the uniform suburban living conditions that sprang up after the Second World Wa |
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Iran
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During WWII, Soviet troops entered Iran and stayed there until 1946, while Stalin tried to force Iran into joint oil exploration
-Soviets only departed in 1946 after Iran pledged to do joint oil exploration with them. But as soon as -Soviet troops left, Iranian Parliament rejected the treaty. -Britain and the US swept in to secure oil resources and signed a 20-year agreement in 1947 to secure and drill and export oil -By 1948 corporate arrangements were in place to secure Middle Eastern Oil iranian coup d’etat on August 19, 1953 orchestrated by the US and UK intelligence agencies, Operation TPAJAX. Overthrew Iranian Prime Minister Mohammad Mosaddegh. Anglo-Iranian Oil Company re-established, US required the breaking up of its monopoly which allowed five American petroleum companies to draw oil from Iran |
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Downwinders:
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-describe those who were exposed to radioactive fallout as a result of atomic bomb testing.
-May 19, 1953 “Dirty Harry” detonated at Nevada test site, massive nuclear fallout that, as a result of wind patterns, settled in the vicinity of St. George, Utah. Increases in sickness (cancer) among residents of the site for years after the bombs were detonated at the test site. Would help inspired the formation of groups such as SANE, an anti-nuclear testing/bomb group and WSP (Women Strike for Peace) |
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Fredric Wertham
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-German-Jewish psychiatrist interested in the effects of violence and sexual imagery in comic books. Published Seduction of the Innocent in 1954 saying that comics were dangerous for children
-comics as major cause of juvenile crime. Found that comics weren’t linked to crime, but they should tone down their content voluntarily. Led to the formation of the “Comics Code”. Written within the Comics industry. Included provisions that crime would not be glamorized, criminals would be punished, and the prohibition of profanity and sm |
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Bracero Program:
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-In August of 1942, FDR initiated the Bracero Program as a response to wartime labour shortages and would continue until 1964 because cheap labour shortages were in such high demand
-Bracero Program permitted contract workers to come across the border to work in domestic and agricultural jobs. Part of the legislation guaranteed these workers decent housing, proper wages, health benefits and such however none of these things were enforced. -In reality these workers had no rights and were often discriminated against. They could not become US citizens and were subject to random deportation. This left these workers very vulnerable and this was further exasperated by the fact that they could not get into unions or form their own to protect themselves from this. -It emphasized how deeply racist US citizens were at the time of WWII and how unwilling they were to transition to a more united country that wasn’t divided along lines of race and ethnicity |
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FHA
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-drastic decrease in home loans and ownership in this time and it was a viscous cycle of lenders seeking money and borrowers not able to pay them. The banking crisis made it crucial that lenders were paid however borrowers now unemployed and with little money, could not pay their loans and because no options of refinancing were available many homes were foreclosed and houses were left not bought
-. In 1934 the banking system was reconstructed and at the core of New Deal strategies the National Housing Act of 1934 and the Federal Housing Agency (FHA) had the intention to revive the construction industry and to expand home ownership. It would insure loans made by banks and their private lenders for home building and home buying. -The FHA in WWII would then go on to finance many housing projects. The FHA however favoured suburban development over inner city development this created a very specific approach to where the FHA would fund and not fund projects. Areas chosen to be constructed on, constituted many forms of discrimination because the inner cities were often heterogenous and racially mixed. The FHA favoured white suburbanization and homogenous neighborhoods furthering the ideal of the perfect family and misconceptions of American family life during this period in history. The significance then is this idea of the false ideals of family life and US suburbia and the emphasis on homogenous culture. |
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Railroad Strikes 1946:
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-After the war, there as an ambitious agenda regarding labour, led especially by the CIO. Labour movements were not only going to change economically ensuring better wages, benefits and working conditions by politically as well. Unions were seen as ways of being able to redefine class relations and government. Unions sought better representation and many workers mobilized themselves into joining unions.
-because they were seen as communist and a means of repudiation of patriotic assimilation and as opposed to bringing society together they were seen to fragment society. -industry that would lead to Truman the President at the time to declare that unions had gone to far and to enact the harshest labour laws in history. He wanted to incarcerate and draft strikers. The government then would seize the railroads and use the army to break picket lines. -What is significant about this is how deeply polarized US society was on issues of labour and how to move forward with it and how ineffective the government was in dealing with this. It would also cost Truman politically because it only merely alienated the dissatisfied workers rather than solving the issue. |
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NSC 68:
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-National Security Report 68 (April 14, 1950). Blue Print for Cold War policy. Soviet explosion of an atomic device in 1949 and China’s fall to communism led President Truman to call for a re-evaluation of the US’s diplomacy strategy. Began by stating that WW2 had left the United States and the Soviet Union as the only two great world powers. The Soviet Union sought nothing less than the imposition of ‘it’s absolute power over the rest of the world.
-According to the report, the US should pursue a policy of ‘containing’ Soviet expansion/stop the spread of communism. Rapid military expansion, conventional and nuclear. Massive increases in military aid to US allies. Increase from $13 billion to $50 billion on defense. Truman was hesitant about the cost and supporting a program that would result in heavy taxes for the public, especially during a time of peace. With the outbreak of the Korean war in September, NSC-68 was turned into policy (this act of communist aggression was believed to be crucial in gaining public support of spending). Formed the basis of America’s Cold War policy for the next two decades. |
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Marshall Plan:
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-Speech given at Harvard University (June 1947). Named after Secretary of State George Marshall, who spoke of the urgent need to help the European recovery in his address at Harvard University. Large scale economic program of the United States for rebuilding and creating a stronger economic foundation for the countries of Europe; in operation from 1947-1951
-Along with humanitarian and political interests, US would also benefit. There would be no increase of standard of living without foreign trade. Believed the millions of dollars of Marshall Plan aid from taxes would come as US orders; i.e. farm equipment. Hoped to promote European unity. Only a united Europe would provide a strong front against the Soviets. MP was designed to create a consumer abundance that would dilate ideological differences. |
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Iron Curtain
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-The political, military, and ideological barrier dividing Europe into two separate areas from the end of the Second World War (1945) to the end of the Cold War (1989). Served to “keep people in and information out”. Used by the Soviet Union to seal off itself and its dependant allies from open contact with the West and other noncommunist areas.
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Iron Curtain Speech:
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-Churchill, Fulton Missouri (1946). Used the term ‘iron curtain’ in the context of Soviet-dominated Eastern Europe. “From Stettin in the Baltic to Trieste in the Adriatic, an iron curtain has descended across the Continent”. Called for an Anglo-American alliance against the Soviet Union. Much of the public still viewed the S.U. in the context of the recent defeat of Nazi Germany and Japan; after this moment the country knew just how bad relations with Moscow had become.
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Joseph McCarthy
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-): Republican US Senator of Wisconsin from 1947-1957. Became the most visible public face of Cold War anti-communist tension. Term “McCarthyism” coined in 1950 to refer to McCarthy’s practices and was soon applied to similar anti-communist activities during the Second Red Scare.
-McCarthy asserted in a speech that he had a list of “members of the Communist Party and members of a spy ring” who were employed in the State Department and he suddenly rose to fame. In succeeding years, McCarthy made additional accusations of Communist infiltration into the State Department, President Truman’s administration and the US Army. Used charges of communism, communist sympathies or disloyalty to attack a number of politicians and other individuals in and outside of government. 1954: support for and popularity of McCarthy began to fade with the highly publicized Army-McCarthy hearings. Ultimately, McCarthy’s tactics and his inability to substantiate his claims led -McCarthy began to fade with the highly publicized Army-McCarthy hearings. Ultimately, McCarthy’s tactics and his inability to substantiate his claims led him to be censured. December 2, 1954: Senate voted to censure McCarthy by a vote of 67-22. Significance: People tend to think of the origins of Cold War politics to be McCarthyism as it was a significant political and cultural force. McCarthyism became something of a blanket term for all anti-communist efforts conducted before and after McCarthy held office. |
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William J. Levitt:
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-In 1946, William Levitt and his family purchased 4000 acres of what had once been potato farms on Long Island, NY. Eventually, they turned the site into “Levittown” with over 17,000 houses. The Levitts did for housing what Henry Ford did for cars, mass-producing them and bringing them within reach of working-class and newly married couples.
-. Also set precedents in landscaping, aiming to create the impression of a garden community. From Long Island, the Levitts branched out to colonize old broccoli and spinach farms outside Philadelphia. However, the Levitts had a preference for whites within Levittown. Significance: The Levitts’ success transcended the bounds of these individual communities and ultimately inspired similar developments across the nation. The Levitts also engineered the modern concept of the lawn. They envisioned it was a mini park, not a yard or workspace. The creation of Levittown was a precursor for what we know today as suburbia. |
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HUAC
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-House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) was an investigative committee of the US House of Representatives from 1938-1975.
-HUAC aimed to investigate alleged disloyalty and subversive activities on the part of private citizens, public employees and organizations suspected of having Communist ties. HUAC was chaired by Martin Dies Jr. and was also known as the Dies Committee -: HUAC held nine days of hearings into alleged communist propaganda and influence in Hollywood → “Hollywood Ten” were a group of screenwriters, actors, directors who were blacklisted as a result of real and suspected links to communism (included Charlie Chaplin) -). Late 1950s: the prestige of HUAC began a gradual decline w/ McCarthy’s downfall. Significance: The committee’s anti-communist investigations were often confused with McCarthy’s efforts, but he actually had no direct involvement with this House committee. HUAC was established prior to McCarthy’s rise to fame and the debut of McCarthyism. McCarthy chaired an investigative committee in the Senate, not the House. Additionally, HUAC represents one of the many committees established during |
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Ricky Nelson:
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-Ricky Nelson was an American singer and actor. He began his career in the radio sitcom series, The Adventures of Ozzie and Hariet. He started in appearing in a number of television roles and while he appeared as an adorable, wisecracking kid on TV, he was actually shy, secretive and sometimes sullen teenager. As he grew older, he fell in love rock and roll. He made his rock and roll debut on Ozzie and Harriet on 10 April 1957 – his performance was very well received.
-Nelson was against artificial role he played in 1950s sitcom Leave it to Beaver-->the song was about not pleasing everyone; he was only playing a character (on Leave it to Beaver) he never was-->US culture and society was superficial and only want people who fit conformity mould |
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AFDC
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: Aid to Families with Dependent Children – federal assistance program which provided financial assistance to children whose families has little to no income. Part of FDR’s New Deal; part of Social Security Act of 1935 – government provided benefits to nation’s poor. It was extended after WW2. Ended with Clinton’s Welfare Reform Act in 1996. Significant because it is an example of government spending on social programs – American people have historically been very reluctant about this
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Henry Wallace
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Henry Wallace: Was a secretary of Commerce – his last New Deal Liberals to cling to belief of US/Soviets co-existing peacefully (As he was secretary of commerce, he was also the 33rd Vice-President of the United States). On September 12th, 1946 – the progressive rally in Madison Square Garden he made a speech / this speech leads him to be called a communist dupe by President Truman. He touched on major controversy and was later forced to resign his position because of his wants to have the US and the Soviets live in peace and live in a co-existing world / Why is this significant? He showed or tried to anyways, that public discussion over US foreign policy had narrowed considerably and as he tried to advocate for a possible cooperation of productiveness between the US and the Soviets but failed. His resignation is an indicator that no one was ready to live knowing the ideologies and practices that the Soviet and other European Countries believed.
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NATO:
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Also known as: North-Atlantic Treaty Organization was signed in Washington DC on April 4th, 1949 and it included Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourg, France, UK, Canada, Portugal, Denmark, Ice, Italy, among others (the NATO headquarters are in Brussels and the organization constitutes a system of collective defense whereby its member states agree to mutual defense in response to an attack by any external party) This was historically significant because: the participation of the United States was thought necessary in order to counter the military power of the USSR, and therefore talks for a new military alliance began almost immediately. These talks resulted in the North Atlantic Treaty (It also included the five Treaty of Brussels states, as well as the United States, Canada, etc (as mentioned above). Popular support for the Treaty was not unanimous; some Icelanders commenced a pro-neutrality, anti-membership riot in March 1949. However, The Parties of NATO agreed that an armed attack against one or more of them in Europe or North America shall be considered an attack against them all. Consequently they agree that, if such an armed attack occurs, each of them, in exercise of the right of individual or collective self-defense will assist the Party or Parties being attacked, individually and in concert with the other Parties, such action as it deems necessary, including the use of armed force, to restore and maintain the security of the North Atlantic area. This was important to them because in 1950 with the start of the Korean War, they thought that all Communist Countries were working together and wanted to fight for a communist world. Important to note that will was all based on scared speculation and the widely scared views of communism. Today, NATO has reorganized and refocus itself on other projects and other world crisis. The end of the Cold War had led to this. Note: That with the start of the NATO – the Soviets countered with the Warsaw Pact in May of 1955 – that included their satellites states Poland, Hungary, Romania, among other eastern countries. The Warsaw Pact was the informal name for the Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation and Mutual Assistance, commonly known as the Warsaw Pact, creating the Warsaw Treaty Organization. The treaty was a mutual defense treaty subscribed to by eight communist states in Eastern Europe.
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Interstate Highway Act, 1956:
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Automobile, and access to highways, were key to this
Eisenhower – “if you build it, they will come” – land speculators would come immediately and buy up the land around the highways because people could live outside the city and commute into the cities. Gov’t pays for roads but developers don’t have to pay for anything – roads paid for by taxpayers. After WWII, suburbs exploded in growth from 1950 to 1970: doubled from 36 million to 74 million. 1980: 15 largest metropolitan areas, except for Houston, had majority of its residents living in suburbs. Significance: demonstrates the beginning of post-war suburbanization. |
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UNESCO:
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Julien Huxely: 1st head of UNESCO. Racial ideology reflected int’l postwar trend. Epitomized in UNESCO statements on race in 1950 and 1952 (UN Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization. 1950: statement signed by prominent group of int’l social scientists. 1952: signed by impressive list of anthropologists and geneticists. Both aimed to undermine entire concept of race. Argued that for all practical, social purposes, race was not so much biological phenomenon as a social myth. Difference was a matter of life chances and cultural exposure. Enormous statement at the time and for some even today. Not only matter of fiscal factors e.g. nutrition but did you grow up in an environment where education’s importance was acknowledged? Important in setting tone of postwar debates on race.
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Strontium-90
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A radioactive substance used in atomic bombs which has a very slow decay-rate. While not used in the bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Strontium-90 was included in “Bravo,” a bomb tested by the United States in the Pacific Ocean on March 1, 1954, causing radiation poisoning to Japanese fisherman. Because of its slow decay rate, Strontium-90 continues to emit radiation for years after a bomb is dropped. Atomic testing was eventually put to a stop after the Atomic Test-Ban Treaty on September 4, 1963.
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Nat King Cole
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-African American jazz performer. One of the few to have a program on television in 1956. His program was dropped in 1957. Couldn’t find any national sponsorship, only regional, example of how white television was at the time and the fear of promoting African American culture. Didn’t want to upset the white viewership.
-Altschuler also discusses Cole’s early complacency in regards to playing to segregated audiences, with fans becoming upset and boycotting shows and not buying records. Divisions within the civil rights movement and attempts for musicians to back causes, Cole felt at first as though he wasn’t a politician and shouldn’t have any views, later changed towards the end of his life. |
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New Frontier:
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Was the label for JFK’s administration, hoped to inspire and get the public to want to follow JFK, mentioned in his acceptance speech. Wanted to give the public that which they were demanding. Goals for the new frontier included: Increased federal aid for education, medical care for elderly, urban renewal, increased minimum wage, civil rights, equal rights for women. Much of what was wanted didn’t occur or was very minimal: little change in the civil rights movement, possibly because he didn’t want to lose support from southern democrats (which he eventually did). Said to Sorensen “who cares about minimum wage”. In regards to women JFK appointed fewer to high levels of administration than predecessor and had no women in his cabinet (first since Hoover). Though commission in 63 called for an end to sexual discrimination and signed an Equal Pay Act. Training for women focused on preparing for marriage and motherhood (a step backwards in regards to equal rights). Some were defeated in Congress such as the medical care for the elderly. Increased aid for education was due to the cold war politics and great lack of scientific ground against the soviets. In 61 housing act provided federal support for urban renewal. New frontier was an ideal proposal but for most of the goals little succeeded.
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Bay of Pig
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: JFK was very anti-communist and wad angered at Castro for going to the soviets. JFK was motivated by personal ideals to deal with foreign affairs. Attempted to overthrow him with the use of the CIA and covert actions. April 1961: Group of Cuban exiles were trained by CIA but were defeated within three days of attempt. Failure didn’t dissuade, JFK attempted to ruin Cuba and Castro by disrupting sugar exports, as well as numerous other assassination attempts. Mentioned in conjunction with the covert operation in Laos and Operation Mongoose. Bay of Pigs fiasco is one example of Cold War relations and the beginnings of US covert foreign affairs indirectly. Believed that had it not been for the BOP and Mongoose, Castro might not have sided with the Soviets so eagerly.
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Truman Doctrine:
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Truman Doctrine: A policy set forth by U.S. President Harry S Truman on March 12, 1947 stating that the U.S. would support Greece and Turkey with economic and military aid to prevent their falling into the Soviet sphere. He stated, "the policy of the United States to support free people who are resisting attempted subjugation by armed minorities or by outside pressures." Truman reasoned, because these "totalitarian regimes" coerced "free peoples," they represented a threat to international peace and the national security of the United States. Truman made the plea amid the crisis of the Greek Civil War (1946–1949). He argued that if Greece and Turkey did not receive the aid that they urgently needed, they would inevitably fall to communism with grave consequences throughout the region. For years Britain had supported Greece, but was now near bankruptcy and was forced to radically reduce its involvement. Britain could no longer maintain control in Greece and Turkey. Sec. George C. Marshall said this was “tantamount to British withdrawal from the Middle East.” The US could no longer secretly fund counter-revolutionaries in Greece; Truman seized the moment. In February 1947, Great Britain formally requested the United States take over its role in supporting the Greek government. The policy won the support of Republicans who controlled Congress and involved sending $400 million in American money, but no military forces, to the region. The effect was to end the Communist threat, and in 1952 both countries joined NATO, a military alliance that guaranteed their protection. -The Doctrine was informally extended to become the basis of American Cold War policy throughout Europe and around the world. It shifted American foreign policy toward the Soviet Union from détente (friendship) to a policy of containment of Soviet expansion. Historians often use its announcement to mark the starting date of the Cold War. The US was interested in the Middle East for a number of reasons, but arguing that it was necessary to aid Greece and Turkey because of economic issues made the whole thing sound like an investment prospectus, so instead they framed it as a question of the Soviet quest for world domination! They said it was about fundamental moral concerns rather than economic self-interest; one option was free, the other option was tyranny. |
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Ethel and Julius Rosenberg:
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-American communists who were executed in 1953 for conspiracy to commit espionage during a time of war. The charges related to passing information about the atomic bomb to the Soviet Union. Julius did not work in the government, but found access to crude sketches and notes on atomic information. This was the first execution of civilians for espionage in United States history. Since the execution, decoded Soviet cables, codenamed VENONA, have supported courtroom testimony that Julius acted as a courier and recruiter for the Soviets, but doubts remain about the level of Ethel's involvement
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Alger Hiss:
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A lawyer, government official, author, Harvard graduate, and lecturer. He was involved in the establishment of the United Nations. Hiss was accused of being a Soviet spy in 1948 and convicted of perjury in connection with this charge in 1950. On August 3, 1948, Whittaker Chambers, a former Communist Party member, testified before the House Committee on Un-American Activities that Hiss had secretly been a communist while in federal service, contradicting his prior testimony under oath that Hiss had never been a communist. Called before HUAC, Hiss denied the charge. When Chambers repeated his claim on nationwide radio, Hiss filed a defamation lawsuit against Whittaker. During the pretrial discovery process, Chambers produced new evidence indicating that he and Hiss had been involved in espionage, although both men had previously denied this under oath to HUAC. A federal jury indicted Hiss on two counts of perjury; Chambers admitted to the same offense, but, as a cooperating government witness, was never charged. Although Hiss's indictment stemmed from the alleged espionage, he could not be tried for that crime because the statute of limitations had expired. After a mistrial due to a hung jury, Hiss was tried a second time. In January 1950, he was found guilty on both counts of perjury and served 44 months. Arguments about the case and the validity of the verdict took center stage in broader debates about the Cold War, McCarthyism, and the extent of Soviet espionage in the United States. Since his conviction, statements by involved parties and newly exposed evidence have added to the dispute. In 1993 historian David Halberstam wrote. “Until we have full access, the Hiss controversy will continue to be debated."
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Keynesianism
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-An economic model developed by British economist John Maynard Keynes that was adopted by the US during the Depression of the 1930’s, as seen in many of FDR’s New Deal programs. Emphasized government intervention into the economy to help stimulate the economy. Also, governments needed a fiscal policy that pursued consumption (cutting taxes accompanied with increased government spending). Claims that the private sector of the economy is at times not enough to maintain economic prosperity, and thus needs public (government) spending to keep the financial status quo.
-US: claims by many that Keynesianism helped facilitate the economic boom of post WW2 life in the US and parts of Western Europe. Became a cornerstone in the spirit of liberalism that emerged post WW2. |
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Warsaw Pact:
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Soviet Union’s response to NATO, that formed a mutual defense and military alliance of communist nations. Treaty between the USSR and 8 of its Eastern European allies. Formed in May 1955 in Warsaw, Poland. A direct response to West Germany joining Nato in 1955. In reality, Warsaw Pact had been unofficially established after WW2 (1945), but mutual agreement and protection were now legally bound. Gave Soviet Union a geographical buffer and allowed them to increase direct influence over Eastern Europe allies. If the West (US) attacked an Eastern European ally or was trying to subvert communism, Soviets now had legal recourse to repel Western forces. Also used Warsaw Pact for internal control – 1956, a new government in Hungary tried to withdraw from Warsaw Pact and Soviet Union, under the guise of the Warsaw Pact, sent troops to “subdue” the rebellion and reestablished the communist regime. Some argued that it facilitated peace between the superpowers, even if it was gilded at best, as both NATO and Warsaw Pact clearly outlined the geographical boundaries of communist and capitalist nations. Any intervention by an opposing nation (US or USSR) into the others “backyard” would be seen as a flagrant, direct, and intentional challenge to their respective regimes. Treaty was dissolved in 1991 after the official collapse of the Soviet Union.
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Growthmanship:
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US policy that attempted to ensure a positive atmosphere for business post WW2. Convinced key to economic growth was cooperation between the US government and US using. Became a common acceptance in post WW2 American life, that one of the government’s responsibilities was to create an environment that allowed for greater economic growth – unreal expectations. Growthmanship tied to the belief of maintaining full employment (a responsibility for both the gov’t and business). Keep steady employment opportunities and consumption to avoid another Great Depression. Influenced by Keynes – need to maintain high level of purchasing.
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WSP
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Women Strike For Peace: WSP was a women’s activist group initially part of the movement to ban nuclear weapons and end up the war in Vietnam. On November 1st 1961, 50,000 women in 68 cities left their homes and their jobs to make their collective and individual voices heard. It was a plea to “Save our Children” and ban nuclear weaponry. It was a big push in the right direction for the USA and USSR to sign the nuclear test-ban theory, which occurred two years later. It is known as the largest women’s protest in the 20th century.
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SANE:
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An escalating nuclear arms race in the late 1950’s led to the foundation of the National Committee for a Sane Nuclear Policy (SANE) in 1957. The SANE group represented traditional and liberal peace activism. It was a stated belief that American culture and character was severely out of balance and that the moral capacity in the world was not being led up to. The American people had bigger incomes, homes, TV sets, and cars but ignored big ideas that freedom relies upon. They preached that man has natural rights, one of them to live in an uncontaminated environment. The main goal was to reduce the use of nuclear weapons.
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Marshall Plan:
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: Speech given at Harvard University (June 1947). Named after Secretary of State George Marshall, who spoke of the urgent need to help the European recovery in his address at Harvard University. Large scale economic program of the United States for rebuilding and creating a stronger economic foundation for the countries of Europe; in operation from 1947-1951. US export of goods and capital to Europe. In 1947, Europe was still struggling economically, along with a severe winter, famine and TB outbreak; Europe running out of money to buy foreign goods. Along with humanitarian and political interests, US would also benefit. There would be no increase of standard of living without foreign trade. Believed the millions of dollars of Marshall Plan aid from taxes would come as US orders; i.e. farm equipment. Hoped to promote European unity. Only a united Europe would provide a strong front against the Soviets. MP was designed to create a consumer abundance that would dilate ideological differences. Proposed to include Germany and Eastern Europe. Offered same aid to the Soviets and their allies, but they denied.
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National Defense Education Act:
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-September 2, 1958. Millions of federal dollars to enhance American education after the Russians launched Sputnik (first ever satellite) and sent the United States into a panic that it had fallen behind. The Act funded women and men, especially those engaged in sciences. Provided funding to United States education institutions at all levels.
-Significance: Resulted from Americans and Soviets competing to obtain innovative military/scientific technology? Mandatory signing of the affidavit proves Communist fears were out of control by this point. |
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Mirra Komarovsky:
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Sociologist, wrote the book “Women in the Modern World” (1953). The book found that women faced an incredible array of pressures guaranteed to result in feelings of ambivalence/unhappiness. Women were taught early on to select girls’ toys, act more restrained/quiet, and be neater, but also pressured to work hard, get good grades, and achieve. If they were too smart, they scared off potential suitors and thus threw away the ultimate female success: marriage and a family. If they played dumb (so as not to offend the male on a date, etc) 40% admitted they later felt like home and family weren’t enough when left as full time mothers. Significance: New ideas about the role of women in the postwar era. Lesbian subculture from women from diverse origins, presupposed spread of female employment and higher education, new communities. However, still very difficult for heterosexual women who lacked these communities and were often forced to get married due to societal expectations. Divorce rates increasing by 1950’s.
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Taft-Hartley Act:
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June 23, 1947: Conservative response to the Wagner Act of 1935, which guaranteed union rights. Taft-Hartley enacted in response to rising union radicalism and Cold War hostilities. Seen as a means of demobilizing the labor movement by imposing limits on the ability of unions to strike. Sponsored by Senator Robert Taft and Representative Fred A. Hartley Jr. Legislated by overriding Truman’s veto; labor leaders called it “the slave labor bill” while Truman would subsequently use it twelve times during his presidency. Required anti-Communist affidavits, prohibited secondary boycotts that had enabled workers to boycott goods of anti-labor companies. States could pass “right to work” laws, which were major obstacles to union organizing (if a place is unionized, you don’t have to join the union to work there). Labor opposes Taft-Hartley Act in 1947, clear by 1948 that the effort is a dismal failure. Significance: Further decline for labor, unions perceived as special interest groups in US politics rather than a broad-based, working-class movement. No longer a distinct group within society – just one among many special interest groups. Organized labor has lost in the US.
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Vance Packard
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American journalist, social critic, and author. Wrote “The Hidden Persuaders” (1957) in which he explores the use of consumer motivational research and other psychological techniques, including depth psychology and subliminal tactics, by advertisers to manipulate expectations, and induce desire for products, particularly in the American postwar era. He identified eight “compelling needs” that advertisers promise products will fulfill. According to Packard these needs are so strong that people are compelled to buy products to satisfy them. The book also explores the manipulative techniques of promoting politicians to the electorate. Packard questions the morality of using these techniques. Significance: Rise of consumerism in the postwar era, prevalent myth of “ideal” American family during this time, suburban materialism, etc.
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Southdale:
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The world’s first enclosed shopping centre. Opened in 1956 in Edina, Minnesota, a suburb of Minneapolis. Discussed in Lizbeth Cohen’s “From Town Halls to Shopping Centers” (reading). Cohen discusses suburban shopping malls becoming pseudo-public spheres. Unlike the downtown areas of old walking cities where people of different backgrounds came into contact with each other, a shopping mall ensures that one mixes with less people and hears fewer voices. The public sphere has thus become marginalized: no more public speaking, people demonstrating, leafleting etc. Significance: Another example of the rise of American consumerism. The development of suburban shopping centers arguably leads to privileged rights of property owners over rights of free speech by privatizing space, market segregation by commercializing space
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Loyalty Review Board
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1947: An effort made by President Harry Truman to find Communists within the American political system. Over three million employees of the federal government were investigated by the Loyalty Review Board, which delved into their past and present affiliations and actions. Purpose: to weed out those suspected of being communists or communist sympathizers. Over 200 were fired and thousands of others resigned, many in protest of the investigation and the secrecy surrounding the evidence being collected about them. Significance: McCarthyism was truly a communist “witch-hunt” until its institutions began to weaken in the mid to late 1950’s, created lasting political divisions still manifest today.
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Hill-Burton Act
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Passed in 1946, also known as the Hospital Survey and Construction Act. Written in response to the first of President Truman’s proposals and was designed to provide federal grants/guarantee loans to improve the nation’s hospital system. Money was designated to the states to achieve 4.5 beds per 1,000 people. The states allocated the available money to their various municipalities, but the law provided for a rotation mechanism, so that an area that received funding moved to the bottom of the list for further funding. Facilities that received Hill-Burton funding were not allowed to discriminate based on race, color, national origin, or creed, though separate but equal facilities in the same were allowed until 1963. Also required to provide a “reasonable volume” of free care each year for those residents in the facility’s area who needed care but could not afford to pay. The majority of funding went to middle class areas. The reality of Hill-Burton did not meet the written requirement of the law. For the first 20 years of its existence, there was no regulation in place to define what constituted a “reasonable volume” or to ensure that hospitals were providing any free care at all. Significance: ???
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Redlining
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Redlining began with the National Housing Act (NHA) in 1934 but John McKnight coined the phrase only in the late 1960’s. It refers to a process in which a red line is drawn on a map to designate an area where banks would not invest money in. Often associated with discrimination of some kind and targeting a specific racial group. The most frequently discriminated areas were against city neighborhoods that were primarily made up of African Americans. White’s had a much easier time getting money from the bank than blacks did. The Fair Housing Act of 1968 was put in place to fight the redlining idea. It outlawed redlining due to family status, race, a disability etc.
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city upon a hill
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efers to the way in which the US has been viewed since its inception. The term 'city upon a hill' was used by the puritans in the 18th century to refer to the US's anticipated moral leadership and example for the rest of the world to follow.
This translates into the immediate post-war years as the US emerged unscathed from WWII as a global hegemon and was seen in anxiety of the time to fulfill US' role and extrapolate their 'own' superior values of liberalism and capitalism to the world. |
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younge street
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African American musicians came to Canada from the US and played on Yonge Street in the 1950's (in Toronto, Canada).
-Many jazz and rock'n'roll musicians collaborated with white musicians and among themselves, jazz bars and venues were more acceptant of mixed-race band/audiences. Significance: -Demonstrated the more hostile race relations in the US and the unwillingness of the mainstream public to accept black performers -Related to Altschuler's All Shook Up as he spoke of how African-American performers like Nat King Cole were treated by the media and the unwillingness to accept black musicians on mainstream white radio stations. |
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Friedrich Hayek:
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Intellectual godfather of neo-liberalism. Hayek argued that free markets, not politics, enabled humans to obtain their liberty. In light of increasing fears of communism of corporations, Hayek championed free markets as the antidote of communism in his book, The Road to Serfdom (1944). Met with economists, philosophers, and intellectuals in Paris conference in 1939 to develop Mount Pelerin Society to discuss neoliberal thought and oppose what they saw as socialism in certain areas. Mount Pelerine Society meets to this day and is very influential. Out of Reagan’s 80 economic advisers, 22 were members of Mount Pelerine Society. Was instrumental in starting the “Free Market Study Project” at University of Chicago Law School from 1946-1952; Milton Friedman also became involved in the project
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