The USA in the Fifties (1950-59): Economic Boom and Cold War Context

The USA from the Fifties to the Seventies

Mid-century America

The USA in the Fifties (1950-59)
Compact Performer Shaping Ideas
Marina Spiazzi, Marina Tavella,
Margaret Layton @ 2021
ZANICHELLIThe USA from the Fifties to the Seventies
1. Mid-century America
WWII made the Americans the most
prosperous people in the world.
The 1950s were a boom time with
low unemployment,
high wages, a baby boom
golden age of American
capitalism

Compact Performer Shaping Ideas
ZANICHELLIThe USA from the Fifties to the Seventies
1. Mid-century America

• Families bought consumer goods -> like new cars,
  phones, washing machines, refrigerators.
• Many
  bought their own houses.
  A typical 1950s American suburban family.

Compact Performer Shaping Ideas
ZANICHELLIThe USA from the Fifties to the Seventies
1. Mid-century America
The Republican Dwight D. Eisenhower who had
played a major role in organising the D-Day landings
was elected President.
He held very conservative views.

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ZANICHELLIThe USA from the Fifties to the Seventies

The Cold War

2. The Cold War
NATO Warsaw
1949
1955
1952
1956
1955
1982
Border of NATO and Warsaw Pact in contrast to each other from 1949 (formation of
NATO) to 1990 (withdrawal of East Germany)
The only rival to the USA was the Soviet Union and the
tension between them led to the Cold War (1947-1991).

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ZANICHELLIThe USA from the Fifties to the Seventies
2. The Cold War
American foreign policy

• defined by fear of Soviet expansion;
• led to US intervention in Korea in 1950 -> conflict
  between pro-Communist North and pro-western South;
• China and the Soviet Union backed North Korea, while
  USA and some members of the United Nations backed
  South;
• armistice in 1953 left Korea divided.

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ZANICHELLIThe USA from the Fifties to the Seventies
2. The Cold War
Fear of Communism, seen as a threat
both to the freedom of the individual and
the capitalist economic system, swept
across the United States.
Senator Joseph Mccarthy (1908-1957)
started a public 'witch hunt' -
investigations on all kinds of people to find
out if they had Communist leanings.
By the mid-1950s his influence declined
sharply.

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ZANICHELLIThe USA from the Fifties to the Seventies

A New Climate in America

3. A new climate in America
The Fifties saw the emergence of an active civil rights
movement that was to give rise to historic leaders.
JOBS
N FEPC
NOW !!
March on Washington 1963.

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ZANICHELLI