THE COLD WAR:SPACE,THE BOMB, & HYSTERIA

Soviets take the lead

Oct. 1957 - The Soviets are the first to put a satellite into outer space

Called Sputnik Sputnik was no larger than a beach

ball 4 antennae It was shiny, so you could see it from

earth It transmitted sound so it could be

heard Otherwise, it didn’t do much else

http://www.nebraskastudies.org/0900/stories/0901_0105.html

U.S. Reaction

People were filled with astonishment and fear

No one knew what it was capable of doing

Afraid it could shoot an atomic warhead.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=JK6a6Hkp94o

The U.S. tries to launch a satellite too, but it fails: Vanguard=Flopnik

Affects on American Culture The government wanted math and

science to be more important at schools

More money put into education

Students take more math and science courses!

Man on the Moonwww.youtube.com/watch?v=Wym04J_3Ls0 July, 1969 – The U.S. puts a man on the

moon Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin were the

first humans to walk on the moon 6% of Americans believe it was a hoax28% of Russians believe it wasa hoaxAll Cubans are taught it was ahoax

Question:

Who was the first to take the lead in the space race?

Do you think the moon landing was a hoax? Why or why not?

The Soviets Create A Bomb

The Soviets originally had trouble developing a bomb because they had no material: uranium or plutonium

Sept. 1949 – The Soviet Union develops their own atomic bomb

This triggers a wave of fear in the U.S.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=mFcRhDtkQyQ

5:47 The Soviets develop the bomb because of spies leaking plans to them

The Soviets find uranium in Czechoslovakia, which they controlled

McCarthy

Joseph McCarthy

Republican Senator of Wisconsin Conservative Claimed that President Truman and

the democratic party were in league with the Communists

Claimed to have a list of 205 “known Communists” serving in the State Dept.

McCarthyism

Joseph McCarthy led the nation in its “witch hunt” for Americans with communist ideas

He really believed that communist had infiltrated American society

Targeted most liberals, Protestants, Jews, entertainment, and political opponents

A majority of the public believed him

McCarthyism

Led to the House of Un-American Activites Committee in charge of investigating all suspects

Held trials in which people were questioned about their political beliefs

Many people’s careers were ruined (especially Hollywood)

The play “The Crucible” is an allegory of this period

McCarthyism

People turned on their friends and co-workers

The hysteria called the “Red Scare” McCarthy accused the Army of

having Communists 1st Publicized hearings of this –

televised

Truman

“It is now evident that the present Administration has fully embraced, for political advantage, McCarthyism. I am not referring to the Senator from Wisconsin. He is only important in that his name has taken on the dictionary meaning of the word. It is the corruption of truth, the abandonment of the due process law. It is the use of the big lie and the unfounded accusation against any citizen in the name of Americanism or security. It is the rise to power of the demagogue who lives on untruth; it is the spreading of fear and the destruction of faith in every level of society.”

End of the Hysteria

www.youtube.com/watch?v=PTwDUpbQHJg

1:00

Showed McCarthy as a paranoid and as a bully

Public opinion reversed Congress censures McCarthy

Vocabulary

Allegory – literary device in which characters or events represent or symbolize ideas or concepts

Subversive – An attack on the public morale, or any action intended to overthrow or undermine an established government

Censure – to issue an official reprimand

www.youtube.com/watch?v=yVwCepEVk-8

What do you think of Joseph McCarthy?

Why do you think that?

Draw a piece of propaganda that might have been seen at the time.