What is one thing you learned about last class?

BELL RINGER: INTERPRETING GRAPHSAVERAGE CHILDREN PER WOMAN 1927- 2007

BABY BOOM Complete reversal of really long term trends Birth rate peaks in 1957

Had been dropping for a century when it began to increase in 1946

Mid- 50s – 4 kids on average per family Age of 1st Marriage

In 1950 2/3 of women over 15 were married Spacing of Children

Doorsteps instead of 3 years apart Have early in marriage Nuclear family was ideal

WELCOME TO THE FIFTIESA Decade Set Apart

LIFE MOVES OUTSIDE THE CITY Suburbs – small residential communities

surrounding cities assembly-line methods to mass produce houses. Levittown – first standardized neighborhood; New

York’s Long Island Americans loved the openness and small-town feel to

the planned suburbs

INTERSTATE HIGHWAY SYSTEM Interstate Highway Act (1956) –

41,000 miles of expresswayCreated in order to be able to efficiently

transport troops across the nation.Suburbs made owning a car a

necessityHigh-speed, long-haul trucking made

possibleConnected the nation – families start

vacationing everywhere

LITTLE BOXES

THE AUTOMOBILECULTURE Drive-Ins Drive-Thrus Cars Ads – cars as

status symbols Cruising Teens Consequences??

THINK, PAIR, SHARE:WHY DID RADICAL CHANGES HAPPEN?Start: War had put people behind; pent up

need to get married and have kidsSustained by: Cold War – idealized nuclear family in

order to prove that America was different and better than Russia

COLD WAR STATE OF MIND1. Attempt to be better than Russia: Stay-At

Home Moms, Kitchen Wars, Consumerism2. Scary Time – Duck and cover drills, bomb

shelters3. Strong families = Strong communities

CIVIL DEFENSE AND EXPERTS Federal Agencies are working to reassure that a

nuclear attack won’t be a catastrophe Duck and Cover Drills

Fed. Mandated drills in major cities Sputnik – Russian Satellite – Fall 1957

Means Russians have rockets that reach outer space People decide our scientist just lost

Push to create more EXPERTS National Defense Education Act of ’58 – 1st time Fed. Govt. gives

money to K-12 education

TEENAGERS Identified as a consumer group Pimple creams, comic books, soft drinks Rock-n-Roll Debate

CULTURE Era known for conformity

Identical houses, musical tastes, cars, television shows

Fear of people who were different from middle class lifestyle

Draws boundaries of what is and isn’t “normal” High rates of joining

Bowling leagues Clubs Church – way to be different and BETTER than

Russia Joining = Togetherness

FIFTIES FAMILIES Fathers - Work in the cities, live in the

suburbs Mothers - ideal was the stay-at-home mother New emphasis placed on family togetherness

Building soapbox car Throwing party for neighborhood Home-centered recreation

“THE KEY FIGURE IN ALL SUBURBIA, THE THREAD THAT WEAVES BETWEEN FAMILY AND COMMUNITY, THE KEEPER OF THE SUBURBAN DREAM.”

– TIME MAGAZINE

MASS MEDIA Television Movies Comic Books Music

THE KENNEDY/NIXON DEBATE This was the first televised

debate in American history. The first debate for the 1960

election drew over 66 million viewers out of a population of 179 million, making it one of the most-watched broadcasts in U.S. television history.

Kennedy is generally considered to have won the debate. Nixon appeared worse than Kennedy on television, with poor makeup, a haggard appearance.

The televised debates were thought to be the difference in what was an extremely close election.

THE CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT Television brought the

violence of Southern police against peaceful African American protesters into the living rooms of America.

These visuals helped motivate White America to stop segregation and work towards racial equality.

CONSUMERISM “buying material

goods” = success Also, makes us

better than Russia

EDWARD SCISSORHANDS

WAS LIFE JUST ALL ABOUT SUCCESS AND SUBURBS?

THE OTHER AMERICA By 1962 – ¼ of Americans lived below the

poverty line Who were the poor?

Elderly Single women and their children Members of minority groups

White flight

Someone born in 1948 would be considered aA. GIB. Baby BoomerC. SputnikD. Member of the space race

The 1956 National Interstate and Defense Highway Act reads in part, “It hereby declared to be essential to the national interest…” What was an important concern of this legislation?

A. To enhance rural lifeB. To add to the economy of the citiesC. To provide good roads for suburban livingD. To create a system of roads for the

efficient transport of military troops

What was the significance of Levittown?A. It showed the need for a working GI Bill.B. It sparked the growth of American suburbs.C. It was the center of American industry.D. It was the site of the Kennedy-Nixon debates.

What had a major impact on the outcome of the 1960 Kennedy-Nixon debates?

A. Political platformsB. RadioC. ComputersD. Television

What effect did news coverage of the civil rights movement have?

A. It resulted in new Jim Crow legislation in the South.B. It forced the federal government to place

restrictions on the media.C. It increased pressure on the federal government to

pass civil rights legislation.D. It reduced the momentum of the civil rights

movement.

It signaled the beginning of a new era in US politics. For the first time, candidates for president had to pay attention to how they looked on television in addition to the words they spoke and the programs they supported. What was it?

A. Franklin Roosevelt’s campaign in 1932B. The first televised campaign between

Harry Truman and Thomas DeweyC. The presidential debate between Jimmy

Carter and Gerald FordD. The Kennedy-Nixon debate of 1960

The launch of SputnikA. Thrilled people in the US because it finally

put a satellite in space.B. Boosted NASA’s morale because it meant

that the US had answered President Kennedy’s challenge.

C. Concerned US leaders who feared falling behind the Soviets in nuclear technology.

D. Concerned the Soviets because it revealed that the US had been spying on them.

Sputnik concerned leaders in the US becauseA. It was an agreement between the USSR and

Cuba that placed nuclear missiles within ninety miles of the US.

B. It was a Soviet satellite that signaled that the US was far behind the Soviets in the space race.

C. It was a submarine that US ships were defenseless against.

D. It was a bomb ten times more powerful than the atomic bomb dropped on Japan.