Chapters+29+and+30+Reading+Objectives+and+Notes

= Chapter 29 Reading Objectives = After mastering this chapter, you should be able to: = = = Chapter 29 Summary = In postwar America, new affluence replaced the poverty and hunger of the Great Depression, and people flocked to suburbs like Levittown to escape the city and to raise their growing families. International events and the possibility of nuclear war contributed to increasing feelings of anxiety among the populace. The 1950s also saw the beginning of African Americans’ push for equality in the face of the nation’s growing affluence. //**THE POSTWAR BOOM**// An intensified demand for consumer goods and heavy government spending stimulated economic growth from the late 1940s through the 1950s. Although the rate of economic growth slowed in the second half of the 1950s, most Americans had far more real income during this era than ever before. By 1950 production caught up with demand and the gross national product reached a point 50 percent higher than in 1940. The baby boom and expanding suburbia stimulated consumerism as fear of another depression dissipated. In the American workplace, higher pay and shorter hours remained as permanent standards. Slowdowns in economic growth occurred in the second half of the decade and older manufacturing regions like New England suffered a degree of decline, but the expansion of the Cold War and the growth of the military-industrial complex in the South and West provided sufficient economic stimuli to make the American standard of living the highest in the world. The newly affluent postwar generation shed their identities to live in look-alike homes and embrace the new culture of the suburbs. Life in these communities depended on the automobile as people commuted to work and school and shopped in shopping centers and malls that popped up across the country. The home and nuclear family became the focus of American activity and aspiration as homemaking and child rearing became primary vocations for suburban women. Nonetheless, the number of wives working outside of the home doubled between 1940 and 1960 as women strove to contribute necessary funds to the maintenance of the suburban household. //**The Good Life?**// Despite an abundance of material goods and increased leisure time, many Americans questioned the quality of their lives. One of the institutions that flourished in the postwar years was organized religion as Americans became divided into three segments—Catholics, Protestants, and Jews. The tremendous increase in the number of school-aged children created enormous growth and an overwhelming strain on local school districts. The number of young adults attending college increased precipitously. The greatest growth came in the medium of television, which became the most popular entertainment source. Though at first it was a source of artistic innovation, it quickly became a safe conveyor of the consumer culture. With affluence and prosperity came an abundance of introspection and self-criticism. Critics like David Riesman, C. Wright Mills, and Jack Kerouac found fault with the blandness, conformity, corporate dehumanization, and loss of individuality of the 1950s. The disenchantment with consumer culture was epitomized by the emergence of the beats in literary circles and abstract expressionism in art. The Soviet launching of an orbiting satellite caused panic among Americans in 1957 and heightened concern and self-assessment that the nation had lost its unquestioned supremacy in the world. The nation reacted by renewing its commitment to national greatness, as the National Aeronautics and Space Administration was established and the National Defense Education Act was instituted. //**Farewell to Reform**// Growing affluence removed the urgency for social and economic change. In the wake of his 1948 electoral victory, President Truman tried to push for too many reforms too soon. Although he failed to get congressional and public support for the “Fair Deal,” Truman’s spirited efforts did prevent Republicans from repealing New Deal social legislation. When Dwight Eisenhower was elected in 1952, moderation based upon fiscal conservatism, encouragement of private initiative, and reduction of federal programs became the theme. His administration’s legislative record (which consisted of extending Social Security benefits and creating the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare) was relatively modest. One significant accomplishment, the Highway Act of 1956, created the modern interstate system. Continued prosperity allowed Americans to accept increasing governmental spending and larger federal deficits. //**The Struggle Over Civil Rights**// The Cold War helped to arouse the national conscience in favor of civil rights for African Americans. Although benefiting economically from World War II, Blacks continued to live in blighted neighborhoods and to be segregated from White society. The denunciation of Soviet human rights abuses while African Americans were kept in a state of second-class citizenship sparked calls for change. Although President Truman had failed to push his civil rights package through Congress over southern opposition, he did succeed in adding civil rights to the liberal agenda. Additionally, he strengthened the civil rights division of the Justice Department, making legal attempts to challenge Jim Crow laws more likely to succeed. Most importantly, Truman desegregated the armed forces. The Supreme Court took the lead in reversing the late nineteenth century’s “separate but equal” decisions. In //Brown// v. //Board of Education of Topeka,// the Court ordered the nation’s public schools to admit African-American students for the first time. Though President Eisenhower sent troops into Little Rock, Arkansas, to enforce the ruling, on the whole the lack of presidential support weakened the desegregation process. A permanent Commission for Civil Rights was established to protect voting rights, however. Though southern “massive resistance” made these efforts largely ineffective, the actions of the Supreme Court and Congress marked a turning point in national policy toward racial justice. More dynamic than the Supreme Court and Congress were the actions of African Americans themselves. In Montgomery, Alabama, Rosa Parks and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. led a successful boycott against the city’s segregated bus system. Drawing from sources such as Gandhi, King developed the concept of passive resistance. In 1960 “sit-ins” and other direct but peaceful demonstrations led by SCLC and SNCC succeeded in desegregating many public facilities. //**Conclusion: Restoring National Confidence**// Though the 1950s ended with a national mood that was less troubled than when the decade began, the United States was neither as tranquil or confident as it could have been. Though Americans no longer feared a reoccurrence of the Great Depression, new fears emerged about the hollowness of the new abundance and the contradiction that American race relations posed for national promises of equality, democracy, and freedom.
 * 1) Explain how Levittown was symptomatic of American conformity and consumerism of the postwar years.
 * 2) Describe the problems of reconverting to a peacetime economy and the reasons for the surge of the economy after 1946.
 * 3) Analyze the components of Truman's Fair Deal and establish the reasons why most of his package was not enacted.
 * 4) Using specific references, explain how Eisenhower's administration marked an era of moderation and define "modern Republicanism" as developed during the Eisenhower administration.
 * 5) Discuss the objectives, victories, and failures of the civil rights movement in the 1950s.
 * 6) Summarize the contributions of Martin Luther King Jr. to the civil rights movement during the 1950s.
 * 7) Explain the effects of suburban life on American families and American women in particular.
 * 8) Explain the effects of suburban life on the landscape of the nation.
 * 9) What was the baby boom and how did it impact the nation?
 * 10) Determine why America said farewell to the New Deal spirit and the effect this had on Truman's presidency.
 * 11) Describe the critics that emerged to the consumer culture that dominated the nation.
 * 12) Identify the reasons why the pace of desegregation of the schools was slow.
 * Postwar Prosperity**
 * Life in the Suburbs**
 * Areas of Greatest Growth**
 * Critics of the Consumer Society**
 * The Reaction to //Sputnik//**
 * Truman and the Fair Deal**
 * Eisenhower’s Modern Republicanism**
 * Civil Rights as a Political Issue**
 * Desegregating the Schools**
 * The Beginnings of Black Activism**

= Chapter 30 Reading Objectives = After mastering this chapter, you should be able to: = = = Chapter 30 Summary = The 1960s was an era of angry protests, violent demonstrations, and sweeping social change. Under both Kennedy and Johnson, significant domestic reforms occurred while the continued American involvement in Vietnam led to escalation and eventually stalemate. //**Kennedy Intensifies The Cold War**// Despite a campaign that focused on domestic issues, foreign affairs took center stage upon John Kennedy’s election. The new administration supported containment and authorized a massive buildup of nuclear weapons in an effort to win the Cold War. Kennedy surrounded himself with the “best and brightest,” young, aggressive advisors determined to invoke a hard-line approach to the Soviet Union. Kennedy aggressively built up not only the nation’s nuclear arsenal but also the strength of the armed forces. The purpose was to create an alternative to Eisenhower’s massive resistance. Kennedy and his advisors wanted the United States to have the capability of a flexible response, meaning that America could choose to use nuclear force or employ the military should the need arise. A “superpower” stalemate that developed in Berlin left Germany physically divided between the East and the West with the construction of the Berlin Wall. Kennedy ordered further military spending for weaponry and called 150,000 reservists to active duty to demonstrate American determination to honor its international commitments. Kennedy reacted to Soviet statements promising support for “wars of national liberation” by a combination of financial aid, technical assistance, and counterinsurgency in order to build strong, stable, Western democracies in the less-developed areas of Asia. The most obvious result of this support was the increase of American advisors to South Vietnam from less than 1,000 in 1961 to more than 16,000 in 1963. Kennedy gave his approval to a CIA plan developed under Eisenhower to topple Castro by using Cuban exiles as invasion troops. The Bay of Pigs landing proved to be an utter disaster, and Kennedy took full responsibility for the failure. In 1962, the United States faced a much more serious issue regarding the installation of nuclear missiles in Cuba. Kennedy refused to bargain on the missiles and boldly ordered a quarantine of Cuba as the world braced for a possible nuclear showdown. Premier Khrushchev eventually backed down, but the Russians went on a crash nuclear buildup to achieve parity with the United States. Some positive results followed: a limited test ban treaty was signed in 1963; a hot line to speed communication between the nuclear antagonists was installed, and a policy of conciliation replaced that of confrontation. Those gains were offset by a dramatic escalation in the arms race. //**The New Frontier At Home**// John F. Kennedy took advantage of television debates and a national sense of dissatisfaction to narrowly defeat the Republican candidate Richard Nixon for the presidency in 1960. Kennedy’s election marked the arrival of a new generation of leadership. As he had with foreign affairs, Kennedy surrounded himself with the “best and the brightest” advisors on domestic issues. The new administration reflected the president’s youth and energy, but Kennedy’s greatest asset was his personality and style that endeared him to Americans. Because the conservative coalition stood firmly against education and health care proposals, much of the New Frontier languished in Congress. Kennedy did win approval of a trade-expansion program and a slight increase in the minimum wage, however. Kennedy made the sluggish American economy one of his highest priorities, but received conflicting advice on how best to stimulate it. Ultimately, the greatest stimulus to economic growth came from Kennedy’s increased appropriations for defense and space. In 1963, Kennedy, following the advice of his chief economic advisor, Walter Heller, pushed through major tax cuts to stimulate consumer spending. Personal income and corporate profits increased dramatically, and the economy did well throughout the 1960s. Having promised in his campaign to support desegregation, the president avoided congressional action, focusing instead on executive leadership. His brother and Attorney General, Robert Kennedy, continued the Eisenhower administration’s efforts to achieve Black voting rights in the South while Vice President Lyndon Johnson headed a presidential Commission on Equal Employment Opportunities. Kennedy also appointed a number of African Americans to high government positions and supported the attempt by James Meredith to gain admission to the University of Mississippi over Governor Ross Barnett’s opposition. Not satisfied with the scope of Kennedy’s support for Black equality, civil rights workers pushed the issue by initiating the first “freedom ride” in 1961 to test the Supreme Court’s order to desegregate all bus and train stations used in interstate travel. Responding to Dr. King’s campaign for racial justice in Birmingham and his eloquent speech from the Lincoln Memorial in 1963, Kennedy finally decided to take the offensive and push for civil rights legislation in Congress. By the time of the president’s death, his civil rights bills were on their way to passage. Though Kennedy’s record on civil rights was hesitant, he did throw the weight of the presidency behind the civil rights movement, something that had never been done before. The Warren-led Supreme Court was the most active force for social change, making far-reaching decisions that improved the rights of accused criminals, and brought about more equitable reapportionment in legislative redistricting. The activism of the Court stirred a storm of criticism. //**“Let Us Continue”**// Vice President Lyndon Johnson moved quickly to fill the void left by Kennedy’s death, urging Congress to pass his tax and civil rights bills as a tribute to the fallen president. Although lacking Kennedy’s charm and charisma, Johnson possessed far greater ability than his predecessor in dealing with Congress. He sought consensus rather than confrontation. He succeeded in achieving the passage of Kennedy’s civil rights measures, and the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which made segregation illegal, was a landmark in the advance of American freedom and equality. Convinced of the detrimental societal effects of poverty, Johnson declared an unconditional “war on poverty” and empowered the new Office of Economic Opportunity to set up a variety of programs to provide assistance to the poor in America. In 1964, Johnson and his “Great Society” program soundly defeated the hawkish Republican Barry Goldwater. The Democrats also achieved huge gains in Congress, breaking the conservative stranglehold. Upon inauguration, Johnson began pushing his “Great Society,” making health care and educational reforms his top priority. The establishment of Medicare and Medicaid realized Truman’s 1949 goal of universal health insurance while the Elementary and Secondary Education Act provided federal monies to school districts throughout the nation. The passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 encouraged massive increases in African-American voter registration. Within nine months of being elected in his own right, Johnson achieved the entire Democratic reform agenda, but difficulties abroad soon stole his attention from domestic concerns. //**Johnson Escalates The Vietnam War**// Lyndon Johnson shared Kennedy’s Cold War view and inherited his military and diplomatic problems. His forcefulness in opposing Castro and the Latin American left brought increasing criticism from many directions, as did his resolve to contain communism in Southeast Asia. In Vietnam the United States had supported the South Vietnamese regime of Ngo Dinh Diem against communist insurgents. Kennedy had sent military advisors and substantial military and economic aid. Full-scale American involvement began under Johnson in 1965, after the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution by Congress gave the president the power to take the offensive. Refusing to call for an invasion of the North, Johnson opted for steady military escalation. As his “open-ended commitment” to force a diplomatic solution on Hanoi intensified, American combat missions in the South and air strikes against the North increased. Johnson refused to admit, however, that he had committed the United States to full-scale military involvement, and the situation in Southeast Asia worsened. Despite massive American escalation, the war remained stalemated in 1968. Westmoreland’s wanton use of American firepower to destroy the Vietnamese countryside, wiping out villages and killing civilians, discredited the American cause and increased criticism of the war on the homefront. //**Years Of Turmoil**// With the growth of opposition to the war in Vietnam escalating, the 1960s became the most turbulent decade of the century as those who were dissatisfied with their position in American society—African Americans, women, Native Americans, hippies, Latinos, and students—took to the streets to protest. Student radicals on campuses across the nation created unrest over free speech, war, racism, poverty, and a variety of other issues. The Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) were the most active of these student groups. At first experiencing phenomenal growth and success, SDS was dead by 1970, destroyed by inner turmoil and a penchant for violence. Opposition to the war in Vietnam was a central theme for many students. To students the war seemed to symbolize all that was wrong with America. Students held sit-ins and marches demanding an end to the war. Though they failed to end the war, they did change American life. Combined with the issues of war and race, the youth of the country seemed to be rejecting all the cultural values of middle-class, middle-aged Americans. Along with opposition to the war and the draft, rock music and drug experimentation were key elements of this counterculture movement that climaxed at the legendary Woodstock concert in Bethel, New York. The civil rights movement became more militant and less concerned with racial harmony as the 1960s wore on. Despite the movement’s legislative successes, its failure to solve the economic problems of the race along with continued racial discrimination inspired a rejection of King’s non-violent tactics. When King was assassinated, urban riots erupted in 125 cities across the nation. The Black Power movement went hand in hand with a movement celebrating pride in Black culture and history and the rejection of the term Negro in favor of Afro-American or Black. The pride in ethnicity that emerged from the Black Power movement inspired other groups including Mexican Americans and Native Americans to celebrate their own heritage and history. Language classes and programs celebrating ethnic heritage began almost overnight at many colleges and Congress acknowledged the trend with the passage of the Ethnic Heritage Studies Act of 1972. Young women involved in the various civil rights movements of the era found to their dismay that many of their male colleagues saw them only as people to fix the food. Such sexism inspired many to join a growing movement for women’s liberation. Recognizing that the condition of women in America created a sense of grievance and discrimination, the work of such authors as Betty Friedan argued that many women were not satisfied with a life that consisted solely of housework and child rearing. The 1964 Civil Rights Act helped women combat employment inequalities while groups like the National Organization for Women emerged to push for full equality for women with the 1972 Equal Rights Amendment. Turned off by some of the more radical views of the feminist movement, the Amendment was not ratified by American voters. //**The Return Of Richard Nixon**// Partially as a reaction to the turmoil of the 1960s, Richard Nixon made a remarkable comeback and won the presidency in 1968. As a result of the Viet Cong’s surprise offensive during Tet, the lunar New Year, American political and popular support for the war declined rapidly. In March of 1968, President Johnson refused to authorize further military escalation, declared a peace initiative, and announced that he would not run for another term. Without a clear candidate, the Democratic party divided between Eugene McCarthy, Robert Kennedy, and Johnson’s Vice President Hubert Humphrey. After the assassination of Robert Kennedy, Hubert Humphrey became the heir apparent of the party, but divisions over the war deeply divided the party. These divisions became hardened at the tumultuous Democratic convention in Chicago. With the wounded Democratic party foundering, and George Wallace, a third-party candidate running on White supremacy, running away with much of the Southern vote, the Republican nominee Richard Nixon easily won the presidency. //**Conclusion: The End of an Era**// The election of Richard Nixon was a rejection of the politics of protest and the cultural insurgency of the 1960s and a sign that the long-silent majority was fed up with the turmoil of the era. Nixon’s election signaled the end the liberal reform impulse that had been born in the midst of the Great Depression. It was also a repudiation of the burgeoning growth of federal power and interventionist foreign policy.
 * 1) Analyze Kennedy's attitude toward the Cold War and nuclear armaments and the possible long-term consequences vis-à-vis the Soviet Union.
 * 2) Summarize the main events and results of the Bay of Pigs landing and the Cuban missile crisis.
 * 3) Compare and contrast the arguments for continued confrontation or conciliation with the Russians in the context of the Cuban missile crisis.
 * 4) Understand the reasons for America's buildup of military strength in Vietnam and how this escalation undermined the Johnson administration.
 * 5) Describe the escalation of America's involvement in the Vietnam War from 1961 to 1968.
 * 6) Explain why and how the year 1968 seemed to mark a turning point in the Vietnam War.
 * 7) Discuss the key elements of Kennedy's New Frontier domestic agenda and his success or failure in enacting it.
 * 8) Summarize the key Supreme Court decisions and their impact on reform of the early 1960s.
 * 9) Explain the domestic successes of Lyndon Johnson.
 * 10) Analyze the key features of the cultural rebellion of the 1960s.
 * 11) Compare the ethnic and women's movements of this era.
 * 12) Summarize the historical factors that led to the return and success of Richard Nixon.
 * Flexible Response**
 * Crisis Over Berlin**
 * Containment in Southeast Asia**
 * Containing Castro: The Bay of Pigs Fiasco**
 * Containing Castro: The Cuban Missile Crisis**
 * The Congressional Obstacle**
 * Economic Advance**
 * Moving Slowly On Civil Rights**
 * “I Have a Dream”**
 * The Supreme Court and Reform**
 * Johnson In Action**
 * The Election of 1964**
 * The Triumph of Reform**
 * The Vietnam Dilemma**
 * Escalation**
 * Stalemate**
 * The Student Revolt**
 * Protesting the Vietnam War**
 * The Cultural Revolution**
 * “Black Power”**
 * Ethnic Nationalism**
 * Women’s Liberation**
 * Vietnam Undermines Lyndon Johnson**
 * The Democrats Divide**
 * The Republican Resurgence**