Changes in the 1950's !!
By: Iman Sehic
Musical Changes
Throughout the 1950s many cultural changes were taking place, including musical cultural changes. The racial tensions that existed were vocalized through music. Some were denied audiences because of their race. Many white artists took credit and stole music from African-Americans. Rock and roll and R&B started to create a bridge for the racial tension and paved the way for music today. Even though at the same time of many changes occurring, many societal norms of the past came into play such as the role of women. Even in the occasional workplace they were not treated equally.
American Culture: Women in the 1950's
After WWII many women started returning back to the roles of being a housewife. Taking care of the home and children was the most important priority. The baby boom era occurred when 25 million children were added to the population. There became only a narrow idea of what women stood for; to be breeders and taking care of the household.
Levitown
Levittown became known as one of the most historic suburb developments during this time. A man named Abraham Levitt and his sons started to represent the entrepreneurial ways of American cultural by starting to build suburbs in New Jersey and Philadelphia after Levittown in long island.
Space Race/NASA
Because Russia and America were rivaling against each other a space race erupted. Both countries were trying to get ahead with space programs. And satellites. Russia was developing the Sputnik space satellite which trial and error. While America retaliated with Explorer I. Because of Sputnik he American program NASA which is still very much active today was formed.
Arms Race
During the cold war America and Russia obviously had a lot of tensions. This led to the arms race. The arms race occurred because both of the countries were scared of each other and their power. So both sides stated to stockpile weapons including nuclear weapons and missile programs.
Brinksmanship
Fears over Brinkmanship occurred because society and the world was afraid that the conflict would go to a very dangerous point of no return. This dangerous point would have been the actual use of the very dangerous nuclear weapons.
U-2
U-2 incident is when the treaty had denied for America to be running the program, but in fact it was taking place. The Russians had plans to do a suicide attack to destroy the U-2 spy plane, but were not able to locate it. Evidence came through and exposed that it was a spy plane which humiliated the U.S. and started protests. SO with all of the repercussions they had to withdraw the planes.
McCarthy Trials
Senator Joseph McCarthy was the one who started the complete communist controversy that was going on in America. He believed that there were many government officials that were secretly communist. With his outrageous claims he erupted into fame and McCarthyism began. In order to salvage his eventually dying out fame he accused the U.S. army of being too soft when it came to communism and eventually army hearings were held in court for the accusations. Eventually is was all dismissed.
Editor Letter
I am writing to express my thoughts for this newspaper. For years you have provided great, accurate information on many historical topics and continue to do so! The cold war was a time of hardship and many competitive controversial events that you display throughout your newspaper. Reading this paper informed me on topics that I had not even known about! It invited me and I felt as if I was back in the time when all of this was occurring. Continue with the great informative work!
Sincerely,
Abby
Sources:
2. "1954 McCarthy Army Hearings Begin." History. A E Networks, 1 Jan. 2009. Web. 16 Mar. 2015. <http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/mccarthy-army-hearings-begin>.
3. Garber, Steve. "Sputnik and The Dawn of the Space Age." Sputnik: The Fiftieth Anniversary. Web. 16 Mar. 2015. <Sputnik and The Dawn of the Space Age>.
4. "The Nuclear Arms Race". HistoryLearningSite.co.uk. 2014. Web
5. Galyean, Crystal. "LEVITTOWN: THE IMPERFECT RISE OF THE AMERICAN SUBURBS." History Scene. Web. 16 Mar. 2015. <http://www.ushistoryscene.com/uncategorized/levittown/>.
6. "Music Played in the 1950's Popular Music From the 50s." The People History. Web. 16 Mar. 2015. <http://www.thepeoplehistory.com/50smusic.html>.
7. "Women in the 1950's." Dwight D. Eisenhower. Web. 16 Mar. 2015. <"Music Played in the 1950's Popular Music From the 50s." The People History. Web. 16 Mar. 2015. <http://www.thepeoplehistory.com/50smusic.html>.>.