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Background: Despite the desegregation of American institutions like the armed forces and major league baseball in the late 1940s, much of the rest of the country remained segregated, and it would take a Supreme Court ruling in 1954, Brown v. Board of Education, to begin to change that with the desegregation of public schools. By the end of the decade, a new generation of leaders, most prominently Rev. Martin Luther King, were calling for the complete desegregation of America and for the country to live up to its promise of equal rights supposedly guaranteed to all Americans under the Constitution. Their efforts for change would be met with violent opposition by white America and the status quo. All of this was happening under the shadow of possible nuclear annihilation. The dropping of two atomic bombs on Japanese cities ended WWII and ushered in the Cold War, a time when the United States and the Communist-led Soviet Union competed in a deadly nuclear arms race and amassed huge arsenals of nuclear weapons vastly more powerful than the bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The constant fear of nuclear war fed paranoid fears of the spread of Communism in a new American society obsessed with commercialism, conformity, and fitting in. So as you can see, your responses this week concern very big, and very complex events – and we’re not even going to talk about the most important thing to happen in the 1950s: the birth of rock-n-roll (kidding). Of course, both the Cold War and the fight for civil rights continue long past the 1950s, but they certainly defined the mood of this decade in America. The Assignment: Answer both of these in responses of around 200 words, quoting once each from Foner and twice from the clips. Civil Rights: Desegregation of Education You may recall we began this class looking at Reconstruction, the failed attempt after the Civil War to rebuild Southern society to include the newly freed former slaves. That period did see some gains – the passage of the 13, 14th and 15th amendments, new schools and clinics, the election of Black men to government offices – but much of those gains vanished with the end of Reconstruction and the rise of the Jim Crow laws that enforced a segregated America for much of the 20th century. The service of minorities in World War II began to change white America’s views regarding race, though quite slowly. Pres. Harry Truman desegregated the armed forces in 1948, and around the same time Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier by becoming the first African-American to play major league baseball. But much of America remained segregated and unequal, from restaurants and bathrooms to access to housing and public education. In 1954, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of an African-American parent who sued his local school district so his daughter could attend a white school closer to her home. In this landmark ruling, Brown v. Board of Education, the court ruled 7-2 that segregated public schools were unconstitutional. Later cases expanded that ruling to include all public accommodations and services, though that would require protests, sit-ins, demonstrations, and boycotts, many of these met with violent resistance from white America. And even Brown v. Board did not lead to instant change – in fact southern school districts would fight desegregation for years, as they did in Little Rock, Arkansas against the Little Rock Nine. For this response, examine Brown v. Board of Education, the Little Rock Nine, and the beginning of the civil rights movement in the 1950s. How did Brown v. Board of Education happen and how did it change America? Describe some of the challenges faced by the Little Rock Nine. Why were whites so against allowing these students to attend “their” schools? What role did the state’s governor play – did he support the students? Reading: Eric Foner, Chapter 24 Crash Course in U.S. History: Civil Rights and the 1950s: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S64zRnnn4Po PBS documentary clip on Brown v. Board of Education https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TTGHLdr-iak Black History in Two Minutes clip: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ppTiyxFSs0 On the Little Rock Nine https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ym8rdtq-KBE America in the Atomic Age If there was one thing that seemed to unite most Americans in the Fifties it was the fear of Communism and nuclear war. After the fall of Nazi Germany, two world powers rose up to claim superiority in Europe: the Soviet Union (which was Russia and a dozen Eastern European states) and the United States and the western allies (soon to form the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, or N.A.T.O.). This conflict evolved into the Cold War, a geopolitical struggle between these two opposing powers which would last until the fall of the Soviet Union began in 1989. It was in the Fifties that this “cold war” got suddenly hot over the threat of nuclear war, as both nations began to develop stronger and stronger nuclear weapons, and backed what are called “wars of proxy” against each other in hot spots around the world. Both countries were gripped with a deep fear and mistrust of each other. In America, that meant a daily fear of being overrun by either Russian or Chinese Communists ( a fear, in retrospect, that was not grounded in reality). That fear grew to a fever pitch during the McCarthy hearings and the overall Red Scare that dominated the decade. Pres. Harry Truman’s doctrine drew a line in the sand against the spread of Communism, declaring the United States would oppose it wherever it rose up. This doctrine will lead to the Korean War, a brutal conflict fought between 1950-53 that resulted in the deaths of more than 33,000 Americans and more than a million Koreans. For this response you may look at any aspect of the Atomic Age in the 1950s. This can include the Korean War, the build-up of nuclear weapons, and/or the propaganda war waged in America against Communism. I provided a lot of clips here and of course do not expect you to use them all, as they cover some fairly complex incidents and events. So perhaps focus on one of these – or try to include as much of this stuff as you can in your response. Reading: Eric Foner, all of Chapter 23, and Ch. 24, pgs. 946-951 On the Cold War in general: What was the Cold War? Was it a “real” war? Describe the main conflict between the two sides – what was their primary disagreement? How did the Truman Doctrine define U.S. policy going into the 1950s? What did it say? Do you think Americans’ fear of Communism was well-founded and understandable, and in what ways was that fear expressed – so things like the McCarthy hearings and the blacklisting of the Hollywood Ten? Clips: Crash Course on the Cold War https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9C72ISMF_D0 History Channel on the Truman Doctrine https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jb8aW46T3bg On the Korean War: The Korean War is often called the “forgotten war” today because most Americans known nothing about it, or even that it occurred. But this war resulted in the deaths of more than 33,000 Americans and more than a million North Koreans, who very much remember what they call the “American War,” a truly brutal conflict that left North Korea in complete ruin but still ended with a stalemate – in fact technically the war is still ongoing. Today North Korea possesses nuclear weapons and remains a threat to the security of the entire Pacific Rim, so knowing a bit of the history of this war will help us in understanding today’s conflict. How did the Korean War begin and why did America get involved? Briefly describe the war itself – where was it fought, what were one or two important battles, and where did the war conclude, in terms of the border? What did the U.S. gain or demonstrate with this war? Clips: PragerU clip explaining the U.S. and Korean War https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t44SbOyjEUM History Channel short on the war https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h1wFrXKanC0 On nuclear weapons: The nuclear arms race did not begin until the Soviet Union developed its first nuclear bomb in 1948, but within a few years the U.S. and the Soviet Union were soon developing bigger and bigger bombs, as well as new ways to deliver said weapons (like missiles). Both countries would spend billions of dollars over the years – the idea was that any use of these weapons would result in the total destruction of the world, and so therefore no sane nation would ever use them, which became known as M.A.D. – “mutually assured destruction.” Small comfort for most Americans, who for decades lived in fear of nuclear war. Describe the power of these weapons compared to the bomb dropped on Hiroshima. Why do you think these weapons had to be so powerful – after all, didn’t the Hiroshima blast adequately decimate the city of Hiroshima? How and where were nuclear weapons tested, and did people nearby know of the danger posed to them and their health? What was “Duck and Cover,” and how helpful do you think it was in dampening children’s fears of a nuclear attack? How else did Americans prepare themselves for a nuclear war? Clips: Smithsonian clip on the growth of nuclear weapons https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3EX2yeSS-Os Video of various nuclear tests https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5gD_TL1BqFg Check out this chart showing the power of nuclear weapons developed I the 1950s https://www.fastcompany.com/1669575/ingeniously-charting-the-horrifying-power-of-todays-nuclear-bombs Duck and Cover: The not so helpful tips for kids about how to survive a nuclear attack https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zMnKNHNfznE
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