We will be discussing the impact of decades from now until May. Each decade in the 20th century is known for its political, social and cultural impact.
For this week's blog, independently research the decade of the 1950s.
Choose ONE 1950s political event (presidential, law, Supreme Court case, Cold War related event, Space Race event, war etc.) and ONE 1950s cultural event (movies, music, sports, comic books, tv, radio, books, plays etc.) that interests you.
Write 100 words for each choice. Explain what you learned about the 1950s from the two topics you chose.
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ReplyDelete1950s Rock and Roll:
ReplyDeleteRock and Roll music started in the early 1950s. Artists such as Chuck Berry, Elvis Presley, and Little Richard were some early examples and their music is still listened to today. Rock and Roll was very popular especially for teenagers, gaining a wide audience of both white and black teenagers. I read that this new music also influenced teen behavior which affected family lives and society. Rock and Roll gave people a sense of identity and also gave Blacks more of a feeling of equality as African American artists also were becoming more known in the 50s. (101)
Vietnam War:
The Vietnam War was a long conflict that was the communist government of North Vietnam against South Vietnam and its ally, the United States. The war was also made worse by the ongoing Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union. More than 3 million people (including over 58,000 Americans) were killed in the Vietnam War, and more than half of the dead recorded were Vietnamese civilians. Many Americans also disagreed with the U.S. involvement in the war which caused a lot of division in the United States. I also read that over 500,000 veterans who served in the Vietnam War got PTSD. This lead to a high suicide rate amon Vietnam veterans. (120)
The Vietnam War or the Second Indochina War, and in as it was Called in Vietnam the Resistance War Against America ( Kháng chiến chống Mỹ) was a war that took part throughout Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955to 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vietnam and South Vietnam. Whereas , North Vietnam was supported by the Soviet Union, China,with the ideology of communism . As opposed to South Vietnam whom was supported by the United States, South Korea, the Philippines, Australia, Thailand in an anti-communist movement. The war lasted 19 years, with the us’s direct involvement ending in 1973, and included the Laotian Civil War and the Cambodian Civil War, which ended with all three countries becoming communist in 1975. The estimated number of Vietnamese soldiers and civilians killed vary from 966,000 to 3.8 million 275,000–310,000 Cambodians,20,000–62,000 Laotians, and 58,220 U.S. service members also died in the conflict, and a further 1,626 remain MIA.This war was very controversial due to the draft and citizens not agreeing with further fought against due to the civil rights movement (199)
ReplyDeleteThe 1950s saw the introduction of the most influential music genre ever created that is rock and roll. Which was made possible by the Convergence of multiple musical styles, such as Rhythm and Blues and Country. Rock also wasn’t possible before hand due to records previous technical limitations that didn’t allow them to process all the sounds and beats until 1954 where car radios also began to become common. This also brought about the mixing of different cultures since whites started listening to the black dominated jazz industry. Some of the most prominent rock and roll creators of this era being :Rock and Roll were Willie Mae Thornton, Big Joe Turner, Bill Haley and His Comets, Chuck Berry, Elvis Presley, Little Richard, Jerry Lee Lewis, Buddy Holly and the Crickets, Fats Domino, Bo Diddley, Gene Vincent, the Everly Brothers, and Carl Perkins. (142)
1950s: “The Happy Days”
ReplyDeletePolitical Event:
In the 1950s, the Soviet Union worked to spread communism to other countries. Many people in the United States were concerned that communism would come to their country. The USA had won wars around the world, the economy was good, and the citizens were doing well and they were mostly conservative. However, some people felt there was a real danger their country might be turned to communism just like Poland and Hungary. Senator Joseph McCarthy led the House Un-American Activities Committee with investigations of possible communists in the government. That Committee also questioned members in centers of liberal thinking such as universities and the Hollywood Film industry. Federal employees were investigated to determine whether they were loyal to the government. It was Happy Days, but citizens were on alert; it was the time of “Duck and Cover” because the Soviet Union had stolen our plans for nuclear weapons. (149)
Cultural Event:
At the beginning of the 1950s, there was a sense of consistency in American society. Young and old followed common customs rather than create their own. During World War II, men and women had taken on new occupations. When the war was over, traditional roles were mostly restored. Men were the head of the house and women were expected to be housewives. This arrangement was believed to lead to stability and conformity. Television reinforced this model of a home showing life with a dad, a mom, and two or three happy children. TV families were all white, dressed modestly and were very careful with their language. Towards the end of the decade, not all Americans conformed to this standard. Members of the so-called "beat generation" rebelled against these values. They stressed spontaneity and spirituality, they asserted instinct over reason, and Eastern mysticism over Western religion. The "beats" went out of their way to challenge the patterns of respectability and shock the rest of the culture. By the beginning of the 1960s, Happy Days were beginning to vanish. (177)
The Cold War
ReplyDeleteThe Cold War Era was more of an Era than a specific event but many great things happened during this time. On October 4, 1957, a Soviet R-7 intercontinental missile launched Sputnik, it was russian for "traveling companion". It was the world's first artificial satellite and the first manmade object to be placed into Earth's orbit. Sputnik's launch did come as a surprise, and not necessarily a good one, because it wasn't the U.S. who had gotten to do it. To Americans space was almost like another frontier and we had been exploring it for a while now. Americans were mad that we're basically losing the race to space. Soviets were also prepared to launch a R-7 missile into space, and it was capable of nuclear powers so it made Americans even more frantic about all of this. In 1958 the U.S. launched its own satellite, Explorer I, that was designed by Wernher von Braun. The Space Race soon began. (162)
Cultural Event
Sports were as popular as ever in the 1950's. Baseball and boxing were huge while football and golf were growing. As this time and economy was growing very steadily people needed something to turn to not only put their money into but give them entertainment. At this point in time you were able to start watching sports from the comfort of your own home, which changed many things. You could of course go and watch them live which brought more liveliness to the games and experience, but families could stay at home and watch them now so it gave them much more credit. It gave them the ability to watch more than one game and most likely is what created these die hard fans that we are today.(128)
My first topic I decided to write about is the Vietnam War. The Vietnam War was a war that started in 1950 against north Vietnam and south Vietnam. The Vietnam War was started because China like made North Vietnam communists and the USA did not want South Vietnam to become communist so we aided them.The Vietnam War was a long grueling war that took over 3 million People’s lives. So in conclusion the Vietnam War was fought because the USA did not want South Vietnam to be communists so they aided them and supported them and it kind of started a war. (103)
ReplyDeleteMy second topic I picked was music. I decided to write about Rock n roll because it was growing rapidly during this time. Rock n roll was a big hit among teens and was invented by African American artists. Parents of teens did not like rock n roll because they believed it supported violence and race mixing. The parents were not wrong about race mixing and probably not about violence fully but they were not right either. So in conclusion rock n roll was a popular style of music during the time that mostly teens listened too and parents were not a big fan of it because they thought it was bad. (113)
ReplyDeleteMy first topic I decided to write about is the Vietnam War. The Vietnam War was a war that started in 1950 against north Vietnam and south Vietnam. The Vietnam War was started because China like made North Vietnam communists and the USA did not want South Vietnam to become communist so we aided them.The Vietnam War was a long grueling war that took over 3 million People’s lives. So in conclusion the Vietnam War was fought because the USA did not want South Vietnam to be communists so they aided them and supported them and it kind of started a war. (103)
Cultural Event
Sports were as popular as ever in the 1950's. Baseball and boxing were huge while football and golf were growing. As this time and economy was growing very steadily people needed something to turn to not only put their money into but give them entertainment. At this point in time you were able to start watching sports from the comfort of your own home, which changed many things. You could of course go and watch them live which brought more liveliness to the games and experience, but families could stay at home and watch them now so it gave them much more credit. It gave them the ability to watch more than one game and most likely is what created these die hard fans that we are today.(128)
The political eventuate I chose from the 1950s that I chose was the Cold War. The cold war was fought during the 1950s by the Soviet Union in the United states of America. The cause of the cold war was very clear for both countries fighting in it. The United States did not completely agree with the communism that the Soviet union used to rule their country. The United States also refused to acknowledge the USSR for around 16 years post the bolshevik communism Association taking over the Soviet union. Domestic fears started to build up during the early 20s in those were the main causes that started the Cold War.
ReplyDelete(112)
The cultural event that I chose during the 1950s is The African-American culture. After the war ended which was fought by black and whites everyone is eager to return home to their families. But when I got home they realize nothing had changed for them and even though these men went out and rest are lives to defend our country they were so treated like they were nothing. I will leave this is an important event because of the importance it had on our history. I will leave everything that happened to these men during this time given the fact that they register was coming home to get persecuted against is wrong and I am glad that we change our ways.
(123)
In 1952 Elia Kazan gave 8 named of fellow members of the Group Theatre to the House Un-American Activities Committee who were members of the communist party at anytime. A play writer named Arthur Miller was very close friends with Kazan fora little over 10 years until Kazan’s testimony. After Miller spoke to Kazan about his testimony he went to Salem Massachusetts to do research on the Salem witch trials of the late 16hundreds. Miller would then go on to write a play called “The Crucible” that would be played on broadway starting in 1953 where he compared the HUAAC to the witch hunters of Salem.(106)
ReplyDeleteThe two most famous type of movies during the 50s were, one, sci-fi and monster movies such as Godzilla, Creature from the Black Lagoon, Forbidden Planet, Them, and Transformations. Obviously stemming from the space race and people’s curiosity of what was to be discovered in space and even the depths of the ocean. The second type is historical action heros like cowboys with a The Searchers, and High Noon(this one even lasted till the late 70s) and samurais/ninjas with movies like Throne of blood, and Seven Samurai. Most likely do to these being very recent “warriors” with inhuman like abilities that were still possible and seemed like they were cool with their demeanor. The Alvin York movie which is an even more recent huge American war hero.(129)
On 1/31/50 president truman announced that the US would begin developing a hydrogen bomb. Two and half years later we tested the bomb in the south pacific. The blast was 1,000 times stronger than the bombs that were dropped on hiroshima and nagasaki during WW2. the british intelligence services learned that klaus fuchs, a german born scientist in the U.S nuclear program had spied for the soviets so they knew what all we were doing in regards to nuclear weapons and testing them. The hydrogen bomb vaporized an entire island during its testing and the radius. (100)
ReplyDeleteDuring the 50s baseball was huge and a player who would be considered as the mike trout of the 50s, Ted Kluszewki. He played for the cincinnati reds as a first basemen. Back then the only big sports were baseball and boxing with football and basketball slowly gaining popularity but “big Klu” as his teammates called was the face of the MLB leading the league one year in home runs by hitting 49 home runs in a single season. During highschool he played football and baseball for argo community high school he hit .443 in baseball and his football team was 9-1. (103)
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