Students will examine the political and cultural events of the 1950's, as well as the social and cultural rebellion taking place domestically.

1. US History Ike, Sputnik and Civil Rights; The 1950's Mon.-Tues.,
April 14-15
Objectives: Students will…
Examine the Cold War events during the Eisenhower administration
Discuss milestones in the modern Civil Rights movement.
Instructions: Students will…
Discuss the following events and answer the questions that follow on Cornell Notes,
using complete sentences. All work graded on Wednesday.
I. Key Cold War events, during the Eisenhower administration
A. Sputnik
1. Launched by the Soviet Union in 1957, Sputnik was the first Earth-orbiting
satellite.
2. Sputnik stunned America, prompting President Eisenhower to establish the
National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).
3. Pledge of allegiance amended to include "…under God".
B. Diplomatic Crises
1. Egypt seized the Suez Canal. Watch this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=idGKDBu5hAU
2. Castro gained control over Cuba.
3. The Soviet Union shot down and American U-2 spy plane. Watch this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=McmyNBRx3SU
II. The Rise and Fall of McCarthyism
A. Background
1. Wisconsin Senator Joseph McCarthy was catapulted to national attention by his
revealing evidence of over 100,000 pages of FBI transcripts, and testimony of
former Communists, that the U.S. State Department, OSS and many other
federal agencies were "thoroughly infested with Communists".
2. Senator McCarthy led the charge with Senate hearings that publicly exposed

2. hundreds of communists in key government positions.
B. The Rise of McCarthyism
1. The following factors contributed to the rise of McCarthyism
 Fears raised by the fall of China to Communism and the emergence of Mao
Zedong as the leader of the People's Republic of China.
 Fears raised by the Soviet Union's development of an atomic bomb.
 Fears raised by President Truman's emphasis on a foreign policy designed
to contain Soviet expansion.
 Fears raised by evidence that Soviet spies had infiltrated sensitive agencies
and programs in the United States.
2. The first case involved a former State Department employee, Alger Hiss. His
trial, and others, introduced key evidence revealing that over 80 similar federal
employees, with high level security clearances, were Communist spies who had
affected the shape and scope of American foreign policy decisions from before
the start of the Cold War.
3. Alger Hiss was FDR's right hand man, whilst Roosevelt was gravely ill at the
Yalta Conference, during World War II. Evidence shows FDR relied on Hiss in
meetings with Stalin, as they hammered out the future of Western Europe, and
Asia, before the start of the Cold War. Because Hiss was later proven a
Communist spy, and FDR was so ill, it is believed that Hiss's Soviet
spy status shaped the outcome of the end of World War II, related to
Soviet control over eastern Germany and Poland.
4. The second case involved Ethel and Julius Rosenberg. The Rosenberg’s were
executed for secretly giving information to the Soviet Union about the U.S. atomic
bomb project.
C. McCarthy's Tactics
1. McCarthy's exposing Communists in the State Department, such as Hiss and
others caused a rising tide of fear and paranoia across America.
2. Millions of Americans were forced to take loyalty oaths, and undergo loyalty
investigations.
3. The fear of Communist infiltration even spread to the motion picture industry.

3. Hollywood executives instituted a "blacklist" of about 500 entertainment
professionals who were denied employment because of their real or imagined
political beliefs or associates. The blacklist ruined the careers of many actors,
writers and directors.
D. The Fall of Senator Joseph McCarthy
1. In 1954, Senator McCarthy accused the U.S. Army of being infiltrated by
Communist sympathizers.
2. A huge national audience watched the Army-McCarthy Hearings. McCarthy had
public opinion turn against him and a few months later, the Senate formally
condemned him for "conduct unbecoming a member".
3. McCarthy died three years later of a heart condition. News reports continued to
smear his character by claiming that he died of "chronic alcoholism" (his wife is
on record denying this report).
Questions: Students will write using complete sentences, to answer the questions
from the notes above.
1. What was the first earth-orbiting satellite called, and why were Americans so
afraid that the Soviets had this level of technology? Explain.
2. List three of the diplomatic crisis from this period.
3. Even though there were over 100,000 FBI transcripts, proving that hundreds of
State Department diplomats and other employees were spies, working for the
Soviets, why was Senator McCarthy so vilified and smeared by the media and
even history books today? Explain.
4. With FDR being so ill, at the Yalta Conference, how might have Alger Hiss had
an undue level of influence over the political destinies of eastern Germany and
Poland? (Remember…they became Communist because Soviet troops were
already there by the end of World War II).
5. Recall from last week, as we studied about the decisions made by FDR,
Churchill and Stalin, regarding the political fate of China, South Korea and
Indochina. With FDR being ill to the point of near death at the Yalta
Conference, what did they agree to let happen in these countries and what two

4. wars will this lead to? Explain.
US History Ike, Sputnik and Civil Rights; the 1950's Tues.-Wed.
April 16-17
Objectives: Students will…
Examine the Cold War events during the Eisenhower administration
Discuss milestones in the modern Civil Rights movement.
Instructions: Students will…
Discuss the following events and answer the questions that follow on Cornell Notes,
using complete sentences. All work from this week is graded Wednesday.
III. Milestones in the Modern Civil Rights Movement
A. President Harry S. Truman
1. President Harry S. Truman issued an Executive Order desegregating the armed
forces in 1948. This marked the most significant civil rights breakthrough of his
administration.
2. The Dixiecrats walked out of the 1948 Democratic National Convention to
demonstrate their opposition to President Truman's civil rights legislation.
3. Up to this point in politics, the Democratic Party was associated with anti-Black
rhetoric and filled with KKK members, even at the congressional and senatorial
level.
4. Up to this point in politics, the Republicans were known as the “Party of
Lincoln” or the “Grand Old Party” (GOP) because they were the ones who
traditionally opposed slavery and gave us the 13
th
, 14
th
and 15
th
Amendments.
B. Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, 1954
1. The Supreme Court ruled that segregation in public schools was a denial of the
equal protection of the laws guaranteed in the Fourteenth Amendment.
2. The Supreme Court decision directly contradicted the legal principle of
"separate but equal" established by Plessy v. Ferguson in 1896.

5. 3. As a result of its victory in Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, the
NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People) continued
to base its court suits on the "equal protection" clause of the Fourteenth
Amendment.
C. President Dwight D. "Ike" Eisenhower
1. President Eisenhower sent federal troops to Little Rock’s Central High School to
enforce court-ordered desegregation.
2. Ike supported his decision by saying, "The very basis of our individual
rights and freedoms rests upon the certainty that the President and
the Executive Branch of Government will support and insure the
carrying out the decisions of the Federal courts, even, when
necessary, with all the means at the President's command."
3. Although President Eisenhower did send troops to Little Rock, he was not a
vigorous supporter of civil rights legislation.
4. The primary power granted to the Civil Rights Commission in 1957 was the
authority to investigate and report on cases involving discrimination.
D. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
1. Dr. King's goal was a peaceful integration of the races in all areas of society.
2. Dr. King's theory of nonviolent civil disobedience was influenced by the writings
of Henry David Thoreau and Mohandas Gandhi.
3. Dr. King was head of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC). Not
to be confused with Stokely Carmichael's SNCC.
4. On December 1, 1955, Rosa Parks refused to give up her bus seat to a White
passenger. Her refusal helped galvanize the Montgomery Bus Boycott led by Dr.
King.
5. The following quote vividly expresses Dr. King's philosophy on nonviolence:
“The problem with hatred and violence is that they intensify the
fears of the White majority, and leave them less ashamed of their
prejudices toward Negroes. In the guilt and confusion confronting
our society, violence only adds to chaos. It deepens the brutality of
the oppressor and increases the bitterness of the oppressed.

6. Violence is the antithesis of creativity and wholeness. It destroys
community and makes brotherhood impossible."
E. The Sit-In Movement
1. Students staged the first sit-ins in Greensboro, North Carolina, in 1960 to protest
segregation in public facilities.
2. The sit-ins provide an excellent example of nonviolent civil disobedience.
IV. Prosperity and Change
A. The decade after World War II was characterized by the following:
 Unprecedented prosperity
 A population explosion known as the baby boom
 Rapid and extensive suburbanization.
B. Women and the Workplace
1. Following World War II, large number of women left their industrial jobs to make
room for returning soldiers.
2. As Rosie the Riveter gave up her tools and returned home, the housewife
became the new ideal for married women.
3. Television programs such as I Love Lucy, Father Knows Best and The
Honeymooners all portrayed women in their rolls as housewives.
C. Interstate Highways and the Growth of Suburbia
1. Passed during the Eisenhower administration, the Federal Highway Act of 1956
created the interstate highway system.
2. The Federal Highway Act of 1956 vastly accelerated the growth of suburbia.
V. Social Critics, Nonconformists, and Cultural Rebels
A. Social Critics
1. Social commentators criticized the conformity of postwar culture. The leading
social critics were:
 William H Whyte- “The Organization Man”

7.  David Riesman-“The Lonely Crowd”
 Sloan Wilson- “The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit”
 John Kenneth Galbraith- “The Affluent Society”
2. Critics lambasted most television programs, calling T.V. a "vast wasteland"
B. Non-Conformists
1.Led by Jack Kerouac, Beat generation writers rejected middle class culture and
conformity.
2. In his book "On the Road", Kerouac expressed the alienation and
disillusionment he felt toward mainstream American culture.
C. Cultural Rebels
1. Rock and Roll
• Rock and Roll first emerged in the 1950s.
• Rock and Roll was inspired and influenced by Black musical traditions,
including gospel and rhythm and blues.
2. Abstract Expressionist Artists
 Abstract Expressionism emerged in New York City in the late 1940s and
early 1950s.
 Led by Jackson Pollock, Abstract Expressionist artists abandoned
paintings that represented reality. Instead, they created works of art that
expressed their state of mind.
2. Movie Stars
 Movie stars such as James Dean and Marlon Brando symbolized youthful
rebellion.
Questions: Students will write using complete sentences, to answer the questions
from the notes above.
1. What was the first big civil rights breakthrough for the Truman
administration?
2. How does the Dixiecrats walkout, of the Democratic Convention change
the political dynamic in America, between Republicans and Democrats?

8. Which party was associated with the Ku Klux Klan before this change?
Which party was associated with abolition of slavery and the 14
th
Amendment?
3. What was the Supreme Court ruling in Brown v. Board of Education of
Topeka, 1954? Explain how this ruling violates this part of that
Amendment?
4. What former Supreme Court ruling does Brown overturn?
5. Whom did President Eisenhower send to Little Rock, Arkansas and why?
6. Who were the two non-violent advocates that Dr. King was influenced by, in
the development of his tactics of non-violence to achieve political
objectives?
7. Who staged the first civil rights sit ins?
8. How did television reinforce the ideas of the changing roles of women,
during the 1950’s? Explain.
9. Identify three types of cultural rebellion of the 1950s and explain what they
are rebelling against.
Go to this link https://bit.ly/2GlQJPb to learn about the origins of
cultural Marxism.
10. 25 points- Consider the definition of Cultural Marxism below, and
look at the bulleted points that have been cultural targets for Communists
wishing to take down Western society for nearly a hundred years. Notice
the cultural rebellion of the 1950s that we’ve learned about above…how
do the bullet points listed below show up in 1950s cultural
rebellion? Using the same bullet point targets below, explain how
these are being targeted in American culture today.
Cultural hegemony stated the various factors that made Western civilization what it was, and was thus
preventing the communist revolution. The key was to continue the “class war” but at the same,
undermine these factors from within. These factors were:
 Christianity
 Authority
 Sexual restraint
 Personal responsibility
 Heredity
 Law

9.  Truth
 Family
 Patriotism and national unity
 Community
 Conservatism
 Language
 Tradition