Monday, March 12, 2012
1950s
You are going to become experts on the 1950s in American history. Your task is to research life in America during the 1950s and post once about two of the following topics using EVIDENCE and ANALYSIS: Joe McCarthy, the Rosenberg trial, the increasing tensions between the USA and USSR, civil rights, and domestic life. Remember that all your entries must be original and you need to read and build off of one another’s posts. Let you intellectual curiosity guide you and include links/videos that help to expand your understanding of the 1950s.
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The Rosenberg Trials all came to happen beginning with Igor Gouzenko, a KGB spy based in Canda in 1945, who was found to have evidence of a Soviet spy location in Britain. He provided us with enough evidence to arrest 22 local agents and 15 Soviet spies in Canada. In 1950, Klaus Fuchs was arrested and charged with esponiage. Being the head of the British nuclear research center, he easily was able to retrieve any type of data and information to exchange with the Soviets, as he did. He finally confessed that he has been exchanging information with the Soviets ever since the Manhattan Project in WW2, which was meant to be kept extremely secretive for it was a nuclear weapon they were producing that could easily kill of thousands and thousands of people.
ReplyDeleteThe U.S. were on the look out for countless of spies from the Soviet Union. They came across David Greenglass who was arrested and initially fessed up to Julius Rosenberg also being a spy as well as his wife being a courier, but claimed his sister had nothing to do with it. Julius Rosenberg was arrested. J. Edgar hoover, who was the head of the FBI believed that the Rosenberg's arrest and case aroused much publicity so he ordered the arrest of Ethel as well, while they took care of their two children. Neither of the Rosenbergs led up to confess any others who they believe were in the spy ring. There wasn't much the U.S. could do about it as they plead the fifth and remained silent. The Rosenberg Trial began on March 6, 1951 with Judge Irving Kaufman. Because the U.S. had no information of Ethel Rosenberg, and assuming he was trying to protect her, they made a deal with him. If he were to confess to information he is withhelding, his wife, Ruth Greenglass would be let off the lease with no charges of espionage. With that being, he confessed that the exchange of information was held at the Rosenberg's flat in NYC, where Julius had secretly and carefully took the information from David and ran off into the bathroom to read it. When he had returned he ordered Ethel to immediately type the information again. In the end of the trials, Julius and Ethel were sent to death. The U.S. federal prison authority were not permitted to be allowed to use electric chairs so they were executed in the Sing Sing correctional Facility in NY initially planned for June 18, 1953, but ended up happening on June 19. Ethel received plenty more shocks until she was pronounced dead as smoke escaped her head. The Rosenbergs were the first to be executed upon espionage. The case was opened again in 2008, for it is a huge controversy. Some believe that the death sentence was by far way too severe for the action they had made, and weren't sure if the information being exchanged was that valuable. Others believe that it was a fair trade because they had in fact, committed treason against our country.
Because of the Soviet's awareness of the secret nuclear weapons that the U.S. was producing, the Soviets were making a bomb of their own, which was a significant cause of the Cold War. The elimination of Soviet spies in the U.S. was only the beginning of a complicated war which came to be the Cold war. Tensions between the Soviets and the U.S. grew as they both secretly were making dangerous nuclear bombs. It was also the contrasting views of communism that sparked a debate between the U.S. and the U.S.S.R. The Soviets were pro-Communist, as the U.S. was just quite the opposite, and were pro-Capitalist. The containment policy was made in the U.S. to do anything they could to stop the spread of Communism. Russia refused to turn to our Capitalism, so they stuck to their Communism which frightened the U.S. for when one country becomes Communist, it could spread very very easily. The Americans were very determined and motivated to stop Communism spread across the world as they paid off countries, so they wouldn't have to turn to such a thing. Greece and Turkey were two of the countries. Germany soon became one of them when they threated to become a Communist power unless they were to receive money for their reparations. "Communism destroys democracy. Democracy can also destroy Communism." - Andre Malraux. This was a quote that describes the outlook of the U.S. As the Americans were afraid of a Communist attack, the Russians were afraid of the upcoming atomic bomb that could land on them any moment. There was definitely no trust between these two countries anymore which used to be in an alliance as they held nuclear weapon secrets from each other. Tensions grew as trust was lost, this led to the Cold War.
ReplyDeleteThe domestic life in the 1950’s was very fun and simple to most people. For the typical white American middle class family, life was pretty straight forward. Fathers would work all day and mothers would stay home to cook, clean and take care of the kids. As for the kids, they would go to school and come home to play until the sun goes down. There weren’t many automobiles on the roads so baseball and kickball were popular forms of entertainment. Television became a very popular form of entertainment with shows like I Love Lucy, The Twilight Zone and Mickey Mouse Club along with other Disney shows for kids. In 1956, Elvis Presley remade the song “Hound Dog” which became the song of the decade. Elvis made many other popular songs that helped the birth of rock and roll such as Heartbreak Hotel and Blue Suede Shoes. Rock and roll became the face of the 50’s and influenced the whole teenage American population as well as their parents.
ReplyDeleteBlacks and whites never got along together in the 1950’s. However, with time, blacks began to gain more civil rights. Blacks and whites had to go to different schools, restaurants and even water fountains. Whites had neat and clean schools, while black schools had very little supplies and they were dirty. In the south, people spent on average ten times more money on white schools than black schools. This all changed in 1954 when the Brown vs. Board of Education took place. This was the first major step in giving blacks civil rights. This case declared segregated schools unconstitutional, forcing blacks and whites to attend the same schools. Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King were also two famous blacks who helped civil rights. In 1955, the Montgomery Bus Boycott was sparked when Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat to a white passenger. This gave blacks more hope and it gave them a feeling of freedom. These two main events helped spark events that led to more black civil rights.
To expand more on what “TheePickler” is saying about Rosa Park, she should not only be recognized for what she did on the bus, but also for the things she was doing before her arrest for not giving up her seat to a white man, when she had been tired and weary from a long day of work. Prior to her arrest, Rosa Parks had a great strength to change things that were not fare to people, especially for blacks. She served as secretary of the NAACP, and she later became Adviser to the NAACP Youth Council and tried to register to vote on several occasions, in several subjects, when it was barely possible for black women to vote. The refusal of giving up her seat was just the thing the made her stood out more. She said that, under the circumstances she would have been willing to give her seat to an elderly or someone in special need, but she was not going to give up her seat to a man younger and more capable of moving somewhere else. She had been asking every black person to be strong and not let white people step on them; however, she was giving the opportunity to do what she had been asking others to do. This controversial act made black people stand up for themselves, and they had a “mini revolution” with the American system of transportation, thus leading the Supreme Court to rule unconstitutional the segregation on transportation.
Deletehttp://brownvboard.org/content/background-overview-summary
DeleteDomestic life:
ReplyDeleteAfter World War II, many soldiers came home to begin to live their lives again and in the 1950’s many changes occurred. During the 1950’s, the economy boomed, there was the booming of the suburbs and also the baby boom. Many babies were born in the 1950s because after the war there was so much confidence that there was finally going to be peace and prosperity. There was new energy that the country had never before experienced. The American industry expanded and Americans began to buy goods that were not available during the war which lead to corporate expansion and new jobs. There was growth everywhere. Everyone contributed to the economic growth people were buying new technology devices such as computers. The unemployment rates were low and wages were high. The middle class was spending more than anything.
William Levitt began to buy land in suburbs to build inexpensive houses in New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. The G.I Bill was passed which provided returning soldiers low mortgages and low interest loans to start businesses and enroll in technical schools and universities. The houses were perfect for the new young families. Although all of these changes were good, they contributed to the rebirth of the feminist movement in the 1960’s. Before all the soldiers came home, women were working and many advice books and magazine articles such as “Don’t be Afraid to marry young”, “Femininity Begins at Home” forced women to leave work and embrace their role as housewives. At the time it was believed that their most important job was to take care of their children but many women thought otherwise. It became a deal of dissatisfaction among women who wanted a more fulfilling life other than being trapped at home.
Joseph McCarthy:
Other than domestic life changes there were also many other changes going on in the fifties. Joseph McCarthy became a very cold person in the fifties. He became senator from Wisconsin at age 38 being the youngest member of the new Senate. He was really big on being against communism. He claimed that there were communists in the state department therefore he called for investigations. His accusations made a huge controversy and he was not able to mentions not one single current state department employee that was communist. He had absolutely no evidence. He refused to settle and kept making accusations about communism in the government. In February 1950, Joseph accused Secretary of State Dean Acheson of employing 205communist party members while knowing they were communist. He then couldn’t actually name them and said that there was only 57 of them and at the end of everything McCarthy couldn’t even name one. He also accused General George Marshall which was the former army chief of staff and ex secretary of state. Joseph McCarthy added to the suspicion and fear at the time of the Cold War. What was also even scarier was that many people believed his accusations and how there was communism in the government itself. It as very scary at the time for people because all America wanted to do was to contain communism from spreading and the fact that a man in the government was saying that there was communist in the government made it dangerous for everyone.
**Joseph McCarthy became a very bold person in the fifties.
Deletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cY-FyfpELfg&feature=related
ReplyDeleteAnyone recognize this? The part that is important for this blog post is 4:00-end. This is almost exactly what Mr. Lubisco was discussing in class today. The white picket fence, the happy family exterior, and the not so happy exterior. This play, The Death of a Salesman, kept echoing through my head as our teacher was discussing the domestic life in the fifties. This play is a great example of all of that- from Willy's job to his attitude towards his sons to the end of the play. It's a great example of discontent within family circles during this time period. Examples: even in the midst of this happy family scene we see a boy run up to Willy and say that Biff's been stealing. Anyone who has read the play or watched the movie probably remembers that Biff was stealing- he stole the fountain pen of the man that he was trying to make a deal with near the end of the play. I thought this was a great example of domestic life in the 50s.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hAiYwADzr2Q&feature=related
Next clip: duck and cover! I looked up the actual video, which was ten minutes long- ten minutes of useless propaganda to make kids feel better. This one is a lot shorter- from the movie Iron Giant, which is one of my favorite films. The movie takes place during the cold war, shortly after the Russians launched Sputnik. If you ever get a chance, it's a great movie to watch. But what I want to talk about is duck and cover- the dumbest philosophy ever. Teachers actually enforced this nuclear drill- children duck under their desks and put their hands over their heads. This may have heightened the moral of the ignorant, but anyone with even a rudimentary knowledge of nuclear missiles knows that they are destructive and devastating, and you cannot escape by moving lower to the ground.
Just in case anyone's interested, this is the original Duck and Cover video, the one that was shown in school buildings throughout the country.
Deletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IKqXu-5jw60
It's really interesting to see the type of propaganda that was being distributed at this time. This video is quite amusing to watch, because it goes into great detail about something that, in the end, doesn't really matter at all. This is a great way to show that our government was interested in keeping the people from panicking about potential nuclear warfare, playing the bombs down to keep the people ignorant as to the widespread destruction a missile would cause.
If one had to describe the average domestic life in the 1950's the word "normal" would fit perfectly. It was a seen out of a movie everyday with the medium sized house with the white fences, the father working while the mother stays home, and the family happily living life. The TV was becoming a much more normal thing to be seen and used in a house hold which was a big change of life style. Families would gather around the tv to watch their favorite shows, actually see them instead of just hearing them on the radio as they used to do. The sounds of rock and roll were coming through these new tv's and AM radios and music was changing. Teens and highschool looked like a scene out of Grease as kids began to go against the strict life before this decade. In a way life in the 1950's was much like the 20's as everything began to change from music, to clothes, to the way everyone acted. If it wasnt for the segregation this would have been concidered one of the happiest time periods in the history of our country.
ReplyDeleteThis problem and struggle of segregation was still continuing in America and it needed to be solved. Challenging racial prejudice in the United States in the 1950s was extremely tough. While African-Americans, again bore the brunt of the backlash, no single person, group, or institution put civil rights on the national agenda, and no one person, group, or institution saw to it that it stayed on the national agenda. The changes in attitude and law that did occur came about as the result of a many people to taking risks,and pressing the cause for change. That commitment was not an easy one to make for anyone involved. Many people of every race and body type risked jobs, money, and even their lives in the hopes of creating some sort of justice or equality of civil rights for all. People like MLK and Malcom X used their non violent tactics to peacefully and slowly create change and if it werent for the leadership of men like this then change may have never happend. Change was not easy or fast, however MLK led this african american race to go along with these still adjusting congressmen and change was finally happening. This was a long slow battle but it eventually led to a peacefull nation.
1.) The Civil Rights movement was overdue in America. The Jim Crowe laws were still in effect, segregation ran rampant and there was hate in the air. Blacks started to speak out against their unjust treatment which led to a cultural, lasting revolution. In 1944, Gunnar Myrdal exposed the hypocrisy of American life, criticizing the idea of “every man created equal” since blacks were certainly treated worse than whites. This was just the beginning. Jack Robinson, a hall of famer, who was the first black baseball player, broke down another barricade with his revolutionary employment. After that, the big dogs such as Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King Jr. stepped into the picture. Their voices did not go unheard; they the two most famous civil rights activists in history. Eventually, President Truman sought it necessary to jumpstart what had to be done. In 1946, there were lynchings of black soldiers, despite them fighting for the same thing that the whites were. This upset him, leading to the executive declaration that there would be no segregation in the armed forces. Eisenhower’s strictly conservative ideals held back Truman’s policies regarding this. However, the Supreme Court, led by Chief Justice Earl Warren, despite his also conservatism, had different ideas about civil rights. During the case Brown v Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas, the previous ruling of Plessy v. Ferguson was revoked. Schools were no longer integrated, but the deep south tried the best that they could to delay it. The Civil Rights movement was definitely jumpstarted by a few, brave individuals with a bright view for the future. Without them, history would be much different.
ReplyDeleteThe trial of Ethel and Julius Rosenberg began in New York. Judge Irving R. Kaufman leads over the espionage prosecution of the couple that was accused of selling nuclear secrets to the Russians. People thought it was treason, but it couldn’t be charged because the United States was not at war with the Soviet Union. The Rosenberg’s, and co-defendant, Morton Sobell, were defended by the father Emanuel and Alexander Bloch. The prosecution includes the infamous Roy Cohn, best known for his association with Senator Joseph McCarthy.
ReplyDeleteDavid Greenglass was a mechanic at Los Alamos, where America developed the atomic bomb. Julius Rosenberg, his brother-in-law, was a member of the American Communist Party and was fired from his government job during the Red Scare. According to Greenglass, Rosenberg asked him to pass highly confidential instructions on making atomic weapons to the Soviet Union. These materials were transferred to the Russians, by Harry Gold, an acquaintance of Greenglass. The Soviets exploded their first atomic bomb which started the Cold War in September 1949 based on information, including that from Greenglass, they had obtained from spies.
The only direct evidence of the Rosenberg's involvement was the confession of Greenglass. The left-wing community believed that the Rosenberg’s were prosecuted because of their membership in the Communist Party.
The trial lasted nearly a month, finally ending on April 4. The Rosenberg’s were sentenced to death row on April 6. Sobell received a thirty-year sentence. Greenglass got fifteen years for his cooperation. Reportedly, the Rosenberg’s were offered a deal in which their death sentences would be commuted in return for an admission of their guilt. They refused and were executed.
My analysis on the Rosenberg trials is that I feel like they deserved their execution. Even though we weren’t at war with The Soviet Union, I consider that treason. I believe they got what they deserved. Even though they did have a romantic history, it doesn’t cover the fact that they were spies for the Soviets.
Domestic life.
The end of World War II brought thousands of young servicemen back to America to pick up their lives and start new families in new homes with new jobs. With energy never before experienced. American industry expanded to meet peacetime needs. Americans began buying goods not available during the war, which created corporate expansion and jobs. There was growth everywhere. Thus the baby boom was underway. Many young married couples wanted to buy homes. We made houses that looked exactly like one another.
Back in the 50’s women wore dresses that pinched tightly at the waist and heels. Men wore grey flannel suits; this meant that the American nation wanted to be a more conservative anticommunist nation. Teenagers on the other hand wanted to be like James Deene, the rebel without a cause. The rock and roll era was born. Teenage girls wore poodle skirts, keds, and ponytails. Boys wore jeans and leather jackets. It was considered ‘cool’. Elvis Presley was looked down upon for his provocative singing and ‘hip movement’. The older generation was more conservative, in which the new generation was more free spirited.
The married life for most couples was miserable. It’s nothing like the T.V shows that show the perfect family, with the perfect wife, husband, and kids. Divorce was so frowned upon that it was one of the main reasons that most marriages existed, and for the sake of their children. The cause of marriages ending up damaged was because of the stereotypical ‘A woman is nothing without a man.’ Women in the era couldn’t really hold up a job at a good wage which is why women stayed in their marriages. . The husband would provide them with money, food, cloths, etc. Also, women were getting mistreated by their husbands; verbally and physically
2.) Following his landslide victory against Stevenson, Eisenhower’s second term put him in the hot, center of the cold war. Ever since the dropping of the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, there has been tension between America and Russia. America was supposed to inform Russia when a nuclear breakthrough was achieved, but they did not. This escalated tensions and made Russia nervous. America had the big gun and we could have used it on Russia if they wanted to. Another milestone in the cold war was the space race. Space, the final frontier, was tangible for America and Russia in the late 50s. On October 4th, 1957, the Russians launched Sputnik I into space with its counterpart a month later. This demoralized Americans because it made communism seem better. After this, Truman was criticized for not investing in a good missile program and kids were thought to be less educated than the Soviets since we were less advanced. However, four months after Sputnik I, America launched a puny 2.5 lb satellite.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m590XDig1iY
Here's a presumably student made video that goes into detail involving the space race and gives us some real footage as well. Only the first 3 minutes are relevant to us during these chapters, but I'm sure the rest will be eventually.
Domestic life in the 1950s was very simple yet very traditional. After World War II, the “baby boom” of the 1950s called for traditional, conservative family values, which often represented what the roles of people “should be” in society based on their gender and race. For instance, women were expected to marry, take care of the home and the children while their husbands provided for the family at work. This maternal role of women was even encouraged through the popular 1946 book “Baby and Child Care” by Dr. Benjamin Spock. TV shows also popularized the typical, “perfect” American family. Despite these values, however, many during this period actually went against it. For instance, pop culture influenced many youth. Parents were disturbed by their “rebellious” teenagers’ interest in rock and roll music--popularized by the erotic Elvis Presley--and even dubbed the genre “Satan’s music.” Also, although heavily condemned by society, there were premarital teenage pregnancies; 15% of births were teen births outside of marriages. In fact, 1957, there were 96.3 births per 1,000 women who were between ages 15-19 years old. Nonetheless, women did get married at a younger age during the 1950s; the average age for married woman was 20.3. Shattering to the image of the “perfect” and “happy” American family, there were actually many problems lying underneath. For instance, because of crimes in the United States at the time, family violence also increased. Nonetheless, domestic violence was very hidden in households and often went unpunished. Despite any possibilities of unhappy marriages, the divorce rate was low. Unlike other values, marriage was a strong tradition meant to remain unbroken, which most couples held onto. For example, there were only 2.6 for every 1,000 people who got divorced in 1950. Again, as a woman, it was essential to be married during the 1950s, not only morally but economically as it was hard for women to get jobs other than traditional “female jobs” such as a teacher or nurse. It would not be until the 1960s when the feminist movement finally opened up new doors outside the box created for women. Even as a man, marriage was encouraged, as it was expected by society for a proper man to have a wife and children. In the 1950s, in spite of some opposition, everyone was expected to behave a certain way.
ReplyDeleteNot only were there changes in domestic life during the 1950s, but there also was a rise in the fight for civil rights. To end the racism and prejudice that was still prevalent in America during this period, especially in the Deep South, the Civil Rights Movement (CRM) began from 1955 to 1968. Separating bathrooms, to restaurants, to schools, to even water fountains, blacks suffered because of the policy of segregation in the 1950s. Although established back in the late 1800s, Jim Crow laws were clearly still making life hard for Black Americans, designed to suppress them politically and economically. However, because of the CRM, especially during the 1950s, they were able to finally unite together and fight for a common cause--liberty. Although there were laws put in place to protect civil rights such as the 1957 Civil Rights Commission, blacks carried the life of the movement, striving for freedom in a peaceful matter--a direct contrast to the violent acts of racism. For instance, Civil Rights leader Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. used his oratorical skill, evoking principles from the Bible, constitution, and the aspect of nonviolence from Indian political leader Mohandas Gandhi to fight for equality, encouraging those across the United States to do the same. The works of African Americans brought light to the harshness of racism. In 1950, Thurgood Marshall, chief legal council of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) was able to prove that separate black professional schools did not even meet the test of equality in the case of Sweatt v. Painter. These important events during the 1950s motivated further changes in the future. Later, it was the great involvement in nonviolent protests, including the largest nonviolent protest in the US, the 1963 March on Washington, pictured below, that encouraged change such as the passage of the Civil Rights Act a year later. This law prohibited racial discrimination in jobs and schools as well as segregation in public places and even benefited other groups who suffered discrimination like women. Additionally, because of the inspiring, nonviolent fight of the African Americans, they gained a lot of support from others. For instance, during the Montgomery Bus Boycott, inspired after Rosa Parks’ arrest for daringly choosing to sit in the “white” section of a bus, supportive whites and Jews donated money to the cause. Also, taxi drivers often offered reduced fares for blacks who traveled far distances. Clearly, the CRM, not only gave a sense of unity among Black Americans, but it also gave the opportunity for better changes for society in the future.
ReplyDeletehttp://oralhistoryeducation.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/Civil-Rts-March-Clarence-B.-Jones1-300x232.jpg
Civil Rights
ReplyDeleteBefore Civil Rights, America was a hypocritical country. America was fighting the WWII for free rights, however, in America, white and black Americans were separated from each other. Things like segregated bathrooms, movie theaters, waiting rooms, schools, etc. Since Harry S. Truman did not want the segregation to continue, he ceased segregation with creating a few laws during his presidency to keep peace within the country. He made it illegal to discriminate upon race for civil services during 1948 and for labor work as well. Essentially, Harry Truman had time, he would have worked more on the domestic policies in the United States, however, the foreign policies of war were more important for the country than anything else. At first, Civil Rights were frowned upon and were ignored by the people who were not affected by the movement, which were mostly white Americans. In fact, during the 1950’s, instead of having the president improve the back civil rights, the judicial branch were left to make changes to the American affairs. Earl Warren, the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, solved the case of the Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka Kansas when he ordered all schools to be integrated schools, with different races going to the same school. This case was effective, but it was only effective for the Border States as the Deep Southern states delayed having integrated schools until the 1970’s. Even though this case did not happen as fast as the Supreme Court wanted it to, it was progress for the overall freedom of African Americans.
The Rosenberg Trial
Julius Rosenberg, an aspiring politician, had the opportunity to be a successful white collar man in America with his wife, Ethel. But that wrong turn of becoming Communist in America and doing illegal espionage for the Soviets, his life and his wife’s life, became the domino effect of unfortunate events. In 1943, the Soviets and the Americas were allies to each other and people admired the Soviets bright ideas about Communism, how movies were produced based on Russia. So this gave motive to Rosenberg to spy and share secret information about the Manhattan Project to the Soviets. After getting questioned by the FBI, his wife, Ethel, refused to provide them information, since she was guilty of spying as well, and the loving couple died together by electrocution. By the couple spying against the American people and deceiving the people, their actions were inexcusable. They may have children, who will become hated in the country for their parents’ poor decisions and become orphaned, but the children are not an excuse of potentially destroying the world if the Soviets built a nuclear weapon before the Americans had.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eJOg0aqnans&feature=related
ReplyDeleteThe US feared the spread of Communism, and the USSR feared the influence of Capitalism. One way example on how the tensions between the USA and USSR increased during the 1950s can be the Open Skies Treaty. President Eisenhower proposed the "Open Skies" Treaty that gave the US permission to over fly Soviet military facilities while giving the Soviets permission to over fly U.S. military installations. That way the US could “spy” on the Soviets without being that obvious. However, the Soviets were intelligent, and they immediately rejected the "Open Skies" Treaty because they were scared that the US was planning a secret attack against them. They were not accurate with their prediction, but the US did want to know if the USSR was building nuclear weapons. These two nations that were allies before were now “fighting” each other. One incident that was a result of the Open Skies policy was the U-2 plane incident in 1960. The U-2 spy plane was brought down near Svedlovsk, Soviet Union. No one knows for sure what the real cause of the plane’s crash was. Many said that it was brought down by a missile from earth, however, this was proven wrong. This incident created a sense of mistrust and disloyalty between the United States and the Soviet Union. In fact, many historians have agreed that this incident might have caused the Cuban Missile Crisis, and that it might have prevented the Cold War from ending sooner.
To get a better explanation of the U-2 crisis, one can watch the link above that shows in great detailed what were the cause and results of this incident.
It’s become clear that the United States feared the spread of communism throughout the Cold War, and therefore- throughout the fifties. This fear is what led the U.S. to institute the policy of containment, in which the U.S. would stop the Soviet Union from spreading communism to other nations. This fear and new American outlook led to programs such as the Marshall Plan and the Truman Doctrine. It also led to NATO, a pact of anti-communist nations against communist nations in the U.S.S.R.’s Warsaw Pact. But we must ask ourselves: why did America fear communism so much, that it led to an approximately thirty-year-long war?
ReplyDeleteFirst, it’s important to understand the basic stance of communism: everyone in a society gets equal benefits from all labor. In order for everyone to be equal, wealth is “equally” redistributed to everyone, erasing the gap between rich and poor. In addition, the state owns everything, so no one is allowed to own their own business.
Karl Marx, the “Father of Communism” is known for devising a potential utopia in which society is classless and stateless. As we all have heard before, communism sounds good on paper, but it cannot be done in the real world. Marx believed in an execution much different from that of the Soviet’s. He did not account for corrupt government such as the Russian government after the communist takeover. The failed style of the Soviets proved to be ineffective in creating a utopia, which sparked fear and loathing from capitalist countries like America. Not only did Russian communist leaders Lenin and Stalin take total control, they abused the people and made a mass lower-class rather than a mass middle-class, leaving the Russian people suffering.
Once Lenin died and Stalin came into power, he followed another communist idea: communism would only work if all nations picked up on it. If someone did not fully support communism, they were an enemy in Stalin’s eyes. This is essentially what caused such friction between the Soviets and the capitalist Americans.
To the United States, communism was the complete opposite of capitalism and democracy, and it proved to be a failure. The government feared falling into the hands of corrupt rulers, and the people feared being oppressed. The spread of a society in which businesses and production are completely run by the government takes away all standards of American economics and politics. It is important to the American people that the “American dream” lives on. One should be able to own their own business and rise to the top if they deem it accessible. The government should not limit an individuals possibilities and wealth, especially if the government has such a chance to abuse its power as the Soviet’s did. Therefore, the spread of communism directly affected American standards, and everyone feared it and knew it must be contained.
The Rosenbergs were members of the CPUSA, otherwise known as the American communist party. Conjured up in 1919, the CPUSA is actually still active today. This program has a bad reputation because, for most of its existence, it had been controlled by the Soviet Union (Moscow). It is also known for its previous espionage and use of front groups. When the CPUSA first began, it had a whopping 50,000 members. After a drastic decline, the membership peaked again during the Great Depression because people wanted to live in a more “fair” society – as communism pretends to promise.
ReplyDeleteMcCarthyism in the nineteen fifties was the biggest opposition to this party. Joseph McCarthy falsely accused over one hundred members of the Senate of being communist. He was so radically anti-communist that – to him – every member of the CPUSA was committing treason. This sort of reaction to the CPUSA in the nineteen fifties and throughout most of the Cold War forced it underground and lowered its membership. Not surprisingly though, the Communist Party U.S.A. did try to rally African Americans during this time because the civil rights movement was underway, and blacks were striving to achieve equality – which communism also falsely portrays in its basis.
I found it interesting that in the midst of what seemed like nation-wide hatred for communist Russia during the Cold War, there were still groups like the Communist Party U.S.A. This explains the reasoning for the Rosenberg’s death sentence. This explains the birth of Joseph McCarthy’s accusations. This explains all the internal struggles against communism – because there really were supporters “within our ranks”! It’s hard to believe; but yes, that’s what made espionage something that was definitely not far-fetched during the nineteen-fifties.
Another fascinating aspect of the CPUSA, aside from its undying ability to increase tensions between the U.S. and the U.S.S.R. sixty years ago, it that it is still around today! Even after all of the wars and struggles to defend democracy, the Constitutional rights given to the American people actually allow for a legalized communist party in America! What’s not surprising, however, is that the stance of this party has shifted from total support of communism to terms of “a labor and people’s alliance”. Interestingly, this party actually supported Obama’s presidential bid because of his socialist-like reform plans. If the present-day CPUSA interest you, here is a link to their web page’s frequently asked questions:
http://www.cpusa.org/faq/
Domestic Life in the 1950’s.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.businesspundit.com/10-most-sexist-print-ads-from-the-1950s/
Sexism was rampant in the 1950’s. As seen in the link above, women were still viewed as people who were not equal. Those ads showed the accepted, general view of women by the public. As the stereotype goes, “wife” does not really go without the word “house” in it. The housewife was good for cooking, cleaning, and having sex with. The housewife was no more than a mere object that lived to serve and please her husband, according to the societal rules placed in America at the time.
“Men are better than women!” one ad exclaims. As the review of this ad goes, a “besweatered gent” is holding up a woman, who of course, fell due to her own stupidity because she was out of the kitchen. This shows how dependent women were on men in the 1950’s, and not necessarily by their lack of intellect, but rather the fact that all of society put a damper on their view of equality. Another ad was showing a man spanking his wife, and the words warning the women of the public to not fall cheap on the coffee—or he will find out! This ad is living proof that the public was perfectly fine with the degradation and abuse of women. Women were taught to mind themselves and behave, they need be the perfect wife—or else! Or else what, you may ask? Your husband would “handle” you. Domestic violence emerged from sexism.
Many liberation movements for African American rights acted as a challenge to the seams of America, this laid a foundation for the feminist movement. From the abusive relationships that women were obligated to remain in due to strict societal guidelines, a cry for equality and a stop to the abuse came up. Feminism and Women’s Rights developed due to this decade. They worked for women to be treated equally and called for the privacy of their own home to become greatly political—that abuse in a marriage was worth the effort to stop.
From the 1950’s to the 1960’s, a different view on closing the racial divide had risen. A large group of people were supporting a change in society that came to be from nonviolence. They wanted to push on the civil rights movement, but they would do so in a way that would be “right.” Things like the Montgomery Bus Boycott proved to be successful nonviolent claims against racism and for equality. Political figures supported the idea of pacifist claims in America when it came to settling the racism.
ReplyDeleteMartin Luther King Jr. is great example of a leader of the African-American Civil Rights movement. He is most famous for his “I Have a Dream” speech that he delivered after the March on Washington in 1963. He tried to change the world, and if not, America and its views towards Blacks. He worked to peacefully resolve the disputes, and if they were opposed and suppressed, all those who were against them could claim was “time wasted,” if there was no violence presented. Calling for historical idols, Martin Luther King Jr. had David Thoreau and Mahatma Gandhi as primary, executive goal-setters for King. Thoreau gave King the idea for open disobedience, where if enough of the public were to fight against unjust laws, soon those laws would fail and be reformed or withheld. Gandhi was a chief example for King, for he wanted a “peaceful revolution.”
During the 1950’s life seemed to be very idealistic. It seemed as if everyone was happy with their home lives and our country was having a great time, but in reality our country was going through a very chaotic, but secretive time. Tension between the U.S. and the U.S.S.R were clearly rising. Something that proves this tension is the Rosenberg Trials. The Rosenberg trials put both Ethel and Julius Rosenberg on trial where they were eventually sentenced to death a harsh punishment for something that did not even have the greatest evidence to back it up. I feel as if the united Stated instead of proving people being spies, or spies clearly making themselves apparent went out looking for spies, and accusing those who might not have been completely guilty. I think they did this to please the American people and make them feel more secure in their country. I don’t believe that the Rosenberg’s were clear cut guilty. I think that the United States needed to point fingers at people and the Rosenberg’s were unfortunately those people,.
ReplyDeleteRace played a big part in the 1950s domestic life, as many classmates before me have talked about the famous civil rights leaders like Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King I would also like to build and add to that. There was a man early on during the 1950s did not preach for civil rights, but instead wished for black supremacy this man is Malcolm X. Malcolm X was the poster man for the Nation Of Islam where he would preach about black supremacy and not equality. During the 50’s he was a very popular person the only problem with Malcolm X was he was not preaching equality. He was going against what many people wanted which were equal rights for both blacks and whites. His tactics were extremely controversial and he caused a problem for African Americans preaching equal rights. It would not be until 64 when Malcolm X would leave the Nation Of Islam and drop his ideas of integration and black supremacy, and he would join in on equal rights. It was unfortunate that his assignation came soon after.
ReplyDeleteThe growing conflict between the United States and Russia began to appear dangerous during World War II. That conflict eventually escalated to a point where there was no possibility of ignoring them, because it would affect the world with their need to spread communism across nations. The worst mistake that we made against them practically came from just not noticing the U.S.S.R until it was already too late. It was impossible to prevent them from making any progress because we never recognized how functional they would become and that they have already influenced many nations around them.
ReplyDeleteThe cold war began multiple psychological tactics for warfare rather than actual, straight forward death tolls. Take for example our Central Intelligence Agency; this organization was strictly designed for national espionage against foreign threats. The KGB would be the Russian example of our customary CIA. The reason for our sudden interest in espionage and spying is based off the plans of the Russian’s infiltration of our society and exposing secret government information to their “homeland”.
I cannot go that in depth about this subject, mainly because people have already covered it but it is necessary for it to be acknowledged.
The Russians achieved extremely valuable substance by learning of our top secret experiments. The “Atomic Bomb” was a resource available to us who we invented to secure the well being of not only our nation, or nations that are in substantial way of being harmed. The project was called “the Manhattan Project” and the Russian spies were able to steal the plans on how to make them and soon after, the U.S.S.R became the second nuclear power in the world. This is the true turning point in the cold war where we now recognize that a frontal assault against Russia would end in the loss of our nation as well, so we looked for ways to defend against nuclear explosions. And thus sprouted the ever popular “Fallout shelters”. Basically a fallout shelter was an in-ground bunker that supposedly could shield anything inside. The people that couldn’t afford to pay for a million dollar fallout shelter, people would make them in their basement where it offered some protection against both the blast and radiation. They could be easily constructed by lining sand bags as walls, cement ceiling (house floors), and dirt floor for ventilation. People were just generally scared and mass hysteria was caused by the fear of Russian attacks that would destroy our nation.
To begin off after World War II there were many effects on the citizens of America during the 1950s. The effect had been socially emotionally not just on groups of people like Caucasians, African Americans, returning soldiers or the groups at home. It affected individuals. An individual affected was Joseph McCarthy who had been known for his icy persona had originally come from a poor family of farmers working his way to lawyer hoping to bring himself from the memory of poor to wealth yet had no success putting his luck to the test of poker to gain money. McCarthy later wanted to become Democratic Party candidate for district attorney but failed switching teams to republican. (he had at one point supported the new deal and even Roosevelt but it went downhill like much of his life) but once he had switched to republican he seemed to have some hope even if it meant playing dirty. His habit continued when he went for senate against La Flollette, who he had bashed until la flollette had committed suicide and removed himself from the race for senate Which would affect his later life. In May of 1950 when the election was around the corner fear once again lead to him using low tricks. He went to his closest advisers and took a strike at communist issues in democratic policies. He had friends in high places pushing his abilities in books. On February 9th 1950 he had gone to a woman’s convention to show more of his view on communism and that he held a list of names of communist people, however only part of list had contained some communists but the list had contained many fascists, alcoholics and sexual deviants. On the 20th he had given a six hour speech to the senate putting his allegations he held towards them in the air, he had believed that the democrats had been corrupted by communist powers . In October of 1953 McCarthy’s obsession over communist worsened and he began an investigation of communist infiltrating the military. He died with his multiple obsessions to one up himself and bury the poor boy in the past and the need to filthy up his competition.
ReplyDeleteAnother person affected by the ludicrous times was a married couple whom were executed for giving the secrets of the atomic bomb to the USSR.. it had begun with Julius and Ethel Rosenberg , but mostly Julius who had graduated from a good college for electrical engineering and joined the army signal corp. Julius had been summoned a Russian spy to the communist US party. ON March 6, 1951 The Rosenberg Trial began in which his own brother in law served a witness against him, in which he had stated that he saw Rosenberg giving sketches of the atomic bomb or as he was quoted “fat bomb” rather then bomb that was bombed at Hiroshima