1. Urbanisation & Affluence
1.1. Changing Cities
1.1.1. Pop. rose from 130m (1940) to 165m (1950s).
1.1.2. Urban pop. grew from 96.5m (1950) to 124.7m (1960)
1.1.3. Rural pop. dropped from 23m (1950) to 13.4m (1960)
1.1.4. Many sought better living standards and goods in cities.
1.1.4.1. 1.8m non-whites to 12 largest cities in '50s
1.1.5. Led to more racial tension, by the 60s cities racially segregated.
1.1.5.1. Black areas: Watts (LA), NW Philly, South Bronx, Harlem
1.1.5.2. White subrubs grew around cities
1.1.6. Federal Housing Administration (FHA)
1.1.6.1. Supported racially exclusive housing
1.1.6.2. Barred non-whites from suburban developments
1.1.6.2.1. Pushed non-whites into inner-city rentals
1.1.7. Public Housing Shortage
1.1.7.1. Only 320k homes funded (1949-59) under the Truman Public Hosuing Act
1.1.7.2. High-rise projects were crowded
1.2. Expansion of Suburbs
1.2.1. Suburban growth driven by:
1.2.1.1. Levittowns (17,000+ homes, whites-only)
1.2.1.2. Cheap home loans (Veterans Admin & FHA)
1.2.1.2.1. FHA financed 30z of new homes in the 50s
1.2.2. By 1960:
1.2.2.1. 3 in 5 families owned homes
1.2.2.2. 18 million people moved to suburbs
1.2.2.3. Term megalopolis used for area from Boston-Washington
1.2.3. Migration to the Sun Belt:
1.2.3.1. Big growth in cities like Dallas, LA, Miami, Houston & San Diego
1.2.4. By 1970:
1.2.4.1. 80m Americans lived in Suburbs
1.2.4.2. 15m more than in inner-cities
1.3. Highway Development
1.3.1. Suburb growth increased car demand and highway construction
1.3.2. Cars increased by 133% (1945-60)
1.3.3. 1956 National Interstate and Defense Highways Act (Eisenhower)
1.3.3.1. 42,500 miles of highways, 90% federally funded
1.3.3.2. $25b over 10yrs
1.4. Growing Ownership of Cars
1.4.1. Car Production
1.4.1.1. 2 million /year in 1946 -> 8 million/year in 1955
1.4.1.2. Detroit: global car hub (GM, Ford, Chrysler)
1.4.2. Jobs
1.4.2.1. 1 in 7 Americans worked in car-related industries
1.4.2.2. 1 million members of UAW union
1.4.3. By 1960:
1.4.3.1. 75% families own cars
1.4.3.2. 15% own more than 1
1.4.3.3. 75m vehicles on roads by 1956
1.4.4. Car Culture
1.4.4.1. 3k new drive-in cinemas in '56
1.4.4.2. 1.8k out-of-town malls
1.4.4.3. Fast-food boom
1.4.4.4. Teen car culture grew and toursim industry increased
1.4.4.5. Cars regulary discarded and replaced with newer models.
1.5. White-collar Jobs & Service Industry
1.5.1. 1956, White-collar workers outnumber blue-collar for the 1st time
1.5.2. By 1960 40% of women over 16 employed
1.5.3. 1957: 8 million federal employees, mostly white-collar
1.6. Consumerism & Domestic Technology
1.6.1. Credit & Purchasing
1.6.1.1. 1958 - AMEX card introduced
1.6.1.2. Sears (like Amazon back in the day) - 10 million customers buying on credit
1.6.2. New Domestic Goods
1.6.2.1. Wide availaibility of shoes, TVs, Fridges, Dishwashers, radios
1.6.3. Retail Revolution
1.6.3.1. Shopping centers -> 8 in 1945, 4000 in 1960
1.6.3.2. Suburban shopping overtakes city-centers
1.6.4. Technology & Space Race
1.6.4.1. 1957: Sputnik
1.6.4.2. 1961: JFK pledges moon landing
1.6.5. Teen Consumerism
1.6.5.1. Key market for music snd ads
1.6.5.2. Rock'n'roll stars emerge such as Elvis
1.6.6. Leisure
1.6.6.1. Labour-saving devices increase free time
1.6.6.2. Rise of TV, sports attendance & driving holidays
2. Changes in Culture
2.1. Film & TV
2.1.1. Suburban theme unpopular with US film audiences
2.1.1.1. 1957 film "No Down Payment" about suburban life flopped.
2.1.2. War & adventure films dominated theatres
2.1.2.1. "Around the world in 80 days" voted best Hollywood Film in 1957 by the Oscars. A film about British troops a Japanese PoW camp.
2.1.3. Films about everyday life became very popular
2.1.3.1. "Rebel without a cause" (1955) was regarded as a sensation, it was a film about a moody youth.
2.1.4. However suburban life was mirrored on TV
2.1.4.1. 2 most popular tv shows of the 50s were set in middle-class suburbia: "I love Lucy" and "Father Knows Best"
2.1.4.2. "Dick Van Dyke Show" (1961-66) also very popular
2.1.5. Game shows also very popular, most notably "the $64,000 Question"
2.1.6. Few opportunities for black actors, usually played butlers
2.1.6.1. However in 1963, Sidney Poitier becomes first black actor to win Oscar for best actor.
2.2. Advertising
2.2.1. Helped stimulate consumer spending in the 50s & 60s
2.2.2. By the 60s almost every home has a TV
2.2.2.1. TV was replacing Hollywood
2.2.3. TV shows fully funded by ads
2.2.3.1. TV companies ad revenue grew by %1,000 in the 50s
2.2.3.2. Advertisers spent $10b a year in the 50s and early 60s
2.3. Teen Culture & Music
2.3.1. Origins
2.3.1.1. Teens gain more financial power in the 50s and more independence thanks to cars
2.3.1.1.1. Regular users of drive-in theatres
2.3.1.2. Teens established as new social group partly through TV
2.3.1.2.1. Often portrayed as 'juvenile delinquents
2.3.1.2.2. "Rebels Without a Cause" (1955) presented youths as cruising in their cars, riding in motorbike gangs, wearing leather jacketss, using slang and greasing their hair.
2.3.1.3. Lots of concern over teenagers becoming too sexual
2.3.1.3.1. By 1955, 13 states passed laws censoring comic books
2.3.2. Music and Teen Rebellion
2.3.2.1. Teenage culture became synonymous with rock'n'roll.
2.3.2.1.1. Rock'n'roll contrasted traditional popular music
2.3.2.1.2. Because it was dominated by black artists it meant it did not take off in the south until the mid-50s when white artists like Elvis emerged.
2.3.2.1.3. Elvis became the face of rock'n'roll
2.3.2.1.4. Elvis was so controversial that when he first appeared on TV in 1956 on the Ed Sullivan Show only his top half was shown
2.4. Beatnik Culture
2.4.1. Alternative to conformity and consumerism
2.4.1.1. Supported sexual liberation
2.4.1.2. Known for experimenting with drugs
2.4.1.3. Opposed the arms race
2.4.2. Hung out in cofee bars, particularly in the Greenwich Village in Manhattan
2.4.3. Terms 'beat' and 'beat' generation first used by novelist Jack Kerouac in 1948
2.4.3.1. Their name was a micx between 'beat' and Sputnik due to their anti-conformist views some saw them as communist
2.4.4. Jack Kerouac's 1957 book "On the Road" seen as 'Beat Literature'
2.4.5. Synonymours with rythym & blues and folk music helping establish Bob Dylan's career
2.4.6. Eventually developed into hippie culture.
3. Civil Rights Movement
3.1. Activisim and Protest
3.1.1. Montgomery Bus Boycott, 1955-56
3.1.1.1. Dec. '55 Rosa Parks arrested and fined (not the first case but rather the last straw)
3.1.1.2. Black Americans boycott buses (1955-56)
3.1.1.3. Dec. '56 Supreme Court declares segregation of public transport unconstitutional - boycott ends
3.1.1.4. MLK emerges as central figure of the civil rights movement
3.1.1.4.1. Jan. 1957, MLK forms the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) a civil rights activism group.
3.1.2. SNCC & CORE
3.1.2.1. In Feb. 1960 students from Greensboro, NC do greensboro sit-ins in Woolworths
3.1.2.1.1. Forced many diners to end segregation
3.1.2.1.2. Led to creation of Students Non-Violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) in Apr. 1960
3.1.2.2. 1961 - Freedom Rides testing the supreme court decision of Boynton v Virginia (1960)
3.1.2.2.1. forced govt action to protect them due to national publicity
3.1.3. Birmingham, Albama (1963)
3.1.3.1. MLK invited by Rev. Fred Shuttlesworth (leader of Alabama Christian Movement for Civil Rights)
3.1.3.2. Focuses:
3.1.3.2.1. Desegregating various facilities such as lunch counters, toilets, fitting rooms
3.1.3.2.2. Hiring more black americans
3.1.3.2.3. Creating a multiracial desegregation committee
3.1.3.3. Demonstrations:
3.1.3.3.1. non-violent, included school children`
3.1.3.3.2. MLK arrested, released with help of Attorney General - Robert Kennedy
3.1.3.3.3. 2,500 arrested
3.1.3.3.4. Police Chief "Bull" Connor, known for hot temper, used dogs, water cannons, clubs, etc.
3.1.3.4. Impact:
3.1.3.4.1. Police brutality shown on TV, shocked Americans
3.1.3.4.2. Govt. pressured to make compromise between both sides
3.1.3.4.3. JFK pledges new civil rights legislation
3.1.3.4.4. 95% of Black Americans saw MLK as leader of civil rights movement
3.2. March on Washington, Aug. 1963
3.2.1. Civil rights officially a national issue
3.2.2. Brutality in the south has national; publicity
3.2.3. The March:
3.2.3.1. 250,000 attended (25% white, including celebs like Bob Dylan)
3.2.3.2. MLK's "I Have a Dream" speech
3.2.4. Results:
3.2.4.1. MLK gains international fame
3.2.4.1.1. Nobel Peace Prize (1964)
3.2.4.2. Civil Rights becomes central issue in US politics
3.2.4.3. JFK proposes Civil Rights Bill
3.3. KKK & WCCs
3.3.1. Following Brown v. Topeka Southern politicians fight desegregation
3.3.1.1. 1956: "Southern Manifesto" signed by 100 southern congressmen
3.3.1.2. Southern Democrats block and weaken civil rights legislation
3.3.1.3. JFKs civil rights efforts limited
3.3.2. KKK revived in 1955
3.3.2.1. Intimidated black americans, especially over voting rights
3.3.2.1.1. cross burnings, lynchings, violence
3.3.2.2. 1955: Emmett Till murdered; killers acquitted
3.3.2.3. attacks on MIA members during Bus Boycott
3.3.2.4. 1961 Freedom Riders attacked & firebombed
3.3.2.5. 1963: Medgar Evers, civil rights activist and soldier, killed by KKK
3.3.3. White Citizens' Councils (WCCs) - middle-class, more 'respectable' opposition to intergration
3.3.3.1. nicknamed "country club Klans"
3.3.3.2. organized protests & lobbied politicians
3.3.3.2.1. 1957: Blocked Little Rock 9 by pressuring Orval Faubus
3.3.3.2.2. 1962: pushed Ross Barnett (Mississippi Governer) to stop James Meredith from attending Mississippi Uni
3.3.3.2.3. By 1963, only 9% of Southern Schools desegregated
4. JFK's New Frontier Programme
4.1. Welfare Programmes
4.1.1. JFK inherited recession - (6.5% unemployment, 3.5% inflation)
4.1.2. Raised minimum wage from $1 an hour to $1.25 in 1961
4.1.2.1. However, 350,00 workers (many black and in industrial laundries) were excluded due to Southern Democrat opposition
4.1.3. **Equal Pay Act (1963)** - aimed for equal pay for women but lacked enforcement
4.1.4. Medicare (tax-funded healthcare for young, elderly and disabled) failed due to opposition from congress
4.1.5. **Area Development Act (1961)** - allocated $394m to poorer regions such as Appalachia
4.1.5.1. created 26,000 jobs
4.1.5.2. however, a 1963 expansion was blocked
4.1.6. **Manpower Development & Training Act (1962)** - provided job training for poorly educated workers
4.1.7. **Housing Act (1961)** - $4.8b for housing for the poor, arguably JFK's most succesful policy
4.1.8. Education
4.1.8.1. **School Assistance Bill (1961)** - asked for $2.3b over 3 years to build new schools and raise teacher salaries
4.1.8.1.1. rejected due to opposition from Catholic bishops as it excluded religous schools to avoid controversy
4.1.8.2. Executive order expanded school lunch / milk programs helpin 700,000 children
4.1.8.3. **Higher Education Facilities Act (1963)** gave $145m to science, language and engineering schools
4.1.8.4. Created **Dept. of Urban Affairs** to support inner-city areas
4.1.9. Economy and Employment
4.1.9.1. **Trade Expansion Act (1962)** - cut tariffs by 35% with EEC, boosted international trade
4.1.9.2. **Committee on Equal Employment Opportunity (CEEO)** created in 1961
4.1.9.2.1. aimed to support black employment in federal jobs, black unemployment remained double that of whites
4.2. Environment
4.2.1. Influenced by *Silent Spring (1962) * a book by Rachel Carson raising awareness of affect of pesticides on environment
4.2.2. **Clean Air Act (1963)** aims to limit industrial and car emissions
4.2.3. Appointed **Stewart Udall** as Interior Secretary
4.2.3.1. expanded National Parks by 3.85m acres and laid groundwork for future parks
4.2.3.2. Udall's *The Quiet Crisis (1963) * promoted enviromental awareness
4.3. Peace Corps
4.3.1. Created by Executive Order in **Mar. 1961**
4.3.2. Sent young American volunteers to developing countries to provide education and technical aid
4.3.3. 5,000 volunteers in 46 countries by 1963
4.3.4. Critics saw it as imperialism, but many praised it and it was long-lasting
4.4. The Space Programme
4.4.1. In 1961 JFK commits to landing a man on the moon by 1969
4.4.2. Secured around $8b for NASA in 1961
4.4.3. John Glenn orbits Earth in 1962
4.4.4. (Eventually USA lands astronauts on the moon in 1969)
4.5. **JFK's Overall Impact**
4.5.1. limited success due to strong opposition in Congress from republicans and southern democrats and limited mandate.
4.5.2. Most major legislative goals (education aid, Medicare, tax reform) were blocked or weakened
4.5.3. Key successes (Peace Corps, CEEO) came via Executive Orders, not Congress.
4.5.4. Many of Kennedy’s blocked reforms were later passed under LBJ, who had stronger Congressional support.
4.5.5. Economy was recovering by 1963