The Cold War
Korean War -On June 25, 1950, North Korea invaded South Korea which launched the Korean War. As a result, the United States produced heavy naval and military involvement. During the summer of 1950, the United States and other United Nations states’ involved tried to seize North Korea’s fast moving army. They begun to assemble what was necessary to bring it down and saw it as a huge threat from the Communist World. In September of 1950, an invasion at Inchon damaged the North Korean war machine. Following two months after, UN armies pushed right through North Korea. China intervened openly, and the UN was pushed back midway into South Korea. Eventually in the following year, the Korean army was contained and they were forced to retreat. However, a truce took two more frustrating years, and the war wasn’t over until 1953.
Forming of Warsaw Pact- The name given to the treaty between Bulgaria, Albania, Czechoslovakia, Poland, Hungary, East Germany, Romania, and the Soviet Union. The treaty was signed in Poland in 1955 and was to be known as “The Treaty of Friendship, Co-operation and Mutual Assistance.” The pact consisted of two main branches and two main obligations. The Political Consultative Committee was responsible for monitoring non-military activities amongst the nations that made up the pact. The Unified Command of Pact Armed Forces was responsible for the soldiers from the nations that made up the pact. The Warsaw Pact split up in 1991 as the Soviet Union broke apart.
The Launching of Sputnik- In 1957, the Soviet Union used one of their rockets to launch Sputnik, the first artificial satellite to orbit the Earth. During this time, the United States and the Soviet Union were having a competition for international prestige. This time of the Cold War was known as the “Space Race.” The launching of it made the Soviet Union seem scientifically superior to the United States. This proposed a large threat too many Americans. Many feared that the rocket used to launch the Sputnik could be carrying a bomb of hydrogen to American shores.
KGB established- In 1954, the KGB was formed to be a Russian Security Agency. It was most often identified as “security, intelligence, and security police.” Members of the KGB were Russian, and it was widely associated with the Cold War. The KGB listened to people’s thoughts publicly and privately during the time of the Cold War. When the Soviet Union had collapsed, the KGB was brought into the government of Russia and the domestic parts of it were brought into a separate agency. As time went on the KGB started to handle and work with foreign intelligence and it later earned the name the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service.
The Civil Rights Movement
Montgomery Bus Boycott- in 1955, Rosa Parks who was secretary of the Montgomery NAACP sat down in the middle of a bus, an area normally designated for both blacks and whites to sit. A white man the boarded the bus and had no seat, so the driver forced Parks to give up hers. After refusing to get up, police seized her and made her stand trial for breaking the segregation laws. Once the event became known, Civil rights leaders in Montgomery met and organized the Montgomery Bus Boycott. The plan called for all blacks to refuse riding buses until the bus company changed the segregation policy. Martin Luther King Jr. became the spokesman for the protest movement. During the next year, 50,000 African Americans in Montgomery rode bicycles, walked, or car pooled to avoid city buses. The city bus company was losing money, however they still refused to change their policies. In time, the Supreme Court ruled that bus segregation was unconstitutional.
Little Rock High School Desegregated- Before the start of the 1957 school year, Governor Orval Faubus stated that he could not maintain order if he had to bring together blacks and whites. To enforce this belief, he stationed Arkansas National Guard Troops at Little Rock who turned away nine black students. However, President Eisenhower saw Faubus’s actions as unconstitutional, so he placed the National Guard under federal command. Other soldiers on guard in Arkansas begun to protect the nine students, and the process of integration started to unfold.
Founding of RCNL – The Regional Council of Negro Leadership was founded in 1951 by T. R. M. Howard. It was a society of Mississippi that’s purpose was to help blacks during the civil rights movement. The council supported black voter education, registration, and other voting rights. Furthermore, the council pushed to put an end to police brutality against African Americans. It also advocated citizenship for the blacks of Mississippi. The most famous member of the RCNL was Medgar Evers. Shortly after the council’s formation, Evers became the program director. He led a campaign that boycotted the use of service stations that didn’t have restrooms for blacks. To support the campaign, the RCNL gave out around 20,000 bumper stickers that read “Don’t Buy Gas Where You Can’t Use the Restroom.” The RCNL broke up after Howard left Mississippi in the beginning of 1956.
Civil Rights Act of 1957 - In 1957, this act was introduced into Eisenhower’s presidency. The Act being signed was the first time since the Reconstruction that the federal government took action to protect civil rights. The main purpose of the Act was for the protection of voting rights. It created the Civil Rights Division in the Justice Department, and also established a six member U.S. Civil Rights Commission. Furthermore, the most important part of the Act was that it signaled a growing federal commitment to the cause of civil rights.
McCarthyism
McCarran Walter Act of 1952- The main purpose of the Act was to bring together the nation’s laws on immigration and neutralization. It ended the absolute exclusion of Asian Immigrants, and changed certain parts of the National Origins provisions. President Truman attempted to veto the Act, but Congress overrode his veto in 1952 and the Act was implemented. Through time, the Act has been amended many times, but still remains a basic immigration law. Another major effect of the Act was that it made Western Hemisphere immigration continue to remain quota free. While it stands alone as its own body of law, the Act also resides in the United States Code.
The Growth of Suburbs
Baby Boom- The Baby Boom affected American Society economically and socially. Many schools were needed as a housing boom and movement to suburbia continued to grow. The G.I. bill was introduced, which gave WWII veterans education grants for college to tray and get available jobs. Supermarkets started to evolve in the late 1950’s. The prices of food became very inexpensive and merchants all over were selling their wares off the street.
Levittowns- A largely produced suburban housing development located on Long Island. The first Levittown symbolized post world war two suburbanization. Levittown was constructed on seven square miles of Nassau County. In addition, the Levitts built small shopping centers, and nine public swimming pools for public residents. Levittown was affiliated with lower-middle class and working class suburbanization. Many people were against Levittown, and felt that it would become the slums of the future.
Inflation of Housing- Housing prices in the city increased at a dramatic rate. It forced lots of families to the outskirts of town, which led to the development of suburbs. Suburbs were countryside houses with cheaper pricing so larger families could live there for longer periods of time. This was a major event that made suburbs popular for longer periods of time.
