Outline of US History by U.S. Department of State - HTML preview

CHAPTER 12: POSTWAR AMERICA

plained, “conservative when it comes

THE CULTURE OF THE 1950s

to money, liberal when it comes to

human beings .” A critic countered During the 1950s, many cul-

that Eisenhower appeared to argue tural commentators pointed out

that he would “strongly recommend that a sense of uniformity pervaded

the building of a great many schools American society . Conformity, they

. . but not provide the money .”

asserted, was numbingly common .

Eisenhower’s first priority was Though men and women had been

to balance the budget after years of forced into new employment pat-

deficits . He wanted to cut spending terns during World War II, once the

and taxes and maintain the value of war was over, traditional roles were

the dollar . Republicans were willing reaffirmed . Men expected to be the

to risk unemployment to keep infla- breadwinners in each family; wom-

tion in check . Reluctant to stimulate en, even when they worked, assumed

the economy too much, they saw their proper place was at home . In his

the country suffer three economic influential book, The Lonely Crowd, recessions in the eight years of the sociologist David Riesman called

Eisenhower presidency, but none this new society “other-directed,”

was very severe .

characterized by conformity, but

In other areas, the administra- also by stability . Television, still very

tion transferred control of offshore limited in the choices it gave its view-

oil lands from the federal govern- ers, contributed to the homogenizing

ment to the states . It also favored pri- cultural trend by providing young

vate development of electrical power and old with a shared experience re-

rather than the public approach the flecting accepted social patterns .

Democrats had initiated . In general,

Yet beneath this seemingly

its orientation was sympathetic to bland surface, important segments

business .

of American society seethed with

Compared to Truman, Eisen- rebellion . A number of writers,

hower had only a modest domes- collectively known as the “Beat Gen-

tic program . When he was active eration,” went out of their way to

in promoting a bill, it likely was to challenge the patterns of respect-

trim the New Deal legacy a bit — as ability and shock the rest of the

in reducing agricultural subsidies culture . Stressing spontaneity and

or placing mild restrictions on la- spirituality, they preferred intuition

bor unions . His disinclination to over reason, Eastern mysticism over

push fundamental change in either Western institutionalized religion .

direction was in keeping with the

The literary work of the beats

spirit of the generally prosperous displayed their sense of alienation

Fifties . He was one of the few presi- and quest for self-realization . Jack

dents who left office as popular as Kerouac typed his best-selling novel

when he entered it .

On the Road on a 75-meter roll of

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OUTLINE OF U.S. HISTORY

paper . Lacking traditional punctua- tary services and in the work force,

tion and paragraph structure, the and they had made limited gains .

book glorified the possibilities of the Millions of African Americans had

free life . Poet Allen Ginsberg gained left Southern farms for Northern cit-

similar notoriety for his poem ies, where they hoped to find better

“Howl,” a scathing critique of mod- jobs . They found instead crowded

ern, mechanized civilization . When conditions in urban slums . Now,

police charged that it was obscene African-American servicemen re-

and seized the published version, turned home, many intent on reject-

Ginsberg successfully challenged ing second-class citizenship .

the ruling in court .

Jackie Robinson dramatized the

Musicians and artists rebelled as racial question in 1947 when he

well . Tennessee singer Elvis Presley broke baseball’s color line and be-

was the most successful of several gan playing in the major leagues . A

white performers who popularized member of the Brooklyn Dodgers,

a sensual and pulsating style of Af- he often faced trouble with oppo-

rican-American music, which began nents and teammates as well . But an

to be called “rock and roll .” At first, outstanding first season led to his

he outraged middle-class Ameri- acceptance and eased the way for

cans with his ducktail haircut and other African-American players,

undulating hips . But in a few years who now left the Negro leagues to

his performances would seem rela- which they had been confined .

tively tame alongside the antics of

Government officials, and many

later performers such as the British other Americans, discovered the

Rolling Stones . Similarly, it was in connection between racial problems

the 1950s that painters like Jackson and Cold War politics . As the leader

Pollock discarded easels and laid out of the free world, the United States

gigantic canvases on the floor, then sought support in Africa and Asia .

applied paint, sand, and other mate- Discrimination at home impeded

rials in wild splashes of color . All of the effort to win friends in other

these artists and authors, whatever parts of the world .

the medium, provided models for

Harry Truman supported the

the wider and more deeply felt social early civil rights movement . He per-

revolution of the 1960s .

sonally believed in political equality,

though not in social equality, and

ORIGINS OF THE CIVIL

recognized the growing importance

RIGHTS MOVEMENT

of the African-American urban vote .

A

When apprised in 1946 of a spate

frican Americans became in- of lynchings and anti-black violence

creasingly restive in the postwar in the South, he appointed a com-

years . During the war they had chal- mittee on civil rights to investigate

lenged discrimination in the mili- discrimination . Its report, To Secure

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