K)+Happy+Days-+5.19.10



That's a great question, don't you think? We will answer it in class on Thursday in a (hopefully) fun activity, but to prepare, we should do a little background reading and watching. R**ead "The Fifties" in __Creating America__ (28-3, pp. 800-803), read over the ABC-CLIO links posted below, and w****atch the videos below.** 
 * FOR HOMEWORK, CREATE A LIST (IN YOUR ONLINE NOTEBOOK) OF POSITIVES AND NEGATIVES CONCERNING LIFE IN THE FIFTIES FOR CLASS ON THURSDAY. WE WILL USE IT TO WRITE SOME DIALOGUE ...**

[|The Cold War at Home] / [|The Economy Booms] / [|The Sky is the Limit] / [|Boom-Time for Babies and Houses] 

Positives:
 * economic prosperity after WWII
 * industry boomed at "furious pace"
 * new technological advancements such as plastics, frozen foods, and jet engines
 * Americans gained confidence in their democratic form of government
 * low housing costs
 * education loans to returning soldiers
 * McCarthy is officially censured- which caused him to stop putting false information that would cause americans to freak out
 * many americans had disposable incomes

Negatives:
 * Hysteria from the cold war
 * fear of spread of communism
 * fear of another war
 * war with Korea breaks out
 * the blacklists- list of names of suspected communists, their lives were ruined and they would be fired or not hired from jobs
 * hollywood stars that were in the media were monitored because they were thought to be able to easily put a message in the media
 * 1 in 5 americans lived in poverty