1950s

A detailed Summary of 1950s

America in the 50's: A Time of Dramatic Change

Life in America changed tremendously between the dropping of the Atomic bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, in 1945, and the baby boom of the 1950's. During this period of time, America experienced the first scares of the cold war, the peacefulness of suburban life, and the excitement of getting out and boogying to new rock and roll. This era is what I like to call, "a roller-coaster of emotions."

On July 16, 1945, the first atomic bomb, referred to as "Little Boy," was tested by the United States Armed Forces in Alamogordo, New Mexico. Within less than a month, during the evening of August 6, the Enola Gay, flown by Pilot Paul Tibbits, dropped the A-bomb on Hiroshima. Hiroshima and Nagasaki, which was bombed three days later, were chosen as experiments on virgin targets to see how much damage to the human population could be done with an Atomic bomb. The damage caused by the bomb was horrific beyond anybody's belief. The making and dropping of the bomb was extremely top secret, and no one on board the jet, except Tibbits, knew about their mission, until the space craft was airborne. President Truman commented on it, saying, "I'm g

Throughout the early 1950's, there was a war being fought in Southern Korea. China had turned communist in 1949, and the Soviet Union was already that way, which put pressure on Korea to switch to that form of government, so they were like their neighbors. North Korea wanted to switch to communism, but South Korea didn't, so the war was held between the Soviet Union and North Korea on one side and South Korea and the UN on the other. This started a big outcry in the United States, which were afraid of communism invading this country. President Truman and Joseph McCarthy were totally against communism, and did everything that they could to deport communists from the US. Joseph McCarthy developed an organization, called the House on Un-American Activities Committee. He used this committee to hold trials and prove that there were "communists lurking in every office and department of the US government." People were accused without any evidence and were convicted for openly criticizing American foreign policies, advocating equal rights for women, owning books on socialism, and attending foreign films. One of McCarthy's trials was the Rosenburg case of 1953. Ethel and Julius Rosenburg were accused of telling secrets on how to make an atomic bomb to the Soviet Union. Without much evidence they were sentenced to death by the US government. They were offered many times, that if they helped prosecute others, they would not have to die. Julius said in response, "Since we are guilty of no crime, we will not be party to the nefarious thought to bear false witness against other innocent progressives, and heighten the hysteria in our land." Many people protested against their being executed, but it didn't work and they were both sent to the electric chair on June 19, 1953, at 8:06 p.m. When people first heard about McCarthy's doings, he gained much public support, because citizens thought he was making the country safe for democracy. After Eisenhower became president, he ignored McCarthy, and eventually McCarthy did himself in by trying to convict the US Arm

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Approximate Word count = 1396
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: History