The 1950's

The economic boom after the war allowed more Americans to buy a lot of new things such as cars, homes, televisions, etc, and this is what created the unique culture of the 1950's that still affects Americans today.


Women did not play a large role in the 1950's and they spent most of their time at home taking care of the kids, making meals, and doing chores around the house, which men's primary role was to be out working to provide the family with a steady income. many television shows depicted the women as organized and clean, and were always up to date with the best kitchen appliances such as refrigerators, ovens, or toasters. The television also served as a trustable and reliable source of information for average Americans. They bleieved what the commercials and television shows told them to believe, which is much different from today.


The automobile also started gaining popularity, and became a part of the American dream. It was the goal of most families to obtain a car for their personal use. the rise of the automobile also allowed more jobopportunities in jobs that a person could not ordinarily access because it was too far away from home. the rise in the popularity of the automobile also caused more highways and freeways to be built, making it easier for Americans to travel to new places with more ease.


The conformity of the 1950's caused some teenagers to rebel and want to be more independent, which eventually sparked a revolution. Many teenagers did not agree with the war in Vietnam, and resisted the draft. These teenagers were called hippies and peace lovers because they protested war in all shapes and forms, and this continued on to the 1960's.


The 1950's were a time of entertainment, new inventions, economic growth, and recovery after the Great Depression. There are downsides, however. The availability and popularity of automobiles caused an increase in pollution and car crash related deaths became much more prevalent. This new culture also caused a significant gap between the middle and lower class because only people with a steady income could afford all that America had to offer during this time period.

-Cory and Ofri

McCarthyism

McCarthyism
One of the most famous anti-community activists to this day, was Senator Joseph McCarthy. This republican from Wisconsin was often the subject of much scrutiny for his inability as a legislator, just three years into his term in the Senate. Pressed against the wall, his only choice for reelection was choosing an issue that would be able to win the support of the voters, communism. In order to attract the appeal of many people, he claimed that Communism was taking over the government.
During this time period, people were often distraught with Communism; the mere word caused many to flinch. McCarthy took advantage of this by making consecutive strings of accusations that had no backbone in any of them. The unsupported accusations on potential communists became known as McCarthyism. This unfair tactic of accusing people of being a disloyal without any possible reference to support their claims, will forever be known as McCarthyism.
McCarthy, being the desperate man that he was, claimed to have had the names of several communists, with the peak being 205, in the State Department. However, much to no one’s surprise, he never actually gave out a single name out of the many that he had. He was able to take advantage of the Senate, where he had legal immunity from being sued for slander, so that he could spread his lies. He was able to win the hearts of fellow Republicans who did little to stop him since they falsely believed that he would win the presidential election if the public saw him protecting the country from communism successfully.
What led to his predictable downfall was when carelessly made accusations against the U.S. Army which led to a nationally televised Senate investigation. The investigation lifted the curtain from the eyes of many who had falsely believed him, causing him to lose a substantial amount of public support. This eventually led to him being condemned by the Senate for improper conduct and his death three years later.
What is the most shocking in my opinion is that the country seemed to not care about him falsely accusing the the democratic party, but once he made accusations against the U.S. Army, he was heavily penalized. This shows how much the country valued their army, compared to their democratic party.

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Honoring Mom

Do something nice for your mom, aunt, or grandmother and earn an A.G.C.  Write her a poem.  Fix breakfast for her.  Burn her favorite tunes onto  a CD.  Be creative!  Use your imagination NOT your wallet to remember her on Mother's Day.
Proof?  Ask mom to send me an email message at msanderson@pausd.org.

Vietnam war

The Vietnam conflict was fought between 1955 and 1975 in Laos Cambodia and Vietnam. It was fought between communist North Vietnam and anti-Communist South Vietnam allied with The United states. The Viet Cong were southern Vietnam communist who engaged in guerrilla wars with anti-Communist forces. To fight back against Viet Cong guerrillas the US conducted search and destroy missions. The US sent armed forces to Vietnam because they feared that if they let South Vietnam fall to communist rule it could start a domino effect causing more countries to fall under communist control. The conflict was generally unsuccessful and after years of fighting Americans wanted to pull troops out of Vietnam. Several communist losses during the Tet Offensive allowed President Nixon to start a policy he called Vietmanization. The policy involved withdrawing troops and limiting conflict.In the end about 58,000 US solders died.