The American Dream in the 1950s

Read Chapter 27, section 2. (pages 847-855)
1. Baby Boom
When soldiers returned from WWII, there was a big population explosion called the baby boom, during the 1940s-1960s, and the birthrate soared. This was the largest generation in the nation's history.

2. Dr. Jonas Salk
He developed a vaccine for polio.

3. Interstate Highway System
Since many people were buying cars and commuted to cities for work, the local and state governments constructed roads linking major cities connecting to schools, shopping centers and workplaces to residential suburbs.

4. Franchise
A company that offers similar products or services in many locations.

5. In a paragraph, describe in detail how Americans spent their leisure time in the 1950s

In the 1950s, Americans had a lot more leisure time than they had before. There were labor saving devices like washing machines, dryers, dishwashers and lawn mowers. Americans spent their leisure time playing sports, attending sports games or watched television. Also, many Americans read and cooked.

The Arms Race

I've shared a new document with you in your Cold War file. It is titled Arms Race. Read this carefully and answer the questions below. (A lot of this material expands upon what you read about in 26-4)

1. Read Source 12. What methods do you think Dulles had in mind to 'liberate captive peoples' without a war?
Maybe Dulles was thinking of nuclear weapons as an "alternative to war" because dropping a nuclear bomb wouldn't injure America's people but would help "liberate captive peoples."

2. Look at Source 13. Would you agree that the Communist world was encircled? Explain your answer.
Yes I would agree that the communist world was encircled because they were surrounded by communist opposers.

3. Carefully examine the verticle timeline on page 343. Then look back at Source 12. Do you think the development of nuclear weapons was what Dulles might have had in mind?
Yes I think that Dulles was thinking of nuclear weapons because he said that quote in 1952 and that was the same year that they successfully detonated a hydrogen bomb.

4. Look at Source 16. What is the Soviet cartoon saying about the U-2 plane?
The Soviet cartoon is commenting on how the U.S. are using the U-2 planes to spy on them. The USSR used people to spy on the U.S. whereas the U.S. used high tech spy planes.

5. Read the Factfile on page 344. Explain why the USSR was so angry about the US spy flights.
The U.S. spy flights violated Soviet air space. When Soviet missiles shot down a U-2 spier, Eisenhower at first denied that the man was on a spying mission, but eventually had to admit it because of the evidence. But President Eisenhower didn't apologize and didn't promise that the flights would stop. This made the USSR extremely angry towards the U.S.

6. How would the USA justify this violation of Soviet territory?
The USA justified the violation of soviet territory because it kept them fully informed about Soviet's advances with their weapons technology. They flew so high up that soviet bombs couldn't hit them (at first).

7. If the USSR had had U-2 planes, do you think it would have used them? Why?
Yes, I think they would have used them because they would have felt like they had the right to do what the U.S. did to them and spy with high tech planes.

8. Look at Source 17. Why do you think the USA had missiles based in Europe?
I think they had missiles based in Europe in case they needed to hit Soviet cities very quickly since the missiles coming from the U.S. might have taken a half an hour.

9. Define the term 'nuclear deterrent' in not more than 20 words.
Since both sides have nuclear weapons, neither side wants to attack first in fear of being destroyed themselves.