Summary
The United States entered the 1950s as a new and thriving society and as the most powerful nation in the world. After the Korean War, the United States continued to experience an economic boom. However, since segregation between white Americans and African Americans continued, not all Americans enjoyed the growing economy. American culture was influenced by television, rock 'n' roll, space exploration, and the Civil Rights movement.
Although this decade was one of the most challenging times in the nation's history, the significant changes in the 1960s caused many Americans to look back on the 1950s as a decade of peace and calm. America in the 1950s provides a captivating study of this oversimplified decade. Written in an engaging manner, this volume offers more than 100 photographs, as well as box features and pull-out quotations and facts, that bring these years to life.
Coverage includes:
- The presidencies of Harry Truman and Dwight Eisenhower
- Senator Joseph McCarthy and the House Committee on Un-American Activities
- Brown v. Board of Education and the Civil Rights movement
- Suburbia's effect on the American lifestyle
- Sputnik, the first satellite launched into space
- Rock 'n' roll performers, such as Chuck Berry, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Elvis Presley.