Bombs, Beats, and Bus Boycotts: The Turbulence of the 1950s

First and foremost, the Cold War that began in the 50s created fear about rise of the Communist threat and nuclear power, a fear that dominates the anxieties of fighting a major war today. A very influent man named Joseph McCarthy led the communist threat. McCarthy brought a new word into America’s vocabulary, McCarthyism. The legacy he left can be defined as a time in America’s history when the government questioned people about their personal ideologies and brought negative exposure to thousands of people’s lives. Communism in America during the 1950’s was more like a rumor than a real event. McCarthyism left scars on many people’s lives by his slander and should be viewed as a lesson of what simple accusations can do to one’s life. Also the n

From another perspective, the 1950s also had its share of good times. The video, “ The Fear and the Dream,” showed “ the Levittowns that created the suburbs we know of today.” In “ Selling the American Way,” the creation of television “expanded Americans horizons.” This video also demonstrated how “credit cards made spending a lot easier.” And, of course, who could forget form the video the “ road to the Sixties,” the “ hallmark of the 50s”, the automobile? But all these ideas of idealism had a great shadow of turbulence cast over them. The threat of Cold War created Communism and nuclear war, the beats created a rebellion that changed the face of American youth forever and, most importantly, the ideas and events that went on in the segregated south changed the way we view ourselves forever and created the racism that still lurks in our society today.

ear and the Dream” people asked, “ Was this the right thing to do to keep peace? How much will it cost? Can this really be done? And what are the risks involved?” All the questions combined created hysteria across the country. I think J.R. Oppenheimer puts its best in the video when he stated, “ fear should not determine whether or not something should be done.”

All in all, the 1950s were a decade unlike any we had ever seen before. All the events that took place in the

Some topics in this essay:
Cold War, Rights Movement, JR Oppenheimer, American Way”, Joseph McCarthy, Communism America, II Americans, Hiroshima Nagasaki, Alan Ginsberg, Rage Within”, video “, civil rights, civil rights movement, cold war, rights movement, people’s lives, communist threat, segregated south, war beats, nuclear power, “ fear,