2Postwar domestic adjustments The Taft-Hartley ActCivil Rights and the election of 1948
3Servicemen's Readjustment Act, 1944 (GI Bill) Taft-Hartley Act, 1947Fair DealRacial issues after WWIIDesegregation of MilitaryJackie RobinsonJim Crowe SouthTruman and Early Civil RightsCivil Rights and the Election of 1948Truman and IsraelThomas E. DeweyJ. Strom Thurmond“Dixiecrats”Henry WallaceAlger HissJoseph McCarthyHouse Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC)Julius and Ethel RosenbergHollywood TenDalton TrumboEdward R. MurrowWaldorf StatementMcCarren Internal Security Act, 1950Dennis v. United States, 1951
4Postwar Domestic Adjustments US After WWII 10 million service men and women were demobilized.Fear of economic recession- many believed that there would be a rise in unemployment (true but not too bad)The economy changed from War production to consumer goodsWomen left the work force in large numbers, 3 millionLabor unrest: Unions ended their war time promise to end strikes and a wave of strikes occursUnited Mine workers go on strike, after 45 days Truman proposes government be authorized to take control of essential industries crippled by strikes and draft strikers. (Truman alienates unions)
5The Taft-Hartley ActRepublicans take control of both houses of Congress in 1946 and seek to return to a conservative government:Lower taxesReduced government regulationSupport for businessAnti-Union – reduce the power of unions to aid businessEnd price controls passed during the warTaft, a conservative Republican Senator sponsored actAuthorized President- 80 day cooling off period for strikes in essential industriesBanned shops closed to non-union membersTruman Vetoes but is overridden
6“GI Bill of Rights”Servicemen's Readjustment Act, 1944 (GI Bill) Benefits offered by the government to help returning soldiers- SubsidiesHousing support and loansEducation fundingJob trainingBusiness loans
7Fair Deal Liberal programs of Truman similar to New Deal Limited and refused by Republican Congress 1946
8Truman and Civil Rights The “serious gap between our ideals and some of our practices… must be closed.”1948 Orders End to Segregation in the Armed ForcesAnd Civil Service
9Truman and Civil Rights Supports the trend in post war America against intolerance- Lesson of discrimination of the Nazis- rings loud and clear- Nuremberg Trials began, the truth of Nazi racism comes outWar was fought for freedom- freedom should be available at homeSome former soldiers don’t like racism in USAAmerican society is developing conditions for change emerge
10Emergence of the Civil Rights Movement Anti-Semitism begins to decline-social clubs, universities, industriesNew Deal included African Americans in jobs and relief programs (not perfect, but not excluded)During War FDR desegregated War IndustriesAfrican Americans in the North experience more integration- Jackie Robinson- Brooklyn Dodgers- signed
11The South is Segregated and had limited signs of changing NAACP: “It’s not Russia that threatens the United States so much as Mississippi.”Jim Crow South= segregated SouthInstitutionalized, legal discrimination, limiting African Americans in public sphere- Schools, restaurants, hotels, restrooms, hotels, drinking fountains, movie theatresSeparate but Equal practices- ruled constitutional with Plessey v. Ferguson Supreme Court ruled that separate public facilities was OK.State laws designed to limit African Americans-specifically votingOverturned with the Brown vs. Board of Education 1954Reduction in lynchingIncrease in black voting
12Incremental Civil Rights for African Americans 1946 Morgan v. Virginia- segregation in public interstate travel was unconstitutional1950- Shelley v. Kraemer- restrictive covenants in housing- not selling property to members of certain groups violated the Constitution
13Early Civil Rights Organization Congress of Racial Equality (CORE)Precursor to Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC will be active in the 1950s and 60s Civil Rights Movement)
14Civil RightsTruman desegregated the Military and Federal Civil ServiceBig step in the early struggle for an end to discrimination
15Election 1948Southern Democrats leave national party in response to Truman's support for Civil RightsDixicratsStrom Thurmond- South Carolina Senator, runs for presidentDewey runs for the RepublicansTruman appeared to lose- but appeals directly to the people citing the “Do nothing Republican Congress” and Wins the Election
17Essay: How do you account for the appeal of McCarthyism in the United States in the era following the Second World War?
18TopicsLegacy of the war- Appeasement- causes sensitivity to international issuesSoviet Expansion in EuropePoland, Latvia, Estonia, Lithuania, CzechoslovakiaChinese Revolution- Mao and ChiangBerlin Crisis- AirliftSoviet obtaining the Atomic Bomb 1949Clause Fuchs-Soviet Spy named Whittiker Chambers– Alger HissCommunism is seen as a threat to US way of lifeRepublicans use the fear of Communism to criticize the New Deal, Truman Administration “Soft on communism”Fear of nuclear war by American public
191947 Federal Employee Loyalty Program Truman implemented a program to end criticism of his administration being “Soft on Communism”Review complaints of disloyaltyProgram investigated thousands and found nothing substantial- however pushed people out of the governmentInvaded people’s private livesSignificance:Another Cold War domestic reaction
20Another Red ScareAfter WWII Americans became concerned with the threat of Communism’s expansionResulted in search for spies and communists in then United StatesHouse Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) began during the war and became pre-occupied with the hunt for American “subversives”“Are you now or were you ever a communist?"
21HUAC under Truman The “Hollywood Ten” HUAC believed that some writers and producers in Hollywood were making movies sympathetic to communism and were trying to manipulate the American public10 Screenwriters were found in contempt for refusing to answer questions and give information- they were sent to Prison-Subsequent actors, producers and writers will be investigated and if they have any connection to communism or sympatric to communism, they will be banned from the movie industry- “Blacklisted”Dalton Trumbo was the most famous of this group.
22Hollywood TenDalton TrumboShort Articleclick for more info
23Nixon and HUACIn the Early Period- Richard Nixon becomes famous for his efforts to find communists in the US- he was a Congressman from CaliforniaHe gains fame from his prosecution and investigation of Alger Hiss- a State Department official who was giving information to the Soviets through a spy named Whittaker Chambers. Chambers was a Time magazine editor who received immunity for information.Hiss was never found guilty of spying but for perjury to the committee.
24“Tricky Dick” First gains fame as member Of HUAC Pursues- Alger Hiss Then VP for Eisenhower
25McCarthyism 1950The greatest image of Red Scare 1950’s is Joseph McCarthy- Republican Senator from Wisconsin.He is associated with bullying, intimidating, and harassing witnessesLaunched a crusade to find communists in the USHe claimed there were 200 Communists in the State DepartmentHe finds public support for his attacks and used TV and Radio to gain supportHe is popular for a short time
26McCarthy 1950He said: “I have here in my hand a list of 205 (employees) known to the Secretary of State as being members of the Communist Party and who nevertheless are still working and shaping the policy of the State Department.”This fed into the fear of communism and to the political attacks on Truman for being “soft on Communism”He spent the next two years raising malicious and reckless attacks
27McCarthy AttackedGeorge Marshall- great hero of WWII FDR’s chief of staff.Should be understood as a reaction against Democrat controlled governmentHis movement appealed to Republicans and those affected by Communist take over in Eastern Europe (ethnic groups, Catholics)Legislation associated with the “Witch Hunt”Internal Security Act- said communist organizations had to register, members were ineligible for government and defense jobs
28McCarthyism Much of his accusations were untrue People were ruined McCarthyism is known as unprincipled abuse of rights andSmear attacks on character and loyalty
29Lesson From History: What to do with political bullies: Edward Murrow, See It Now (9th March, 1954) “The line between investigating and persecuting is a very fine one and the junior Senator from Wisconsin has stepped over it repeatedly. We will not be driven by fear into an age of unreason, if we dig deep into our own history and our doctrine and remember that we are not descended from fearful men, not men who feared to write, to speak, to associate, and to defend causes which were for the moment unpopular. This is no time for men who oppose Senator McCarthty's methods to keep silent. We can deny our heritage and our history, but we cannot escape responsibility for the result.”