ERA 9 1945-1980.ppt

ERA 9: 1945-1980 Postwar United States 1946 Servicemen return from abroad after World War II. Returning GIs participate in a shakeup of political and racial order in Tennessee Rising Expectations after WWII Rising expectations and social mobility generated by World War II “How’re you gonna keep ‘em down on the farm?”…and in their place. Battle of Athens, TN: August 1, 1946 Ex-GIs and supporters of the entrenched political machine engage in gunbattle on the streets of Athens The Battle of Athens in McMinn County leads to the overthrow of the local political machine, one tentacle of the powerful Crump machine Racial tensions during the postwar period: Columbia, TN, February 26, 1946 The civil rights ferment of the late 1940s and the 1950s is a response to changes after World War II. Racial conflicts arise throughout the country, including one between State Highway Patrol and African-American residents of Columbia’s “Mink Slide” neighborhood. Early Civil Rights Cases Clinton, TN: Problems surface after court-mandated desegregation in 1956 1954-1963: The struggle over civil rights merges with Cold War rhetoric Segregation had long been part of the American way of life Civil Rights movement seen as attack on pillar of Southern society: unAmerican, unChristian, and imported to region by outside agitators Battling against IntegrationSome citizens voice their support for segregation in letters to Governor Clement Integration was often linked with Communist agitation by outsiders and Northern “Yankees” The Communist Scare in the 1950s The post-World War II Nuclear Threat: The Cold War accelerates The reality of the nuclear threat was made evident by the Bikini Atoll tests In March of 1954, the U.S. tested a hydrogen bomb in Bikini. Later, in September, the Red Army tested an atomic bomb in the Urals On May 14, 1955, the communist states signed the Warsaw Pact Civil Defense Efforts in America: The government publicizes safety manuals to both ignite and allay America’s