Cold War and Conformity PDF

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Cold War and Conformity...

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Cold War and Conformity What did the story of “Tootle” urge American children? What did it say about post-war America? The story of “Tootle” was a good lesson for American children to urge them not to give up on something. It stressed the importance of working together towards a common goal to ultimately complete the task. The story emphasizes the post-WWII mentality in America that we could do anything, so long as we set our minds to it. This was due to the extremely positive national morale, and the belief that Americans could do anything they wanted, as they had just ceased a major threat of both Germany and Japan. Tootle was a representation of everything that Americans felt after the war. How might we account for the support that Senator McCarthy aroused in this country? Senator used a tactic that has been used for decades to ward off the communist threat, and that is fear. He argued against the communists by leading Americans to believe that they could potentially be anyone, anywhere, even your friends or neighbors. His campaign went so far as to make the American public extremely afraid of communists and the idea of communism. His definitive tactic was to query anyone with any amount of reputation to sense if they were communist sympathizers. His notorious “McCarthy trials” set up thousands of common American citizens to be a possible threat to this country, and making the trials and allegations community knowledge led to even more fear of communism. What do the songs and images in this lesson suggest about America mid-century? There are only a few images associated with this lesson, but they are very powerful. The first displays the first test of the atomic bomb, and seemingly represents America’s willingness and want to demonstrate our power. At the time of its creation, the Atomic bomb belonged solely to America and the most advanced minds in the world helped construct it. The second image is one of our countries flag, battered and clearly displaying signs of wear. It is obvious that it has been through a lot and is still in one piece. When looking at these images together, it paints a picture of America at the time: slightly battered from the war, yet still extreme pride to be an American, and the willingness to do whatever it takes to get what we want. What connections can you see between the Cold War and the insistence of conformity in 1950s America? The assertion of conformity in the 1950s was an outcome of the effect of Cold War era culture. The Cold War’s primary focus was to eradicate the threat of communism. In order to do so, we had to make sure that there was no communistic tendencies in America. The easiest way to ensure that communism did not exist in America was to

make everyone the exact same. The more you conformed to the American culture, the less likely you were to be suspected of communism....