CWCR - Domestic Issues (Lesson)
Domestic Issues
Can you imagine what your world would look like if segregation existed today? What would it look like for someone much different from you?
The G.I. Bill of Rights
Following World War II, the United States government wished to provide new opportunities for veterans returning home. The G.I. Bill of Rights also known as G.I. Bill, was passed by Congress to secure veterans’ home and business loans. The G.I. Bill also provided financial aid for veterans who wished to attend college. The government kick started a housing boom in the United States by providing and securing low interest loans. Many industries and jobs were created with the increasing housing demand as a result of the G.I. Bill. The modern suburb was transformed in the years following World War II as veterans took advantage of low interest loans. Veterans with college degrees ultimately helped to create new industries and opportunities in the 1950s and 1960s. As jobs became increasingly abundant, consumerism helped fuel the United States status as one of the world’s leading superpowers.
The National Interstate and Defense Act
Former United States general and Supreme Allied Commander during World War II, Dwight D. Eisenhower became the 34th President of the United States of America. With his knowledge of military tactics and defense, Eisenhower hoped to secure jobs and expand infrastructure.
To accomplish this, Eisenhower hoped to expand the nation’s highway system to promote more efficient travel and trade and even to facilitate the swift movement of troops and weapons as needed in response to the Cold War threat from the Soviet Union. The government expanded older, smaller systems to wider highways. These efforts not only helped to transport military supplies more efficiently but also consumer goods. The expanded highway system also helped with urban sprawl and created new suburban communities in the process.
McCarthyism
The Cold War was an era of tension not only between specific superpowers but also between communism and capitalism. The two most prominent players in those systems were the Soviet Union and the United States. The Truman Doctrine sought to prevent the spread of communism in Europe, Asia and the Middle East. But what about the spread of communism in the United States? It was this fear that prompted an atmosphere known as the “Red Scare.” Because the color red is commonly associate with communism, the “Red Scare” was the fear of communism spreading in the United States or influencing political and economic decisions in the United States. Joseph McCarthy, a United States Senator from Wisconsin, became synonymous with the Red Scare. McCarthy accused government officials and even of Hollywood figures of being communist supporters.
Without evidence, McCarthy created a “witch hunt” in his pursuit of these individuals. Furthermore, his pursuits only further exacerbated the fears of communism in the United States. McCarthy brought his suspects before hearings which were nationally televised. Additionally, McCarthy’s accusations destroyed many innocent people’s careers and their reputations forever. Unfortunately for McCarthy, the lack of evidence to his accusations, combined with his treatment of witnesses (some of them respected veterans) turned public opinion against him and his hearings. McCarthy went back home to Wisconsin and died in obscurity as an alcoholic. Today, the term “McCarthyism” is associated with wrongful accusations without evidence to support.
Integration
The Cold War period was also a period of social progress in the form of racial integration in many areas leading into the civil rights era. In 1948, President Harry Truman signed an executive order that ended segregation in the United States military.
This effort not only benefited American military capabilities during the 1950s, especially during the Korean War, but also created a cultural acceptance of racial integration for many Americans. That cultural acceptance prompted more understanding and acceptance of racial equality during the 1960s. Later President Eisenhower signed an additional executive order which pushed stricter enforcement of President Roosevelt’s wartime order of anti-discrimination in federal workplaces. Combined, the executive orders of President Roosevelt, President Truman and President Eisenhower would help to lay the foundation for the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
Brown vs Board of Education
One of the most famous United States Supreme Court cases in United States history is Brown v. Board of Education, Topeka Kansas. The court case was brought by a number of students’ families, but student Linda Brown’s name was the first to appear and she became the student associated with the case. This ruling essentially overturned the previous 1896 Supreme Court ruling in Plessy v. Ferguson. Plessy v. Ferguson established the “separate but equal” interpretation of the law that basically legalized racial segregation. As a result, many public institutions could legally segregate based on race. Public schools were not immune to racial segregation. Many communities, especially in the racially segregated South, had separate schools for whites and African American students. The United States Supreme Court ruling in Brown v. Board of Education supported the claim that separate schools based on race were unequal. So where Plessy v. Ferguson provided for “separate but equal,” Brown v. Board of Education concluded that “separate is not equal.” The Supreme Court decision stopped short of establishing a deadline for integration of public schools and advised that school systems should integrate in a “reasonable” amount of time. The term “reasonable” allowed schools to implement integration on their own timetable, and desegregation was postponed for decades in many locations.
Tensions mounted following the Brown ruling. Many Southern states protested the integration of schools from public schools to colleges and universities. The most notable moment occurred in Little Rock, Arkansas. The governor of Arkansas, Orval Faubus, not only protested the decision, but threatened to use the Arkansas National Guard under his orders to block the integration of Little Rock Central High School. Forbus’ action forced President Eisenhower to federalize the Arkansas National Guard under his authority as Commander in Chief. Furthermore, Eisenhower ordered the 101st Airborne to enforce the integration and protect the African American students (known as the “Little Rock Nine”) as they attended class.