american history question

[gwilliams]

Why did Americans want to be conventional and live in a conforming society after World War II? What forces and or factors changed that conformity to one of protest?

[dot.haukes]

this is a course work question that probably requires you to work through your reading material and course notes, understand the facts and present your interpretation of them to fit in with the set question. We can probably all Google some relevant material, but just copying others will not demonstrate your understanding of the subject nor relay to your course tutor that you have been competent at this level

[gwilliams]

i have done a two paragraph essay on it already:

Why did Americans want to be conventional and live in a conforming society after World War II? Americans wanted to conform after World War II because they felt united after joining together to defeat the Axis powers in World War II. After World War II, Americans saw themselves as the big winners in a good (Allied forces- England, USA, etc) versus evil (the Nazis and the other Axis forces, the Japanese who bombed Pearl Harbor and the Italian Fascists) battle. The economy was strong for the first time since before the Great Depression and we were victorious, democratic saviors and world leaders. Americans felt proud. Americans wanted to conform because after World War II and with the Cold War, Americans felt very united and didn't want to be seen as different or even anti-American. This good vs. evil view continued in the post World War II Cold War where we were the good guys vs. bad guy Communists. Americans feared communism and another war so they did not want to be seen as having a different view than the majority. They did not want to be accused of being anti-American or communist. And people who were seen as different, met with bad results � after World War II people seen to be communists would lose their jobs, be attacked by HUAC (The House Un-American Activities Committee), and other consequences. Concluding sentence.

[gwilliams]

What forces and or factors changed that conformity to one of protest? In the end the population became divided over such issues as civil rights, the equality of women, and Vietnam. Whereas people were so proud of their government and nation in fighting the World War II enemies and in the Cold War battles, some things had happened to lessen people's faith in government � �losing� the �Race to Space,� the embarrassment of the Bay of Pigs, and other fixations. At the time the newest form of rebellion was rock �n roll. Rock �n roll was rebellious and reflected the desire to escape conformity; it also helped break down racial barriers as white teenagers began to embrace the black musical culture. Another aspect is the television just coming out. American�s were now able to see the election of Richard M. Nixon and John F Kennedy instead of just listening to what they have to say. Because Americans now are able to see the candidates for the upcoming election they have a totally different look on everything. Although Nixon may have won the radio debate, Kennedy definitely took the lead with the television, because of his looks. Because of the cover up for the scandal Nixon lied about, made people lose faith in their government and protest. Americans were united against outside forces like Nazis or Communists, but became divided over internal issues like whether or not to give African Americans equal rights. America was supposed to be this big defender of liberty but hypocritically did not give equal rights to its own people. Also, we "lost" the war in Korea � diminishing our stance as the big victors. Later, there was the embarrassment of the Bay of Pigs, which ended with a humiliating surrender of covert (undercover) American volunteers being surrounded by Cuban forces after attempting to start a revolution on the island against the young communist Cuban dictator, Fidel Castro. Concluding sentence.


is it good?

[paraffin]

gwilliams:

Far be it from me to dampen your enthusiasm, however, no matter what any of our opinions may be, they would ultimately mean nothing for fear that they could be nothing more than an inaccurate assessment of your hard work.

Good luck, work hard and I'm sure you'll get your reward.

[Clanad]

The problem with your two paragraph assessment is one of continuity. Your original question implies after World War II, which should include the rest of the 1940's and, perhaps the Eisenhower years of the 1950's.

As it is you intermix Vietnam, Bay of Pigs, Space Race and a host of other subjects that, while important, do not apply to the immeditate question.

A little more organization would certainly help.

Additionally, you overlook the fairly severe recession in the U.S. during the early 1950's. That must be incorporated in any analysis since the majority of the Great Depression era citizens were sitll alive and remember clearly the trauma suffered of the nation caused by the event.

I think you overlook the residual affects of a society that, for at least 4 years if not more, was highly organized and autocratically goverened for one cause. That cause being achieved you now have millions of young men returning thtat have been militarized for the same 4 years. The respect for authority and organization was completely foreign to the still young U.S. but certainly ingrained and contributed to a "follow the orders" outlook and should be considered...

Good luck!

[jno]

very broadly, you're talking about two different generations. Those born in the 1920s or so just wanted a peaceful life after WW2. It was their children, the baby boomers born after the war, who became agitated over what they saw as mindless conformity, continuing militarism and an increasingly consumerist society.

[gwilliams]

Thank you all for your very nice responses. i have re done some of my essay so here it is, tell me what you think:

Why did Americans want to be conventional and live in a conforming society after World War II? Americans wanted to conform after World War II because they felt united after joining together to defeat the Axis powers in World War II. After World War II, Americans saw themselves as the big winners in a good (Allied forces- England and USA) versus evil (the Nazis and the other Axis forces; the Japanese who bombed Pearl Harbor; and the Italian Fascists) battle. The economy was strong for the first time since before the Great Depression and we were victorious, democratic saviors and world leaders. Americans felt proud. Americans wanted to conform because after World War II, and with the Cold War, Americans felt united but did not want to be seen as different or even anti-American. So they conformed to a unified ideology. This good vs. evil ideology continued in the post-World War II Cold War where we were the good guys vs. the bad guys who were the Communists. Americans feared communism and possibly another war so they did not want to be seen as having a different view than the majority. The majority did not want to see the idea of communism prevail; it was seen as anti-American. People who were seen as different met with bad results. After World War II people believed to be communists would lose their jobs, and they were attacked by HUAC (House Un-American Activities Committee), and other consequences. Americans had rallied together, fought and defeated enemies and ultimately wanted to enjoy peace as a nation and prosperity as a people. They enjoyed retreating to the borders of the U.S. but that proved to create conformity as a nation.

[gwilliams]

What forces and or factors changed that conformity to one of protest? In the end, the population became divided over such issues as civil rights, the equality of women, and Vietnam. Whereas people were so proud of their government and nation in fighting World War II enemies and in the Cold War battles, some things had happened to lessen people's faith in government � for example �losing� the �Race to Space,� and the embarrassment of the Bay of Pigs. At the time the newest form of rebellion was rock �n roll. Rock �n roll was rebellious and reflected the desire to escape conformity. It also helped break down racial barriers as white teenagers began to embrace black musical culture. Another aspect was the television being introduced. American�s were now able to see the election of Richard M. Nixon and John F. Kennedy instead of just listening to what they had to say. Americans were for the first time able to see the candidates during upcoming elections and have a totally different perspective on them, due to there on camera appearance. Although Nixon may have won the radio debate, Kennedy definitely took the lead with the TV debate because of his on camera appeal. Due to the cover-up of the Watergate scandal, Nixon was seen as a liar. A president lying made people lose faith in their government and they protested. Another example was that Americans were also protesting and much divided over internal issues on whether or not to give African Americans equal rights. America was supposed to be this big defender of liberty (WWII) but hypocritically did not give equal rights to its own people. In addition, as a nation we were embarrassed by �losing� the war in Korea therefore diminishing our stance as the big winners. Later, there was the embarrassment of the Bay of Pigs, which

[gwilliams]

ended with a humiliating surrender of covert American volunteers being surrounded by Cuban forces after attempting to start a revolution on the island against the young communist Cuban dictator, Fidel Castro. When times are good people go along for the ride and ride the good times. But when people are lied to they get confused and then angry. When angry they protest�and protest leads to change and conformity.

is it good? Any better than before?

[jno]

I'd try to make the chronological order of all this a bit clearer - rock and roll was before the Bay of Pigs which was before Watergate; these events played out over the best part of 20 years and the growth in distrust of government was not an overnight thing.

Also, say Britain instead of England.