Documents from Reading the American Past

Chapter 27

Introduction to the Documents

During the 1950s, Americans bought homes, refrigerators, cars, television sets, and other goods at an unprecedented pace. People could not seem to get enough of anything. Many worried that prosperity had a dark side that threatened to undermine traditional values, while the Cold War caused government officials to make civil defense plans for a possible nuclear Armageddon, thereby spreading public anxiety. In the Cold War climate, raising questions about the role of women, the justice of segregation, or the Cold War itself seemed subversive to many people. The numerous achievements of the nation during the 1950s seemed to be creating new, unsettling problems. The documents that follow illustrate Americans' often conflicting faith in both the new and the tried and true.