Georgia
and the American Experience
Chapter 12:
Baby Boomers,
Rebellion, and Wars
Study Presentation
©2005 Clairmont Press
Georgia
and the American Experience
Section 1: The Postwar Period
Section 2: Georgia After WWII
Section 3: The Civil Rights
Movement
Section 4: A Period of Protests and
Challenges
©2005 Clairmont Press
Section 1: The Postwar
Period
• ESSENTIAL QUESTION:
– How was life in the U.S. different
after WWII?
Section 1: The Postwar
Period
• What words do I need to know?
– suburbs
– baby boom
– Cold War
– Korean War
Television Changes America
• Television use expanded in the 1950s
• Frozen dinners were invented to heat
quickly and eat in front of the TV
• More televisions were in homes and
people spent more time watching
• ABC, CBS, NBC were major networks
• Entertainment was important
• People could now watch news events
almost as they happened
The Cold War
• Relations between the US and USSR
became tense
• Cold War: a war of words and diplomacy
• US and USSR were world’s most powerful
countries
• USSR kept eastern Europe in communism
behind the “iron curtain”
• Containment of communism led to war in
Korea and Vietnam
The Korean War
• Korea was divided after WWII
• 38th parallel was line between communist North
and democratic South
• June 25, 1950: North Korea invaded South
Korea
• United Nations countries sent troops to assist
South Korea
• 25,000 Americans killed; 500 Georgians
• Peace declared in July 1953; no winner
• Many businesses benefited from doing business
with the military bases and armed forces
Click to return to Table of Contents.
Section 2:
Georgia After WWII
• ESSENTIAL QUESTION:
–What events affected Georgians
after World War II?
Section 2:
Georgia After WWII
• What words do I need to know?
– National School Lunch Act
– Georgia Minimum Foundation Program for
Education Act
– one-person, one-vote concept
– reapportionment
An Atlanta Tragedy
•
•
•
•
December 7, 1946: Winecoff Hotel fire
Hotel was Atlanta’s tallest at 15 floors
There were nearly 300 guests; 119 killed
1948: Georgia enacted stricter fire codes for
hotels and other businesses
Industries Move into
Georgia
• Businesses continued to move into the state
• Air conditioning began to be installed
making year round work more comfortable
• Georgia’s low taxes were attractive to
workers and businesses
• Lockheed became largest employer
• CDC: Centers for Disease Control – Atlanta
headquarters established
The Three Governors
Episode
• Newly re-elected governor Eugene
Talmadge died before taking office
• The previous governor, Ellis Arnall, the
Lieutenant Governor, and Talmadge’s son,
Herman, fought over who would govern
• The Georgia Supreme Court ruled that a
special election must be held
• Herman Talmadge was elected
Georgia Governors
• Melvin Thomas: purchased Jekyll Island to
build a state-owned resort; established UGA
Veterinary School
• Herman Talmadge: Minimum Foundation
Program for Education Act – established 9month school year raised standards for
schools
• Marvin Griffin: began educational television;
oversaw purchase of Stone Mountain for
park
“One Person, One Vote”
• The concept that each citizen’s vote should
equal every other citizen’s vote
• County-unit system was declared
unconstitutional in 1962
• This change caused more representatives to
come from urban areas
• General Assembly had to reapportion
(redraw) voting districts to ensure districts of
equal population size
Georgia Governors
• Carl Sanders: elected in 1962; worked to
diffuse racial violence; increased spending
on education; used television ads to
campaign
• Lester Maddox: elected 1967; surprise
winner; appointed more African Americans
to state office than all other governors
combined; integrated the State Patrol;
“People’s Days” – any Georgian could visit
and talk with the governor
Click to return to Table of Contents.
Section 3:
The Civil Rights
Movement
• ESSENTIAL QUESTION
– What advances were made in civil rights
during the postwar period?
Section 3:
The Civil Rights
Movement
• What words do I need to know?
– Brown v. Board of Education
– Southern Christian Leadership Conference
– Sit-in
– Student Nonviolent Coordinating
Committee
– Civil Rights Act of 1964
– Voting Rights Act of 1965
Section 3:
The Civil Rights
Movement
• What people do I need to know?
– Martin Luther King, Jr.
– Charlayne Hunter & Hamilton Holmes
– Ivan Allen
– Andrew Young
The Supreme Court and
Education
• 1948: racial integration ordered in armed
forces
• 1950: Brown v. Board of Education – case
struck down “separate but equal” concept;
schools were to be integrated
• Sibley Commission: found that most
Georgians would rather close schools than
integrate
• More private schools opened
• 1961: Charlayne Hunter and Hamilton Holmes
first African American students at UGA
• 1971: All Georgia public schools integrated
Montgomery Bus Boycott
• Dec. 1, 1955: Rosa Parks, African
American, refused to give up her bus
seat to whites in Montgomery, AL
• Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and the
NAACP organized civic leaders and
prepared marches
• Supreme court ruled segregation on
public transportation unconstitutional
A Nonviolent Movement is
Born
• Martin Luther King, Jr. of Atlanta
• Developed a nonviolent approach to social
change
• Four-prong approach:
–
–
–
–
direct, nonviolent actions
legal remedies
ballots
economic boycotts
• SCLC: Southern Christian Leadership
Conference – civil rights group led by Dr. King
• Sit-in: Dr. King’s strategy to people refuse to
leave a public building until their demands are
met
The Albany Movement
• 1961: Albany, GA becomes center of civil
rights activity
• SNCC: Student Nonviolent Coordinating
Committee – challenged segregated bus
system in Albany
• Nearly 500 people jailed
• Biracial committee formed to study
concerns of African Americans
Protests Move to Alabama
• 1963: Martin Luther King, Jr. begins work to
integrate all aspects of public life in
Birmingham, AL
• Over 3000 people arrested
• Bomb killed 4 black children in their church
• African Americans and whites from the
north and south began to join together to
stop the violence
The Civil Rights Act
• President Kennedy created new civil rights
laws
• Kennedy was assassinated before the new
laws came into effect
• Lyndon Johnson became president and
pushed for passage of the Civil Rights Act
of 1964
• All public facilities had to be integrated
• Discrimination was prohibited in business
and labor unions
The Voting Rights Act
• 1964: Freedom Summer – Martin Luther
King, Jr. and SNCC worked to get African
Americans registered to vote
• Selma-to-Montgomery, AL march led by Dr.
King
• Nearly 30,000 marchers
• Congress passed the Voting Rights Act of
1965 – one million African Americans were
registered to vote
A Shift in Mood
• Some people moved from the nonviolent
strategies to more aggressive ones
• SNCC and “Black Panthers” confronted
police
• Malcolm X preached black separatism
• Race riots in Los Angeles, Detroit, and
Newark
• April 1968: Dr. King assassinated in
Memphis, TN while working with striking
sanitation workers
Atlanta: A Case Study in
Change
• Integration in Atlanta was relatively peaceful
• Church leaders get much credit for this peaceful
change
• William Hartsfield: Atlanta mayor who expanded
Atlanta’s airport and worked with African
American and white leaders; worked to integrate
Atlanta’s schools
• Ivan Allen: Atlanta mayor ordered removal of
“white” and “colored” segregation signs in the City
Hall; integrated police and fire services and city
government
• Troubled times followed but were overcome
• The city became known as “the city too busy to
hate”
Click to return to Table of Contents.
Section 4: A Period of
Protests and Challenges
• ESSENTIAL QUESTION
– What problems faced Americans
during the 1970s?
Section 4: A Period of
Protests and Challenges
• What words do I need to know?
– Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority
– women’s rights movement
– affirmative action program
– National Organization for Women
– National Women’s Political Caucus
– Equal Rights Amendment
– Title IX
– Vietnam War
– Watergate
Georgia in the 1970s
• Ted Turner: TBS television network expanded
from one station to a national network
• MARTA: Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit
Authority – began rapid rail service in Atlanta
• James Earl Carter: 1970 – elected governor of
Georgia; 1977-1980 served as President of the
United States
– As president, negotiated peace between Israel and
Egypt
– Problems as president: high energy costs, high interest
rates, high inflation, 52 American hostages held in Iran
• Georgia cities began to lose population to the
suburbs
• Cities have worked to attract residents
The Women’s Rights
Movement
• Women’s Rights Movement: women gained
confidence that they could do the same jobs as
men and should have the same rights
• Women often could not get credit at banks
• NOW: National Organization for Women –
promoted women’s rights issues
• ERA: Equal Rights Amendment – never became
part of the Constitution
• 1972: Title IX – President Nixon signed law which
prohibited discrimination in education (academics
or athletics)
Vietnam Divides America
• North Vietnam: communist
• South Vietnam: democratic
• USA began support South Vietnam against
the North
• 1968: Over 500,000 Americans involved in
Vietnam War
• Protests against the war increased
• 1973: war ended with no clear victor –
Vietnam is now united and communist
Watergate
• 1972: Group of men arrested for breaking
into the Watergate building in Washington,
DC to “bug” Democratic National Committee
offices
• Evidence supported that President Nixon
knew of the burglary and tried to cover it up
• Nixon resigned and Vice-President Gerald
Ford became president
The Energy Crisis
• 1973: US supports Israel in its war with
Egypt
• Arab nations stop selling oil to the US
• Price of gas went up and there were
shortages
• Georgians began to drive less and purchase
fuel-efficient cars
• Prudhoe Bay, Alaska: Alaskan Pipeline
brought oil to the “lower 48” states
Click to return to Table of Contents.
Click to return to Table of Contents.