AQA A-level History: The American
Dream - Reality and illusion (Truman -
Kennedy)
Harry Truman
African Americans in the North and
South during Truman years
'To secure these rights' - A scathing attack on
all aspects of discrimination both in the North
and especially the south. Citing education,
housing, public facilities (e.g Water fountains)
and voting rights as key areas of
discrimination.
February 1948:
Radical civil
rights speech to
congress.
Asking for
support for
measures
including
federal
protection
against
lynching,
protection of
the right to vote
etc
'Journey of Reconciliation' - April 10th 1947, two-week bus
journey through Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee and
Kentucky. Consisting of a group of eight white and eight black
men. Journey done in an effort to end segregation in
interstate travel.
NAACP, Most successful civil rights group in the Truman years. Won numerous
court cases between 1944 - 1950. Many of their cases focused on undermining
the 1896 Plessy v. Ferguson court case. Key examples: 1954 Brown v. Board of
Education case, 1950 - Henderson v. US, 1944 - Smith v. Allwright
South
Jim crow Laws
Education segregated
African americans kept from voting using
border line illegal methods
Lynching threat hung over the black population
African Americans lived in small rural towns, working in
agricultural occupations or menial service roles
Ku Klux Klan
North
Prejudice not enforced by Jim Crow
Laws, but by a combination of
economic segregation, social
pressure and ghettoisation
'Great migration' of African Americans
from the south the rest of america.
Brought on by various factors, the KKK,
Great depression, and new jobs made
from the creation of new factories in the
north
African americans lived in
cramped apartments in the
centre of cities. Rent was
often High.
De facto segregation
Justice system far harsher on black
defendants than white defendants
Faced severe opposition in congress from Dixiecrats and fellow democrats such as
James O Eastland, Strom Thurmond - both extreme racists. Covering their racism
with defending the rights of their states from federal interference
The USA as a superpower
Berlin Airlift
25th March 1948 Stalin cut the Allies out
of the Eastern Bloc by blockading Berlin
citing 'technical difficulties' as a reason.
Truman responded with an act of political
brinkmanship. With help by the RAF he
ordered 1.5 million tons of supplies, in
275000 flights, to be flown into Berlin over
the next 324 days
May 1949. Stalin lifted the blockade
after he realized the only way to stop
the airlift was to attack the aircraft
directly.
Truman's finest hour in foreign policy
Occupation of Japan
After the surrender of the
Japanese. 350,000 US troops
poured into Japan and
General Douglas MacArthur
was given dictatorial powers
to transform the country into
a modern democracy
Between 1949 and 1952:
Communists were banned from
government posts, Article 9 of the
new consititution renounced war as
an instrument of policy and a
democratically elected government
was consitituted with votes for
women