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The 1950’s are often portrayed as a period of social cohesion, why is this misleading?

The 1950’s was a very tense time for the United States. Giving the 1950’s the title “a period of social cohesion” is very misleading. The war had just ended and all the soldiers were returning home to their families and it we were entering into the period of the baby boom. It was looking like the United States was in a prime position to thrive, little did people know there were some major troubles in the near future.

Communism became a big topic of discussion in America which lead to the McCarthy hearings. The outbreak of the Korean War also meant U.S. troops would be sent back out to help with the conflict. The comic book industry also stirred up some controversy with the content the writers were filling the pages with. Many thought the increase of violence among young people during this time was due to the comics they were reading. The common tends in comic topics in the 1950’s had to do with a lot of crime and violence. People became upset with the comic book creators and demanded a change in their content. The comic codes were released throughout the 1950’s putting constraints on what writer could and could not write about. These codes cleaned up the issue and people moved on from that matter.

Calling the 1950’s and period of social cohesion is a very misleading title. Many people ignored the problems going on during this time because it didn’t directly affect them. This decade was full of problems and troubles and therefore was not a time of social cohesion.

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