Cultural+Change+and+Mass+Hysteria

Cultural Change and Mass Hysteria

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The Soviet Sputnik Satellite launch also brought great fear and hysteria to the American people and culture.

// Nuclear Threats // Directly after the launch of the Soviet Satellite, it was an almost knee jerk reaction to assume that the Soviets possessed the power to fire missiles and nuclear bombs from space. Everyone fell under this category too; children, housewives, fathers, politicians, and even president Lyndon Johnson was in fear of the threat of nuclear attack from above. “Now, somehow, in some new way, the sky seemed almost alien”. So in response to this fear, it was advised for families to construct bomb shelters in their home for protection of a possible nuclear attack. It was designed to allow those inside it to avoid exposure to harmful fallout from a nuclear blast and its likely aftermath of radiation until radioactivity has dropped to a safer level. Kennedy and his administration advocated these bomb shelters because of numerous Soviet related nuclear events including the launch of the Sputnik. Furthermore, schools also practiced “bomb-raid drills” where students would literally fall to the ground, and put their hands over their heads in case there was a cause for a nuclear threat (Smith).

Obviously this hysteria was all for nothing during the Cold War. But there is a plausible reason for this hysteria. Before the launch of the Sputnik, only 10% of Americans knew what a satellite actually was; after launch, nearly 90% were familiar with the term (Zak). So what must have caused this hysteria was the confusion of what a satellite really was. Most Americans couldn’t have known that a 189 pound aluminum ball isn’t capable of firing missiles. In fact, the main job of the Sputnik Satellites was to map certain galaxies in space and take the occasional temperature of the atmosphere (Garber).

// School Funding // To ensure America remained in the forefront of educational standards, bills were passed through Congress to help enrich students to ensure for a more prosperous future. One of the most important and significant acts was the National Defense Education Bill, which encouraged the hiring of highly qualified instructors that could teach practical use of math and sciences in the world. Along with the pouring of money in to America’s educational system, came with the addition of the Advanced Placement system that still continues today. The AP classes were made in order to educate the especially gifted children to become engineers and other practical jobs that could help progress America in the future.

Even though it was unorganized, the attempt to make the children of the United States was a good idea. Obviously when children are smarter, they’re able to compete with that of future generations of other countries. References