As World War II drew to a close, a new American culture was developing throughout the United States. Families were moving from crowded cities to spacious suburban towns to help create a better life for them during and after the postwar baby boom. Teenagers were starting to become independent by listening to their own music and not wearing the same style of clothing as their parents. Aside from the progress of society that occurred during this period, many people still did not discuss controversial issues such as divorce and sexual relations among young people. Although many historians consider the 1950s to be a time of true conservatism at its height, they could actually be considered a time of true progress in the American way of life. Along with the Korean War, many Americans were also affected by tensions between America and the United States. Communist Russia. The Russian hydrogen bomb of 1953 had frightened people into believing that Communist Russia might start an atomic war, ending life as most people knew it. Scholars of the time were afraid to teach anything about what Marxism (communism) was. According to Daily Life in the United States, 1940-1959, Shifting Worlds (Kaldin, 2000). There were also very few communists teaching at universities like Harvard in the 1950s because of the fear Americans had of communists during that time. From 1951 to 1957, 300 teachers were fired from New York public schools because they failed to provide the names of allegedly communist teachers. This shows how difficult it was for Americans to talk about communism, even when the culture had started to become more liberal towards the end of the decade, as the 1960s began. Many... middle of paper... ...ng to other senators to censure their behavior. In conclusion, the 1950s are considered by many historians to be a decade of progress, rather than a period of great conservatism. We can still find signs of progress since the 1950s in our world today, in everything from housing to appliances to popular culture. This period also introduced some new ideas into American culture through television programs, radio, and newspapers. Works Cited Kaldin, Eugenia. Daily Life in the United States, 1940-1959, Shifting Worlds. . Westport, CT: Greenwood Pres, 2000. Print. Kallen, Stuart . A Cultural History of the United States Through the Decades: The 1950s. San Diego, CA: Lucent books, Inc., 1999. Print.Powers, Richard. “Teenagers of the 1950s.” Social dance at Stanford. Np, nd Web. March 13. 2012. .