The 1950s are often remembered as peaceful and prosperous — but beneath the suburbs and sitcoms, tensions simmered. From teenage rebellion and rock & roll to civil rights battles and Cold War anxieties, this deep dive explores the decade's contradictions. Discover how conformity clashed with change, and how the seeds of future upheaval were quietly planted amid the station wagons and transistor radios.

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List of Sources:

Troubling Teenagers: How Movies Constructed the Juvenile Delinquent in the 1950s | David Buckingham (Note: Link is to the broader source, as no direct URL was provided)

1950s | Wikipedia

1950s American Society and Conformity | TeachRock

America at Midcentury - 1945–1961 | Cengage

Best Methods to Study for the Exam? - APUSH | Reddit

Grown Up in the 1950s – The Rise of Rock and Roll Music | HISTORY (closest general match, no explicit link provided)

On The Road: Kerouac. Why is this book considered a classic? | Reddit

Automobile Suburbia | International Journal of Humanities and Social Science | IJHSSNet

The Civil Rights Movement | U.S. History Primary Source Timeline | Library of Congress | Library of Congress

The Rise of American Consumerism in the Fifties | DSpace at Kasdi Merbah University Ouargla

The Rise of American Consumerism | American Experience | PBS

The Space Race | Miller Center

The USA: The Domestic Policies of Truman and Eisenhower | Cambridge University Press (General site, as no specific link available)

Was Postwar Suburbanization “White Flight”? Evidence from the Black Migration | Leah Platt Boustan (Hosted at Alabama Maps and other academic sites)

What is the Beat Generation? | Beatdom

Wrong Turn: America's Car Culture and the Road Not Taken | Yale e360