When America Was Rocked!
In History Channel’s 10 Days That Unexpectedly Changed America, one of the events was on September 9, 1956 when Elvis Presley appeared on the Ed Sullivan Show. Tell me why this is considered a turning point in American history based on what you learned these past 2 weeks concerning post-WWII America?
October 2nd, 2008 at 4:34 pm
I learned that back then, everybody was conservative. They wore coats, ties, and hats everywhere, even at baseball games!
Everyone went to church and went to school. Segregation was a normal thing and Whites still treated Blacks badly even though the Blacks were super nice to the Whites. They had good manners. They watched The Ed Sullivan show and parents were happy.
One day horror struck in the eyes of parents everywhere in America in the 1950′s. ROCK ‘N’ ROLL!!!
White teenagers would sneak out to watch Rock ‘n’ Roll almost every night. Either they would go to the concerts or listen to the radio under their pillows. 
We watched a movie and a man at church was saying that rock ‘n’ roll was bad for you. He said, “…the beat, the beat, the beat!” was where you get lost in.
As Mr. Chung said, the History Channel’s 10 Days That Unexpectedly Changed America had 9/9/1956 in it. That was Elvis’ first appearance. To the parents, the kids went nuts.
To the teens, he was awesome! 8) But, he wasn’t what the parents would call CONSERVATIVE. He was considered liberal. Some [adults] say he was evil because he ”shakes and quakes”. Also, he was a White that sang like the Blacks.
He was called and told that he had to clean up his act. Elvis had to wear a tux and tail or else he could not perform any more. He tried to sing that way but his fans thought he turned bogus.
He then went back to his old ways.
But, when he was on the Ed Sullivan Show, he was accepted because Ed Sullivan was considered a conservative show. Elvis was only accepted because Sullivan wanted money. $$$
Now, Elvis is considered conservative.
October 2nd, 2008 at 8:01 pm
In the 50s, everything you could think of was conservative! Even music! This was a time when segregation was starting to end meaning Blacks were getting their equal rights back very slowly. But as music progressed, so did the world. Parents would tell their children never to listen to Black music. But obviously teenagers, little sneaky buggers that they are listened to the music, and sure enough almost every teenager in America started to listen to what they would call Black music. But they didn’t listen to Black music just to upset their parents! They obviously loved it! Some examples of what Whites would call Black music was rock ‘n’ roll and rhythm ‘n’ blues. To be honest with you, I don’t even know why parents didn’t want their children to listen to this kind of music. The parents actually thought that Black music was evil because of the feeling that you get when you sang it! In fact, this became such a big deal that parents started to take their kids to church and pray that they would never ever in their whole life consider listening to Black music!
Believe it or not, the only time that Black music became accepted was when Ed Sullivan on the Ed Sullivan show actually let Elvis Presley sing on the show!!!
October 2nd, 2008 at 8:25 pm
September 9th, 1956 on the Ed Sullivan show, Elvis Presley showed up! I think this is considered the turning point because after World War II, America was very conservative. The music, clothing, everything was conservative! Even when you went to a baseball game, people were wearing a tie. When Elvis came, his music was so liberal at that time that parents didn’t want their kids to watch it. Elvis also sang like a Black person. Here is a list of things that changed when he appeared.
1) Whites started buying Black music even though it was thought to be wrong.
2) Whites would sneak into Black clubs to hear Black people singing and performing on the stage.
3) Kids started dressing up like Elvis or wearing on their skirts, “I love Elvis!!” They pretty much copied
everything about Elvis.
4) Most of the people watched the Ed Sullivan show when Elvis was performing on it.
5) Kids and teenagers would sneak radios under their pillows to listen to Elvis.
6) White people would go into Black churches just to hear them sing.
7) White children started acting like Black people because Elvis acted like Blacks.
Some events that happened because of Elvis was:
1) USA started to accept his music
2) He was allowed to sing on the Ed Sullivan show because Ed Sullivan wanted money.
Some people said Elvis Presley was not conservative, but when he wasn’t on the stage, he was very polite and said phrases such as,” Thank you ma’am.”
I think Elvis inspired other people to respect Black people.
October 3rd, 2008 at 10:35 am
I think this is a turning point in American History because after WW II, then the Cold War when everybody was afraid of being blown up by nuclear weapons, America was very conservative. Then segregation fought by the Blacks like Rosa Parks, when she refused to give up her seat for a White person. Black music was introduced to many White teenagers by watching Blacks sing in church. Then Elvis came and people thought the way he moved and danced was just crazy. So the parents got worried about their kids listening and watching Elvis so some states banned Elvis from there states. When Elvis appeared on the Ed Sullivan show, people started started to accept him for all his dancing and singing. Elvis Presley helped turned the world from conservative to more liberal.
October 3rd, 2008 at 6:28 pm
In the 1950s, the Cold War between Russia and America started. The reason that it was called the cold war was because everybody was afraid of being blown up by nuclear bombs. America and Russia both advanced in technology so both countries had nuclear bombs pointed at each other.
This Cole War lasted from the late 1940s all the way to the 80s!
October 4th, 2008 at 10:34 am
I think Elvis made a lot of parents really angry because they thought that the music Elvis Presley sang and played was the devil’s music. All adults, not just parents, thought that the way he danced was a bad influence on the young adults and children.
I learned that they would call it the devil’s music by the way it would make you feel, just like what the priest said in the video. It made you feel really excited and happy. Most adults would say that it made you feel happy, like you were on drugs.
Most people didn’t like Elvis because he didn’t have a problem with people that had a different skin color. He would act more like the African-Americans because he liked their music, and the Americans did not. People started to accept him after he performed on the Ed Sullivan show because everyone thought that the Ed Sullivan Show was a very proper show for their kids to be watching, and that anything on the Ed Sullivan show wouldn’t be bad.
October 4th, 2008 at 10:46 am
Capri, we were in a Cold War with the Soviet Union. It means that while we did not fight directly with them, we had nuclear weapons pointed at each other. Everyone was afraid to start anything because it would mean the end of both countries because of the nuclear weapons. Instead, the United States and the Soviet Union had proxy wars in which they would fight each other through other countries. The United States was not trying to get more territory, but to halt the spread of Communism which would have diminished American influence in the world. The Cold War did last about 40 years, and thankfully no nuclear weapons were fired. What we are afraid of today is that there might be another Cold War developing with Russia. In a recent TFK, we read news about Georgia, a republic near Russia. The situation there is heightening tensions between the United States and Russia. We will learn more about this later in class.
October 4th, 2008 at 7:30 pm
I think that segregation really changed the world. Segregation was when the Blacks were separated by the Whites, but remember now this wasn’t just Whites thought that they were better than the Blacks. This was such a big deal that they even made laws like Blacks couldn’t drink from the same water fountain as the Whites!
I think segregation changed the world because at that time in history, Blacks had to take a lot of criticism and what was worse is that no one ever got in trouble for teasing or even spitting on Blacks. Blacks had less opportunity. For example, Blacks could not play in many organized sports such as baseball.
Although to a lot of Whites it was a big deal, believe it or not, some Whites thought that was wrong to take away rights from the Blacks. Some person who took action in segregation being ended was Martin Luther King and Rosa Parks. Rosa Parks sat in the front of a bus where no Blacks were suppose to go and she was asked twice to leave or go to the back of the bus but she didn’t move one bit. She got arrested, but to me that shows that she stood for her rights and her actions really inspired me.
October 6th, 2008 at 9:07 am
After World War II, the White parents wanted their children to listen to conservative music since the war just happened. They want the country to be calm and safe. With the conservative music, they believed the teenagers will be safe. Then Elvis arrived and performed liberal music. It was all over for conservative music.
During this time there was also segregation. This meant the Blacks were separated from the Blacks. Since Elvis was a White man doing Black style music the parents hated him even more. The American South was segregated at that time. Elvis did not make a good first impression. The White parents then started to complain. Elvis was even asked to change his style.
Elvis did not like his career change from liberal music to conservative music. He then went to the Ed Sullivan show to perform his more liberal music. At first, Ed Sullivan did not want liberal music on his show. Then he changed his mind because money was involved.
Elvis’s family was liberal. Since he was raised liberal, he thought liberal music was normal. He was never thought that it was wrong.
October 6th, 2008 at 11:24 am
This was a big turning point for America because after World War II, all the adults that experienced the war but the teenagers did not go through the war so they do not know how bad things could be. Parents just wanted a safe and secure life. Because all the adults wanted to be safe, they wanted their kids to be safe with them. They were conservative. But, the teenagers just wanted to have fun.
One day this singer performed and had this talent that was definitely not conservative (in the olden days), it was liberal. The way he moved his legs was considered to be bad . He performed the music rock and roll and his name was Elvis Presley. All the teenagers thought this type of music was cool, but the adults thought it was the devil’s music. Elvis was forbidden from singing in some places. In churches, people would pray to God to be forgiven for listening to rock n roll.
People tried to change Elvis by making him not dance and making him wear a coat and tie. Everybody thought that Elvis was over but they were wrong. Elvis showed up on the Ed Sullivan’s show which was like the biggest thing back then. Ed Sullivan’s show was conservative and since Elvis was on there, the people started to accept him.
October 6th, 2008 at 3:58 pm
Back then, America was more conservative which means that men would go to work and wear a tie and suit all the time, even to baseball games. The wife would stay home, watch the kids and do chores around the house. Even what the kids listened to and watched was conservative, so when Elvis came, all of the parents thought that their kids shouldn’t listen to his music. Elvis was White but he shopped at Black stores and everybody thought that he was bad. The only way that Elvis was allowed to go back on TV was he had to clean up his act. On Elvis’s next appearance on TV, he had to wear a suit and tie and they made him sing a very conservative song. They told him that he couldn’t dance. Ed Sullivan who had a variety show on TV saw how popular Elvis was and put Elvis on his show even though ed Sullivan hated Elvis’ music because he wanted lots of people to watch his show. Since Ed Sullivan was a conservative show, people started to accept him and his music.
When Elvis appeared, parts of the South had segregation which means that Blacks and Whites were separated. Here comes Elvis who is White but dresses, dances, and sings like a Black person. Some people weren’t ready for it.
October 6th, 2008 at 4:24 pm
I think one thing that changed America was segregation. Segregation means to split up different people based on skin color. When there was a party, the Whites and the Blacks were split up. For example, the White people would be one one side, the policemen in the middle, and the Black people on the other side. Another example is Blacks had to sit at the back of the bus. The unfair part was that White teens snuck into Black church to hear them sing, but when the Black people tried to go into White churches, they got punished.
October 6th, 2008 at 8:10 pm
Elvis Presley loved to listen to rock ‘n’ roll when he was young. Elvis dances loose and he shakes his body, not in a conservative manner.
World War II is over and all the troops were coming home. People were all getting settled back into a routine. Then Elvis pops up on a stage and starts singing rock ‘n’ roll, the blues, and other kinds of liberal music. The parents said no way am I going to let my kids listen to the devil’s music! I want them to listen to nice music.
Elvis was so popular that White teenagers snuck out of their houses just to go to the concert. How crazy is that! Also in black churches, White teenagers were there just to hear the Black people sing hymns with their up-lifting voices.
We went on google video and found a White priest protesting to the crowd of people that rock ‘n’ roll is the devil’s music and how teenagers shouldn’t listen to it. Elvis Presley helped change this attitude.
October 6th, 2008 at 8:48 pm
It was a big turning point because we had just gotten out of WWII and the Cold War just started. Everyone wanted peace because they had to live in fear. They had bomb drills instead of fire drills. The U.S. and the Soviet Union were in a Cold War and had enough nuclear weapons pointing at each other to destroy the world ten times over. Instead they fought through other countries and had proxy wars.
It was horrible for the parents to watch Elvis Presley because they thought that rock and roll was the devil’s music and poisoned the minds of the children like a cobra piercing its fangs into a small mouse. Imagine that you lived back then and one night a singer with a whole lot of talent came onto stage and danced a move that they never saw before (I am not talking about Michael Jackson and the Moon Walk). It was so disturbing to the parents that Elvis was banned from some states. Then one day he got a call saying that if he didn’t clean up his act, he could never ever go on TV. Next time he was on TV, it was so hard for him to wear a tux and stand still through the whole show and not dance to his own songs.
Segregation was a big part of America and the music world because they had police separating the Black and White teenagers. When Elvis rocked the world on the Ed Sullivan Show it was a huge turning point in history because of how conservative America was. I mean they wore a tie to a baseball game. Elvis angered the parents whose kids listened to him and his music because he dressed like a Black person and sang like a Black person. You might wonder why or who would be this strict. It was the parents. If one of the children crossed the line, they would be arrested. The Whites could go into Black churches and stores to hear them sing and buy their products but the Blacks couldn’t go into White churches and stores or they would be punished to the full extent of the law.
October 7th, 2008 at 8:46 am
After WWII America was very conservative. They wore coats and ties, and they treated each other respectfully if they were White. On the other hand, they still treated the Blacks like garbage. At concerts the Whites made people put a rope and policemen between them and the Blacks.
In the 1950’s Elvis appeared for the first time on T.V. The kids loved it that the parents hated rock and roll. They said Elvis was evil because of the way he danced and dressed. People told him to clean up his act. Elvis obeyed and soon was performing again but he didn’t dance; he wore a tuxedo and acted conservative. This didn’t work for Elvis.
Another thing that happened after WWII was the Civil Rights movement. This is when Martin Luther King, Rosa Parks, Ruby Bridges and people like that were fighting for their rights as Blacks. Over time they got their rights back one by one, little by little, and now they are completely free to do what they want.
October 7th, 2008 at 9:31 am
Segregation was one thing that changed America. Segregation is a big thing for me because it doesn’t make sense to me that people would do such a thing. It’s not fair to the Blacks because they couldn’t go into the White stores but the Whites could go into the Black store. One thing that I saw in a scene in the Temptations movie was that Whites and the Blacks had to be separated by a rope and policemen when they were at the concert.
Another thing that changed America is World War II because the parents of the of teenagers experienced World War II. They wanted their teenagers to be safe, but the teenagers just wanted to have fun which leads us to when Elvis Presley came. When Elvis Presley came and started to sing rock ’n‘ roll, parents thought the music was evil. Then something else happened, he (Elvis Presley) was banned from performing. This is what happened. He got a call and if he didn’t clean up his act then he could never go on TV. When he decided to “clean up his act,” he had to wear a tuxedo and he couldn’t dance!
Conservatism was one thing that was very cool! I think it was very cool because everywhere you went you saw people with a coat and tie. Also, the dads went to work and moms stayed at home and prepared snacks for the children. That was a very neat time to live in.
If we compare the music Elvis sang and the music we sing today we would say that Elvis’s music is conservative and our music is what the parents thought Elvis’s music was in 1956.
October 7th, 2008 at 12:43 pm
Elvis Presley was a big turning point because when he sang, parents thought that his singing was horrible and he had a bad influence on teens. People thought that he was so horrible that people banned him from some states. Parents didn’t want their kids to listen to his music because of the way he dressed and moved.
The Ed Sullivan show was a big hit show. One day Ed Sullivan asks him to be on his show and Elvis said yes.
Elvis was different from most of the Whites because he liked the Blacks. He even dressed like them when he went on stage. His way of singing was similar to the Blacks, so teens would sneak out and go to a Black church and listen to the hymns they would sing.
Mr.Chung showed us a scene in a movie about the Temptations and something caught my eye. What caught my eye were the Whites were on one side of the room and the Blacks on the other side, and in the middle were police separating them. This was called segregation.
My opinion is our country was way too conservative back them. Back then, the moms had to stay home and care for the children while the dads went to work.
October 7th, 2008 at 7:24 pm
I agree with Kyla. The White parents in the 50s thought that Elvis was liberal because he sang like the Blacks and danced very oddly, but today everybody thinks he was conservative because he said, “yes ma’am, no ma’am and yes sir, no sir.” In 1956 when Elvis came out, parents and city councils did not like how he dressed, acted and sang. I also think that they didn’t like him singing the way he was singing because America just finished a war and they wanted to relax and listen to calm music. 16-19 year olds didn’t care how their parents felt, they just went and listened to Elvis. Some of the teens liked Elvis so much they put a radio under their pillows to listen to what he was singing.
In the 50s, there was segregation, meaning that the Whites and Blacks couldn’t mix or else they would be put in jail. The Whites had a lot of privileges and the Blacks didn’t have much. For instance, the Whites got to go into Black shops but the Blacks couldn’t go in the White shops. Elvis was very nice to the Blacks and liked them. The teenagers who listened to Elvis went to Black concerts, and Black church assemblies. As you can see, Black people had a rough history, first slavery, then segregation which gave them a minimal amount of privileges.
In the early 1950s, America was very conservative. America was so conservative that they even wore a bow, coat and hat to a basball game!!!!! Don’t you think that is just plain weird? No offense!
October 7th, 2008 at 9:05 pm
1) The only way Elvis could play on TV was if he stopped dancing and cleaned up his act.
2) The Cold war involved nuclear bombs and missiles. America and the Soviet Union had enough nuclear
weapons to obliterate the world and that is why none of us fired those weapons.
3) People thought that the music Elvis played was the Satan/Devil’s music.
4) People preached against the music they call the Devil’s music.
5) People loved the way Elvis moved and danced.
October 8th, 2008 at 5:40 am
Elvis rocked America in 1956. He was a White man singing black music on T.V. for all of America to see. He opened the door for White people to sing Black music, and for kids to begin a new way of dancing with each other. This was unacceptable to the parents of teenagers during this time. America was a conservative nation and Elvis brought more liberal ways to America.
Elvis was not ashamed or afraid to be friends with Black people. I think this was a turning point because people wanted to copy him and now be friends with Blacks. Elvis made it okay. People thought it was okay because Elvis did it. It is kind of dumb too because they copied the good and the bad.
America wanted peace after WWII. They wanted their children to be safe and conservative like in the movie Pleasantville. Elvis brought change and color into a black and white world. This is why it is considered a turning point in American history.
October 9th, 2008 at 7:58 pm
I learend that back then when america was conservative the people used to where ties coat and hats where ever they went. I would not want to do that because that is boring and it looks funny. Also back then they used to listin to old peoples music like th acodian and they would be all formall and nice.
But then one day somthing appeared on T.V that changed america and it was ROCK ‘N ROLL. It would of been so cool to live in the time of Rock ‘n roll but it would be also scary because the parents were so scared because they tought it wasn’t proper to move your body around like Elvis. I think they considered it a turning point because Rock ‘N Roll came right after the world war two ended so everyone just wanted it to be safe and calm untill Elivis came. But Elvis was acepted as consservative when he apeared on the ED Sulavin show because the show was considered conservitive and when Elvis apperaed on the show he was aceppted.