Period Packets – Period 8: 1945-1980
Unit 9 – Chapters 36-39
Included in Each Period Packet:
Key Concepts – an overview of what you need to know
Main Themes – how the seven themes of the course apply to this period
Vocabulary – important terms, people, places, etc.
Chapter Reading Guide – pretty straight forward…
Crash Course Guide – video guide to watch (they will be amazingly helpful)
Review Concept Chart – how to get ready for the test.
PERIOD 8: 1945-1980 - Key Concepts
After World War II, the United States grappled with prosperity and unfamiliar international responsibilities, while struggling
to live up to its ideals.
Key Concept 1: The United States responded to an uncertain and unstable postwar world by asserting and attempting
to defend a position of global leadership, with far-reaching domestic and international consequences.
I.
After World War II, the United States sought to stem the growth of Communist military power and ideological influence,
create a stable global economy, and build an international security system.
 The United States developed a foreign policy based on collective security and a multilateral economic framework that
bolstered noncommunist nations.
 The United States sought to “contain” Soviet-dominated communism through a variety of measures, including military
engagements in Korea and Vietnam.
 The Cold War fluctuated between periods of direct and indirect military confrontation and periods of mutual
coexistence (or détente).
II.
As the United States focused on containing communism, it faced increasingly complex foreign policy issues including
decolonization, shifting international alignments and regional conflicts, and global economic and environmental changes.
 Postwar decolonization and the emergence of powerful nationalist movements in Asia, Africa and the Middle East led
both sides in the Cold War to seek allies among new nations, many of which remained nonaligned.
 Cold War competition extended to Latin America, where the U.S. supported noncommunist regimes with varying levels
of commitment to democracy.
 Ideological, military and economic concerns shaped U.S. involvement in the Middle East, with several oil crises in the
region eventually sparking attempts at creating a national energy policy.
III. Cold War policies led to continued public debates over the power of the federal government, acceptable means for pursuing
international and domestic goals, and the proper balance between liberty and order.
 Americans debated policies and methods designed to root out communists within the United States even as both parties
tended to support the broader Cold War strategy of containing communism.
 While the Korean conflict produced some minor domestic opposition, the Vietnam War saw the rise of sizable,
passionate and sometimes violent antiwar protests that became more numerous as the war escalated.
 Americans debated the merits of a large nuclear arsenal, the “military-industrial complex,” and the appropriate power
of the executive branch in conducting foreign and military policy.
Key Concept 2: Liberalism, based on anticommunism abroad and a firm belief in the efficacy of governmental and
especially federal power to achieve social goals at home, reached its apex in the mid-1960s and generated a variety of
political and cultural responses.
I.
Seeking to fulfill Reconstruction-era promises, civil rights activists and political leaders achieved some legal and political
successes in ending segregation, although progress toward equality was slow and halting.
 Following World War II, civil rights activists utilized a variety of strategies – legal challenges, direct action, and
nonviolent protest tactics –to combat racial discrimination.
 Decision-makers in each of the three branches of the federal government used measures including desegregation of the
armed services, Brown vs. Board of Education and the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to promote greater racial justice.

II.
Continuing white resistance slowed efforts at desegregation, sparking a series of social and political crises across the
nation, while tensions among civil rights activists over tactical and philosophical issues increased after 1965.
Stirred by a growing awareness of inequalities in American society and by the African American civil rights movement,
activists also addressed issues of identity and social justice, such as gender/sexuality and ethnicity.
 Activists began to question society’s assumptions about gender and to call for social and economic equality for women
and for gays and lesbians.
 Latinos, American Indians and Asian Americans began to demand social and economic equality and a redress of past
injustices.
 Despite the perception of overall affluence in postwar America, advocates raised awareness of the prevalence and
persistence of poverty as a national problem, sparking efforts to address this issue.
III. As many liberal principles came to dominate postwar politics and court decisions, liberalism came under attack from the left
as well as from resurgent conservative movements.
 Liberalism reached its zenith with Lyndon Johnson’s Great Society efforts to use federal power to end racial
discrimination, eliminate poverty and address other social issues while attacking communism abroad.
 Liberal ideals were realized in Supreme Court decisions that expanded democracy and individual freedoms, Great
Society social programs and policies, and the expanded power of the federal government, yet these unintentionally
helped energize a new conservative movement that mobilized to defend traditional visions of morality and the proper
role of state authority.
 Groups on the left also assailed liberals, claiming they did too little to transform the racial and economic status quo at
home and pursued immoral policies abroad.
Key Concept 8.3: Postwar economic, demographic and technological changes had far-reaching impacts on American
society, politics, and the environment.
I.
Rapid economic and social changes in American society fostered a sense of optimism in the postwar years as well as
underlying concerns about how these changes were affecting American values.
 A burgeoning private sector, continued federal spending, the “baby boom” and technological developments helped spur
economic growth, middle-class suburbanization, social mobility, a rapid expansion of higher education, and the rise of
the “Sun Belt” as a political and economic force.
 These economic and social changes, in addition to the anxiety engendered by the Cold War, led to an increasingly
homogeneous mass culture, as well as challenges to conformity by artists, intellectuals, and rebellious youth.
 Conservatives, fearing juvenile delinquency, urban unrest, and challenges to the traditional family, increasingly
promoted their own values and ideology.
II.
As federal programs expanded and economic growth reshaped American society, many sought greater access to prosperity
even as critics began to question the burgeoning use of natural resources.
 Internal migrants as well as migrants from around the world sought access to the economic boom and other benefits of
the United States, especially after the passage of new immigration laws in 1965.
 Responding to the abuse of natural resources and alarming environmental problems, activists and legislators began to
call for conservation measures and a fight against pollution.
III. New demographic and social issues led to significant political and moral debates that sharply divided the nation.
 Although the image of the traditional nuclear family dominated popular perceptions in the postwar era, Americans’
family structure was undergoing profound changes as the number of working women increased and many social
attitudes changed.
 Young people who participated in the counterculture of the 1960s rejected many of the social, economic and political
values of their parents’ generation, initiated a sexual revolution, and introduced greater informality into U.S. culture.
 Conservatives and liberals clashed over many new social issues, the power of the presidency and the federal
government, and movements for greater individual rights.
PERIOD 8: 1945-1980 - Main Themes
Themes
Applied to this period
Identity
Liberalism vs. Conservativism – role of government in lives of citizens
New movements – feminism, civil rights, Mexican Migrants, American Indians, student freedom, anti-war,
Americans with disabilities, Homosexuality, etc.
Conformity vs. authenticity – 50’s, 60’s, 70’s culture clashes
Anti-communism vs. pro-democracy – containment policies, red scare, US involvement in the world
Mistrust of the government – Pentagon Papers, Watergate
Treatment of minorities – equal opportunity, affirmative action, immigration
Service based economy – standardization of goods and processes
Manufacturing economy – northern industry and southern farming
Stagflation of the 70’s – OPEC oil crisis, inflation
Highways and roads – interstate highway act, suburbia
Cold war technology – arms race, space race, nuclear and hydrogen bombs, military industrial complex
Global economy – international trading, globalization
Workers’ rights – Unionism, minority and women treatment
Continued immigration – Mexican and other Latin American Migration (partially due to Globalization of the
economy and cold war politics in Central America)
Inner city poverty – white flight, suburbs, urban renewal
Population shifts to the south – Sunbelt expands, Frostbelt and rustbelt decrease
Population explosion – Baby boom!
Liberalism vs. Conservatism – presidential push and pull for executive control (Fair Deal, Modern
Republicanism, New Frontier, Great Society, New Federalism) and court cases (Warren Court vs. backlash)
Corruption of the executive branch – War Powers Act, Pentagon Papers, Watergate
Cold War Containment – United Nations, Yalta Conference, Truman Doctrine, Marshall Plan, CIA, NATO
Cold War Hot Spots - Berlin Airlift, Hungary Revolt, Cuban Missile Crisis, Suez Canal Crisis, Yom Kippur, Six
Day War, Berlin Wall
Arms Race and Space Race – H Bomb, Test Ban Treaty, ICBM’s, SALT I and II, Detente
Cold War Full Scale Conflict – The Korean War, The Vietnam War – know these well!!!
Korean War – China goes Communist, UN Security Council, McArthur, 38th Parallel, DMZ, POWs
Vietnam War – Tonkin Gulf Affair, Operation Rolling Thunder, Ho Chi Minh, Vietcong, Tet Offensive, Mai
Lai Massacre, “Win the Hearts and Minds”, Vietnamization
Red Scare – China goes Communist, McCarthyism, HUAC, Loyalty Review Board,
Political turmoil – assassination of MLK, Malcom X, JFK, Bobby Kennedy, Iran Hostage Crisis, Camp David
Accords
Global economy – international trading, globalization, OPEC
Cold War! – US international police force in the name of anti-communism, NATO, CIA – see Pol and Power
Cold War “Wars” and Hot Spots – see Politics and Power
Industrialization of the North – pollution, urbanization, deforestation
Mass farming in the Sunbelt – use of chemicals, mechanization
Destruction of the environment – deforestation, pollution, EPA, Silent Spring, Green Movement, Earth Day
Racism/Ethnocentrism – Civil rights, American Indians Alcatraz Occupation, Migrant Workers
Women – tradition housewife, Women’s Liberation Movement, ERA, Title IX, Roe V. Wade
Post war soldiers – GI bill, Levittown, suburbs
Youth movements – Hippy, student protests, anti-war, green movement
Red Scare – China goes Communist, fallout shelters, duck and cover
50’s culture – conformity, standardization, Middle class suburbia, role of women, rock n roll, Beat
Movement, Expressionism
60’s Counterculture – Hippy Movement, Haight and Ashbury, Black Panther/Black Power Groups, see you
Youth movements
Work, Exchange, and
Technology
Peopling
Politics and Power
America in the World
Environment and
Geography
Ideas, Beliefs, and Culture
PERIOD 8: 1945-1980 - Vocabulary
For each packet, you must be able to IDENTIFY and EXPLAIN THE CONTEXTUAL SIGNIFNICANCE of each term below. These
may or may not be in the book. Use other resources (online) to accomplish this if necessary.
World War II
Vietnam War
Middle East
Non-violent civil disobedience
Lyndon Johnson
middle-class suburbanization
nuclear family
containment
decolonization
military-industrial complex
Brown v. Board of Education
“Great Society”
“Sun Belt”
counterculture
Korean War
nationalist movements
desegregation
Civil Rights Act of 1964
baby boom
Immigration Act of 1965
PERIOD 8: 1945-1980 - Reading Guide (Chapter 39)
Answer the following questions fully and completely.
1.
2.
In one concise sentence, summarize “Postwar Economic Anxieties.” (880)
Create a flowchart explaining cause and effort of “Postwar Prosperity.” Be sure to include the growth of the middle class,
military budgets, access to cheap energy, the Sunbelt, the growth of suburbia, and the baby boom in your flowchart. Use pages
882-886 and 888-889 to complete your flowchart.
3. At the end of World War II, how did the Cold War initially develop and lead to a shift in foreign policy in America? Be sure to
include the Yalta Conference, the creation of the United Nations, the Nuremberg Trials, the Berlin Airlift, and the Containment
Doctrine in your response. (887-899)
4. Complete the chart on the early Containment Activity in the Cold War
Event
Details
How it promoted Containment? Effective or not?
Truman Doctrine
Marshall Plan
Central Intelligence Agency
(CIA)
North Atlantic Treaty Org
(NATO)
The Warsaw Pact/Eastern Bloc
Communist China
The Hydrogen Bomb
5.
6.
How did America’s response to the Cold War lead to a new Red Scare? Be sure to address the Loyalty Review Board, the HUAC,
Alger Hiss, and the Rosenbergs in your response.(900-901)
Create an outline telling the story of the Korean War. Use the following for categories: the causes, the course, and
consequences. Be sure to include the following terms in your outline: The UN National Security Council, a “Police Action”, 38th
parallel, McArthur, the DMZ, and POWs (903-905)
Homework Directions for Chapters 41&42
1960s and 1970s
DUE Friday, APRIL 17, 2015
1. Read Chapters 41& 42
2. Read Chapters 28& 29 of AMSCO Book.
3. Complete Charts and Questions/prompts exactly the way that it is asked.
Checklist-Staple Checklist to homework on Due Date: Friday, April 17, 2015
Assignment
Total
Points
Missing/Incomplete
Points
Received
Chapter 41
Chapter 42
40
40
TOTAL
70
PERIOD 8: 1945-1980 - Reading Guide (Chapter 40)
Answer the following questions fully and completely.
1. Complete the follow chart on 1950’s Culture (927-933)
50’s Culture Trend
Details
Service Based Economy
How it promotes Conformity and Standardization
The role of Women
“Fast Food”
Television
Rock N Roll
Conservationism
2.
3.
4.
5.
Examine the political cartoon on page 922. Write a short argumentative paragraph in support of the sentiment it illustrates
(address McCarthyism, Jim Crow South, Brown V. BOE, and the Montgomery Bus Boycott, the Little Rock Nine, Sit-Ins, and SNCC
in your response). Then write a short argumentative paragraph in opposition of the sentiment it illustrates (address Operation
Wetback, the Indian New Deal, and the Federal Highway Act in your response). Use pages 868-874 to do this.
Create a tree map about Eisenhower’s Cold War activity. Include the main categories of European, Asian, Middle Eastern, Latin
America, and new technology. Use pages 918-924 to do this.
In one concise sentence, summarize “Kennedy Challenges Nixon for the Presidency.”
Research and interpret what Eisenhower means by “the military-industrial complex.”
PERIOD 8: 1945-1980 - Reading Guide (Chapter 41)
Answer the following questions fully and completely.
KNOW: Vietnam War, Space Race, Mutual Coexistence, Bay of Pigs Invasion, Cuban Missile Crisis, U2 incident, Kent State, 1968
Democratic National Convention, Woodstock, Counterculture, SNCC, Tet Offensive, My Lai, SDS, military draft, Malcom X,
Martin Luther King, Selma March, Black Panthers, Civil Rights Act of 1964, Voting Rights Act of 1965, Great Society, New
Frontier, Medicaid, Medicare, flexible response, Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, hawks and doves, George Wallace, Hubert
Humphrey
1.
Create a graphic organizer comparing and contrasting the presidencies of Kennedy and Johnson in terms of their domestic
policies and the Civil rights movement. Be specific and thorough. For domestic, address their name and achievements. For the
Civil Rights, address all important events, leaders/groups, and accomplishments. Use pages 936-938, 942-950 (this is a BIG
question)!
2. In one concise sentence, summarize “Rumblings in Europe.”
3. Complete the chart on Cold War Activity under Kennedy: (936-942)
Cold War Event
Details
How it reflected Kennedy’s “flexible response”
Philosophy?
Escalation in Vietnam
The Bay of Pigs
The Cuban Missile Crisis
The Test Ban Treaty
Moscow Washington “Hot line”
4.
5.
6.
Compare and contrast the views of Martin Luther King and Malcolm X. 949-951
Complete the following graphic organizer on the Vietnam War under Johnson (the book covers this horribly…you will need to
use my PPT as well).
Describe the cultural upheaval of the 1960’s. Include the who, what, when, why, how and significance. 959-960
Event: The Vietnam War
Identify the Participants/Key Players:
Problem or Goal:
Key Episodes, Events, Battles:
Where:
When:
Outcome: In the War effort, on Johnson’s Presidency, and
at home.
Significance/So What?
PERIOD 8: 1945-1980 - Reading Guide (Chapter 42)
Answer the following questions fully and completely.
KNOW: Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, Stagflation, Détente, SALT, Watergate, Pentagon Papers, impeachment,
resignation, OPEC Oil Embargo, John Foster Dulles, Camp David Accords, Iranian Hostage Crisis, Department of Energy,
EPA, OSHA, The Feminine Mysique, Roe v. Wade, Equal Rights Amendment, Cesar Chavez, “Yellow” Power, American
Indian Movement (AIM), United Farm Workers, Clean Air Act, Rachel Carson, Phyllis Schalfly, Stonewall Rebellion,
Vietnamization, Henry Kissinger, War Powers Act, Malaise Speech
1.
How did the war in Vietnam contribute to economic stagflation and how did Nixon’s response lead to further political strife? Be
specific, using pages 964-967
2. In two concise sentences, summarize “Nixon’s Détente with Beijing and Moscow.” Make sure to accurately explain the terms
détente and SALT in these sentences. 968-969
3. Complete the chart on important court cases during the 60’s -70’s under the Warren court: 970-972
Court Case
Details
Societal group addressed and how it helped them.
Griswold v. Connecticut
Gideon v. Wainwright
Escobedo and Miranda
Engel v. Vitale
Roe v. Wade
Griggs v. Duke Power Co.
4.
5.
6.
Compare the effectiveness of Nixon’s domestic policies in terms of supporting social welfare of the poor, minorities, and the
environment with that of his foreign actions in Asia and the Middle East. Be specific and use pages 921-25.
Complete the graphic organizer on the Watergate Scandal: 973-976
Answer the following question: Was Carter an effective president? Address the inflation rate, the Camp David Accords, the
SALT II agreements, and the Iran Hostage Crisis in your response. 980-988
People/Agencies Involved
Problem
Setting
Watergate!
Consequences to the Solution of
the Problem
Events
Solution/Resolution
Nixon Resigns
PERIOD 8: 1945 - 1980 - Crash Course Videos
For each period, watch the following videos. There are no questions to go with these videos, but they will be EMMENSLY
VALUABLE in helping you contextualize and compare time periods!
1. The Cold War: Crash Course US History #37
URL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9C72ISMF_D0&index=38&list=PL8dPuuaLjXtMwmepBjTSG593eG7ObzO7s
2. The Cold War in Asia: Crash Course US History #38
URL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y2IcmLkuhG0
3. Civil Rights and the 1950s: Crash Course US History #39
URL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S64zRnnn4Po
4. The 1960s in America: Crash Course US History #40
URL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lkXFb1sMa38
5. The Rise of Conservatism: Crash Course US History #41
URL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OCrxD19DHA8
6. Ford, Carter, and the Economic Malaise: Crash Course US History #42
URL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pyN5LPHEQ_0
PERIOD 7: 1890-1945 - Theme Chart Review
Identify what is happening in each of the seven themes in this period. Descriptions should not be more than two sentences.
Recognize that certain themes will be more prominent in certain time periods than in others.
Identify - Details, events, people, places, etc.
Identity
Work, Exchange,
Technology
Peopling
Descriptions – The Big Picture
Politics and
Power
America in the
World
Environment and
Geography
Ideas, Beliefs,
and Culture