APUSH
Review:
Key
Concept
8.1
(Period 8:
1945 1980)
Period 8: 1945 - 1980
Everything You Need To Know About Key Concept 8.1 To
Succeed In APUSH
Key Concept 8.1
“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.”-- page 72 Curriculum Framework
Big Idea Questions:
1) 1) What were different ways the US sought to “contain”
communism, both domestically and abroad?
2) 2) How did independence movements throughout the world
affect the Cold War?
3) 3) How did the Vietnam War impact domestic life?
“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.”-- Page 71
Key
Concept
8.1, I
A: US foreign policy was based on:
1) Collective Security:
North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) an attack on one country was an attack on all
2) Multilateral economic framework that
bolstered non-Communist nations:
Marshall Plan - provided billions of $ to
Europe to rebuild war-torn countries
Truman Doctrine - $400 million in military aid
to Greece and Turkey
Key
Concept
8.1, I
US “contained” communism through:
1) Military engagements in Korea and Vietnam:
Domino theory - fear if one country became
communist, then surrounding countries would
2) threat of Massive Retaliation:
The US would respond with more force if
attacked
3) Space Race:
Reaction to Sputnik  US built up space
program AND education in the US
Key
Concept
8.1, I
Cold War fluctuated between direct and
indirect military confrontations:
- Cuban Missile Crisis:
o 13 days in October, 1962
o Closest the US and Soviet Union came to
war
o ‘hotline’ established from D.C. to Moscow
- détente: easing of tensions between
superpowers
• SALT (Strategic Arms Limitation Talks) ->
Treaties:
o Began with Nixon’s administration and
continued through Carter’s
o Agreements to limit certain arms
Key
Concept
8.1, 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.”-- Page 72
• Impacts of postwar decolonization movements
in Asia, Africa, and the Middle East:
• US and USSR sought allies among the new
nations, although many remained neutral
• The US immediately recognized Israel in 1948
• Many revolutions were seen as pawns of the
Soviet Union
Key
Concept
8.1, II
• Cold War in Latin America:
“US supported non-communist
regimes with varying levels of
commitment to democracy.”
o1954 - overthrow of Arbenz in
Guatemala
oHe was democratically elected and
nationalized land owned by the
United Fruit Company
oHe was replaced with a military
dictator, Armas
Key
Concept
8.1, II
US involvement in the Middle East was shaped by
Ideological, military, and economic concerns
Suez Crisis - Nasser of Egypt nationalized the Suez
Canal, Britain and France attacked
The US helped end the conflict  fear the
Soviets would get involved
Oil crises helped initiate attempts at creating a
national energy policy
Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries
(OPEC):
Cartel formed by mostly Middle Eastern
countries to control the supply of oil
After the US supported Israel in 1973 (Yom
Kippur War), OPEC placed an oil embargo on the
US, drastically raising gas prices
Caused a gas shortage
Key
Concept
8.1, 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.”-- Page 73
• Debates over methods to root out domestic
Communists:
o Truman’s Executive Order 9835 - “Loyalty Oath”
for Federal employees
o 2nd Red Scare:
- HUAC and the “Hollywood Ten”
- McCarthyism
• Both political parties supported containing
Communism
o Eisenhower (R) in Iran and Guatemala
o Truman in Korea (D) and LBJ (D) in Vietnam
Key
Concept
8.1, III
Domestic opposition to wars:
The Korean War produced only minor opposition
Vietnam saw violent protests that increased as
the war went on
- Especially after the Tet Offensive (January
1968)
- Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) used violence as time went on to protest
- Kent-State Protests (May, 1970) - reaction to
Cambodia Bombings
Key
Concept
8.1, III
• Americans began to debate:
o The merits of a large nuclear arsenal
o The “military-industrial complex”
- Buildup of military and industries
throughout the US
- Eisenhower warned of this in his
farewell address
o Power of executive branch in foreign and
military policy
- Congress reversed the Gulf of Tonkin
Resolution with the War Powers Act
Test Tips
• Multiple-Choice and Short Answer:
o Ways the US sought to “contain”
communism - Korea and Vietnam;
Marshall Plan and Truman Doctrine
o Détente successes/failures
• Essay Questions:
o Change and Continuity post WWII
o Comparing and contrasting post-WWI with
post-WWII
APUSH REVIEW: KEY
CONCEPT 8.2 (PERIOD 8:
1945 - 1980)
Everything You Need To Know About Key Concept
8.2 To Succeed In APUSH
Key Concept 8.2
• “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.”-- Page 74 of
the Curriculum Framework
• Big Idea Questions:
• What were some examples of successes during the Civil Rights
Movement? How did the federal government contribute to this?
• How did awareness for groups such as Latinos, American Indians,
Asian Americans, women, and gays and lesbians change during
this time?
• Why were some people on the left and right assailing liberalism?
Key Concept 8.2, I
• “Seeking to fulfill Reconstruction-era promises, civil rights activists and
political leaders achieved some legal and political successes in ending
segregation, although the progress toward equality was slow and
halting.” - page 74
• After WWII, civil rights activists used a variety of strategies
to challenge racial segregation
• Legal challenges: NAACP cases, led by attorney Thurgood
Marshall, future Supreme Court Justice
• Direct action: Fannie Lou Hamer and Freedom Summer
• Sought to increase the number of African Americans
registered to vote in Mississippi
• Nonviolent Protest tactics:
• Montgomery Bus Boycott
• Sit-ins - Greensboro, NC  sit-ins across the country
Key Concept 8.2, I
• All 3 branches helped promote greater racial justice:
• Executive - Harry Truman’s Executive Order 9981
desegregated the US military in 1948
• Judicial - Brown v. Board - ruled that segregation was
inherently unequal, overturned Plessy v. Ferguson (1896
- period 6)
• Legislative - Civil Rights Act of 1964 - part of LBJ’s Great
Society, which was an extension of the New Deal, and
focused on Civil Rights
• Discrimination in the workplace became illegal
• Guaranteed equal access to public accommodations
Key Concept 8.2, I
• White resistance slowed efforts at desegregation
• “Massive Resistance” - Southern schools would shut down
before desegregating
• Little Rock Nine - Governor Orville Faubus refused to
integrate schools, Eisenhower sent troops to enforce
integration
• Post-1965 (riots in cities, increased involvement in Vietnam)
debates emerged among activists over tactics and
philosophy:
• MLK - still urged nonviolence, but some urban protestors
were frustrated
• Black Panthers - advocated armed self-defense to
violence
Key Concept 8.2, II
• “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.” - page 74
• Challenges to society’s assumptions about gender
• Betty Friedan’s The Feminine Mystique - argued that many
housewives (especially suburban) were not happy and felt
they lived unfulfilled lives
• Gloria Steinem - helped create the National Women’s
Political Caucus
• Supports women that seek to be involved in politics
• Calls for social and economic equality for gays and lesbians:
• Stonewall Riots (1969) - birth of the Gay Rights Movement
Key Concept 8.2, II
• Groups that demanded social and economic equality and to
redress past grievances included:
• Latinos:
• Cesar Chavez and the United Farm Workers
• Led a grape pickers’ strike to bring attention to the plight
of Mexican-American workers
• American Indians:
• Indians of All Tribes (IAT) and American Indian
Movement (AIM) used protests to bring attention to the
struggles of Native Americans
• Asian Americans:
• California overturned its Alien Land Law - forbade
Japanese immigrants from owning land
Key Concept 8.2, II
• Although it appeared there was overall
affluence, poverty was a national issue, and
efforts began to address it
• Michael Harrington’s The Other America
• Helped influence LBJ’s Great Society
• Argued 25% of the nation and 40% of
African Americans lived in poverty
• Native Americans were the hardest hit
group
Key Concept 8.2, 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.” - page 75
• LBJ’s Great Society was the high point of liberalism and sought to:
• Use federal power to end racial discrimination:
• Civil Rights Act of 1964 - banned discrimination in public facilities
• Voting Rights Act of 1965 - eliminated literacy tests, federal
government could register voters
• 24th Amendment - eliminated poll taxes
• Eliminate poverty:
• Head Start Program, HUD
• Foodstamps, Medicare, and Medicaid
• Address other social issues and attack communism abroad:
• Education - provided $ for primary and secondary education
• Vietnam War - sought to keep communism from spreading
Key Concept 8.2, III
• Liberal ideas were aided by:
• Supreme Court Decisions that expanded democracy and
individual freedoms
• Miranda v. Arizona - those arrested must be made aware
of their rights
• Griswold v. Connecticut - struck down a law forbidding
contraception; determined the Constitution established a
“right to privacy”
• Great Society social programs and policies
• Power of the federal government
• Impacts of those above?
• Emergence of a conservative movement that focused on:
• Defending traditional visions of morality
• Debating the proper role of state authority
Key Concept 8.2, III
• Groups on the left assailed liberals because they
believed:
• Liberals did not transform the racial and economic
status quo at home
• Black Panthers - urged arming of African Americans
for self defense
• Liberals pursued immoral policies abroad (Vietnam
War)
• Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) - protested
the Vietnam War as the US increased involvement;
criticized the gap between the rich and poor
• Inspired march-ins, sit-ins, and teach-ins
Test Tips
• Multiple-Choice and Short Answer:
• Examples of strategies used by Civil Rights Activists - direct
action, legal challenges, and nonviolent protest
• How all three branches contributed to the Civil Rights
Movement
• Great Society - EVERYTHING
• Criticisms of liberalism on the left and right
• Essay and DBQ:
• Comparing the Civil Rights movement with earlier time periods
(1890s - 1920s - Booker T., W.E.B., etc.)
• Comparing the Women’s Rights movement with earlier time
periods (1840s, 1920s, etc.)
WWW.APUSHREVIEW.COM
APUSH Review: Key Concept 8.3
(Period 8: 1945 - 1980)
Everything You Need To Know About Key Concept
8.3 To Succeed In APUSH
Key Concept 8.3
“Postwar economic, demographic, and technological changes
had a far-reaching impact on American society, politics, and the
environment.”-- Page 76
Big Idea Questions:
How did economic growth impact American society and
American values?
How did new immigration laws in 1965 impact immigrants?
(Change and continuity)
How did the counterculture impact on American society?
Key Concept 8.3, 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.“-- Page 76
Economic Growth increased due to:
Federal spending, baby boom generation,
prosperous private businesses
Impacts of this growth?
Suburbanization, higher education opportunities,
“Sun Belt” gaining influence (at expense of the “Frost
Belt”)
Key Concept 8.3, I
The rise of a homogeneous mass culture
Was caused by:
Economic and Social Changes
Anxiety over the Cold War
Was challenged by artists, intellectuals, and youth
Beat Movement - writers that challenged middle class
conformity
Rock and roll music - Elvis Presley, Beatles
Key Concept 8.3, I
Rise of a conservative movement:
Was caused by:
Urban unrest - riots in cities (Watts), increase in
violence
Juvenile delinquency
Challenges to the traditional family - increase in
divorce rate and births out of wedlock
Promoted their own agenda:
Smaller government, tougher stance on crime
Key Concept 8.3, 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.”-- Page 76
Internal and International immigration increased -> economic opportunities
Immigration Law of 1965:
***Abolished the quota system from the 1920s***
Families of legal immigrants living in the US were given preferential
treatment
Especially benefited immigrants from Latin America and Asia
Key Concept 8.3, II
Increased calls for conservation and fighting pollution:
Caused by:
Abuse of natural resources
Environmental problems:
Rachel Carson and Silent Spring - wrote about the dangers
of pesticide
Helped inspire the EPA
Led to:
Clean Air Act:
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA):
Created under Nixon’s administration
Purpose is to help protect the environment and human
health
Key Concept 8.3, III
“New demographic and social issues led to significant political and
moral debates that sharply divided the nation.”-- Page 77
The American family structure was not always what was perceived
Image: traditional nuclear family
As seen in many TV shows: Leave It To Beaver, Father
Knows Best
Changes to the American family:
More and more women increasingly worked outside the home
(especially in the 1970s)
Divorce rates increased
Key Concept 8.3, III
Counterculture of the 1960s (“Hippies”)
Rejected many of their parents generations’ values
Social - used marijuana; new music (Woodstock; HaighAshbury district in San Fran)
Economic - rejected materialism, sought to live a simpler life
Political - protested the Vietnam War; active in civil rights,
promoted women’s rights;
Initiated:
A sexual revolution
Greater informality into US Culture
Key Concept 8.3, III
Clashes between liberals and conservatives:
Power of the presidency and the federal government:
Movements for greater individual rights:
Bakke v. University of California - Supreme Court upheld
affirmative action, however, it ruled that quotas were not
allowed
Phyllis Schlafly - Critic of the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA)
Argued that the ERA would hurt women by taking away
certain benefits
Her campaign helped lead to the defeat of the ERA
Test Tips
Multiple-Choice and Short Answer:
Rise of the conservative movement
Causes of the environmental movement
Family structures and counterculture
Essays:
Immigration - comparing post 1965 with prior time periods
(1920s immigration quotas)
Rise of the conservative movement (making connections to
the 1960s under LBJ)