SSUSH20 The student will analyze the domestic and international impact
of the Cold War on the United States
VOCABULARY
1. Marshall Plan
1. Describe the creation of the Marshall Plan, U.S. commitment to
Europe, the Truman Doctrine, and the origins and implications of the
containment policy. (850, 848)
2. Explain the impact of the new communist regime in China, the
outbreak of the Korean War, and how these events contributed to the
rise of Senator Joseph McCarthy. (854, 855-857, 873-875)
3. Describe the Cuban Revolution, the Bay of Pigs, and the Cuban
missile crisis. (956-958)
4. Describe the Vietnam War, the Tet offensive and growing opposition
to the war. (984-991, 995-996)
5. Explain the role of geography on the U.S. containment policy, the
Korean War, the Bay of Pigs, the Cuban missile crisis, and the
Vietnam War.
2. Truman Doctrine
3. McCarthyism
4. Domino Theory
5. Deferment
6. Bay of Pigs
7. Tet Offensive
8. Containment
9. Baby Boom
SSUSH21 The student will explain the impact of technological
development and economic growth on the United States, 1945-1975.
10. Levittown
11. Interstate
6. Describe the baby boom and its impact as shown by Levittown and
the Interstate Highway Act. (883, 889, 890)
7. Describe the impact television has had on American culture; include
the presidential debates (Kennedy/ Nixon, 1960) (897, 900, 953)
8. Describe the impact of competition with the USSR as evidenced by
the launch of Sputnik I and President Eisenhower’s actions. (865,
895)
Highway Act
12. Sputnik
PEOPLE
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Joseph McCarthy
Dwight Eisenhower
Harry Truman
Fidel Castro
Nikita Khrushchev
John F. Kennedy
Review Questions
Standard 20: Domestic and international impact of the Cold War on the U.S.
1. What is the Truman Doctrine? What events caused President Truman to propose the Truman Doctrine? Which
nations were the first to be aided through the Truman Doctrine?
2. What is containment? Why did George Kennan believe containment would work?
3. What was the goal of the Marshall Plan? What part of the world was it designed to aid? Why was the Marshall Plan
important in post-war Europe?
4. What happened to Germany after the war? What happened to Berlin? What was the Berlin Airlift? What did the
Berlin Airlift demonstrate to the world?
5. What alliances were formed after WWII ended? What was the purpose of NATO? What was the purpose of the
Warsaw Pact?
6. What nation became communist in 1949? What impact did this have on the U.S.?
7. What happened to the peninsula of Korea after WWII? What problem did this cause? Why?
What happened on June 25, 1950? What was the U.S. response? What was the outcome of the Korean War? What
are the long-term effects of the Korean War on the U.S.? What role did geography play in the Korean War?
8. What is the Red Scare? How was the Red Scare of the 1940s and 1950s different from the Red Scare in 1919? What
is HUAC (House Un-American Activities Committee)? What groups of people were targeted by HUAC?
9. Who are Julius and Ethel Rosenberg? What were they accused of? What happened to them?
10. Who was Joseph McCarthy? What kind of accusations did he make? How did he rise to power? What led to his
downfall?
11. What happened in Cuba in 1959? What actions did Fidel Castro take which angered many Americans? What was
the Bay of Pigs invasion? What role did geography play in the Bay of Pigs invasion? Was it successful? Who was
embarrassed by the outcome? What was the Cuban Missile Crisis? What nation came to the aid of Cuba? Why?
How did President Kennedy try to prevent Soviet intervention? What role did geography play in the Cuban Missile
Crisis? What was the outcome of the Crisis? What did the Cuban Missile Crisis lead to 1963?
12. What nation had colonized Vietnam in the 1800s? Who was Ho Chi Mihn? What nation was he able to convince to
join him in freeing Vietnam from French control? What is the domino theory? According to the Geneva Accords,
what happened to the nation of Vietnam? Which side did the U.S. support?
13. What was the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution? What role did geography play in the Vietnam War? What was the Tet
Offensive? Why did Americans oppose the Vietnam War?
Standard 21: Impact of technological development and economic growth on the U.S.
14. What was the Baby Boom? What was Levittown? What was the Interstate Highway Act? How are the three
related?
15. What impact did television have on the American family in the 1950s? What impact did television have on the 1960
Presidential election?
16. What was Sputnik? What impact did the launch of Sputnik have on Americans? What agency was created in
response? What was the purpose of the National Defense Education Act?