AP US History (Mr. Palmieri)
Semester Two, Unit Three: World War Two and Cold War America, 1938-1963
This unit will explore US involvement in World War Two, followed by an investigation of society and foreign
relations during the first two decades of the Cold War. We’ll look at post-World War II prosperity that fostered
economic growth as well as suburbanization. We’ll look at cultural conformity throughout the Cold War decades as
well as rebellions against that conformity.
Thursday, February 25: The Beginnings of World War Two (c. 24) p. 724-732
1. What steps were taken in the 1930’s by fascist governments that led the world towards war?
2. Though neutral, discuss the steps FDR took to support the allies from the start of the war to Pearl Harbor.
3. What Japanese and American actions in Asia and the Pacific occurred before Japan bombed Pearl Harbor?
Vocab: Popular Front, Nye Committee, America First Commmittee., Neutrality Act 1935, Lincoln Brigade, Atlantic
Charter, Lend-Lease
Friday, February 26: Organizing for War (c. 24) p. 732-739
4. How did the United States raise the money to finance WWII? How was a massive amount of goods and materials
produced in order to wage WWII?
5. What characterized the participation of women and African-Americans in the armed services during WWII?
Vocab: War Powers Act, A. Philip Randolph, Henry Kaiser, WAC, Rosie the Riveter, John Lewis
Document 24-3, Roosevelt: Fireside Chat on the Great Arsenal of Democracy (1940) and outline CAPP
Monday, February 29: The Home Front (c. 24) p. 739-745
6. What effect did the war have on the domestic economy and on internal migration?
7. What was the rational behind the internment of Japanese-Americans? Describe the process and experience
of Japanese internment. Were any Japanese –Americans able to avoid internment?
Vocab: Zoot Suit Riots, Nisei, Korematsu/Hirabayashi v. US
Wednesday, March 2: Fighting World War in Europe and in the Pacific (c. 24) p. 745-755
8. Describe American and British military strategies for driving Nazi Germany out of occupied Europe.
9. How did Americans find out about Nazi death camps? How had the United States approached immigration of
persecuted European Jews in the years before World War II?
10. Discuss the course of events in the Philippines during World War II.
11. What was the Manhattan Project? What rationale was used by President Truman for dropping atomic
weapons on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August of 1945?
Vocab: Stalingrad, Tehran Conference, D-Day, War Refugee Board, Bataan Death March, Battle of Coral Sea,
Midway, Iwo Jima, Okinawa, A. Einstein, R. Oppenheimer, United Nations
Thursday, March 3: Origins of the Cold War and Containment in Europe (c. 25) 757-761
12. What did the Big Three (FDR, Churchill, and Stalin) agree upon and what did they disagree on at Yalta and what
was the Soviet position towards the independent nations of Eastern Europe?
13. What agreement was made concerning Germany and Berlin? Explain the conflict the occurred over Berlin in19481949.What results or effects did the Berlin Airlift have?
Vocab: Iron Curtain, George Kennan, hydrogen bomb
Friday, March 4: Containment Policy and the Korean War (c. 25) 761-770
14. What was NATO and what was Warsaw Pact? What nations were in each?
15. What happened in China in 1949? How was it perceived in the US? How would it impact the Korean War?
16. Why did the United States get involved in Korea? Discuss the course of events in the Korean War as well as the
consequences of the Korean War.
Vocab: containment, Truman Doctrine, Marshall Plan, Mao Zedong, Douglas MacArthur, Munich Analogy
Monday, March 7: McCarthyism and the Second Red Scare (c. 25) p. 770-778
17. Discuss the 1948 election, be sure to discuss the splinter candidates.
18. What was HUAC and what actions did they take, including against Hollywood writers and directors. What type of
attitudes did HUAC cause in many workplaces?Include information about Senator McCarthy.
Vocab: Taft-Hartley Act, Fair Deal, Dixiecrats, Alger Hiss, the Rosenbergs, Joseph McCarthy, Dwight D. Eisenhower
Document 25-5: Communists in the U.S. Government, Joseph McCarthy (1950) and outline CAPP
Tuesday, March 8: The Cold War in Cuba and Vietnam (c. 25) p. 778-785
19. What actions did the US take under Eisenhower in Iran and Guatemala?
20. The US in the Middle East: Discuss US involvement in and position on Israel/Palestine. What was the Suez Canal
crisis and what stand did the US take?
21. What advantages helped Kennedy defeat Nixon in 1960? What disadvantages did Kennedy overcome?
22. What was the Domino Theory and how did it begin American involvement in Vietnam? In what ways was the US
becoming more involved in Vietnam in the Kennedy years?
23. Discuss JFK’s relations with Cuba with regards to both the Bay of Pigs invasion and the Cuban Missile Crisis.
Vocab: Peace Corps, NASA, N. Khrushchev, Peace Corps, Interstate Act, John F. Dulles, Eisenhower Doctrine
Wednesday, March 9: The US as an Economic Powerhouse and The Affluent Society (c. 26) 787-798
24. What ideas and institutions were established at Bretton Woods, New Hampshire in July of 1944?
25. How was the “military industrial complex” related to economic expansion in the postwar US? What did
Eisenhower caution in his farewell address?
26. What effects did the launching of the Soviet satellite Sputnik have in the United States?
27. What type of America was portrayed in TV shows and TV advertising?
Vocab: Kitchen Debate, The Affluent Society, M. Harrington/The Other America
Thursday, March 10: no homework, work on research paper
Monday, March 14: RESEARCH PAPER FIRST DRAFT DUE
Tuesday, March 15: The Growing Suburbs and Urban Decline (c. 26) 798-806
28. What factors led to suburban growth? Who was restricted from many suburbs?
29. What’s meant by the “Sunbelt”? What spurred growth of sunbelt cities?
30. What groups were immigrating in increasing numbers to the US and to urban centers in the post World War Two
period?What caused these each of the groups to immigrate?
Vocab: GI Bill, United Auto Workers, Billy Graham, covenants, Levittown, Interstate Highways Act, urban renewal
Wednesday, March 16: Women, Youth, and Family (c. 26) 806-814
31. What medical advances impacted American life in the 1940’s and 50’s?
32. What trends existed with regards to women in the workplaces (percentage working, wages, types of work, etc.)
33. Who were the Beats and what did they express?
Vocab: Baby Boom, Jonas Salk, Alfred Kinsey, James Dean, Elvis Presley, homophiles, Allen Ginsberg, Jack Kerouac
Document 26-10: Help Wanted - Women (1957) answer one of the book’s questions and write one of your own
Thursday, March 17: Unit Three Review
Monday, March 21: UNIT THREE TEST
Review Questions for Unit Three:
A)
B)
D)
E)
F)
G)
H)
What characterized life in the United States during the Cold War?
What characterized global politics during the Cold War and what foreign policy challenges faced the US in the Cold War?
How did reality compare to the stereotypical 50’s lifestyle that was portrayed in the media?
How did the politics of the Cold War affect the culture of the times? How were Cold War politics apparent in the cultural
landscape of the 1950’s?
How can you explain the emergence of the modern Civil Rights Movement at this time?
In what ways is the clash between “isolationist America” and “America as an international world power” evident in the
years before World War Two?
What similarities do you see between the impact WW I and WW II had on the US? Differences?