U.S. History
EOCT test
Preparation
SSUSH 21
SSUSH 21a
Describe the baby boom
and the impact as
shown by Levittown and
the Interstate Highway
Act.
GI Bill changes society
• Serviceman’s readjustment Act
• GI stands for “Government Issue”
• Gave returning veterans money to further
their education, training, home loans and
property and other benefits.
• This money resulted in a social revolution
because common people could afford homes.
Baby Boom
• Because of the GI bill the
nation experienced an
increase in births which
caused a population
explosion.
• Baby boomers are members
of the generation born within
the first few years after
World War II.
• The numbers of babies born
in ’40s and early ’50s.
Levittown
• A developer like William
Levitt became rich by
building entire
communities of homes.
Levitt sold home quickly
and cheaply because of
the close proximity of
the homes.
• Suburbs expanded
because of the GI Bill and
Levitt’s building strategy
Interstate Highway Act
• Dwight Eisenhower
supported the National
Highway Act 1956
• Concern about a possible
nuclear strike against the
U.S.
• Highway system provided
improved mobility for
motorists and also caused
expansion of the Suburbs.
• Improved military and
troops to move quickly and
meant people could
evacuate much faster in the
event of war.
SSUSH 21b
Describe the impact television
had on American Culture;
including the presidential
debates (Kennedy/Nixon, 1960)
and news coverage of the Civil
Rights Movement.
Impact of Television on Civil Rights
Movement
• Revolutionized media
coverage.
• Televised coverage of
the violence against
African Americans
won sympathizers to
their cause.
Impact of Television on American Culture
• People could watch
entertaining shows,
news reports,
advertisements, etc.
from the comfort of
their own homes.
• Television stars
became nationally
admired.
• Lucille Ball on the “I
Love Lucy” show.
Impact of Television on American Politics
• Presidential Debates
• (Kennedy/Nixon, 1960)
• Kennedy looked younger,
confident, good-looking
and won the election
• Politicians had to worry
about how they looked on
screen
SSUSH 21c
Analyze the impact of
technology on American life,
include the development of the
personal computer and the
cellular telephone and the
expanded use of air
conditioning.
Impact on American Life made by Personal
Computer & Cell Phone
• Computers made US business,
making calculations, and
transactions faster and
business more efficient.
• Used to tally census in 1950
• Today found in many homes.
• Emails, websites, transfer
data, receive information
quickly.
• Cell phones also improved
communication in the U.S.
• Revolutionary technology that
affected communication in the
U.S.
Eisenhower’s response to Sputnik I
• October 4, 1957 the Soviets
launched Sputnik 1 during
the Cold War.
• Signaled a technology gap
between the U.S. and the
Soviet Union
• On July 29, 1958 the National
Aeronautics Space Act
created the Government
Agency NASA
• Its goal was to Pioneer the
future of space exploration,
scientific discovery, and
aeronautics research.
National Aeronautics and Space
Administration (NASA)
SSUSH 22
SSUSH 22a
Explain the importance of
President Truman’s order to
integrate the U.S. military
and the federal
government.
Harry Truman & Integration of U.S. Military
and Federal Government
• Truman was disturbed by
the violence against
southern blacks and became
a supporter of Civil Rights.
• Wanted to ensure voting
rights and fair employment
to African Americans.
• July 26, 1948 Signed
Executive Order 9981
integrating the United States
Military
Executive Order 9980 & 9981
• EO 9980 – Created the Fair Employment Board
to eliminate racial discrimination in federal
employment.
• EO 9981- established the President’s
Committee on Equality of Treatment and
Opportunity in the Armed Services.
SSUSH 22b
Identify Jackie
Robinson and the
integration of baseball.
Jackie Robinson
• Born Cairo, GA
• First African
American during
the Modern Era
to play Baseball
in the Major
League.
SSUSH 22c
Explain Brown v. Board
of Education and
efforts to resist the
decision.
Major Court cases
• Plessy v. Ferguson
• Established the doctrine of “Separate but
Equal” that allowed segregation.
Major Court Cases
• Brown v. Board of Education
• Established that the policy of “Separate but
equal” was unconstitutional.
• Overturned Plessy decision!
SSUSH 22d
Describe the significance of
Martin Luther King, Jr.’s
Letter from Birmingham Jail
and his I Have a Dream
speech.
Letter from Birmingham Jail
• Famous civil rights writing in which he
addressed white preachers statements that
mass protest and civil disobedience were not
necessary and the courts should handle
complaints.
Martin Luther King, Jr. “I have a dream”
speech
• Delivered before the
Lincoln Monument
during 1963 March
on Washington.
• 200,000 civil rights
activists were in
attendance.
• Demanding equality
for all Citizens.
African-American Civil Rights Movement
Brown v. Board
(1954)
Overturned the Plessy case by declaring that segregated
facilities were inherently unequal, and ordered the integration of
the nation's public schools.
Montgomery Bus
Boycott
Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat in the front of a
Montgomery, Alabama, public bus for a white rider, leading
African-Americans to boycott public bussing.
Little Rock Crisis
After schools in Little Rock, Arkansas, refused to admit AfricanAmericans to all-white schools, President Eisenhower
authorized the U.S. Army to escort and protect AfricanAmerican students.
(1955)
(1957)
University of
Alabama
(1963)
March on
Washington
(1963)
Governor George C. Wallace refused to allow African-American
students to register for classes at the all-white University of
Alabama. President Kennedy authorized the use of the National
Guard to enforce educational integration.
Martin Luther King and his SCLC organized a massive
demonstration in Washington, D.C., where he delivered his
famous "I Have a Dream" speech.
SSUSH 22e
Describe the causes and
consequences of the Civil
Rights Act of 1964 and the
Voting Rights Act of 1965.
African-American Civil Rights Law
Civil Rights
Act of 1964
Provides criminal penalties for discrimination in employment or
voting and integrates most pubic facilities.
24th
Amendment
Banned the poll tax.
(1964)
Voting Rights
Act of 1965
Banned literacy tests in counties where over half of eligible
voters have been disenfranchised.
SSUSH 23
SSUSH 23a
Describe the Warren Court
and the expansion of
individual rights as seen in
the Miranda decision.
Miranda v. Arizona
• Earl Warren – Chief Justice
• 1966
• Ernesto Miranda arrested and interrogated w/o
lawyer present.
• Confessed to Kidnapping and Rape
• The Court held that Miranda’s 5th amendment
protection against self incrimination and his 6th
amendment right to counsel had been violated.
• Police officers must read to people arrested prior to
questioning. “You have the right to remain silent…”
SSUSH 23b
Describe the political impact
of the assassination of
President John F. Kennedy;
include the impact on civil
rights legislation.
SSUSH 23c
Explain Lyndon Johnson’s
Great Society; include the
establishment of
Medicaire..
Lyndon Baines Johnson
Great Society Program
LBJ's Great Society
Head Start
(1965)
Job Corps
(1966)
Medicare
(1965)
Medicaid
(1966)
VISTA
(1966)
Provided poor, disabled, and minority kids with extra academic
assistance through pre-school in order to ensure educational
success.
Provided training for poor, minority inner-city youth in order to
cultivate job skills.
Extended Social Security benefits by providing health insurance
for the elderly.
Provides health insurance for the poor and disabled.
Volunteers In Service To America; Organized youth volunteers
to work in economically depressed areas.
SSUSH 23d
Describe the social and political
turmoil of 1968, include the
assassinations of Martin Luther
King, Jr. and Robert F. Kennedy,
and the events surrounding the
Democratic National
Convention.
SSUSH 24
SSUSH 24a
Compare and contrast the Student
Non-Violent Coordinating
Committee (SNCC) and the
Southern Christian Leadership
Conference (SCLC) tactics, include
sit-ins, freedom rides, and
changing composition.
SSUSH 24b
Describe the National
Organization of Women
(NOW) and the origins and
goals of the modern
women’s movement.
Betty Friedan
• Led Women’s liberation
movement and claimed
that women feeling
fulfilled in the home
was a myth.
• Organized interest
group NOW to promote
women’s equality
• Wrote The Feminine
Mystique
Southern Christian Leadership Conference
(SCLC)
• Chose Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. as
its first president.
• Sought to unite leaders of the black
community (particularly black
ministers)
• Voter registration, Education
• Montgomery Bus boycott
• Mass protests public
demonstrations
• Non-Violent civil disobedience
Rosa Parks
Student Non-Violent Coordinating
Committee (SNCC)
• Students that devoted
themselves to non-violent
forms of Protest to
demand civil rights for
African Americans.
• Sit-ins: blacks sit in places
until they were served or
arrested.
• Eventually used violence
and abandoned peaceful
protest.
SSUSH 24c
Analyze the antiVietnam War
movement.
SSUSH 24d
Analyze Cesar
Chavez and the
United Farm
Workers’ movement.
United Farm Workers (UFW) & Cesar
Chavez
• Founded in 1962
• By Cesar Chavez
• Supported rights for
migrant farm workers
• Conducted hunger
strikes
• Used nonviolent protest
like MLK, Jr.
• Boycott California table
grapes and led the 1970
labor agreement.
SSUSH 24d
Explain the importance of Rachel
Carson’s Silent Spring and the
resulting developments; include
Earth Day, the creation of the
Environmental Protection Agency
(EPA), and the modern
environmental movement.
Rachel Carson
• Wrote “Silent Spring”
• Biologist, ecologist,
Writer
• Protested the use of
chemicals, Pesticides in
the environment for
farming, etc.
• Resulted in the Water
Quality Act
• Triggered the
Environmental
Movemtent
Earth Day
• A tradition established by
activist John McConnell in 1969
• April 22 intended to inspire
awareness and appreciation for
the earth’s environment.
• Promotes recycling, clear air,
and government regulation
• Protests against deterioration
against the environment such
as oil spills, raw sewage, toxic
dumps, pesticides, etc.
EPA – Environmental Protection
Administration
• Established in 1970
by President Richard
Nixon
• Federal Agency with
the purpose of
enforcing laws aimed
at maintaining a safe
and clean
environment.