Period 8 Hyperdoc (1945-1980)

● Key Concept 8.1: The United States responded to an uncertain and unstable postwar world by asserting and
working to maintain a position of global leadership, with far-reaching domestic and international
consequences.
● Key Concept 8.2: New movements for civil rights and liberal efforts to expand the role of government
generated a range of political and cultural responses.
● Key Concept 8.3: Postwar economic and demographic changes had far-reaching consequences for American
society, politics, and culture.

Period 8 Overview

Watch the overview video for Period 8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hl06geWFdWg

8.1 Contextualizing Period 8

How is 1945 a turning point in the role of the United States in the world?

8.2 The Cold War from 1945-1980

Directions: Watch the Khan Academy video Origins of the Cold War and complete the
questions below.
1. What is the Cold War? the open yet restricted rivalry that developed after World War II between the United
States and the Soviet Union
2. What are proxy wars? a war instigated by a major power that does not itself become involved
3. What is Stalin’s goal for Russia? erase all traces of the capitalism that had entered under the New
Economic Policy and to transform the Soviet Union as quickly as possible
4. What are the Eastern bloc nations? Albania, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, East Germany, Hungary, Poland,
Romania, and Yugoslavia
5. What is the situation in the USSR in 1945? came to victory in 1945 only after first coming close to total
defeat
6. What is the concern of the US in the years following WWII?
7. What are the differences between the US and the USSR? The United States was capitalist which meant
that people could own land and businesses and compete for themselves

Directions: Watch The Cold War: Crash Course US History #37 and complete the questions
below.
1. When was the Cold War? March 12, 1947 – December 26, 1991
2. What were the goals of the US? to stop the spread of communism into Western Europe and worldwide
3. What is the policy of containment? the US would provide political, military, and economic aid to
democratic countries under the threat of communist influences
4. What wars were fought during the Cold War? Korean, Vietnam, soviet-Afghanistan
5. What was the Truman Doctrine? would provide political, military, and economic assistance to all
 democratic nations under threat
6. What countries was it originally focused on? Turkey and Greece
7. What was the Marshall Plan? United States program of economic aid for the reconstruction of Europe
(1948-1952)
8. How did this help Western Europe?
9. How was Germany divided? Germany was divided into four occupied zones
10. How did the US respond to Stalin blockading Berlin? airlifting food and fuel to Berlin from Allied
airbases in western Germany
11. What was built in 1961? The Berlin Wall
12. What had happened by 1950?
13. How did America promote American ideals like capitalism and freedom? people own the factors of
production and make decisions based on their own best interest
14. How were the Soviets able to develop nuclear weapons so quickly?
Soviet Spying

8.3 The Red Scare

Directions: Read the Khan Academy article linked below and answer the questions that
follow.

Anticommunism in the 1950s (article)

1. What was the House Committee on Un-American Activities and what did it do during the 1950’s?
investigate alleged disloyalty and rebel activities on the part of private citizens, public employees, and
organizations suspected of having Communist ties
2. Who took advantage of the paranoia of the era? Republican Senator Joseph McCarthy
3. Who was tried and executed for passing information about the atomic bomb to Russia? Julius and
Ethel Rosenberg
4. How did institutions try to root out suspected communists?
5. What was the purpose of Red Channels? expos[e] the most important aspects of Communist activity in
America each week
6. What allegations did McCarthy make in an attempt to improve his reelection chances? communists
have infiltrated the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and the atomic weapons industry
7. What was McCarthy’s downfall politically? McCarthy hearings
8. What does the term McCarthyism mean? a campaign or practice that endorses the use of unfair
allegations and investigations

8.4 Economy after 1945

Directions: Read the Khan Academy articles linked below and answer the questions that
follow.

The GI Bill (article)

1. What was the GI Bill? a law that provided a range of benefits for some of the returning World War II
veterans
2. How many veterans benefited? 5.4 million
 3. Why was it called the best investment the US government ever made?
4. What were the 3 components of the GI Bill of Rights? college education, unemployment insurance, and
housing
5. How did it help the American economy? more Americans took advantage of higher education, earned
higher wages, and could therefore pump more money into the economy by buying homes and consumer
goods

The baby boom (article)

1. How many new babies did the US add on average every year between 1946 and 1964? 4.24 Million
2. How did boomers influence the economy? hold a large amount of the wealth in the U.S., making them a
prime market segment
3. What happened to the birth rate in the early twentieth century? It experienced a long-term decline
4. What factors led to this baby boom? people wanting to start the families that they put off during World
War II and the Great Depression
5. What generation was the most marriage and family oriented in US history? The generation of WWII
6. What percentages of women and men got married?
7. What were the effects of this boom?
8. What was the echo boom? A child of a member of the post-World War II baby boom generation
9. What is the significance of the baby boom? a strong postwar economy, in which Americans felt confident
they would be able to support a larger number of children
10. What long-term effects of the baby boom on US society? A strong postwar economy and the confidence
that families could support a larger population

The growth of suburbia (article)

1. Who built three giant “Levittown” suburbs and what techniques did they use? Levitt and Sons used an
Assembly line system
2. What is the American dream in the postwar era? They looked towards their future with optimism and
economic prosperity
3. How did the American landscape change during the late 1940s and 1950s?
4. How did Levitt and Sons embark on a plan to mass-produce homes? Using an Assembly Line
5. What was the cost of the earliest Levittown houses? 7900$
6. What kind of support did the government give veterans through the FHA and VA? financial housing
aide

8.5 Culture after 1945

Directions: Read the Khan Academy articles linked below and answer the questions that
follow.

Popular culture and mass media in the 1950s (article)

1. What new style of music emerged? Rock and roll
2. Where would it draw inspiration from?rhythm and blues music of the 1940s
3. What new technology began to compete with movies as a major form of popular entertainment? The
 television
4. As baby boomers grew how did they seek to define and redefine their identities? developed a greater
generational consciousness than previous generations
5. Who helped spread rock and roll by playing it on the radio in Cleveland? Alan Freed
6. Who were important musicians during the era? Willie Mae Thornton, Big Joe Turner, Bill Haley and His
Comets, Chuck Berry, Elvis Presley,
7. What happened to the “Hollywood Ten”?voted in contempt of Congress in November and sentenced to
prison for six months to a year
8. How did the over 300 actors, screenwriters, directors, musicians and other entertainment
professionals respond to the industry blacklist? They were barred from work through the studios
9. What were some of the popular television shows of the era? Comedy and Variety shows

Women in the 1950s (article) | 1950s America

1. What was the traditional role of women in the 1950’s? They managed the home and purchased
groceries, goods, and services for daily life
2. What portion of the peacetime labor force were women? Over ⅓
3. What was the “American dream”?the belief that anyone, regardless of where they were born or what class
they were born into, can attain their own version of success
4. What was the largest generation of Americans known as?
5. What is a nuclear family? This is a commercial-like family with a couple and dependent kids
6. How did Lucille Ball challenge society’s expectations of women while also confirming the traditional
view of women as a wife and mothers on her show I Love Lucy?
7. From the standpoint of mass media, what was the role of African American women and women of
lower socioeconomic status? They were in a “whitewashed’ decade

8.6 Early Steps in the Civil Rights Movement (1940’s and 1950’s)

Directions: Read the Khan Academy article and watch the Civil Rights and the 1950’s
Crash Course video below and answer the questions that follow.

The Civil Rights Movement: an introduction (article)

1. What approaches did the civil rights movement use to achieve change? litigation, the use of mass
media, boycotts, demonstrations, as well as sit-ins and other forms of civil disobedience
2. What’s the NAACP?a civil rights organization in the United States
3. What is the Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka court case result?held that “separate but equal”
facilities are inherently unequal and violate the protections of the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth
Amendment
4. What was the “Southern Manifesto”? the House Rules Committee
5. What was the role of the Montgomery Bus Boycott in the Civil Rights Movement?helped eliminate
early barriers to transportation access
6. What groups took part in protests to raise awareness and accelerate the momentum for civil rights
legislation? SCLC, SNCC,AFL-CIO
7. What was the largest civil rights protest in US history? The civil rights march in washington
8. What was Freedom Summer?hoped to combine voter education, registration and political activism, as well
 as running freedom schools to teach literacy and civics to both adults and children
9. Describe Black Power. emphasized racial pride, economic empowerment, and the creation of political and
cultural institutions

Civil Rights and the 1950s: Crash Course US History #39

1. What has the 1950s been called AND what are the 2 reasons why it’s called this? a period of "consensus"
and that is because people were starting to become more wealthy so they had less to complain about and during
the Cold War people did not want to criticize the USA because they were scared that would make people think they
were a "communist".
2. Describe the economic expansion between 1946-1960. Doubled the standard of living, wages rise with the
middle class having new access to newer technology
3. Why is the 1950s referred to as the “era of suburbanization” AND describe Levittowns? because the
number of homes doubled during the 1950 decade. Levittown was a suburb in NY with 10,000 identical homes
where 40,000 people lived and was put up basically overnight.
4. What effect did suburbanization have on car ownership AND did this “car culture” change how we
lived? changed the way we lived by giving us malls, and drive-thru restaurants
5. Who were the critics of consensus AND what were their criticisms? C. Wright Mills- saw power as elite as it
could push democracy aside, David Riesman- Americans could be truly independent, John Kenneth Galbraith
supported booming economy products instead of education
6. Describe the difficulties that African Americans faced in the 1950s. rigid segregation in housing, jobs, and
employment. Half of the black families were in poverty with unstable jobs because whites had superiority
7. When do most think the Civil Rights Movement began AND when did it begin? started during WW2 but
most people think it started with Rosa Parks or Brown vs. Board of Education.
8. What was the NAACP’s strategy AND who led it? Thurgood Marshall led it and the strategy was to create a
legal defense fund and create lawsuits to live up to Plessy v. Ferguson
9. What is the significance of the Mystery document AND who is its author? Earl Warren from Brown v Board
of Education wrote it. He talks about the physiological impact that being segregated has on black children
10. How did the South respond to the decision in Brown?"Massive Resistance" happened in the South.
Instead of integrating, schools closed.
11. How was Rosa Parks experienced, who will emerge as the leader, AND how was the bus boycott a
success? She was a leader in the NAACP, one of the only few blacks to vote in Alabama, and did civil rights
movements. Martin Luther King Jr emerged as a leader. Bus Boycott was a success because after about a year, the
Montgomery city people gave in
12. What did the federal government show at Little Rock AND by the end of the 1950s, just how integrated
is the U.S.?Eisenhower sends troops/guards to walk to black people to school to keep them safe for a year. It
showed that it wouldn't allow states to ignore court orders about the Constitution

8.7 America as a World Power

Directions: Read the Khan Academy article on the Space Race and watch the video on the
Cuban Missile Crisis linked below and answer the questions that follow.

The start of the Space Race (article)

1. What was the space race? a period of competition between the Soviet Union and the United States over
who could conquer space exploration first.
2. What was the purpose of NASA? oversee U.S. space exploration and aeronautics research.
 3. What is the world’s first artificial satellite? Sputnik I
4. Who was the first American to enter Earth’s orbit? John H Glenn
5. What was the National Defense Education Act and its purpose? one of the most successful legislative
initiatives in higher education. It established the legitimacy of federal funding of higher education and made
substantial funds available for low-cost student loans, boosting public and private colleges and universities
6. What was the “missile gap”? the perception by U.S. government officials that the United States trailed the
Soviet Union in ballistic missile technology.blooket

Cuban Missile Crisis | The 20th century | World history | Khan Academy
1. Who led the revolution in Cuba in 1959?Fidel Castro
2. What happened at the Bay of Pigs? the Cuban-exile invasion force, known as Brigade 2506, landed at
beaches along the Bay of Pigs and immediately came under heavy fire.
3. When is the Cuban Missile Crisis? October 16, 1962,
4. What is the Soviet Union doing? launched a large military build-up in 1965 by expanding both nuclear and
conventional arsenals
5. Who is the leader of the USSR?
6. What were the 3 options that were suggested to deal with the missiles in Cuba?
7. What is Kennedy’s position as of October 22?
8. How is this situation between Kennedy and Kruschev described?
9. How many ships did the Soviets turn back?
10. On the 27th, Krushchev demands the US take what action?
11. What could have caused the US to go to war with the USSR?
12. Why did they use back channels to agree to privately remove the weapons in Turkey and Italy?
13. Who is the big winner here?
14. Why is the Cuban Missile Crisis significant?

8.8 The Vietnam War

Directions: Watch the Khan Academy video below on the Vietnam War and answer the
questions that follow.

Vietnam War | The 20th century | World history | Khan Academy

1. Who is the colonial power controlling French Indochina (the modern day nations of Vietnam,Laos,
and Cambodia)?
 2. Who is the leader of the Viet Minh?
3. The First Indochina War is fought between?
4. Where was French control centered?
5. What was the purpose of the Geneva Conference of 1954?
6. Who takes control of South Vietnam as the President?
7. Why does the US support South Vietnam?
8. What is the domino theory?
9. How is the US involved in Vietnam during the 1950’s?
10. What is the division between North and South Vietnam?
11. Who are the Viet Cong?
12. Describe Ngo Dinh Diem.
13. What is one of the shadiest incidents in American history?
14. What allegedly happened to the USS Maddox?
15. What is the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution?
16. Who is given the authority to officially get involved in Vietnam?
17. What are Johnson and the American military leaders telling the American people?
18. Describe the Tet Offensive.
19. What was the impact of the Tet Offensive?
20.What was the My Lai Massacre?
21. How many received jail time?
22. What do the Pentagon Papers indicate?
23. What was Nixon’s goal?
24. What happened with the Paris Peace Accords?
25. What happened in 1975?

8.9 The Great Society

Directions: Use your readings, notes and the article below to complete the graphic
organizer.
Lyndon Johnson as president (article)
LAW / TREATY YEAR OUTCOME / RULING

1. Civil Rights Act of

1964

2. Job Corps

3. Head Start

4. Economic
Opportunity Act

5. Medicare

6. Medicaid

7. Primary and
Secondary
Education Act of
1965

8. Title IX

9. Voting Rights Act of

1965

8.10 The African American Civil Rights Movement (1960’s)

8.11 The Civil Rights Movement Explodes

Directions: Use your readings, the articles linked below, and Crash Course US History
#40 to complete the graphic organizer and questions below.

The March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom (article)

The Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (article)
SNCC and CORE (article)
Black Power (article)

Organization/ Date Description Key Leaders Goals and Methods

Event

March on
Washington
for Jobs and
Freedom

Civil Rights
Act of 1964

Voting Rights
Act of 1965

March from
Selman to
Montgomery/
“Bloody
Sunday”

CORE

NAACP

SNCC

AFL-CIO

SCLC

Freedom
Rides

Black Panther
Party

The 1960s in America: Crash Course US History #40

1. Why were the ‘60s an “important time”?

2. What did the 1960s “see”, what did this include, AND what overshadowed all others?
3. What actions were taken in the Civil Rights Movement in 1960 and 61 AND how were they successes?
4. What role did TV play in the Civil Rights Movement AND what was gained in the Birmingham protest?
5. What was MLK seeking in his March on Washington AND what was the result?
6. What was LBJ’s “Great Society” AND summarize Foner’s take on the Great Society?
7. What were signs of the growing frustration of African Americans with the goal of integration?
8. What effects did the anti-war & civil rights movements have on Latinos, Native Americans, and gays?
9. What is the significance of Silent Spring, the Mystery document AND what were the effects of this
book?
10. How AND why did women organize?
11. Explain how Supreme Court decisions “greatly expanded the protections of people accused of crimes”.

8.12 Youth Culture of the 1960s

Directions: Use your notes and the articles linked below to answer the questions that
follow.

The student movement and the antiwar movement (article)

Counterculture Movement · Civil Rights Digital History Project · exhibits

The Sixties | AP US History Study Guide from The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American
History
1. Where did the student movement begin?
2. What was the SDS and the Port Huron Statement?
3. What was the New Left?
4. Describe the antiwar movement.
5. How did they protest the movement?
6. Describe the “counterculture” movement.
7. Describe the music of the 1960’s and its influence on the counterculture.
8. Who were the key musicians of the era?
9. Describe Woodstock and how it is representative of the counterculture movement.
10. What fashion trends emerged from the counterculture movement?

8.13 The Environment and Natural Resources from 1968 to 1980

Directions: Use the articles and video link below to answer the questions that follow.
Stagflation and the oil crisis (article)

Rachel Carson | About EPA | US EPA

Ford, Carter, and the Economic Malaise: Crash Course US History #42
1. Describe the oil crisis in the 1970’s.
2. What was OPEC?
3. What were the effects of the oil embargo?
4. Who was Rachel Carson?
 5. Describe Silent Spring.
6. How did the federal government respond to Silent Spring?
7. What’s the big story of the 1970s and what did we get instead?
8. Why was there a gradual decline in manufacturing in the U.S.AND what effect did it have on
exports?
9. How were unions AND northern cities affected by this decline?
10. Describe the 2 oil shocks that sent the economy into a tailspin.
11. What’s Ford’s only memorable domestic program AND to what extent was it successful?
12. What are the un-New Deal Democrat actions of Carter?
13. What are the main points of Carter’s Crisis of Confidence speech AND what was the public response
to it?
14. What was Carter’s greatest foreign policy accomplishment AND why?
15. What was Carter’s greatest foreign policy failure AND what led to the failure?
16. What is the Carter doctrine AND what prompted its issuance?
17. ____________________ shocks and inevitable systemic changes led to the poor economy and
that weakened support for ____________________ liberalism and increased the appeal of
____________________ ideas like lower ____________________, reduced
____________________ and cuts in ____________________.

8.14 Society in Transition

Directions: Watch the Crash Course video linked below and answer the questions that
follow.

The Rise of Conservatism: Crash Course US History #41

1. What were the 2 strands of conservatism AND what were they hostile towards?
2. What did Goldwater, the Republican presidential candidate in 1964, demand AND lambast?
3. What was the result AND significance of the Election of 1964?
4. How did Nixon win the Election of 1968 AND what is the “Southern Strategy”?
5. Describe the big gov’t programs that began in Nixon’s presidency AND how/why were these passed at
this time?
6. Who did Nixon appoint as Chief Justice to the USCT and why AND how was this appointee a
disappointment?
7. What evidence supports the Republican belief that traditional family values were deteriorating?
8. Why were conservatives opposed to Title IX and the ERA amendment?
8. What was CREEP, who were the Plumbers, and what “ultimately doomed” Nixon?
9. What did the Church committee conclude AND what was their evidence?
10. What was the clear signal that the scandals sent Republicans?

8.15 Continuity and Change in Period 8

Directions: Watch the Khan Academy linked below and complete the questions and
graphic organizer below.

Continuity and change in the postwar era | Period 8: 1945-1980 | AP US History | Khan
Academy
1. What are some of the key events of the period from 1945-1980?
2. What were some of the clashes of the era?
3. What is American national identity?
What is the United Citizenship in the US Cultural Values of the Choose another
States’ Role in the US aspect of American
World? national identity:
______________
______________
____

1945

1980

4. Write 1-2 paragraphs summarizing the continuity and change of Period 8.

Skill Practice

Document 1: Joseph R. McCarthy, Speech to the Women’s Club of Wheeling, West Virginia, February
1950

“The reason why we find ourselves in a position of impotency is… because of the traitorous actions of those
who have been treated so well by this Nation. It has not been the less fortunate or members of minority
groups who have been selling this Nation out, but rather those who have had all the benefits that the
wealthiest nation on earth has to offer – the finest homes, the finest college education, and the finest jobs
in Government.

“This is glaringly true in the State Department. There the bright young men who are born with silver
spoons in their mouths are the ones who have been the worst… In my opinion, the State Department… is
thoroughly infested with Communists.
“I have in my hand 57 cases of individuals who would appear to be either card-carrying members or
certainly loyal to the Communist Party, but who nevertheless are still helping to shape our foreign policy.”

Directions: Write 2-3 sentences in which you summarize the document and incorporate two
of the following: historical context, author’s POV, purpose, or audience.

Document 2: Walter Lippmann, journalist, essay written six days after Sputnik, October 1957

“Why is it that in the twelve years that have passed since the end of World War II, the United States which
was so far in the lead has been losing its lead to the Russians…

“Our people have been led to believe in the enormous fallacy that the highest purpose of the American
social order is to multiply the enjoyment of consumer goods. As a result, our public institutions,
particularly those having to do with education and research, have been …. scandalously starved.

“With prosperity acting as a narcotic… our public life has been increasingly doped and without purpose.
With the President in a kind of partial retirement… we drift, with no one to state our purposes and to make
policy.”

Directions: Write 2-3 sentences in which you summarize the document and incorporate two
of the following: historical context, author’s POV, purpose, or audience.

Document 3: Supreme Court, Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, May 17, 1954

“Does segregation of children in public schools solely on the basis of race even though the physical
facilities and other ‘tangible’ factors may be equal, deprive the children of the minority group of equal
education opportunities? We find that it does.
“In finding that a segregated law school for Negroes could not provide them equal education opportunities,
this court relied in large part on ‘those qualities which are incapable of objective measure, but which make
for greatness in a law school.’

“Such considerations apply with added force to children in grade and high schools. To separate them from
others of similar age and qualifications solely because of their race generates a feeling of inferiority as to
their status in the community that may affect their hearts and minds in a way unlikely ever to be undone…

“We conclude that in the field of public education the doctrine of ‘separate but equal’ has no place.
Separate educational facilities are inherently unequal. Therefore, we hold that the plaintiffs… [are]
deprived of the equal protection of the laws guaranteed by the 14th Amendment.”

Directions: Write 2-3 sentences in which you summarize the document and incorporate two
of the following: historical context, author’s POV, purpose, or audience.

Document 4: Lyndon B. Johnson, State of the Union Message, January 12, 1966

“We will stay (in Vietnam) because a just nation cannot leave to the cruelties of its enemies a people who
have staked their lives and independence on America’s solemn pledge – a pledge which had grown through
the commitment of three American presidents.

“We will stay because in Asia – and around the world – are countries whose independence rests, in large
measure, on confidence in America’s word and in American protection. To yield to force in Vietnam would
weaken that confidence, would undermine the independence of many lands, and would whet the appetite
of aggression. We would have to fight in one land, and then we would have to fight in another – or
abandon much of Asia to the domination of Communists.”

Directions: Write 2-3 sentences in which you summarize the document and incorporate two
of the following: historical context, author’s POV, purpose, or audience.

Document 5: Jimmy Carter, Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States, 1979
“Our people are losing faith, not only in government itself but in their ability as citizens to serve as the
ultimate rulers and shapers of our democracy.

“We were sure that ours was a nation on the ballot, not the bullet, until the murders of John Kennedy and
Robert Kennedy and Martin Luther King Jr. We were taught that our armies were always invincible and
our causes were always just, only to suffer the agony of Vietnam. We respected the Presidency as a place of
honor until the shock of Watergate.

“We remember when the phrase ‘sound as a dollar’ was an expression of absolute dependability, until ten
years of inflation began to shrink our dollar and our savings. We believed that our Nation’s resources were
limitless until 1973, when we had to face a growing dependence on foreign oil.”

Directions: Write 2-3 sentences in which you summarize the document and incorporate two
of the following: historical context, author’s POV, purpose, or audience.

Document 6: Title: "They won't get us to the conference table...will they?" Creator(s):
Oliphant, Pat, Date Created/Published: c1966.
https://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/97520148/
Directions: Write 2-3 sentences in which you summarize the document and incorporate
two of the following: historical context, author’s POV, purpose, or audience.

Document 7:

Directions: Write 2-3 sentences in which you summarize the document and incorporate two
of the following: historical context, author’s POV, purpose, or audience.
Document 8: Source: Daily Mail. 06.06.1946. London.
Copyright: (c) Leslie Illingworth Associated Newspaper / Solo Syndication, London

Directions: Write 2-3 sentences in which you summarize the document and incorporate two
of the following: historical context, author’s POV, purpose, or audience.