United States HistoryFrom WWII to the present

THE POST-WAR WORLDForeign Policy

1. Cold War Begins

• Political and military rivalry between superpowers US and Soviet Union (USSR).– Lasted from 1945-1990– led to “hot” wars around globe

in Korea, Vietnam

2. U.S. vs. USSR (Soviet Union)

U.S. U.S.S.RCapitalism CommunismPrivate property State ownsDemocratic Totalitarian

3. FIGHTING COMMUNISM

CONTAINMENT POLICY: The U.S. would work to stop the spread of communism.1. Truman Doctrine2. Marshall Plan3. NATO and other alliances

4. The Truman Doctrine & Domino Theory

Truman Doctrine: U.S. would aid countries around the world who are fighting communism (like Greece and Turkey).

Domino Theory: If the U.S. doesn’t fight communism, then countries will fall to communism like dominos.

5. The Marshall Plan 1948

• Plan to aid Europe—in ruins– Prevent countries from

falling to communists– Aid American business

• $17 billion to 16 countries in Europe (not Soviet Union)

6. NATO vs. WARSAW PACTNorth Atlantic Treaty Organization:

defense alliance among U.S. and Europe against the Soviet Union. Still exists.

Warsaw Pact: Defense alliance among Soviet Union and its satellite governments in Eastern Europe.

7. Postwar Germany7. Postwar Germany• Nuremburg Trials for war crimes• Divided into 4 zones:

– West Germany – U.S., Britain, and France

– East Germany- Soviets– Capitol city of Berlin divided into 4

zones (in East Germany)

• Berlin Airlift: In 1948-49, the U.S. and Europe flew food and supplies to save West Berlin, until Soviets reopened roads.

8. Post War Japan:8. Post War Japan:

• U.S. occupied – under General MacArthur– New constitution – Democracy with Emperor as

figurehead– Rebuild economy– Abolished army and navy

• Tokyo trials convicted war criminals

9. The Red Scare

• Intense fear of Communists taking over U.S. – China became a Communist country in

1949.– Soviets developed an atomic bomb in

1949.– Rosenbergs convicted of selling atomic

secrets to Soviet Union. Executed 1953.

10. McCarthyism• In 1950, Republican Senator Joseph

McCarthy of Wisconsin claimed that he had “lists” of communists in the U.S. government.

• Falsely accused hundreds of people of being active Communists, ruining lives.

• When hearings were televised, people saw that McCarthy was wrongly accusing many people.

• Censured (punished) by Senate.

11. Korean War, 1950-53• Divided north and south at 38th

parallel at end of WWII.• In 1950, Communist North Korea

invaded South Korea. • The U.S. and United Nations,

aided the South; China aided the North Koreans.

• Treaty signed in 1953, keeping dividing line at 38th parallel (still today).

• 33,000 American soldiers died, 100,000 wounded.

12. Space Race

• Began when Soviets beat the U.S. into space– Soviet satellite Sputnik launched in

1957– Explorer I, the first U.S. satellite, was

launched in 1958.

• The National Defense Act of 1958 approved federal funding of education in math, science and foreign languages.

• Reforms in education –

13. Nuclear Arms Race• Hydrogen bomb

invented – both U.S. and Soviets had them

• 1,000 times more powerful than atomic bomb—vaporized an island.

• Dangers of fallout and radiation

• Many built bomb shelters!!

POST-WAR AMERICA

•

14. Economic Boom in the 1950s…

• Permanent military economy, with the government spending heavily on defense.

• Created an economic boon in the 1950s – Suburban growth – “middle class” moving out of

cities; 1/3 of population—tract housing as in Levittown, PA

--GI Bill of Rights—education, loans --Interstate Highway Act --televisions, automobiles

15. BABY BOOM

• As the country returned to normal, there was a huge increase in births, lasting from 1946-1960.

• Largest population group ever, now retiring.

• Rock and Roll music became popular.

16. Election of 1948Democrats – President Truman

Republican - Thomas Dewey of NY

Dixiecrats – Strom Thurmond

Southern Democrats

who left party after Truman

desegregated the military.

Dewey predicted to win! Truman won with 49% of the popular vote…

17. Elections of 1952 and 1956Republican – General Dwight D.

Eisenhower –WWII hero won over Democrat Adlai Stevenson. Eisenhower promised to end the war in Korea and to resist communism.

Most Americans wanted a change; Democrats had been in power for 20 years!

What’s the answer?• 1. Political and military rivalry with Soviet Union?• 2. Intense fear of Communist takeover in the

United States?• 3. “Hot war” in Asia from 1950-53?• 3. Senator who falsely accused many people of

communism?• 4. Increased birth rate from 1946 to 1960.• 5. Republican who won the presidency in 1952?• 6. Southern Democrats who broke off from

Democratic Party over civil rights?

TheCivilRightsMovement

18. The Civil Rights Movement 1945-1970

End segregation in schools and public places (Jim Crow) and ensure full voting rights in the South.

After WWII, movement picks up speed:

-Executive Order 9981-Truman desegregates military

NAACP—National Association for Advancement of Colored People—1909—used courts to attack segregation.

SCLC—Southern Christian Leadership Conference—black ministers

SNCC—Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee—black college students

19. Education1896 – Plessy v. Ferguson – “separate but equal” ok—

doesn’t violate equal protection of the laws.

1954 – Brown v. Bd. of Ed. of Topeka, Kansas – “Separate but equal” IS unconstitutional. Suit brought by NAACP; argued by Thurgood Marshall.

1955– Federal courts order Southern states to desegregate with “all deliberate speed.” Whites resisted, even closing schools.

1957—Pres. Eisenhower uses National Guard to force Arkansas to admit the “Little Rock Nine,” 9 black students, to Central High School.

20. Montgomery Bus Boycott1955--Rosa Parks arrested in 1955 for

refusing to give up seat on bus to white person.

• Martin Luther King, Jr. of the SCLC led boycott against city buses.

• Court holds segregated buses unconstitutional; bus company goes bankrupt for lack of black riders.

• King writes “Letter from a Birmingham Jail” to white ministers, explaining why nonviolent protest is necessary.

21. Sit-ins

• Greensboro, NC• Lunch counters were segregated• Students from SNCC used non-

violence – sit-ins.• White violence caught on television.

22. Freedom Riders (CORE)

• Black and white students rode buses together to desegregate public buses.

• Whites burned buses and beat riders in Alabama; President Kennedy has to step in to protect them. Televised!

23. 1963 March on Washington demonstrated public support for Civil Rights lawsIdea of A. Phillip Randolph in 1940sDr. King delivered his “I Have a Dream” speech to 250,000

marchersLed to Civil Rights Act of 1964--

banned discrimination in places where you eat, sleep or are entertained.--Also protected women and minorities.

White Violence Increases• 1963—Medgar Evars, NAACP official

assassinated• 1963--church bomb kills 4 girls• 1964—3 civil rights workers murdered• 1965—march on Selma turns into

“Bloody Sunday”

24. Black Groups and Movements

Nation of Islam – Malcolm XMalcolm X, separation of races, black nation.

• Black Power MovementBlack Power Movement – Stokely Carmichael, black pride

Black Panther partyBlack Panther party --militant demand for change—social programs.

25. King AssassinatedKing Assassinated

• Dr. King, desire to unite all races, desire for Vietnam war funds to be used to fight poverty.

• On April 4, 1968, King was assassinated in Memphis by James Earl Ray.

The 1960s and 1970s

26. Election of 1960Republican Richard Nixon,

former Vice-President, ran against Democrat – John F. Kennedy, a young Irish Catholic.

First televised presidential debates, which helped Kennedy.

• “Ask not what your country can do for you – ask what you can do for your country!”

27. The Bay of Pigs

• 1959 – Fidel Castro takes over Cuba – established ties with the Soviet Union—

90 miles from U.S.

• In 1961, U.S. backed 1500 Cuban refugees (trained by CIA) in an attack; at the last moment, JFK withdrew direct air/naval support.

• Rebellion fails– have to pay $50 million in

supplies/cash to ransom 1200 survivors.

28. Cuban Missile Crisis, 1962CIA discovers Soviet weapons in Cuba pointed at

U.S.• US makes naval blockade and

demanded removal of the weapons. • Very tense 7 days.Closest we have ever come to nuclear war.Finally, Khrushchev, Russian leader, agrees to

remove if we will not attack.

29. JFK Assassinated

• Dallas, Texas Nov. 22, 1963• Lee Harvey Oswald shot by Jack Ruby• Warren Commission Report – Oswald acted alone

Lyndon Baines Johnson becomes president.

30. 1964—LBJ Administration• Reelected and continues

Kennedy’s policies• Great Society and War on

Poverty—Medicare/Medicaid• Voting rights act of 1965—

– Eliminates poll tax, literacy tests, grandfather clauses– supervision of elections in South.

31. Vietnam War• 1950s—civil war between North and South Vietnam

– US sends supplies and advisors to South Vietnam

– Domino theory—US sent advisors and supplies to South Vietnam to stop spread of communism or Southeast Asia would “fall”

– North led by Ho Chi Minh, communist leader• 1964 Gulf of Tonkin Resolution

– LBJ used to engage in full scale war.– massive bombing and draft.

• TET offensive in 1968—shows US not winning the war; LBJ doesn’t run again.

32. Vietnam War Protest• 1968 Election—Nixon wins and uses “Vietnamization”

– bombing and turning war over to South Vietnam– ends in 1973 when South Vietnam falls to the Communists. – 60,000 US soldiers died; longest and most costly of wars.

PROTEST--A powerful antiwar movement slowly mounted within the U.S. – burn draft cards, draft evaders, protests.

                                                                                            

33. Counterculture– hippies!!• Rejected traditional values

– “square”

• Long hair, wild clothes, drugs, sex• College campuses – protest, sit-ins, rallies• CommunesWoodstock, 1969 • “Summer of love”

34. Man on the Moon

• July 20, 1969 Apollo 11 Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin

landed on the moon! “That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.”

35. Important Court Cases

• The Warren Court, 1953-1969—important cases involving individual rights– Brown v. Board of Education– Miranda v. United States—rights of person

under arrest must be clearly explained in order to be valid (“You have the right to remain silent . . . “)

The Burger Court, 1969-1986—Bakke v. Regents (1978)—racial quotas for admission were unconstitutional (leads eventually to end of affirmative action)

36. 1972 Election:36. 1972 Election:

• Pres. Nixon wins in a landslide—Nixon wins in a landslide—– Silent majority – middle class voters restore law & order.– Foreign Policy – Nixon visited China in 1972

and improved relations with Communists26th Amendment had passed in 1971 –

18 year olds can vote in all states.Equal rights amendment for women, passedby Congress in 1972, but not ratified.

37. Watergate

• 5 men arrested attempting to place wiretaps in Democratic headquarters during 72 campaign.– did Nixon know? Clear he covered up.– Story broke when two Washington Post reporters used

source “Deep Throat” for information. – Congress began investigating in televised hearings—top

White House officials went to jail. – Facing impeachment, he resigned. Gerald Ford

becomes President (never elected); pardons Nixon.

38. Environmental Movement • Rachel Carson, The Silent Spring—

dangers of pesticides; launches environmental movement concerned about pollution, recycling, composting.– Earth Day– Clean Air Act – Clean Water Act– & Water, concerned with pollution, recycling,

composting.– 1973 Arab oil embargo led to an energy crisis.

39. Carter Administration

• Foreign Policy – emphasized moral principles and respect for human-rights– Boycott 1980 Olympics to protest Soviet

invasion of Afghanistan– Worked for peace in the Middle East– Iranian hostage crisis—53 Americans for

more than a year; rescue failed.

The 1980s through the Present

40. Ronald Reagan, 1981-89

• New Right elected Reagan –– Pro-life movement—religious movement to protest the

Roe v. Wade decision that stated women had a privacy right to an abortion during the first trimester of pregnancy.

– Reaganomics – economic programtax cuts to wealthy to “trickle down” to poorcut government regulation of some industries

– Iran-Contra: illegally sold weapons to Iran, and used secret money to fund anticommunists in Nicaragua.

– Glasnost—Cold War is ending; Soviet Union breaks apart; West and East Germany reunited after Berlin Wall falls.

41. Bill Clinton, 1993-200141. Bill Clinton, 1993-2001

Democrat, with Republican led Congress

Series of scandals—Whitewater, Monica Lewinski

North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA)—eliminated import taxes on most goods sold between Canada, Mexico, and the U.S.

Series of terrorist attacks: World Trade

Center (1993), Oklahoma City (1995), and

USS Cole.

42. George Bush, 2001-present

• Bush v. Gore: Gore wins popular vote, but loses electoral vote due to Supreme Court’s decision on Florida election: Bush was denied equal protection if different methods were used to count votes in different states

• Sept. 11, 2001 – World Trade Center bombed again– Led to War against terrorism in Afghanistan (sponsored Al

Quaeda) and Iran (weapons of mass destruction)– War protest movement

43. Five declared Wars

• War of 1812• Mexican War• Spanish-American War• WWI• WWII• Iraq and Vietnam—Congress

authorized actions but no formal declaration of war

Practice Questions

• US History Test 4http://www.cowetaschools.org/nhs/testing/utest/ushistory4/ushistory4.htm

• US History Test 5http://www.cowetaschools.org/nhs/testing/utest/ushistory5/ushistory5.htm