The Early Cold War
Essential Questions
- How did US leaders respond to the threat of Soviet expansion in Europe?
- How did President Truman use the power of the presidency to limit the spread of communism in East Asia?
- What methods did the United States use in its global struggle against the USSR?
- How did fear of domestic communism affect American society during the Cold War?
- What was Truman’s Fair Deal? How did it differ from the New Deal?
- Why was there a second Red Scare in the 1950s and who led the crusade?
- Who are “baby boomers?”
- What was Americans suburban life like in the 1950s?
- What impact did the Kennedy-Nixon debate have on the 1960 election and future elections?
- How did the nation experience recovery and economic prosperity after WWII?
- What social and economic factors changed American life during the 1950s?
- How did popular culture and family life change during the 1950s?
- Why were some groups of Americans dissatisfied with conditions in postwar America?
Learning Objectives
You will learn:
- How the American foreign policy of isolationism ended with United States membership in post-World War II alliances and how that involvement influenced American foreign policy during the 20th and 21st Centuries
- How, why and to what extent Americans feared the spread of communism and how that fear impacted American culture in the “Red Scares” after World War II
- How and to what extent United States foreign policy has been guided by international human rights and the advancement of democracy since World War I
- How, why and to what extent the Cold War and the policy of containment influenced the Truman administration’s involvement in international affairs
- How and why a failed policy of containment in China would help lead to United States involvement in the Korean War
- How and why the Korean War ended in “stalemate” and how the war’s outcome affected international relations during and since the Cold War
- How, why and to what extent Cold War policies influenced the Eisenhower administration’s involvement in international affairs
- How, why and to what extent Cold War policies influenced the Kennedy administration’s involvement in international affairs
- How the federal government increased its levels of intelligence services and operations through the Cold War
- How, why and to what extent the consumer based economy of the United States flourished in the decades following World War II
- How and why the Cold War influenced the creation of a national interstate highway system and the implications of highway construction on American societies and culture
- How the Soviet launching of Sputnik fostered a space race and impacted the development of American education and culture through the 20th Century
- How the race to outer space and space age technologies impacted American culture
- How the post-World War II baby boom generation affected the culture, economy and politics of the United States through the 20th Century
- How the development of suburbs after World War II impacted the growth of American society and culture
- How the development of the interstate highway system impacted patterns of migration, settlement, and suburbanization in the 20th century
- How and why the 1960 presidential campaign and election significantly changed American politics and society
- How, why and to what extent a consumer based economy flourished in the United States in the 1950s
- How and to what extent a youth culture driven by consumerism, delinquency, and rock-n-roll music emerged after World War II and impacted American society
- How and why the role of the “military-industrial complex” was seen as a concern by significant sectors of American society
- How and why the development of the United States “military-industrial complex” impacted the economic development of the western states
- How the invention and use of television impacted the economic, political and cultural development of the United States
- How some people of the 1950s criticized conformity and reflected on the struggle of the individual in a society of mass consumerism
Key Terms
Assignments and Readings
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cold_war_roadshow.pdf |
Slideshows
Videos
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Digital History Textbook
Postwar America: 1945 - 1960
The chapter examines the origins of the Cold War; the implementation of the Containment policy; the Korean War; and fear of Communist subversion at home. It also traces the beginnings of the Civil Rights movement; the emergence of youth culture; and postwar cultural critics, including the Beats.
The Cold War
The Truman Doctrine
The Containment Policy
The Chinese Revolution
Soviet Atomic Bomb
Korean War
The Death of Stalin and the Cold War
The Cold War in Developing Countries
The Military-Industrial Complex
Cuba and the Bay of Pigs Invasion
Cuban Missile Crisis
Tail-Gunner Joe
The Second Red Scare
Alger Hiss
Anti-Communism During the Early 1950s
Domestic Communism
The Rosenberg Case
Margaret Chase Smith: The Conscience of the Senate
McCarthy Condemned
Paranoid Style
Kefauver Committee
Emmett Till
Hearts and Minds
The Integration of Professional Sports
The Peace Corps
The Space Race
Levittown
The Rise of the Sunbelt
The Interstate Highway System
The chapter examines the origins of the Cold War; the implementation of the Containment policy; the Korean War; and fear of Communist subversion at home. It also traces the beginnings of the Civil Rights movement; the emergence of youth culture; and postwar cultural critics, including the Beats.
The Cold War
The Truman Doctrine
The Containment Policy
The Chinese Revolution
Soviet Atomic Bomb
Korean War
The Death of Stalin and the Cold War
The Cold War in Developing Countries
The Military-Industrial Complex
Cuba and the Bay of Pigs Invasion
Cuban Missile Crisis
Tail-Gunner Joe
The Second Red Scare
Alger Hiss
Anti-Communism During the Early 1950s
Domestic Communism
The Rosenberg Case
Margaret Chase Smith: The Conscience of the Senate
McCarthy Condemned
Paranoid Style
Kefauver Committee
Emmett Till
Hearts and Minds
The Integration of Professional Sports
The Peace Corps
The Space Race
Levittown
The Rise of the Sunbelt
The Interstate Highway System