APUSH Period 8 Study Guide (1945–1980)

These flashcards cover key concepts, events, and significant figures from the APUSH Period 8 study guide, focusing on the Cold War era, civil rights movement, and political changes in the United States between 1945 and 1980.

What was the core strategy of U.S. foreign policy during the Cold War?

Containment, aimed at preventing the spread of communism.

What was the purpose of the Truman Doctrine?

To provide economic and military aid to countries resisting communism.

What significant aid program aimed to rebuild Western Europe after WWII?

The Marshall Plan.

What was the outcome of the Berlin Crisis (1948-1949)?

The U.S. and allies responded to the Soviet blockade with a year-long airlift.

What major military alliance was formed in 1949?

NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization).

What was McCarthyism?

A campaign against alleged communists in the U.S. government and other institutions characterized by irrational suspicion and accusation.

What was the Southern Manifesto?

A document that opposed racial integration following the Brown v. Board of Education ruling.

What was the significance of the Civil Rights Act of 1964?

It prohibited discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin.

What was the main focus of the Postwar Prosperity and Suburbanization?

Mass consumer culture, growth of suburbs, and cultural conformity.

What was the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution?

It granted President Lyndon B. Johnson broad authority to use military force in Vietnam.

What was the Tet Offensive?

A military setback for North Vietnam that became a psychological turning point in the Vietnam War.

What did the Paris Peace Accords of 1973 accomplish?

They marked the formal withdrawal of U.S. troops from Vietnam.

What were the key Supreme Court decisions in the 1960s-1970s aimed at expanding rights?

Brown v. Board of Education, Gideon v. Wainwright, Miranda v. Arizona, Griswold v. Connecticut, Loving v. Virginia, Roe v. Wade.

What resulted from the Watergate scandal?

A decline in public trust in government and subsequent Congressional reforms.

What did the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) aim to achieve?

To guarantee equal legal rights for all American citizens regardless of sex.

What caused the political realignment in the late 1960s?

Civil rights legislation, the Vietnam War, and cultural/social unrest.

What did the 14th Amendment's Equal Protection Clause do after the civil rights movement?

It was used to apply the Bill of Rights to the states through selective incorporation.

What was a significant consequence of the Vietnam War on American society?

Widespread antiwar protests and a loss of trust in government.