Exam Review Notes

Ideologies and Post-WWII Economy

  • Communism:
    • Aims for public ownership; achieved through revolution.
    • Typically involves an authoritarian leader.
  • Socialism:
    • Similar goals to communism but achieved through gradual change.
    • Often involves democratically elected leaders.
  • Capitalism:
    • Competition drives the market.
    • Private ownership of property and production means.
  • Fascism:
    • Anti-communist, suppresses political opposition.
    • Allows private ownership but tightly controls production.
    • Extreme nationalism and racism.
  • Post-WWII Economic Growth:
    • Increased productivity and federal spending.
    • G.I. Bill: Helped veterans with loans for college and homes.
    • Suburban development and baby boom (1945-1960).
    • Interstate Highway Act (1956): Increased commuting.
    • Technological advancements like air conditioning and TVs.
    • Migration to the Sunbelt for defense industry jobs.
  • Mass Culture:
    • Homogenous ideas and behaviors driven by fear of communism.
    • Television and advertising promoted consumerism.
    • Credit cards facilitated keeping up with middle-class status.
  • Challenges to Conformity:
    • Rock n’ Roll music.
    • Beatniks: Rebelled against conformity through poetry and spontaneity.

Cold War and Red Scare

  • Cold War:
    • Conflict between the U.S. and the Soviet Union without direct warfare.
    • Ideological battle: Democratic capitalism vs. authoritarian communism.
    • Characterized by mutual distrust and periods of confrontation and coexistence.
  • Containment:
    • Limiting communism to existing areas.
    • Truman Doctrine (1947): Aid to countries threatened by communism.
    • Marshall Plan (1948): Financial aid to rebuild Europe.
  • Berlin Blockade (1948-1949):
    • Stalin blockaded Western Berlin.
    • Berlin Airlift: U.S. and U.K. supplied West Berlin.
  • Nuclear Proliferation:
    • Arms race led to mutually assured destruction.
    • Bomb shelters and “Duck and Cover” drills.
  • Proxy Wars:
    • Indirect fighting, e.g., Korean War (1950-1953).
  • Red Scare:
    • Fear of communism at home.
    • Taft-Hartley Act: Union leaders pledge loyalty.
    • Federal Employee Loyalty and Security Program.
    • Unamerican Activities Committee: Investigated suspected communists in Hollywood.
    • McCarthyism: Witch hunt for communists led by Joseph McCarthy.
    • Julius and Ethel Rosenberg: Accused of spying and executed.

Foreign Policy and Great Society

  • Foreign Policy:
    • Decolonization created unstable nations.
    • U.S. and Soviet Union competed for influence.
    • Examples: Guatemala, Iran, Cuba.
    • Eisenhower warned against the military-industrial complex.
    • Détente: Cooling of Cold War tensions, SALT I and II.
    • Camp David Accords: Peace agreement between Israel and Egypt (1978).
  • Space Race:
    • Competition with the Soviet Union.
    • 1957: Sputnik launch.
    • 1969: Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin on the moon.
  • Great Society (Lyndon Johnson):
    • Aimed to end racial discrimination and eliminate poverty.
    • Programs: Head Start, Food Stamp Act, Job Corps, Medicare, Medicaid.
    • Immigration and Nationality Act, 1965: Abolished national origin quotas.
  • Warren Court:
    • Expanded liberalism.
    • Key cases: Engel v. Vitale, Baker v. Carr, Gideon v. Wainwright, Griswold v. Connecticut.

Vietnam War

  • Background:
    • Vietnam divided after decolonization.
    • Domino theory: Fear of communism spreading.
  • Escalation:
    • Gulf of Tonkin Incident led to increased U.S. involvement.
  • American Strategy:
    • Guerilla warfare by Vietcong.
    • Tet Offensive: Large-scale surprise attack.
    • My Lai Massacre: Killing of unarmed civilians by American soldiers.
  • Antiwar Sentiment:
    • Credibility gap: Government propaganda vs. reality.
    • The Military Draft.
    • College protests, e.g., Kent State Massacre.
    • Richard Nixon: Vietnamization and troop withdrawal.

Civil Rights Movement

  • Early Efforts:
    • Executive Order 9981: Truman desegregated armed forces.
    • 24th amendment: Abolished poll tax.
    • Brown v. Board of Education: Desegregated schools, overturning Plessy v. Ferguson.
  • Resistance:
    • Massive resistance in the South.
    • Little Rock Nine: Federal troops protected black students.
  • Montgomery Bus Boycott:
    • Rosa Parks sparked boycott.
    • Martin Luther King, Jr.: Advocated civil disobedience.
  • Sit-ins and Freedom Riders: Challenged segregation.
  • Key Events/Figures:
    • 16th Street Baptist Church Bombing.
    • March on Washington: “I Have a Dream” speech.
    • Civil Rights Act of 1964: Banned discrimination.
    • Voting Rights Act of 1965: Outlawed literacy tests.
    • Malcolm X: Black nationalism, separatism.
    • Black Panthers: Advocated self-defense.
    • Loving v. Virginia: Legalized interracial marriage.
    • MLK assassination, 1968.

Civil Rights Movement Expands

  • Women’s Movement:
    • Betty Friedan, The Feminine Mystique.
    • National Organization for Women (NOW).
    • Title IX: Banned sex discrimination in education.
    • Equal Rights Amendment (ERA): Failed due to opposition; Phyliss Schlafly.
    • Sexual Revolution, Roe v. Wade (1973) & Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization (2022).
  • Latinos:
    • United Farm Workers (Delores Huerta and Cesar Chavez).
    • Grape Strike.
  • Indigenous Groups:
    • American Indian Movement.
    • Occupation of Alcatraz Island.
    • Self Determination Act of 1975.
  • Asian Americans:
    • Asian American Political Alliance.
  • Gay Liberation Movement:
    • Stonewall Inn Riot.
    • Homosexuality removed from DSM.

Counterculture and Conservatism

  • Counterculture:
    • Rejected societal restraints and traditional norms.
    • Embraced informality, Haight-Ashbury.
    • Woodstock Music Festival.
  • Environment:
    • OPEC oil crisis, Three Mile Island.
    • Rachel Carson, Silent Spring.
    • Clean Air Act, Earth Day, EPA, Department of Energy.
  • Conservatism:
    • Challenged liberal laws and perceived moral decline.
    • Barry Goldwater, Young Americans for Freedom, The New Right.
    • John Birch Society, William F. Buckley.
    • Growth of the religious right, Jerry Falwell, James Dobson.
  • Stagflation and Watergate Scandal: Decreased confidence in government.
  • Affirmative Action:
    • Bakke v. The University of California: Limited minority quotas.