1. The Soul of a Superpower: Postwar United States (1945- early 1970s)

2. Baby Boom Generation

3. Suburbanization – linked to conformity

4. Realities of International Politics Soviet Union had emerged from WWII as the other superpower Soviets occupied Eastern Europe as a buffer zone against possibility of future German invasion Communists were winning in China and took over in 1949 It would be expensive to meet the communist threat

5. Divided Germany

6. Berlin Blockade/Airlift (1948-1949)

7. Europe’s “Iron Curtain”

8. Korean War (1950-1953)

9. Second Red Scare

10. Space Race

11. Emergence of Modern Civil Rights Movement

12. Key Events in 1950s Civil Rights Brown vs. Board of Education decision on segregation of schools (1954) Arrest of Rosa Parks and resulting Montgomery Bus Boycott (1955-1956) Desegregation of Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas (1957)

13. Election of 1960

14. Bay of Pigs Invasion (Apr ‘61)

15. Background on U.S. Involvement in Vietnam War U.S. government had backed an independent Vietnam in 1945 even though led by communist-trained Ho Chi Minh But French used priorities of the Cold War to secure U.S. assistance in retaking control of their former colony in Southeast Asia U.S. bankrolled much of the failed French war effort and then tried to prop up South Vietnam as an anti-communist state.

16. Advisory Effort in Vietnam

17. Cuban Missile Crisis (Oct ‘62)

18. Cuban Missile Crisis Details U.S. and Soviet officials eventually agreed that missiles would be removed in exchange for U.S. promise not to invade Cuba Secret provision of deal had Kennedy promise to remove U.S. nuclear missiles from Soviet neighbor of Turkey (though missiles were defunct – not known by Soviets) U.S. forces went to DEFCON-2, which was highest level of readiness short of nuclear war

19. Birmingham Demonstrations

20. Phases of Modern Civil Rights Movement Mid-1950s – Focus on using legal system to break down barriers Late-1950s to Mid-1960s – Focus on using forms of peaceful protest to desegregate, i.e., integrate communities Mid-1960s to Early 1970s – Rise of black nationalism encouraged greater militancy and disagreement within African American community

21. Black Nationalism vs. Integrationism

22. LBJ’s Great Society

23. Features of Great Society Two major pieces of civil rights legislation in 1964 and 1965 – ended widespread disenfranchisement of blacks in former Confederate states War on Poverty to include Medicare, Medicaid and food stamps

24. Gulf of Tonkin Incident/Resolution (Aug ‘64)

25. LBJ & The Vietnam War

26. Tet Offensive - 1968

27. Shocks to Political System in 1968 Tet Offensive suggests war in Vietnam far from over President Johnson drops out of re-election campaign Assassination of MLK, Jr. Assassination of Senator Robert Kennedy while running for president Democratic convention in Chicago degenerates into street battles with protestors

28. Election of 1968

29. Rise of Women’s Liberation

30. Watergate Burglary & Fall of Richard Nixon

31. Useful Primary Sources Winston Churchill’s “Iron Curtain” speech (1946) Truman Doctrine (1947) Senator Joseph McCarthy launching anti- communist crusade in Wheeling, WV (1950) President Dwight Eisenhower Farewell Address on “Military-Industrial Complex” (1961) John F. Kennedy Inaugural Address (1961) Port Huron statement by SDS (1962)

32. Useful Primary Sources (continued) MLK’s “I Have a Dream” speech (1963) Senator J. William Fulbright’s “Arrogance of Power” speech (1966) Stokely Carmichael’s “Black Power” speech (1967) Redstockings Manifesto (1969)