Our last unit of study analyzes the developments in America throughout the last half of the 20th century.  The military industrial complex became a standard fixture in America's economy to combat the threat posed by the USSR, and it was Eisenhower who initially warned of its growing influence over society and the threat it posed to our free institutions.  The modern Civil Rights Movement achieved monumental success, and though there was a war declared on poverty, it was overshadowed by the escalating conflict in Vietnam.  

     With the dawn of the 1970's, the American economy began to sputter, exacerbated by an embargo imposed by OPEC.  Richard Nixon left the American people with a distrust of the Federal Government while Jimmy Carter was unbraided  by a crisis with Iran, that had been brewing for decades. 

     Finally, with the advent of the 1980's and 1990's, hope for a peaceful resolution to the Cold War was realized with the dissolution of the USSR. The years that followed prior to the new millenium produced an unprecedented Wall Street boom and the advent of international hyper-sensationalized terrorism, prompting wars in both Afghanistan and Iraq to start the 21st Century.

EQ #14

Analyze the impact affluence made on the US after World War II in shaping American culture and in stifling the progression of social reform.

EQ #15

How did the Vietnam War heighten the social, political, and economic tensions in the United States between 1964 and 1975?

EQ #16

What social, economic, and political challenges did America face during the last three decades of the 20th century, and to what extent were they satisfactorily resolved?