UNIT 5

The Cold War - Present

PERIOD 8: 1945 - 1980

PERIOD 9: 1980 - Present

Text: Chapters 26 - 31

• Film: The Day After

• Video: In the Spirit of Crazy Horse (AIM Movement)

• Book Excerpts: A People’s History of the Vietnam War

• Video: Letters Home from Vietnam

PERIOD 8: 1945 - 1980

Themes and Content:

1. United States policymakers engaged in a cold war with the authoritarian Soviet Union, seeking to limit the growth of Communist military power and ideological influence, create a free-market global economy, and build an international security system.

   • As postwar tensions dissolved the wartime alliance between Western democracies and the Soviet Union, the United States developed a foreign policy based on collective security, international aid, and economic institutions that bolstered non-Communist nations.

   • Concerned by expansionist Communist ideology and Soviet repression, the United States sought to contain communism through a variety of measures, including major military engagements in Korea and Vietnam.

   • The Cold War fluctuated between periods of direct and indirect military confrontation and periods of mutual coexistence (or detente).

   • Postwar decolonization and the emergence of powerful nationalist movements in Asia, Africa, and the Middle east led both sides in the Cold War to seek allies among new nations, many of which remained nonaligned.

   • Cold War competition extended to Latin America, where the U.S. supported non-Communist regimes that had varying levels of commitment to democracy.

2. Cold War policies led to public debates over the power of the federal government and acceptable means for pursuing international and domestic goals while protecting civil liberties.

   • Americans debated policies and methods designed to expose suspected communists within the United States even as both parties supported the broader strategy of containing communism.

   • Although anticommunist foreign policy faced little domestic opposition in previous years, the Vietnam War inspired sizable and passionate antiwar protests that became more numerous as the war escalated and sometimes led to violence.

   • Americans debated the merits of a large nuclear arsenal, the military-industrial complex, and the appropriate power of the executive branch in conducting foreign and military policy.

   • Ideological, military, and economic concerns shaped U.S. involvement in the Middle East, with several oil crises in the region eventually sparking attempts at creating a national energy policy.

3. Seeking to fulfill Reconstruction-era promises, civil rights activists and political leaders achieved some legal and political successes in ending segregation, although progress toward racial equality was slow.

   • During and after World War II, civil rights activists and leaders, most notably Martin Luther King Jr., combatted racial discrimination utilizing a variety of strategies, including legal challenges, direct action, and nonviolent protest tactics.

   • The three branches of the federal government used measures including desegregation of the armed services, Brown v. Board of Education, and the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to promote greater racial equality.

   • Continuing resistance slowed efforts at desegregation, sparking social and political unrest across the nation. Debates among civil rights activists over the efficacy of nonviolence increased after 1965.

4. Responding to social conditions and the African American civil rights movement, a variety of movements emerged that focused on issues of identity, social justice, and the environment.

   • Feminist and gay and lesbian activists mobilized behind claims for legal, economic, and social equality.

   • Latino, American Indian, and Asian American movements continued to demand social and economic equality and a redress of past injustices.

   • Despite an overall affluence in postwar America, advocates raised concerns about the prevalence and persistence of poverty as a national problem.

   • Environmental problems and accidents led to a growing environmental movement that aimed to use legislative and public efforts to combat pollution and protect natural resources. The federal government established new environmental programs and regulations.

5. Liberalism influenced postwar politics and court decisions, but it came under increasing attack from the left as well as from a resurgent conservative movement.

   • Liberalism, based on anticommunism abroad and a firm belief in the efficacy of government power to achieve social goals at home, reached a high point of political influence by the mid-1960s.

   • Liberal ideas found expression in Lyndon Johnson's Great Society, which attempted to use federal legislation and programs to end racial discrimination, eliminate poverty, and address other social issues. A series of Supreme Court decisions expanded civil rights and individual liberties.

   • In the 1960s, conservatives challenged liberal laws and court decisions and perceived moral and cultural decline, seeking to limit the role of the federal government and enact more assertive foreign policies.

   • Some groups on the left also rejected liberal policies, arguing that political leaders did too little to transform the racial and economic status guo at home and pursued immoral policies abroad.

   • Public confidence and trust in government's ability to solve social and economic problems declined in the 1970s in the wake of economic challenges, political scandals, and foreign policy crises.

   • The 1970s saw growing clashes between conservatives and liberal over social and cultural issues, the power of the federal government, race, and movements for greater individual rights.

6. Rapid economic and social changes in American society fostered a sense of optimism in the postwar years.

   • A burgeoning private sector, federal spending, the baby boom, and technological developments helped spur economic growth.

   • As higher education opportunities and new technologies rapidly expanded, increasing social mobility encouraged the migration of the middle class to the suburbs and of many Americans to the South and West. The Sun Belt region emerged as a significant political and economic force.

   • Immigrants from around the world sought access to the political, social, and economic opportunities in the United States, especially after the passage of new immigration laws in 1965.

7. New demographic and social developments, along with anxieties over the Cold War, changed U.S. culture and led to significant political and moral debates that sharply divided the nation.

   • Mass culture became increasingly homogeneous in the postwar years, inspiring challenges to conformity by artists, intellectuals, and rebellious youth.

   • Feminists and young people who participated in the counterculture of the 1960s rejected many of the social, economic, and political values of their parents' generation, introduced greater informality into U.S. culture, and advocated changes in sexual norms.

   • The rapid and substantial growth of evangelical Christian churches and organizations was accompanied by greater political and social activism on the part of religious conservatives.

8. Conservative beliefs regarding the need for traditional social values and a reduced role for government advanced in U.S. politics after 1980.

   • Ronald Reagan's victory in the presidential election of 1980 represented an important milestone, allowing conservatives to enact significant tax cuts and continue the deregulation of many industries.

   • Conservatives argued that liberal programs were counterproductive in fighting poverty and stimulating economic growth. Some of their efforts to reduce the size and scope of government met with inertia and liberal opposition, as many programs remained popular with voters.

   • Policy debates continued over free-trade agreements, the scope of the government social safety net, and calls to reform the U.S. financial system.

9. New developments in science and technology enhanced the economy and transformed society, while manufacturing decreased.

   • Economic productivity increased as improvements in digital communications enabled increased American participation in worldwide economic opportunities.

   • Technological innovations in computing, digital mobile technology, and the Internet transformed daily life, increased access to information, and led to new social behaviors and networks.

   • Employment increased in service sectors and decreased in manufacturing, and union membership declined.

   • Real wages stagnated for the working and middle class amid growing economic inequality.

10. The U.S. population continued to undergo demographic shifts that had significant cultural and political consequences.

    • After 1980, the political, economic, and cultural influence of the American South and West continued to increase as population shifted to those areas.

    • International migration from Latin America and Asia increased dramatically. The new immigrants affected U.S. culture in many ways and supplied the economy with an important labor force.

    • Intense political and cultural debates continued over issues such as immigration policy, diversity, gender roles, and family structures.

11. The Reagan administration promoted an interventionist foreign policy that continued in later administrations, even after the end of the Cold War.

    • Reagan asserted U.S opposition to communism through speeches, diplomatic efforts, limited military interventions, and a buildup of nuclear and conventional weapons.

    • Increased U.S. military spending, Reagan's diplomatic initiatives, and political changes and economic problems in Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union were all important in ending the Cold War.

    • The end of the Cold War led to new diplomatic relationships but also new U.S. military and peacekeeping interventions, as well as continued debates over the appropriate use of American power in the world.

12. Following the attacks of September 11, 2001, U.S. foreign policy efforts focused on fighting terrorism around the world.

    • In the wake of attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, the United States launched military efforts against terrorism and lengthy, controversial conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq.

    • The war on terrorism sought to improve security within the United States but also raised questions about the protection of civil liberties and human rights.

    • Conflicts in the Middle East and concerns about climate change led to debates over U.S. dependence on fossil fuels and the impact of economic consumption on the environment.

    • Despite economic and foreign policy challenges, the United States continued as the world's leading superpower in the 21st century.

Discussions:

1. Has it been a “good” thing for teenagers to have so much economic power?

2. The great contradiction: America refused to allow free elections in Vietnam, because they believed if communists won power, they wouldn’t allow free elections.

3. Gulf of Tonkin: When conspiracy theories prove true

4. Are most people skeptical about the govt.? If so, what could change that?

5. Can Americans overcome their fear of another Vietnam War? If so, how?

6. Affirm. Action & Political Correctness: MLK’s dream or goodwill gone wrong?

Movies:

Guilty By Suspicion- A Hollywood director is blacklisted by the House Committee on Un-American Activities and is forced to

choose between his principles or his family & friends.

Born on the Fourth of July - The biography of Ron Kovic. Paralyzed in Vietnam, he became an anti-war protestor.

American Graffiti- A couple of high school grads spend one final night cruising the strip with their buddies before they go off to college.

Stand By Me - After the death of a friend, a writer recounts a boyhood journey to find the body of a missing boy. Great look at changing times of the 1950s and how a group of young friends are affected by it and respond to it.

The Outsiders - When two poor greasers, Johnny and Ponyboy, are assaulted by a vicious gang, the socs, and Johnny kills one of the attackers, tension begins to mount between the two rival gangs, setting off a turbulent chain of events. The film takes place in the 1950s and touches on a growing class divide that separates communities & the kids growing up in them.

Dirty Dancing - The films shows the growing divide between older, conservative traditions and a growing desire by youth to distance themselves from them.

The Help - An aspiring author during the civil rights movement of the 1960s decides to write a book detailing the African-American maids' point of view on the white families for which they work, and the hardships they go through on a daily basis. 

Thirteen Days- Set during the two-week Cuban missile crisis in October of 1962, this film centers on how JFK, Robert Kennedy, and others handled the explosive situation.

The Right Stuff- The Mercury 7 astronauts and the beginning of the space program.

Amazing Grace & Chuck- After touring a nuclear silo, a boy decides to protest until nuclear weapons are disarmed. The movement that follows makes the world listen.

Red Dawn- It is the dawn of World War III. In mid-western America, a group of teenagers bands together to defend their town, and their country, from invading Soviet forces.

Malcolm X - The biography of the controversial and influential Black Nationalist leader.

Mississippi Burning-FBI investigates the disappearance of civil rights activists in MS.

Forrest Gump– One simple man’s journey through some of history’s most pivotal moments and his personal struggle to win his true love.

We Were Soldiers- The first major battle of the American phase of the Vietnam War and the soldiers on both sides that fought it.

Full Metal Jacket- A Marine observes the dehumanizing effects the Vietnam War has on his fellow recruits, from their brutal basic training to the bloody street fighting set in 1968.

Platoon - A young recruit in Vietnam faces a moral crisis when confronted with the horrors of war and the dual nature of man.

Apocalypse Now– In Vietnam, a captain is sent on a mission into Cambodia to assassinate a renegade Green Beret, who has set himself up as a God among a local tribe.

The Deer Hunter– A look at the way Vietnam affected the lives of people in a small, industrial town and the veterans who came home.

Woodstock – A documentary chronicle of the legendary 1969 music festival.

Hair (musical)- Claude Bukowski leaves the family ranch in Oklahoma for New York where he is rapidly embraced into the hippie group of youngsters led by Berger, yet he's already been drafted. He soon falls in love with Sheila Franklin, a rich girl but still a rebel inside.

Bobby - A re-telling of the assassination of Senator Robert F. Kennedy at the Ambassador Hotel in 1968.

Nixon - A biographical story of U.S. president Richard Nixon, from his days as a young boy to his eventual presidency, which ended in shame.

All the President’s Men- Reporters Woodward and Bernstein uncover the details of the Watergate scandal that led to President Nixon's resignation.

Milk – The story of Harvey Milk, and his struggles as an American gay activist who fought for gay rights and became California's first openly gay elected official.

Frost/Nixon - When disgraced President Richard Nixon agreed to an interview with David Frost, he thought he’d save his tarnished legacy. But Frost became one of Nixon’s most formidable adversaries and engaged him in a battle of wits that changed politics forever.

Jacknife - A conflict develops between a troubled Vietnam veteran and the sister he lives with when she becomes romantically involved with an army buddy, who reminds him of the tragic battle they both survived.

Charlie Wilson’s War- The true story of congressman Wilson's efforts to fund Afghanistan's defense against the Soviet invasion of the 1980s.

Thunderheart - An FBI man with Sioux heritage is sent to a reservation to help with a murder investigation, where he has to come to terms with his identity and the truth behind government policy on Indian land.