Embedded Files
Unit Overview: Domestic and Foreign Policy from 1945-1990
The period of 1945-1990 represent a time that America had firmly established itself as a world superpower and embraced a leadership position in global politics and finance. On the foreign front, at the end of WWII America sponsored the creation of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund, two institutions that would revolutionize and dominate world finance throughout the rest of the 20th century and into the 21st as well. Faced with the problem of Soviet Empire and the Iron Curtain, the US stabilized Western Europe and the free market world with programs such as the Marshall Plan, the Containment Policy, and the formation of NATO. The US would engage in a Cold War and an arms race with the Soviet Union and her satellites that would ultimately result in the collapse of the USSR in 1990.
On the domestic front, like other post-war nations, Americans saw high taxes and high regulation of the economy by government for decades following WWII. The fifties and early sixties was a period of great prosperity for the US as the GI Bill put millions through college and the middle class moved out to the suburbs. The sixties also witnessed great social revolution with the Civil Rights Movement, Feminism, the rise of a counter-culture, and the growing Vietnam War Protest movement. By the late 1970's, Keynesian economics was beginning to come to an end in America as "stagflation" mired down the economy, and the election of Ronald Reagan in 1980 began a conservative political and economic revolution that deregulated the American economy and brought the nation closer in alignment with free market principals.
Unit Essay: The Great Society
In order to get credit for this project you must write an essay on the following topic:
The Great Society
The period from 1945-1990 marked a time of great change in American society and represents an era of much landmark domestic policy legislation. As WWII came to a close, the economic and social policies of the decades that followed demonstrated that the New Deal was here to stay: from the administrations of Harry Truman to Ronald Reagan, each successive president launched ambitious plans to guide the American economy, minimize social inequity, or decrease discrimination throughout American society. Different presidents focused on different programs and none ever achieved all their goals, but the common theme throughout this era was that the government played an increasing role in championing economic and social equality. Using the knowledge that you have gained from your lessons and the major legislation passed in this era, write an essay of 600 words or more that describes American domestic policy from 1944-1960, 1961-1975, and 1976-1990.
In order to write this essay, consider the different presidencies during this era and the major legislation of each of the three time periods listed above. Also remember to consider how the different presidents and legislators addressed issues of economic and social equality. Use your key terms and familiarize yourself with each administration from the time:
Presidency of Dwight Eisenhower
The three groupings you see above reflect the three eras your essay needs to address.
Unit Videos:
The Century Part 8, The Best Years (45:00)
American Experience, Freedom Riders (1:52:00)
Commanding Heights Part 1 (1:55:00)
Unit Lectures:
US Government B Containment Policy Essay Class
US Government B Great Society Essay Class
Primary Sources:
US Government B Unit 3 Key Terms
For this project you must define the terms listed below and explain each term's significance to the unit/era being studied. Your definition should be 2-3 sentences long and may be copied and pasted from a source like Wikipedia, but the significance of the term must be in your own words and based on your own understanding. To fill out a term's significance, ask yourself, "Why is this item included in my study of this unit? Why is this term in a history book?" The answer to this question is your term's significance.
Unit 3 Key Terms:
1. The United Nations
2. International Monetary Fund/World Bank
3. Marshall Plan
4. The Containment Policy
5. 1953 Iranian Coup de tat
6. Korean War/Vietnam War
7. Brinksmanship/ Military Industrial Complex
8. Bay of Pigs Invasion/Cuban Missile Crisis
9. detente
10. Strategic Defense Iniative
11. NSDD 166 (CIA activities in Afghanistan)
12. Services Readjustment Act of 1944
13. Federal Aid Highway Act of 1956
14. Civil Rights Act of 1957
15. Civil Rights Act of 1964
16. Fair Housing Act of 1968
17. Equal Rights Amendment
18. Office of economic opportunity
19. Education for All Handicapped Children Act
20. Department of Education Organization Act
Below is an example of a key term done with the proper format:
William the Conqueror: William I (c. 1028[2] – 9 September 1087), also known as William the Conqueror (Guillaume le Conquérant), was the first Norman King of England from Christmas 1066 until his death. He was also Duke of Normandy from 3 July 1035 until his death, under the name William II. Before his conquest of England, he was known as William the Bastard because of the illegitimacy of his birth.To press his claim to the English crown, William invaded England in 1066, leading an army of Normans, Bretons, Flemings, and Frenchmen (from Paris andÎle-de-France) to victory over the English forces of King Harold Godwinson at the Battle of Hastings, and suppressed subsequent English revolts in what has become known as the Norman Conquest.[3] (I copied and pasted this definition from Wikipedia)
Significance: William the Conqueror is significant because his conquest of England created the first nation state in Europe. His rearrangement of English feudal territories to give himself dramatically more power than the the barons and nobles around him caused him to be the most powerful monarch in Europe and eventually led to the rise of other nation states over the next few centuries. (These are my words based on my knowledge of English and European history.)
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