Compelling Question: How did anti-communist foreign policy, the liberal welfare state, and American cultural values shape the postwar world from 1945 to 1960?

Chapter Objectives:

• Students will explore the causes and effects of the Cold War and U.S. internationalist foreign policy.
• Students will analyze how the civil rights movement gained momentum after World War II.
• Students will analyze vast economic, demographic, technological, cultural, and social changes in the postwar United States.

• McCarthyism DBQ Lesson
• George Kennan (“Mr. X”), “Sources of Soviet Conduct,” July 1947 Primary Source
• Harry S. Truman, “Truman Doctrine” Address, March 1947 Primary Source
• Winston Churchill, “Sinews of Peace,” March 1946 Primary Source
• Richard Nixon, “Checkers” Speech, September 1952 Primary Source
• Dwight D. Eisenhower, Farewell Address, January 1961 Primary Source
• Who Was Responsible for Starting the Cold War? Point-Counterpoint
• Truman Intervenes in Korea Decision Point
• Truman Fires General Douglas MacArthur Decision Point
• Eisenhower and the Suez Canal Crisis Decision Point
• The Berlin Airlift Narrative
• The Postwar Red Scare Narrative
• Cold War Spy Cases Narrative
• The Nixon-Khrushchev Kitchen Debate Narrative
• The Korean War and the Battle of Chosin Reservoir Narrative

• Jackie Robinson Narrative
• Rosa Parks, Martin Luther King Jr., and the Montgomery Bus Boycott Narrative
• Rosa Parks’s Account of the Montgomery Bus Boycott (Radio Interview), April 1956 Primary Source
• The Little Rock Nine Narrative
• The Murder of Emmett Till Narrative

• The G.I. Bill Narrative
• Dr. Benjamin Spock and the Baby Boom Narrative
• The Sound of the Suburbs Lesson (fromteachrock.org)
• Levittown Videos, 1947-1957 Primary Source
• Critics of Postwar Culture: Jack Kerouac,On the Road(Excerpts), 1957 Primary Source
• The National Highway Act Narrative
• Nam Paik,Electronic Superhighway, 1995 Primary Source
• William F. Buckley Jr. and the Conservative Movement Narrative
• Sputnik and NASA Narrative
• Was Federal Spending on the Space Race Justified? Point-Counterpoint
• Kennedy vs. Nixon: TV and Politics Lesson (fromjfklibrary.org)

Additional Resources:

• Chapter 13 Introductory Essay: 1945-1960
• Eleanor Roosevelt and the United Nations Narrative

How did anti-communist foreign policy, the liberal welfare state, and American cultural values shape the postwar world from 1945 to 1960?

Option A: Explain the causes and effects of the Red Scare after World War II.

Through this inquiry, students will evaluate primary and secondary sources to explain the causes and effects of the Red Scare after World War II. Ultimately, students will use the primary and secondary sources in this chapter to practice constructing an essay, in AP Long Essay Question format, demonstrating their skills in explaining historical causation. Students should be evaluated using the AP Rubric. Assess students’ progress in understanding the compelling question for this chapter by assigning the Unit 7 Essay Activity.