America comes home from WWII, a power house if you will. We expand with an interstate system that lets us explore further distances than ever before. As far as Presidents, Harry Truman stays in right after the war, General D. Eisenhower becomes president in the 1950s, then the charming JFK, Johnson becomes president due to the assassination of JFK, Nixon finally gets elected to only resign, Ford falls down the stairs, and Jimmy leaves Georgia for the White House. This is just the presidents, we have a Korean War and a Vietnam War. An entire class could be on the Civil Rights Movement of the time or the changes in culture in society. Thus, yes I know there is a lot of information, but pick a question below and try to teach others why you think the information is important.
Topics come from OpenStax Chapters 28/29/30 https://openstax.org/books/us-history/pages/28-introduction (Links to an external site.)
You can use Exploring American Histories Chapter 24- almost through chapter 27
You can use one of my topic questions below or like Jeopardy make your own question and then answer it!!!
- How did some Americans turn their wartime experiences into lasting personal gains (i.e. better employment, a new home, or an education) after the war was over? Why did others miss out on these opportunities?
- What was the reason for the breakdown in friendly relations between the United States and the Soviet Union after World War II? What were the results of this conflict?
- How did fear of the Soviet Union and Communism affect American culture and society?
- What social changes took place in the United States after World War II? What role did the war play in those changes?
- How did the wartime experiences of African Americans contribute to the drive for greater civil rights after the war?
- Describe the changing role of the federal government in the 1960s. What new roles and responsibilities did the government assume? In your opinion, can the government effect permanent social change? Why or why not?
- Discuss how and why various groups of people within American society began to challenge and criticize the nation’s way of life in the 1960s. Were their criticisms valid? What were some of the goals of these groups, and how did they go about achieving them?
- In your opinion, what is the most effective method for changing society—voting, challenges in the courts, nonviolent civil disobedience, or violence? What evidence can you provide from actual events in the 1960s to support your argument?
- Were groups that advocated the use of violence in the 1960s justified in doing so? Why or why not?
- Discuss how the United States became engaged in the Vietnam War. What were some of the results of that engagement?
- What common goals did American Indians, gay and lesbian citizens, and women share in their quests for equal rights? How did their agendas differ? What were the differences and similarities in the tactics they used to achieve their aims?
- In what ways were the policies of Richard Nixon different from those of his Democratic predecessors John Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson? How were Jimmy Carter’s policies different from those of Nixon?
- To what degree did foreign policy issues affect politics and the economy in the United States in the late 1960s and 1970s
- What events caused voters to lose faith in the political system and the nation’s leaders in the late 1960s and 1970s?
- In what ways did the goals of the civil rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s manifest themselves in the identity politics of the 1970s?