What you'll learn
Period 8 (1945–1980) — Cold War abroad and rights revolutions at home (~10–17%).
Cold War
Containment (Truman Doctrine, Marshall Plan, NATO), the Korean War, the Red Scare/McCarthyism, the Cuban Missile Crisis, and détente. Arms race and space race with the USSR.
Civil Rights Movement
Brown v. Board (1954), Montgomery, sit-ins, the March on Washington, the Civil Rights Act (1964) and Voting Rights Act (1965); later, more militant Black Power.
Liberalism & the Great Society
LBJ's programs (Medicare/Medicaid, War on Poverty) expanded the federal role; the Warren Court extended rights.
Vietnam
Escalation, anti-war protest, credibility gap, and eventual withdrawal reshaped politics and public trust.
Social movements
Women's (NOW, feminism), environmental, and other rights movements; a conservative backlash grew by the 1970s.
Key themes
- Cold War shaping foreign and domestic policy.
- Expansion of rights and federal power, then reaction.
Exam tips
- Connect Cold War fears to domestic policy (Red Scare, spending).
Common mistakes
- Treating civil rights as a single, uniform movement.
- Forgetting the rising conservatism late in the period.