Lesson 10 20th Century

The Marshall Plan April 3, 1948

The Marshall Plan, also known as the European Recovery Program, was a U.S. program providing aid to Western Europe following the devastation of World War II. It provided more than $15 billion to help finance rebuilding efforts on the continent. Named after U.S. Secretary of State George C. Marshall.

The Cold War

Harry S. Truman established that the United States would provide political, military and economic assistance to all democratic nations under threat from external or internal authoritarian forces (aka The Truman Doctrine).

The Cold War - McCarthy

McCarthyism is the practice of making accusations of subversion or treason without proper regard for evidence. The term refers to U.S. senator Joseph McCarthy (R-Wisconsin) and has its origins in the period in the United States known as the Second Red Scare, lasting from the late 1940s through the 1950s.

The End

Premier Mikhail Gorbachev (1931-) took office in 1985 and introduced two policies that redefined Russia’s relationship to the rest of the world: “glasnost,” or political openness, and “perestroika,” or economic reform.

The North Atlantic Treaty (April 4, 1949)

The Korean War

On June 25, 1950, the Korean War began when some 75,000 soldiers from the North Korean People’s Army poured across the 38th parallel, the boundary between the Soviet-backed Democratic People’s Republic of Korea to the north and the pro-Western Republic of Korea to the south.

Barbara Johns Walks Out (April 23, 1951)

Johns never became famous, but her protest prompted the Supreme Court’s historic 1954 decision outlawing public school segregation.

Brown v Board of Education May 17, 1954

Linda Brown was only 9 years old when her dad, the Rev. Oliver Brown, walked with her to an all-white neighborhood school in Topeka, Kansas. Brown’s request to enroll Linda in this school was denied.

Emmett Till Is Murdered (Aug. 28, 1955)

The Birth Control Pill Is Approved (May 9, 1960)

Bay of Pigs April 17, 1961

Vietnam War 1954-1973

Gulf of Tonkin August 5, 1964

On Aug. 7, 1964, Congress passed the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, expanding the president’s authority over the military and effectively marking the beginning of the Vietnam War — one of the defining events in modern U.S. history.

The resolution allowed the president to “take all necessary measures to repeal any armed attack.” Only two senators opposed the bill. Operation Rolling Thunder, the first extensive bombing campaign against North Vietnam, began the following year.

Tet Offensive

On January 31, 1968, some 70,000 DRV forces under General Vo Nguyen Giap launched the Tet Offensive (named for the lunar new year), a coordinated series of fierce attacks on more than 100 cities and towns in South Vietnam.

-14,000 civilians were dead, mainly due to U.S. firepower

- 627,000 were left homeless.

My Lai Massacre

The Vietnam War ends

Cuban Missile Crisis October 1962

Roe v Wade January 22, 1973

Roe v Wade Today

Watergate + Nixon

Convo!

Ok, that was a lot - what do you remember best?

What do you think of US military engagement in world affairs?

Is prevention a good strategy?

How does one go about preventing war?

Iran hostage crisis

On November 4, 1979, a group of Iranian students stormed the U.S. Embassy in Tehran, taking more than 60 American hostages.

Iran-Contra

The 90s economy

• First, taxes were raised on high-income Americans and corporations.
• Second, the level of spending growth was decreased.
• Third, the NAFTA was enacted.
• Fourth, the government had a rollback of regulations.
• Fifth, the government reformed welfare.

Clinton scandals

Whitewater, 1992

Allegation: The granddaddy of all Clinton scandals surfaced during Bill Clinton's bid for the presidency. It centered on financial contributions by Bill and Hillary Clinton into a real estate entity known as Whitewater Development Corporation during his time as an Arkansas state official. Eventually, the Justice Department and independent counsel launched investigations.

Allegation: Former Arkansas employee Paula Jones sued Bill Clinton for civil money damages in 1994 alleging that Clinton had propositioned her in a Little Rock hotel room years earlier. Clinton fought the case, but the Supreme Court ruled that the lawsuit could proceed. In the course of the long and bitter litigation, Jones's lawyers identified other women with whom Bill Clinton allegedly had intimate relationships. They included Gennifer Flowers, a cabaret singer whose contacts with Clinton were detailed in a tabloid report, and former White House intern Monica Lewinsky.

2018 in numbers

340 Mass shootings (4 or more shot or injured)

57,194 Total incidents

14,738 Deaths

28,192 Injuries

2,842 Teens killed or injured

667 Children killed or injured

Convo!

How much of the 80s and 90s US history did you already know?

How much do you think the economic boom of the 1990s affected your conception of America growing up?

What do you think of all the mass shootings?

How does modern gun culture relate to American history?

References

Warm-up activity

Assessment activity 1

Assessment activity 2