Cold War the Us Homefront

Cold war – the us Home front

Following WWII America changed in many ways. There are several events that had both a positive and negative effect on the country. You will research and prepare a brief presentation on the situations listed below. Following each topic will be a series of questions for you to answer along with discussing the following: an overview of the event, provide a visual, and lastly an explanation of what were the lasting effects your event had on America.

1. HUAC – House Un-American Activities Committee- a. What was the purpose of HUAC? b. Why were Americans worried about security in the US? c. How did HUAC pose a threat to civil liberties?

2. Hollywood Ten – a. Who were they? b. What did they do? c. Why was Hollywood a target of anti-communist investigations by Congress? d. What effect did this have on civil liberties? e. Do you think Elia Kazan should have received an Oscar in 1999?

3. Joe McCarthy & McCarthyism a. What seems to have motivated it? b. Why did it succeed at first? c. What was controversial about McCarthy’s tactics? d. Why did it fall out of favor?

4. Alger Hiss a. Who was he? b. What was he accused of? c. How was he affected by the accusations? d. Do the accusations seem to be fair? e. Why did the case of Alger Hiss heighten the anti-communist moods of Americans? f. What were the results of the Hiss case?

5. Julius and Ethel Rosenberg a. Who were they? b. What were they accused of? c. How were they affected by the accusations? d. Do the accusations seem to be fair? e. Why did the case of the Rosenberg’s heighten the anti-communist moods of Americans? f. What were the results of the Rosenberg case? 6. Baby Boom a. What effect did Dr. Benjamin Spock have on the boom? b. What were some other developments that helped aide the boom? c. How did the postwar boom effect social and economic forces? d. How did the baby boom affect American life in the 1950’s? e. What effect did the baby boomer generation have over time?

7. Television a. How did TV change American culture? b. What does TV provide the American people? c. What do Americans object to on TV? Then & Now? d. What happened to radio and movies during the 1950’s? e. Do you think the TV has had a positive or negative effect on Americans?

8. Polio & Penicillin a. Who was Jonas Salk? b. What effect did the polio vaccine have? c. How did Salk’s discovery result in specific needs? d. Are people still receiving vaccinations today? Are there any side effects from vaccinations?

9. Brown vs. Board of Education & Little Rock Nine a. How did the Brown decision affect schools outside of Topeka? b. How did the Brown decision affect the Civil Rights cause> c. What effect do you think TV coverage of the Little Rock Nine incident had on the nation?

10. Cuban Missile Crisis a. What was the crisis over? What was so important about Cuba? b. What countries were involved? c. What effect did this crisis have on the United States and other countries? d. What were the results of the crisis? e. What made the Cuban missile crisis arguably the most serious incident of the cold war?

11. The Election on 1960 & JFK a. Who were the candidates? b. influence of TV on the election c. Results of the election d. The Camelot years & the cultural impact of the Kennedy’s e. Tragedy in Dallas f. Lasting impact