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Cold War
A cold war is a state of tension between two countries without them actually fighting. This cold war involved the U.S. and the U.S.S.R. It impacted American politics because democracy was going against communism. -
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Baby Boom
The birthrate in the U.S. increased tremendously and the population went from 9 million to 29 million. This was because families were growing quickly to make up for lost time during WWII. Couples waited until after the husband came back from war because it was too expensive and difficult to raise children during the war. There was also much better healthcare for children and pregnant women during the 40's and 50's -
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NATO/Warsaw Pact
NATO stands for North Atlantic Treaty Organization and it was a group that countries joined to help other countries in case they were to get attacked by other countries. NATO was made up of the Allies and they were headquartered in Brussels, Belgium. Warsaw Pact was run by the Soviet union and it was created to go against NATO. It ended in 1991. These groups impacted American society because without them, countries wouldn't have back-up if they were attacked. -
Joseph McCarthy
Joseph McCarthy was a senator from Wisconsin. In 1953, he announced that he had a list of 57 state department employees who were communists, however, he never could prove his claim. All of the accused employees were fired and the others were afraid to defend them. Even after all that, he claimed that there were more communists in the army. He was eventually lost power because instead of being a "hero," he just spread more fear and suspicion of communism. -
Brown vs. Board of Education
In 1954, an African American father wanted his daughter to go to an all-white school because it was closer to their home. Many other families wanted this for their children as well. The school board, however, ignored them and didn't let them go to the school. Mr. Brown took this issue to court and they ended up winning and segregation no longer existed in public schools. -
Vietnam War
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Robert F. Kennedy Assassination
The assassination took place on June 4th, 1968 in Los Angeles, California at the ambassador hotel. Robert Kennedy was walking through the kitchen of the hotel when a man named Sirhan Sirhan shot him 3 times. The reason why Sirhan shot RFK was because he was angry with his support for Israel's military policies. RFK died on June 6th at age 42. Sirhan was found guilty and he is currently in prison. This event led to secret service protection being provided to all future presidential candidates. -
Challenger Explosion
In 1986, in Florida, a space shuttle called the Challenger was carrying the first civilian into space. The person who was going to space was named Christa McAaliffe who was a school teacher. The reason why they were sending her to space was because NASA wanted to revive the public interest in space. Many people were excited for the event, however, 74 seconds into liftoff, the shuttle burst into flames. Because of this, NASA's director was fired and the program was put on hold for 32 months. -
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Social Network Revolution