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Study Guide for 1950s-1960s History Test

May 7, 2025

Study Guide for 1950s-1960s Test

US History Test Format

  • 40 Multiple Choice Questions
  • 10 Document-Based Questions
  • 1 Discussion Question

What to Study

Quizzes and Slideshows

  • Cold War Quiz (available in OnCampus)
  • Liberal Hour Quiz (available in OnCampus)
  • Cold War/USSR Slideshow
    • Review all slides and videos
  • Liberal Hour Slideshow
    • Review all slides and videos

Important Terms

  • Cold War
  • Redlining
  • Mutually Assured Destruction
  • Berlin Airlift
  • Containment
  • Truman Doctrine
  • Marshall Plan
  • McCarthyism
  • Baby Boom
  • Suburbanization
  • NAACP
  • SCLC (Southern Christian Leadership Conference)
  • SNCC (Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee)
  • CORE (Congress of Racial Equality)
  • Black Panthers
  • Sit-ins
  • Freedom Rides
  • Civil Rights Act of 1964
  • Voting Rights Act of 1965

Key Events

  • March on Washington (1963)
  • Montgomery Bus Boycott (1955-56)
  • Freedom Summer (1964)
  • Selma to Montgomery March (1965)

Important Documents and Speeches

  • SNCC Founding Document
  • JFK’s Speeches (important for document-based questions)
  • Vietnam War Protest Songs

Possible Discussion Questions

  • You will select one of two questions.
  • Develop a thesis with at least two supporting pieces of evidence and an explanation connecting them.
  • Write a well-developed paragraph of at least 7 sentences.

Potential Questions

  1. Liberal Hour of the 1960s
    • Evaluate benefits/risks of trusting federal programs and leadership.
    • Use historical details as evidence.
  2. Political Leadership and Social Change
    • Assess the extent of political leadership in accelerating social progress.
    • Use historical details as evidence.
  3. Fear as a Driving Force During the Cold War
    • Consider fear’s role in limiting freedoms vs. uniting Americans.
    • Use historical details as evidence.
  4. The Suburban Ideal of the 1950s
    • Analyze how it reflects or contradicts American values like equality, individualism, and freedom.
    • Use historical details as evidence.