For part 3 of the Unit 3 Exam, choose ONLY 1 essay question from the list below. Grades will be based on the content of the answer and must be more than 300 words in length. Direct quotes do not count toward the required word count.

Part 3 Essay Questions:

1 – Evaluate Harry Truman’s domestic policies. Which parts reflected the New Deal? Why were they so difficult to implement? How did they expand freedom for Americans? How did they restrict freedom?

2 – Fully discuss and examine the limitations placed on freedom during the Cold War. Then compare those circumstances with those during the Red Scare after World War I. What was the same? What was different? Were restrictions on civil liberties justified in both cases? Why, or why not? How did Americans react in each era?

3 – How did the States Rights’ Democratic Party and the Progressive Party reflect America in the Cold War? Were both parties justified in their definitions of American freedom? Why, or why not? Explain.

4 – Discuss the changes in the American economy during the postwar period. Be sure to discuss the agricultural, industrial, and consumer sectors of the economy.

5 – The Nixon-Khrushchev debate held in the setting of a suburban kitchen illustrated how freedom in America had come to mean economic abundance and consumer choices during the 1950s. How is this new conception of freedom a departure from Roosevelt’s “Four Freedoms”?

6 – House Beautiful magazine stated that the country’s most powerful weapon in the Cold War was “the freedom offered by washing machines and dishwashers, vacuum cleaners, automobiles, and refrigerators.” Analyze this statement, explaining how consumerism was used in the 1950s to combat the Cold War. Is consumerism used today as a tool of American foreign policy?

7 – Describe the impact of suburbanization on American women. How did expectations surrounding “the American way of life” affect the lives of women? How were their varied experiences similar? How were they different? Explain.

8 – American foreign policies in Third World countries were determined by Cold War doctrine. Explain American foreign policy in the Third World during the Eisenhower administration. Be sure to discuss Iran, Guatemala, and Vietnam.

9 – The civil rights movement gained momentum in the 1950s, nearly ninety years after Reconstruction. Explain why the movement finally took off in the 1950s. What caused it to do so? Be sure to think back to previous chapters.

10 – Discuss the generational tensions that emerged during the 1950s. How did popular culture reflect a growing sense of discontent among younger Americans? What was the response of older Americans to this trend? Explain.