What years does AP US History Period 8 cover?

Period 8 covers 1945 to 1980, the era of the Cold War, postwar prosperity, and civil rights. It falls in Unit 8 and is weighted at roughly 10 to 17 percent of the multiple choice section. The College Board notes that historical developments can begin before and extend beyond these approximate dates, so expect some overlap with World War II at the start and the Reagan era at the end.

What are the Key Concepts for AP US History Period 8?

There are three. Key Concept 8.1 is that the United States responded to an uncertain postwar world by asserting and maintaining global leadership, covering the Cold War. Key Concept 8.2 is that new movements for civil rights and liberal efforts to expand government generated a range of political and cultural responses, covering civil rights, the Great Society, and the backlash. Key Concept 8.3 is that postwar economic and demographic changes had far-reaching consequences for society, politics, and culture.

What was the policy of containment?

Containment was the guiding principle of American Cold War policy: the United States should stop the spread of communism beyond where it already existed. Articulated by diplomat George Kennan, it took form through the Truman Doctrine of 1947, the Marshall Plan of 1948 rebuilding Western Europe, and the NATO alliance of 1949. It later justified the wars in Korea and Vietnam, and by the 1970s the strain of Vietnam pushed the nation toward detente.

What did the civil rights movement achieve?

The African American civil rights movement dismantled legal segregation. Brown v. Board of Education in 1954 ruled segregated schools unconstitutional; the Montgomery Bus Boycott, sit-ins, and marches used nonviolent direct action; and the Civil Rights Act of 1964 banned segregation and discrimination while the Voting Rights Act of 1965 protected Black voting. But legal equality did not end economic and de facto inequality, which fueled urban unrest and the turn toward Black Power.

Why did postwar liberalism come under attack?

Postwar liberalism peaked in Lyndon Johnson's Great Society, which created Medicare, Medicaid, and the War on Poverty and expanded federal power. But the Great Society fell short of ending poverty, the Vietnam War drained its funds and split the Democratic Party, and conservatives argued that federal spending and welfare had gone too far. Combined with urban unrest, the social movements, economic troubles, and Watergate, this backlash unravelled the liberal consensus and set the stage for the conservative resurgence of Period 9.

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AP US History Period 8 (1945 to 1980): the Cold War and civil rights unit guide

A complete unit guide to AP US History Period 8 (1945 to 1980), the era of the Cold War and civil rights. Maps the College Board Key Concepts 8.1 to 8.3, walks through containment, the Red Scare, civil rights, the Great Society, Vietnam, and the social movements, and links to the dot points and the paired quiz.

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Jump to a section

What Period 8 is about
The College Board Key Concepts
The dot points in this unit
How Period 8 is tested
Study strategy for this unit
Pair this with the quiz

What Period 8 is about

AP US History Period 8 (1945 to 1980) is the era of the Cold War and civil rights. After World War II the United States and the Soviet Union became rival superpowers, and the policy of containment drove American intervention around the world, from the Marshall Plan and NATO to the wars in Korea and Vietnam, while anticommunism fueled the Red Scare at home. At the same time, postwar prosperity built the suburbs, the civil rights movement dismantled legal segregation, and liberal reform peaked in the Great Society. But by the late 1960s the Vietnam War, urban unrest, and a wave of social movements were straining the liberal consensus, and the conservative backlash that followed sets up Period 9. This guide maps the unit, then links to a dot point for each major topic.

The College Board Key Concepts

The CED organizes Period 8 around three Key Concepts. Anchor your study to them.

Key Concept 8.1: the United States and global leadership

The United States responded to an uncertain and unstable postwar world by asserting and working to maintain a position of global leadership. This covers the Cold War: the origins of the superpower rivalry, the policy of containment (the Truman Doctrine, Marshall Plan, and NATO), the wars in Korea and Vietnam, the Cuban Missile Crisis, and the shift toward detente, along with the Red Scare the Cold War produced at home. See The Cold War from 1945 to 1980, The Red Scare and McCarthyism, and The Vietnam War.

Key Concept 8.2: civil rights, liberalism, and the response

New movements for civil rights and liberal efforts to expand the role of government generated a range of political and cultural responses. This covers the African American civil rights movement, the Great Society and its expansion of federal power, the wave of social movements for women, Latinos, American Indians, and others, and the conservative backlash that followed. See The Civil Rights Movement, The Great Society, and The Social and Cultural Movements.

Key Concept 8.3: postwar economic and demographic change

Postwar economic and demographic changes had far-reaching consequences for society, politics, and culture. This covers the postwar prosperity and consumer society, the baby boom, the migration to the suburbs and the Sun Belt, and the cultural shifts of the era. These changes are introduced in Contextualizing Period 8 and run through the unit.

The dot points in this unit

Our complete coverage of Period 8, one page per major topic:

How Period 8 is tested

Period 8 is heavily tested across the exam. Favorite DBQ and LEQ themes include the policy of containment and its costs in Korea and Vietnam, the impact of the Cold War on domestic life through the Red Scare, the achievements and limits of the civil rights movement, the Great Society's expansion of government, and the wave of social movements and the conservative backlash. Because the era runs from postwar consensus to the breakdown of liberalism, it is ideal for continuity and change and causation questions, especially those linking the period forward to the conservative resurgence.

Study strategy for this unit

Track the three threads. The Cold War abroad (and the Red Scare at home), the civil rights movement, and the rise and strain of liberalism (the Great Society). Use them to organize the unit.
Master the civil rights chronology. Brown 1954, Montgomery 1955 to 1956, sit-ins 1960, Civil Rights Act 1964, Voting Rights Act 1965, and the turn to Black Power.
Pin the Cold War dates. Truman Doctrine 1947, Marshall Plan 1948, NATO 1949, Korea 1950 to 1953, Cuban Missile Crisis 1962, Gulf of Tonkin 1964, Tet 1968.
Connect Vietnam to the Great Society. The war drained funds and split the country, helping unravel liberalism. See The Vietnam War.
Drill the rubrics. Apply the technique from our guide on how to write the APUSH DBQ and LEQ.

Pair this with the quiz

Test your grasp of the Cold War and civil rights with the Period 8 quiz, then work through the dot points above and review the official Course and Exam Description at AP Central.

Sources & how we know this

AP United States History Course and Exam Description — College Board (2020)