What does Module 5 of the Tennessee US History EOC cover?

Module 5 covers the early Cold War decades and the struggle for equality (US.35 to US.46): the origins of the Cold War and the policy of containment (the Truman Doctrine, the Marshall Plan, the Berlin Airlift, and NATO); Cold War conflicts abroad (the Korean War, the arms and space races, the Cuban Missile Crisis, and the Vietnam War); the Cold War at home (the second Red Scare, McCarthyism, and the fear of nuclear war); postwar prosperity (the GI Bill, the baby boom, suburbanization, the interstate highways, and the Sunbelt); the civil rights movement (Brown v. Board, nonviolent protest, the major laws, and Tennessee's central role); and the Great Society and the social movements of the 1960s.

What was containment, and how did the United States carry it out?

Containment was the U.S. Cold War policy of stopping the spread of communism beyond where it already existed. It guided the Truman Doctrine (aid to nations resisting communism), the Marshall Plan (rebuilding Western Europe so prosperity would resist communism), the Berlin Airlift (supplying blockaded West Berlin), and the creation of NATO (a Western military alliance). It also explains American involvement in the Korean and Vietnam Wars, both proxy wars fought to contain communism.

What was the second Red Scare and McCarthyism?

The second Red Scare (late 1940s and 1950s) was an intense fear that communists had infiltrated American institutions, fueled by the Soviet atomic bomb, the fall of China, the Korean War, and real spy cases. The government used loyalty programs and HUAC investigations, and people were blacklisted. McCarthyism, named for Senator Joseph McCarthy, was the practice of making sweeping accusations of disloyalty without solid evidence; it ruined reputations until McCarthy's tactics were exposed. The era is studied as a warning about the tension between security and civil liberties.

What was the Great Society, and what movements arose in the 1960s?

The Great Society was President Lyndon Johnson's program to end poverty and racial injustice and improve quality of life, including the War on Poverty, Medicare (for the elderly), Medicaid (for the poor), federal aid to education, and Head Start. It was the largest expansion of the federal role since the New Deal. The decade also saw the women's rights movement, the environmental movement (and the EPA), the Chicano movement (Cesar Chavez), the American Indian Movement, and a youth counterculture.

TennesseeUS History

Tennessee US History EOC Module 5 (The Cold War and Civil Rights): a complete overview of containment, the postwar boom, and the struggle for equality

Q: How did the civil rights movement end legal segregation, and what was Tennessee's role?

Brown v. Board of Education (1954) declared school segregation unconstitutional. Through nonviolent protest, the Montgomery Bus Boycott, sit-ins, Freedom Rides, and marches, led by figures like Martin Luther King Jr., the movement won the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Tennessee was central: the Highlander Folk School trained activists, Clinton faced school desegregation, the Nashville sit-ins (1960) modeled disciplined nonviolence, and Dr. King was assassinated in Memphis in 1968 during the sanitation workers' strike.

A deep-dive guide to Module 5 of the Tennessee US History and Geography EOC: the origins of the Cold War and containment, Cold War conflicts abroad, the Red Scare at home, postwar prosperity, the civil rights movement (with Tennessee's role), and the Great Society and 1960s movements, with the item types the EOC uses.

Generated by Claude Opus 4.817 min readUS.35-US.46Updated 2026-06-02

Reviewed by: AI editorial process; not yet individually human-reviewed

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What Module 5 actually demands
The origins of the Cold War (US.35)
Cold War conflicts abroad (US.36, US.42)
The Cold War at home (US.37)
Postwar prosperity (US.38)
The civil rights movement (US.44 to US.45)
The Great Society and the 1960s (US.46)
Check your knowledge

What Module 5 actually demands

Module 5 covers the early Cold War and the struggle for equality, two of the most important stories of modern America. The United States fights a global contest with the Soviet Union, enjoys a great postwar boom, confronts fear and repression at home, and transforms itself through the civil rights movement and the Great Society. It covers standards US.35 to US.46 and carries the course's biggest themes: foreign policy (containment), the role of government, and civil rights. Tennessee's role in the civil rights movement makes this a key module for state-connection items.

This guide ties together the matching dot-point pages, each with its own worked questions: the origins of the Cold War, Cold War conflicts abroad, the Red Scare and the Cold War at home, postwar prosperity and the 1950s, the civil rights movement, and the Great Society and the 1960s.

The origins of the Cold War (US.35)

The superpower rivalry between the capitalist United States and the communist Soviet Union began as the USSR took over Eastern Europe (the iron curtain). The United States adopted containment, expressed in the Truman Doctrine, the Marshall Plan, the Berlin Airlift, and NATO.

Cold War conflicts abroad (US.36, US.42)

Containment led to proxy wars and crises: the Korean War (stalemate), the arms and space races, the Cuban Missile Crisis (the nuclear brink), and the long, divisive Vietnam War (escalation, the antiwar movement, Vietnamization, and a communist victory in 1975).

The Cold War at home (US.37)

A second Red Scare brought McCarthyism, HUAC, loyalty programs, and blacklists, plus the everyday fear of nuclear war, raising the tension between security and civil liberties.

Postwar prosperity (US.38)

The GI Bill, the baby boom, suburbanization, the interstate highways, and television drove a great boom and shifted population to the Sunbelt, though many were left out.

The civil rights movement (US.44 to US.45)

Brown v. Board (1954) ended legal school segregation. Nonviolent protest (the Montgomery Bus Boycott, sit-ins, Freedom Rides, marches) won the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Tennessee was central (the Nashville sit-ins, Highlander, Clinton, and King's Memphis assassination).

The Great Society and the 1960s (US.46)

LBJ's Great Society and War on Poverty created Medicare, Medicaid, and more, expanding the federal role. New movements (women's, environmental, Chicano, American Indian) reshaped society.

Revision order

Start by mastering containment and matching the four early measures (Truman Doctrine, Marshall Plan, Berlin Airlift, NATO) to their purposes. Then learn the conflicts as expressions of containment, with the Cuban Missile Crisis as the nuclear brink and Vietnam as the divisive proxy war. Cover the Red Scare and McCarthyism through the security-versus-liberty lens. For the postwar boom, link the GI Bill, baby boom, suburbs, highways, and the Sunbelt, and note who was left out. Give the most time to the civil rights movement: Brown, nonviolent protest, the two laws, and Tennessee's role (Nashville sit-ins, Highlander, Clinton, the Memphis assassination). Finish with the Great Society (Medicare versus Medicaid) and the 1960s movements. The highest-value skills are matching policies and laws and reading civil rights photographs and quotations.

Module 5 of the Tennessee US History and Geography EOC covers the early Cold War and the struggle for equality (US.35 to US.46): the origins of the Cold War and the policy of containment (the iron curtain, the Truman Doctrine, the Marshall Plan, the Berlin Airlift, and NATO); Cold War conflicts abroad (the Korean War, the arms and space races, the Cuban Missile Crisis as the nuclear brink, and the Vietnam War with its antiwar movement and Vietnamization); the Cold War at home (the second Red Scare, McCarthyism and HUAC, blacklists, and the fear of nuclear war, raising the security-versus-liberty tension); postwar prosperity (the GI Bill, the baby boom, suburbanization, the interstate highways, television, and the Sunbelt shift, with many left out); the civil rights movement (Brown v. Board of Education, nonviolent protest through the Montgomery Bus Boycott, sit-ins, Freedom Rides, and marches, the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965, and Tennessee's central role in the Nashville sit-ins, the Highlander Folk School, Clinton, and Dr. King's assassination in Memphis); and the Great Society and the 1960s (Lyndon Johnson's War on Poverty, Medicare for the elderly and Medicaid for the poor, an expanded federal role, and the women's, environmental, Chicano, and American Indian movements).

Check your knowledge

A mix of recall and reasoning questions covering Module 5. Attempt them under timed conditions, then check against the solutions.

Define containment. (2 marks)
Name two early Cold War measures and their purposes. (2 marks)
Why was the Cuban Missile Crisis dangerous? (2 marks)
Explain how the Korean and Vietnam Wars reflected containment. (2 marks)
Define McCarthyism. (2 marks)
Explain how the GI Bill contributed to the postwar boom. (2 marks)
Explain the significance of Brown v. Board of Education. (2 marks)
Name two civil rights events or places in Tennessee. (2 marks)
Name the two landmark civil rights laws of the mid-1960s. (2 marks)
What do Medicare and Medicaid provide? (2 marks)

Solutions

Q1: The U.S. Cold War policy of stopping the spread of communism beyond where it already existed.
Q2: Any two of: the Truman Doctrine (aid to nations resisting communism), the Marshall Plan (rebuild Western Europe), the Berlin Airlift (supply West Berlin), NATO (collective defense alliance).
Q3: The United States found Soviet nuclear missiles in Cuba; Kennedy's blockade led to a thirteen-day standoff that brought the superpowers to the brink of nuclear war.
Q4: Both were proxy wars fought to stop the spread of communism (defending South Korea and South Vietnam) without direct U.S.-Soviet combat.
Q5: Making sweeping accusations of communism or disloyalty, often without solid evidence, named for Senator Joseph McCarthy.
Q6: It paid for veterans' college and gave low-interest home and business loans, expanding the middle class and fueling suburban growth.
Q7: The Court ruled segregated public schools unconstitutional, overturning "separate but equal" and ordering desegregation.
Q8: Any two of: the Nashville sit-ins (1960), the Highlander Folk School, Clinton High School desegregation, the 1968 Memphis sanitation strike (King's assassination).
Q9: The Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
Q10: Medicare provides health insurance for the elderly; Medicaid provides health coverage for the poor.

Sources & how we know this

Social Studies Standards — Tennessee Department of Education (2019)
Overview of Testing in Tennessee — Tennessee Department of Education (2024)