Lesson 1: An Affluent Society Discussion & Quiz
Duration of Days: 2
Lesson Objective
Students will read chapter 24: What Kind of Nation? in "Give me Liberty" and complete 10 pages of notes.
They will participate in a classroom discussion of this chapter and complete a quiz on the key terms.
1. Explain the meaning of the “American standard of living” during the 1950s.
2. Describe how the automobile transformed American communities and culture in the
1950s.
3. Identify the prescribed roles and aspirations for women during the social conformity of the
1950s.
4. How did governmental policies, business practices, and individual choices contribute to
racially segregated suburbs?
5. Explain the ideological rifts between conservatives in the 1950s. Why did many view Presi-
dent Eisenhower as “not one of them”?
6. What was the new “social contract” between labor and management, and how did it
benefit both sides as well as the nation as a whole?
7. How did the United States and Soviet Union shift the focus of the Cold War to the Third
World?
8. What were the most significant factors that contributed to the growing momentum of the
civil rights movement in the 1950s?
9. How did many southern whites, led by their elected officials, resist desegregation and civil
rights in the name of “freedom”?
10. How and why did the federal government’s concern with U.S. relations overseas shape its
involvement with the Brown v. Board of Education case?
Levittown
baby boom
urban renewal
“In God We Trust”
interstate highway system
Sputnik
National Defense Education Act
social contract
massive retaliation
Geneva Accords
the Beats
League of United Latin American
Citizens
Brown v. Board of Education
Montgomery bus boycott
Southern Christian Leadership
Conference
Southern Manifesto
missile gap
military-industrial complex
HS.SS.3A - 3A. Evaluate how historical events and developments were shaped by unique circumstances of time and place as well as broader historical contexts.
HS.SS.3B - 3B. Analyze how historical contexts and enduring themes shaped and continue to shape people’s perspectives.
Students will demonstrate knowledge of the Gilded Age through discussion.
Students will demonstrate knowledge of key terms through a vocabulary quiz.
Students will be given a note taking outline
Teacher will discuss concepts with class.
Students will take a quiz on key terms and submit notes.
Chapter 24 Quiz
Chapter 24 Notes