US history: Depression, World War II, civil rights, and the Cold War (grade 11)

Japan attacked Pearl Harbor in 1941. With millions of men in the military and war production growing, factories needed workers. Millions of women took factory jobs building planes, ships, and weapons.

In 1942, Executive Order 9066 led to about 120,000 people of Japanese descent being forced from the West Coast into camps. About two-thirds were US citizens, and none was ever convicted of spying. A 1983 federal commission blamed prejudice, war hysteria, and failed leadership. Congress later apologized and paid survivors.

Plessy v. Ferguson (1896) had allowed segregation under the idea of 'separate but equal.' In Brown v. Board of Education (1954), the Supreme Court ruled that separate public schools are inherently unequal.

In the Montgomery Bus Boycott (1955–1956), Black riders stopped using city buses, which cost the bus system money. Later sit-ins also used nonviolent protest. Peaceful protesters facing arrest or violence drew national attention and won public sympathy.

The Civil Rights Act of 1964 banned segregation in public places like hotels and restaurants and banned job discrimination. The Voting Rights Act of 1965 targeted barriers like literacy tests and allowed federal oversight of voting in places with a history of discrimination.

Containment was the US policy of stopping communism from spreading to new countries. The Marshall Plan (1948) sent aid to rebuild Western Europe, hoping strong economies would resist communism. In 1949, the US joined NATO, a military alliance with Western European nations.

The Korean War began in 1950. In 1957, the Soviet Union launched Sputnik, the first artificial satellite. Many Americans feared falling behind. Congress created NASA in 1958 and spent more on science and math education. The Cuban Missile Crisis came in 1962, and Apollo 11 landed on the moon in 1969.