CSS History of USA Contemporary America and Global Standing Syllabus

Contemporary America and Global Standing syllabus — full chapter and topic list

Expand any chapter to see its topics and sub-topics. This is the whole examinable outline for Contemporary America and Global Standing in CSS History of USA, not a summary of it.

1. 1

   Civil Rights Movement

   2 topics

   • Struggle Against Segregation
   • Landmark Legislation
2. 2

   United States' Role in International Conflicts

   2 topics

   • Interventions and Foreign Policy
   • US as Global Policeman
3. 3

   The War on Terror: Role of Pakistan and USA (2001-2012)

   3 topics

   • 9/11 and Its Aftermath
   • Pakistan-USA Cooperation
   • Regional Impact
4. 4

   International Concerns of USA: An Overview

   2 topics

   • Contemporary Strategic Priorities
   • Emerging Challenges
5. 5

   Global Perceptions of the USA

   2 topics

   • Image and Soft Power
   • Criticism and Anti-Americanism

Contemporary America and Global Standing flashcards for CSS History of USA

18 of 50 cards from the Contemporary America and Global Standing deck — real questions with worked answers.

1. What was the system of racial 'segregation' in the United States, and by what informal name were the laws enforcing it known?

   Segregation was the legally enforced separation of Black and white Americans in public facilities, schools, transport, and housing. The state and local statutes enforcing it (mainly in the South) were known as 'Jim Crow' laws.

2. Which 1896 Supreme Court case established the 'separate but equal' doctrine that legitimized racial segregation?

   Plessy v. Ferguson (1896), which upheld state segregation laws as constitutional so long as facilities were nominally 'separate but equal.'

3. Which 1954 Supreme Court decision overturned 'separate but equal' in public education?

   Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka (1954), which ruled that racial segregation in public schools was unconstitutional under the Fourteenth Amendment's equal protection clause.

4. What event triggered the 1955-56 Montgomery Bus Boycott, and who led it?

   Rosa Parks' refusal to give up her bus seat to a white passenger triggered the boycott, which was led by Martin Luther King Jr. and lasted about 381 days until bus segregation was ruled unconstitutional.

5. What were the two principal philosophies within the Black struggle against segregation, and who represented each?

   Nonviolent civil disobedience, represented by Martin Luther King Jr. and the SCLC; and Black nationalism/self-defense ('by any means necessary'), represented by Malcolm X and later the Black Panther Party and Nation of Islam.

6. At what 1963 event did Martin Luther King Jr. deliver his 'I Have a Dream' speech?

   The March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom (August 28, 1963).

7. What did the Civil Rights Act of 1964 accomplish?

   It outlawed discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin, banned segregation in public accommodations and employment, and authorized the federal government to enforce desegregation.

8. What was the central provision of the Voting Rights Act of 1965?

   It outlawed discriminatory voting practices such as literacy tests and authorized federal oversight of voter registration in areas with histories of discrimination, securing the vote for African Americans.

9. Which 1965 march, brutally suppressed on 'Bloody Sunday,' galvanized support for the Voting Rights Act?

   The Selma to Montgomery march in Alabama, led by figures including John Lewis and Martin Luther King Jr.

10. What did the Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth ('Reconstruction') Amendments respectively guarantee?

    The 13th abolished slavery (1865); the 14th granted citizenship and equal protection of the laws (1868); the 15th prohibited denial of the vote based on race (1870).

11. What is the difference between 'de jure' and 'de facto' segregation?

    De jure segregation is separation mandated by law (e.g., Jim Crow); de facto segregation is separation arising in practice from social and economic conditions (e.g., residential patterns) without explicit legal mandate.

12. What did the Fair Housing Act (Civil Rights Act) of 1968 prohibit?

    It prohibited discrimination in the sale, rental, and financing of housing based on race, religion, national origin, and later sex and disability.

13. Name three landmark social-welfare programs of Lyndon B. Johnson's 'Great Society.'

    Medicare (health insurance for the elderly), Medicaid (health care for the poor), and the War on Poverty programs (e.g., Head Start, food stamps, and the Economic Opportunity Act).

14. What is 'affirmative action' in the US context?

    Policies designed to increase representation of historically discriminated groups (racial minorities, women) in education and employment, often through preferential consideration to remedy past discrimination.

15. What foreign-policy doctrine of 1947 committed the US to containing the spread of communism, and to which two countries was it first applied?

    The Truman Doctrine, first applied to provide aid to Greece and Turkey to resist communist pressure.

16. What was the 'containment' policy, and which US diplomat articulated its rationale?

    Containment was the Cold War strategy of preventing the spread of communism beyond its existing borders. Its intellectual basis was articulated by George F. Kennan (the 1946 'Long Telegram' and 1947 'X Article').

17. What was the Marshall Plan (1948)?

    The European Recovery Program, under which the US provided about $13 billion in economic aid to rebuild Western European economies after WWII, partly to resist communism.

18. What is the difference between the Truman Doctrine and the Marshall Plan?

    The Truman Doctrine was a political/military commitment to contain communism through aid to threatened states; the Marshall Plan was an economic-reconstruction program for Western Europe. The former set the policy, the latter operationalized it economically.

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