Theme: America emerged
from World War II as the worlds strongest economic power, and commenced
a postwar economic boom that lasted for two decades. A bulging population
migrated to the suburbs and Sunbelt, leaving the cities increasingly to minorities
and the poor.
Theme: The end of World
War II left the United States and the Soviet Union as the two dominant world
powers, and they soon became locked in a Cold War confrontation. The Cold
War spread from Europe to become a global ideological conflict between democracy
and communism. Among its effects were a nasty hot war in Korea and a domestic
crusade against disloyalty.