a divided union: civil rights in the usa, 1945-74 Flashcards
when was the consitution of the usa produced
1791
consitution definition
a set of basic laws and principles that a country or organization is governed by
congress definition
the group of people chosen or elected to make laws in the USA
federation definition
a group of people, states etc
where is rhe US federal gov based
washington dc
what is the legislative constitution
it makes laws
what does the legislative consist of
congress
senate
house of representatives
what is the executive constitution
carries out laws
what does the executive constitution consist of
president
vice president
cabinet
departments
what is the judicial consitutuion
evaluates laws
what does the judicial constitution consist of
supreme court
other federal courts
impeach definition
prosecute a person in government for misconduct while in office
amendments (political) definition
changes to a bill or constitution
ratified definition
given formal approval
how many amendments have there been to the US constitution
27
capitalist definition
someone who supports capitalism, an economic and political system in which businesses belong mostly to private owners
communist definition
someone who supports communism, a political system in which the government controls the production of food and goods and there is no privately owned property
when was the first red scare in the usa
1919-20
what was feared in the first red scare in the usa
that immigrants from eastern europe would try to take over their government and make the usa communist too.
what happened in the first red scare in the usa
thousands of suspected communists were arrested and some russian immigrants were sent back to russia.
did fear of communism reduce after 1920
yes but not completely.
what was the soviets ‘buffer zone’
soviet troops remaining in the liberated countries (after WW2) and set up communist governments, to try and prevent another invasion from the west.
what did the west take from the soviets ‘buffer zone’
it looked like the soviet union was trying to take over europe
when did the usa successfully test an atomic bomb
july 1945
what was the cause in the sudden development of atomic bomb research by stalin in russia
the two atomic bombs dropped on japan by the usa
when did greek communists try to take over their government
1946
what did the us government do in response to the attempted greek communist takeover of their government
sent money to the greek government to remove the communists. the soviet union voiced encouragement to the communists.
in 1947 and 1948 which eastern european countries became communist
ones under soviet influence
what was the truman doctrine
a doctrine promising to help to support any country resisting takeover by other groups or countries (by which they meant communists).
what was the marshall plan
financial help in the belief that communist ideas were more likely to hold in areas of poverty.
what was stalins response to the marshall plan
he saw the usa trying to extend its influence and didnt allow any eastern european countries to accept the aid offered.
what was germany split up into in 1945 following WW2
four zones controlled by the usa, the uk, the soviet union and france.
what did the usa do in 1946 that caused the fear of a recovered germany in the soviet union
the usa combined their and the soviet unions zones without consultation that would later become west germany.
what did stalin block to where in june 1948 in an attempt to make the whole of berlin dependent on the soviet union
all road, rail and canal supply lines into west berlin
what did president truman do in 1948 as a response to transport blockages by stalin
send in supplies by aircraft into the city
what did stalin do in may 1949 to prevent starting a war by firing at the american aircrafts
reopen supply lines
what happened after chinese communists won the civil war and took control of china in 1949, part of the cold war
there were other communist uprisings, and in 1950, communist north korea invaded capitalist south korea. the us gov persuaded the un to send military help to south korea. north korea was supported by the soviet union. the un forces managed to push back north korea but when china joined the un were pushed back to the original border. neither made futhur gains despite another 2 years of conflict.
when did the soviet union successfully test their atomic bomb
august 1949
federal bureau of investigation definition
the usa’s domestic intelligence and security service
what are hearings
where evidence is presented and people testify to a court or government body; not the same as a criminal trial
intelligence (political) definition
information about the secret activities of foreign governments, the military governments, the military plans of an enemy etc.
who was edgar j. hoover
director of the fbi
what was hoover concerned about that led him to writing to president truman
he was concerned about communist spies working within federal government departments
what order did president truman give in march 1947
it allowed government employees to be removed from their posts if there were ‘reasonable grounds’ to believe they were disloyal to the united states
between 1947 and 1951 how many government workers were investigated?
3 million
between 1947 and 1951 how many government workers were fired or forced to resign
3000
was any evidence of spying found from the 3 million government workers investigated between 1947 and 1951
no
what does HUAC stand for
house of unamerican activities committee
why was HUAC set up
to monitor extremist groups suspected of unamerican activites
who set up HUAC
the us government
who was selected to be on HUAC
members of congress
when did HUAC start public hearings and what were they about
in the climate of 1947 on the threat presented by the communist party of america
hoover was the most important witness and saw HUAC’s potential in educating the public and exposing the traitors. what did the fbi do next?
the fbi started passing along in information to HUAC which then called suspected communists and witnesses to be questioned.
how many writers, producers and directors were called in by HUAC for questioning
41
when were the 41 writers, producers and directors called in for questioning by HUAC
from october 1947
how many did HUAC name communist out of the 41 questioned
19
what happened when the 19 of 41 people were ordered to appear before HUAC
ten refused to answer and pleaded the first amendment
what happened when 10 out of 19 out of 41 people pleaded guilty
all were jailed for a year for contempt and were blacklisted. most never worked in hollywood again.
what was the impact of the hollywood ten
it increased anti-communist hysteria and gave huge publicity to HUAC’s work. hollywoood increased production of anti-communist films
who was alger hiss
a member of the state department who had been an important adviser to president roosevelt in the 1930’s and in WW2.
when was hiss named as a member of a communist group
1948
did hiss deny being a communist to the HUAC questioning
yes
what did richard nixon say about hiss and his hearing
nixon (a member of HUAC) said that hiss had been leaking information to the soviet union.
when did hiss go to trial
1949
when was hiss sentenced to prison
january 1950
what was hiss sentenced to
5 years in prison
what was the impact of the hiss case
it ‘proved’ that hoover was right - communist spies could be found at the highest offices of the land
when was klaus fuchs arrested and what for
in february 1950 for passing on information to the soviet union on how to develop an atomic bomb
what was klaus fuchs sentenced to and by who
14 years in prison by the british court
did klaus fuchs name any other spies
yes, david greenglass
was david greenglass arrested
yes, in the usa
did david greenglass name any other spies
yes, his sister and brother in law, ethel and julius rosenberg
did the rosenbergs plead guilty
no, they denied all charges
when was the rosenberg trial
march 1951
were the rosenbergs found guilty
yes (despite weak evidence which historians belive)
what were the rosenbergs sentenced to and when did the sentence take place
death. they were executed on 19th june 1953.
what was the mcCarren internal security act
an act that made all communist organizations register with the government
when was the mcCarren internal security act
august 1950
when was the mcCarren act was strengthened
1952
the mcCarren act was strengthened, what changed
communists were not allowed us passports
communists were not allowed to work certain jobs
in an emergency, anyone suspected of ‘subversion’ could be put in a detention camp without facing trial
mcCarthyism definition
a term used to describe the anti-communist hysteria of the 1950’s
propaganda definition
information, which is often false or exaggerated, to make people think or belive certain things
first amendment definition
the right of everyone to their own views and free speech
blacklisted definition
marked as unacceptable and therefore not used
republicans definition
one of the two main political parties in the usa. generally more right wing than the democrats.
democrats definition
one of the two main political parties in the usa. generally more left wing than the republicans
when did joseph mccarthy become republican senator for wisconsin?
1946
what state was joseph mccarthy a ______ in
he was a republican senator for wisconsin
how many members did mccarthy claim to know were members of the communist party in the us state government after the hiss trial
205
after mccarthy gave more speeches the number of members of the communist party in the us state government after the hiss trial was reduced to?
57
who consisted the tydings comittee
members of congress
the tydings committee investigated mccarthys claims about 57 members of the communist party in the us state government after the hiss trial and found them to be untrue. what was mccarthys response
to call senator tydings ‘un-american’ and a communist sympathiser. tydings was not re-elected later that year.
why did mccarthy manage to keep support of the republicans
his accusatations helped to explaon why the korean war, the cold war was not going well for the usa
who won the 1952
republicans. most democrats who opposed mccarthy lost their seats
what did eisenhower make mccarthy
chairman of the government committee on operations of the senate
how did mccarthy hold hearings
firstly, in private, then public and used bullying and aggressive questioning to gain more publicity (especially attacking high-profile figures)
how influential was mccarthy
very, thousands attended his speeches, and millions watched his tv appearances. even though nobody accused by mccarthy was ever convicted of spying he continued to win popular appeal
who did mccarthy attack that president eisenhower did nothing about
popular war general george marshall
what began mccarthy’s downfall
the army-mccarthy hearings in spring 1954. they were televised and the bullying was finally broadcast to the public
how did the army fight back to the army-mccarthy hearings
they found evidence of mccarthy abusing his priviliges as a member of congress and sent this to critical reporters.
what did ed murrow do that contributed to mccarhy’s downfall
on the 9th march he broadcasted an entire episode of his show “see it now” that used video footage to criticise mccarthy.
when did the senate formally condemn mccarthy and what for
December 1954 for improper conduct
how and when did mccarthy die
of alcoholism in 1957
radical def
radical ideas are very new and different, adn are against what most people think and believe
socalist def
relating to socialism, an economic or political system in which large industries are owned by the government and taxes are used to redistribute wealth
left-wing
liberal, progressive views that believe in equality and government intervention to help enforce this.
direct impact of mccarthyism
thousands of valuable people (in state government and not) lost jobs and careers
indirect impact of mccarthyism
widespread hysteria
trade unions seen as communist
americans gave info to the fbi on suspected communists
people stopped talking about politics in fear
politicians rarely campaigned for left-wing issues
damaged usas reputation
which area had worse (legal) segregation and discrimination, the north or thr south
south
how did the north remain mainly segregated without laws
racism and discrimination blocked african americans from gaining higher jobs, and often they were paid half of what a white person would own, so african americans had to live in the poorest areas, where there were few white people
in the 1950’s in the south what did black people face to be able to vote
there were many intentional obstacles:
difficult literacy test
poll tax
violence or threats against african americans when they tried to vote.
what were lynchings
killings (usually hangings) done by a group where the victim is suspected of a crime but has not been tried.
why did the government not change the rules to allow less racism and obstacles to vote
they needed the support of southern politicians, who were either racist themselves or did not want to annoy racist voters in their states
the supreme court does not rely on the support of the president or congress. why didn’t they change the laws
in the Plessy vs Ferguson case, they ruled separate facilities were allowed if they were equal.
when was the plessy vs ferguson legal precedent set
1896
who were the NAACP
a civil right campaign group:
what happened initally witht he brown vs topeka case
it was rejected with the plessy vs ferguson legal precedent
why did linda brown’s parents go to court
she had been rejected by the summer elementary school which was for white pupils only
what did the NAACP persuade linda’s parents to do
take their case to the supreme court, where it was combined with four other similar cases
which new judge ruled that school segregation was unconstitutional
earl warren
which NAACP lawyer led the brown vs topeka case
thurgood marshall
what happened a year after the brown decision
a second supreme court ruling said that school desegregation should happen ‘with all deliberate speed’.
deep south def
five states in the southeast usa where segregation covered all aspects of life. (georgia, alabama, south carolina, missisippi, and louisiana) arkanasas often included.
integrate def
become part of a group or society, or help someone to do this
white supremecist def
someone who believes that white people are better that people of other races
ku klux klan def
an extremely racist organisation, started in 1865, that believes in the superiority of the white, protestant christians.
negatives of the brown vs topeka ruling
families faced anger
black pupils found their education suffered
black schools providing a good education closed
some african american teachers lost their jobs
in some areas segregation became more extreme due to white flight
why, where, and when was the first white citizens council set up
in 1954 in indianola, mississpi, to maintain segregation
what did white citizen councils do
put pressure on state authorities, organise protests and petitions, and many were inspired to join the worst white supremacist group, the ku klux klan
branches of the KKK began reappearing all over the south, what did they do
they once again had meetings encouraging racial hatered and put burning crosses infront of houses to frighten the people inside. members wore their traditional long white robes and hoods as a disguise. they used methods such as beating, lynching and shooting victims.
who were targets of the KKK
civil right protestors and supporters, black or white.
what did the KKK start to use after the Montgomery Bus Boycott
bombs
who was emmett till
a 14 year old northerner from chicago who travelled to mississippi in the summer of 1955 to visit relatives.
what were the supposed events of emmett till and his friends
on the 24th august, till boasted to his friends that he had a white girlfirend at home. they dared him to go into bryants grocery and meat market and talk to the white owner’s wife carolyn. carolyn claimed that he flirted and touched her.
what happened to emmett till
four days later (28th august), carolyns husband and his half brother, roy and j.w milam beat him, shot him in the head and threw his body into the river.
what did tills mother do
mamie bradlry insisted that his body was sent back to her in chicago. she left the coffin open so that people could see what had been done to her child. this got high media attention and it shocked many people
were the murders of till sent to jail
no the all white male jury found them not guilty in just over an hour.
impact of tills death
many white americans saw the extreme racism in the south. raised awareness.
motivated many african americans to take a more active role to bring about change. many african americans of the same age identified with till and wen ton huge civil rights protests.
where and when did rosa parks refuse to move
1st december 1955 in montgomery alabama
who had been campaigned for a bus boycott prior to rosa parks
the womens political council. they wanted to improve the service paticularly for african american women. they had already warned the mayor of a boycott if things did not change.
why was rosa parks chosen to lead the boycott
she was highly respecteed and worked as a secretary at the NAACP.
right time
when did the WPC call for all african americans to boycott the buses
5th decemebr (the day of parks’ trial)
who helped publicize the boycott
churches and college groups.
was the bus boycott a success
yes, around 70% of passengers were african american so the buses were primarily empty.
who led the MIA (montgomery improvement association)
martin luther king
what were the MIA’s demands for the boycott
drivers should treat all african americans with respect
black drives should be used for routes with mostly black passengers
african americans should not have to leave their seats to go sit at the back.
