America Unit 3 Flashcards
What is the American dream?
The idea that everyone in the USA has the chance to be successful and happy if they work hard
What happened in America after WWII?
There was an economic boom
Why was there an economic boom after WWII?
There was still mass production of goods after the war ended
America was sending out goods to other countries
Employment was still high
What is affluence?
The state of having a great deal of money, wealth, prosperity and opportunities
Who wasn’t affluent in post war America? Why?
African Americans - their housing was underfunded
Native Americans - they had to live in reservations
Other minorities
ALL OF THESE LIVED BELOW THE POVERTY LINE
Who was affluent in post war America?
Mainly white middle class families - suburbs were built, they could live the American dream
Was post war America truly affluent?
Yes for white middle class Americans
No for many minorities that were overlooked
What Bill helped American not have a recession post war? What year?
Bill of Rights, 1944
How much money had been spent by the early 1950s on education, housing and loans for Americans who served in the war?
$13 billion
Why did population increase in post war America?
America was prosperous again and economy was booming - people could afford to have children
What happened as a result of the population increase in post war America?
There were homes mass produced in suburbs - like ‘Levittowns’
What is consumerism?
The increased purchasing of products and goods
Why was consumerism fuelled in post war America?
The economy was booming - people had more money
Growth of the suburbs and a desire to have the American dream
Things became popular like cars so demand rose
What is the poverty line?
The estimated minimum level of income needed to secure the necessities of life
When did Truman become president?
1945
What was Truman’s version of the ‘New Deal’ called?
The Fair Deal
What did Truman do in his Fair Deal?
Desegregated the military through Executive Order 9981 in 1948
Doubled the minimum wage - 40 cents to 75 cents
Created a commission to investigate problems of racial injustice in America
What did Truman not do in his Fair Deal?
Didn’t introduce a national health insurance scheme - rejected by Republicans in congress
Didn’t get civil rights laws passed in Congress - because of southern Democrats
What did the term teenager mean during post war America?
Young people who rebelled against societal expectations, they had money and lots of free time
Who was the Rock’n’roll icon in post war America?
Elvis Presley
What type of music became popular in post war America?
Rock’n’roll
R&B
Who listened to R&B? Why was this significant?
White teenagers - R&B was sang by African Americans
How many percentages of homes in America had a TV by 1960?
Around 87%
Why did the amount of TVs owned by Americans increase in post war America?
Their prices fell - became more affordable and people had this extra money to spend
They replaced the radio as a key source of entertainment and news
What changed for the film industry in post war America?
Films were now made in colour and were in a widescreen format
There were gimmicks - e.g. 3D
Who was considered a glamorous film star in post war America?
Marilyn Monroe
Who was considered a rebellious film star in post war America?
James Dean
How many hit singles did Elvis Presley have?
170
Who were WASPs?
White Anglo Saxons Protestants - the ideal Americans
3 reasons why there was a second red scare in post war America?
- Many Eastern European countries were occupied by the USSR & became communist & China became communist in 1949 - domino theory
- 1945 - Cold War began - threat of nuclear war
- There was evidence of spying in America - thought Soviets would threaten their economic recovery and quest for the ‘American dream’
Who admitted to being a Soviet spy in America? Who did she admit this to?
Elizabeth Bentley - admitted it to the HUAC
What does HUAC stand for?
House of Un-American Activities Committee
Why was the HUAC set up?
To set investigate communist involvement in government, education and film industries - Soviet spies were secretly in this e.g. Elizabeth Bentley
Who was Joseph McCarthy?
A senator from Wisconsin
What did Joseph McCarthy do during the second red scare?
He started a campaign against possible communism using half truths, rumours, smears and lies
Accused many people of being communist - most of these were outrageous accusations
Who did McCarthy accuse of being communist? What was the Americans reactions to this?
Some officers in the US army - people believed he had gone too far
Who was J. Edgar Hoover?
Director of the FBI (Federal Bureau of Investigation)
What did J. Edgar Hoover do during the second red scare?
Made FBI keep files on around 1 million suspects
Used phone trapping and other methods of surveillance to investigate civil rights leaders
How many communist suspects did the FBI have on file?
Over 1 million
When did Truman introduce loyalty programmes and security checks in the federal government? Why?
March 1947 - to make sure that they weren’t spies
Which 2 people were executed for sharing American secrets with the USSR? When?
Julius and Ethel Rosenberg in 1953
When was the HUAC set up?
1938
When did Joseph McCarthy claim he had a list of over 200 ‘known communists’?
February 1950 - claimed he had over 200 people who he ‘knew’ were communists
When did McCarthy accuse some of the army as being communist?
In 1954 during an investigation
What does NAACP stand for?
The National Association for the Advancement of Coloured People
When was the NAACP set up?
1909
What was the main aim of the NAACP?
To make lynching illegal
Who were some members of the NAACP?
Rosa Parks
Martin Luther King
When was Brown v Board of Education?
1954
Why did Brown v Board of education begin?
An African American girl - Linda Brown - had to travel for a long time and cross dangerous rail tracks to get to school instead of attending a nearby ‘white’ school
What happened during Brown v Board of education?
The Supreme Court voted in favour of the case - schools were no longer segregated
How did Brown v Board of Education advance the civil rights movement?
Schools were no longer segregated
Lives for African American children improved
How did Brown v Board of Education hinder the civil rights movement?
Only helped segregation in schools
Created racism in schools between black and white students
When was the Montgomery Bus Boycott?
1955
Why did the Montgomery Bus Boycotts begin?
Montgomerys bus service was segregated - whites at the front and blacks at the back, black people also had to give up their seat for a white person if necessary
Rosa Parks refused to give her seat up for a white man in 1955 - she was then arrested
What happened during the Montgomery Bus Boycott?
- The civil rights movement helped make the MIA (Montgomery Improvement Association)
- Boycotted the use of buses to get publicity
- The bus service lost 65% of income
How did the Montgomery Bus Boycotts advance the civil rights movement?
Showed that through non violent direct action - lives can be changed
How did the Montgomery Bus Boycott hinder the civil rights movement?
Black people weren’t allowed to use buses during Rosa parks trial
Took a year for a law to be passed in Montgomery for desegregation on buses
When was Little Rock Nine?
1957
Why did Little Rock Nine start?
Arkansas still didn’t integrate schools as order by the Supreme Court
What happened during Little Rock Nine?
- 1957 - Supreme Court ordered governed of Arkansas to let 9 African American kids into the high school in Little Rock
- Governor ordered the state troops to stop the students from attending the school
- Governor eventually backed down when President Eisenhower sent troops to protect students to go into the school
How did Little Rock Nine advance the civil rights movement?
Showed the president and Supreme Court were on the civil rights movements side - gave them hope and led to more protests
How did Little Rock Nine hinder the civil rights movement?
Black people were put to harm over attending the school
The African American children who went to the school were severely bullied
How long did the Montgomery bus boycotts last?
1 year
Which of the African American students in Little Rock heard cries of ‘lynch her, lynch her’?
Elizabeth Eckford
What were 5 of the main campaigns of the early 1960s?
- Greensboro Sit-Ins
- Freedom Rides
- Birmingham Protests
- March on Washington
- Selma to Montgomery March
What does MIA stand for?
Montgomery Improvement Association
Who led the MIA?
Martin Luther King
How long did the Montgomery Bus Boycott last?
1 year (381 days)
What happened in the Greensboro Sit-ins?
- 4 men refused to leave a Woolworths Store and instead stayed inside
- 50,000 students were involved
- Sales at the store fell so quick that they were forced to rethink their policies
- The entire chain then became desegregated
How many students participated in the Greensboro Sit Ins?
50,000
What happened in the freedom rides?
- Campaigning for the desegregation of buses so many sat in the wrong places on buses
- The campaign gained a lot of media coverage
- Many whites reacted aggressively e.g. buses were burnt and protestors attacked
How many participated in the freedom rides?
450 individuals
Example of when a bus was burnt during the freedom rides?
Mother’s Day 1961 in Alabama
What happened in the Birmingham Protests?
- Protests were held as many began to realise the unfair discrimination
- The police led by Police Chief Connor used dogs and powerful fire hoses to attack peaceful protesters
- Many were arrested
- Newspaper headlines critiqued the way the police responded
How many were arrested during the Birmingham protests?
Over 1000 protesters - including Martin Luther King
What happened during the March on Washington?
- King became the leader of the Civil Rights Movement - supported by the government as he was peaceful
- August 1963 over 200,000 people joined the march and ended up by the Lincoln Memorial
- Civil rights leaders gave speeches including the ‘I have a dream’ speech
- The speeches were televised and many Americans realise the unfairness of racist laws
When was the March on Washington?
August 1963
How many joined the March on Washington?
Over 200,000 people
What happened during Selma to Montgomery March?
- The SCLC made Selma the focus of its efforts - to increase the number of black votes in the South
- A march was thus started
- Protestors marched from Selma to Washington for 3 days - despite ‘Bloody Sunday’
- Considered a major contributor to the Voting Rights Act passed by President Lyndon Johnson
What does SCLC stand for?
Southern Christian Leadership Conference
When were the Greensboro sit ins?
February 1960
Who was the SCLC led by?
Martin Luther King
When was the march from Selma to Washington?
1965
When were the 3 civil rights passed (name and year)?
1964 Civil Right Act
1965 Voting Rights Act
1968 Civil Rights Act
Who passed the 3 pieces of civil rights legislation?
President Lyndon B Johnson
What did the 1964 Civil Rights Act state?
Outlawed discrimination in public places
Ended Jim Crow Laws
Banned employment discrimination
What did the 1965 Voting Rights Act state?
It was illegal to prevent African Americans from voting - southern states did this (used literacy tests)
Provided the supervision to protect the right to vote
What did the 1968 Civil Rights Act state?
Mainly applied to Native American tribes - guaranteed their human rights
What is black nationalism?
The idea that black people should be proud of their race and rely on each other to improve their lives and not accept support from white people
What method of protest did black nationalists use?
Violence
What movement/campaign did black nationalists support?
The Black Power Movement
Did black nationalists want desegregation or integration?
Desegregation if black people were superior to white
What did black nationalism encourage?
Pride in African heritage
When was Malcolm X born?
1925
What is Malcom X’s real name?
Malcolm Little
When Malcolm X was young what was he involved in? Why?
Crime - he lived in extreme poverty
Whilst in prison what did Malcolm X do?
Became a black Muslim
What civil rights group did Malcolm X join?
The Nation of Islam
Who did Malcolm X criticise? Why?
Martin Luther King Jr - criticised his non violent approach and said violence would bring faster results
3 examples of black nationalists?
Malcolm X
Nation of Islam
The Black Panther party
What were 3 successes of the black nationalists?
- Cities in the north and west of America with large African American populations were free of racism
- Received quite a lot of media coverage through Bloody Sunday and other protests
- The civil rights act was eventually signed
What were 3 failures of the black nationalists?
- They were criticised by other civil rights movement leaders & many black people thought they weren’t getting protection from crime
- Bloody Sunday - a protest was lead without Martin Luther King Jr and protesters were brutally attacked
- Made white people less sympathetic
What were the good things about Martin Luther King?
Had empathy for others and resilience - had the right mindset
Good communication skills with society
He had a drive and motivation
What were Martin Luther Kings weaknesses?
He was quite fearful - he let fear overcome him and backed out of protest
What was good about Malcolm X?
He had charisma and oratory skills - helped him achieve prominence in the Nation of Islam
What were Malcolm X’s weaknesses?
He alienated all white people and African Americans who believed in nonviolence - believed that all white people were evil and non-violent African Americans were “Not black.’’
Malcolm treated non-violent blacks like he would treat white people - ridiculed them and told them that they were not ‘‘black.”
He believed only the black people who believe in what he believed in constituted as godly
When was Malcolm X assassinated?
1965
When was the Black Panther Party for Self Defense founded?
1966
When was Martin Luther King assassinated?
4 April 1968
Who targeted civil rights activists?
FBI and the leader J Edgar Hoover - he used spying and wiretapping to target them
Who was arrested for the assassination of Martin Luther King?
James Earl Ray
Was there equal pay for men and women in post war America?
No - men were payed more
When did John F Kennedy set up the Presidential Commission on the Status of Women? Why?
1961 - to report on women in the work place and ensure there was equality and no discrimination
What was found out in a report done by the the Presidential Commission on the Status of Women? When?
Women earned round 60% less than men for the same job
Well paid professional jobs were mainly done by men
IN 1963
Who was Betty Friedan?
A key leader in the feminist movement
What did Betty Friedan write? When?
1963 - Betty Friedan wrote a book called ‘The Feminine Mystique’
What did the book the Feminine Mystique express?
How unhappy many women felt being housewives and mothers
When was the National Organisation for Women (NOW) set up?
1966
What does NOW stand for?
National Organisation for Women
What were the main goals of the NOW?
End discrimination in employment - achieve equal pay between men and women
To get paid maternity leave and legalised abortions
Who set up NOW?
Betty Friedan and 48 other activists
Who were mainly the members of NOW?
Middle class and middle aged women
What did the women’s lib believe?
They would work together for freedom from men’s control and oppression of women rather than just legal equality with them
Who were the main members of the women’s lib?
Younger women who wanted to take action
What are examples of what the women’s lib did?
Protested at the 1968 Miss America beauty pageant - argued that events like these exploited and degraded women
They held meetings to give women’s spaces to explore how and why they were exploited
When did Congress pass the Equal Rights Ammendment?
1972
What did the Equal Rights Amendment state?
Equality ‘must not be denied on account of sex’
What was the failure of the Equal Rights Amendment?
There were campaigns against it - e.g. STOP ERA
Who was the STOP ERA campaign led by?
Conservatives
What did the STOP ERA campaign believe?
Equality under the law would undermine traditional family life and require women to fight in the military
When was Roe v Wade?
1973
What was Roe v Wade?
1973 - a women was referred to as Jane Roe (to protect her identity) who wanted to get an abortion and the Supreme Court rules in favour of it
What did Roe v Wade result in?
Abortion being a constitutional right
What were the failures of Roe v Wade?
2022 - it was overturned and now states can ban abortion if they wish
In general, what was the impact of the feminist movement?
Positive: Empowered many women and gave them a greater voice in society and politics
Negative: 1972 congress passed a programme to make child care facilities more widely available but this was vetoed by President Nixon
What did the 1963 Equal Pay Act state?
It was illegal to pay men and women different wages if they were doing the same job
What were all 4 of the acts involved in achieving equality in post war America?
- 1963 equal pay act
- 1964 civil rights act
- 1965 voting rights act
- 1968 civil rights act
Who wanted to create a ‘Great Society’?
Lyndon B Johnson
What was the main idea behind the ‘Great Society’?
To end poverty and racial injustice
What did Johnson call for a war on?
An ‘all out war on poverty’
What were the main measures included in the ‘Great Society’?
Poverty
Civil rights
The environment & new housing
Education reform
Healthcare reform
What were the 2 pieces of legislation passed by Johnson to help the war on poverty?
- 1964 Economic Opportunity Act
- 1965 Housing and Urban Development Act
What did the 1964 Economic Opportunity Act do?
Allocated money from training, development and educational opportunities for the unemployed - would end the cycle of poverty
What did the 1965 Housing and Urban Development Act do?
Combatted the decline in city housing standards which worsened due to increased population in cities - gave funds to cities for urban renewable
What was the piece of legislation passed to reform healthcare by Johnson?
1965 Medicare and Medicaid Act
What did the 1965 Medicare and Medicaid Act do?
Covered the cost of healthcare for the elderly if they qualified& covered costs of healthcare for the unemployed or those on low incomes
Who opposed the 1965 Medicare and Medicaid Act?
Supporters of Laissez Faire e.g. Republicans
What were the 2 pieces of legislation passed to reform education by Johnson?
- 1965 Higher Education Act
- 1965 Elementary and Secondary Educaiton Act
What did the 1965 Higher Education Act do?
Increased funding to colleges and universities
Started scholarships
Provided low interest loans to students
What did the 1965 Elementary and Secondary Education Act do?
Major funding provided to education where there were low income families
Why did Johnson want to reform education?
He was a teacher before he went into politics
He thought education was the way out of poverty
What were the oppositions to Johnson’s presidency?
Mainly towards the involvement of America in the Vietnam War - costly, unpopular and many were drafted (conscription)
Who was Lyndon B Johnson?
The president of USA after John F Kennedy was assassinated
Who was John F Kennedy?
President of USA after Eisenhower
When did JFK become president?
1960
What was Kennedy’s slogan?
‘The New Frontier’
What did Kennedy encourage?
Americans to be optimistic of the future - to look forward to scientific and technological innovations e.g. get to the moon
What did Kennedy want to conquer?
Problems relating to poverty, inequality and prejudice
Why did Kennedy achieve few of his plans?
Conservative Southern Democrats opposed his ideas
What was the unemployment rate in 1961?
Around 7.1% in 1961 - PEAK
What changes did Kennedy achieve?
Increased social security benefits
Introduced a housing act - helped those who were poor get loans to improve their homes
What were limits to the changes Kennedy achieved?
The housing act was limited and the poorest people couldn’t afford to repay loans
New technology meant fewer workers were needed - unemployment still high
What did Kennedy do to help healthcare?
Set up a research task force to provide recommendations on how to improve mental illness support
What did Kennedy do to help education?
1961 - increased federal aid for school
1962 - helped desegregation by sending troops to protect university students
When was Kennedy assassinated?
November 1963
Why was Kennedy criticised?
Most of his focus as president was on the Cold War
He didn’t achieve much
Who became president after JFK’s assassination?
Lyndon B Johnson
Who did more for America, JFK or Lyndon B Johnson?
Lyndon B Johnson - he helped more groups of people,and introduced more acts & he didn’t focus much on the Cold War except the Vietnam war
