Period 8: 1945-1980 Flashcards
Security Council
Used by the president to deal with foreign policy matters and national safety through advisors and an executive cabinet - assist the president in these decisions.
Iron Curtain
Symbolized the ideological conflict and physical boundary dividing Europe into two separate areas from the end of World War II in 1945 until the end of the Cold War in 1991
Truman Doctrine
Advocated containment of communism by lending support to any country that was threatened by said soviet communism
Loyalty Review Board
Purpose was to investigate government employees and to dismiss those who were disloyal to the US
House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC)
Created to investigate alleged communists
McCarthyism
“Witch hunt” for communists
Servicemen’s Readjustment Act (GI Bill)
Provided WWII veterans with funds for college, unemployment insurance, and housing
Baby Boom
50 million babies entering US population between 1945 nd 1960
Levittown
Project of 17,000 mass-produced, low price family homes in Long Island, New York
Sun Belt
States to the South and Southwest
22nd Amendment
Limited a president to a maximum of 2 full terms in office
Taft-Hartley Act
Purpose was to check the growing power of unions by: requiring workers to join a union before being hired, etc.
Fair Deal
Included national health insurance, federal aid to education, civil rights legislation, funds for public housing, and a new farm program
Highway Act
Authorized the construction of 42,000 miles of interstate highways linking all the nation’s major cities
Stagflation
Combination of economic slowdown and high inflation
New Frontier
The campaign program advocated by JFK in the 1960 election. He promised to revitalize the stagnant economy and enact reform legislation in education, health care, and civil rights.
Warren Commission
Commission made by LBJ after killing of John F. Kennedy. (Point is to investigate if someone paid for the assasination of Kennedy.) Conclusion is that Oswald killed Kennedy on his own. Commissioner is Chief Justice Warren.
Thurgood Marshall
the first African American to serve on the Supreme Court of the United States. Prior to becoming a judge, he was a lawyer who was best remembered for his activity in the Little Rock 9 and his high success rate in arguing before the Supreme Court and for the victory in Brown v. Board of Education
Brown v. Board of Education
Supreme court over turned Plessy v Ferguson (separate but equal) in a unanimous vote, deeming separate schools inherently unequal
Earl Warren
controversial Chief Justice of the Supreme Court (1953-1969); he led the Court in far-reaching racial, social, and political rulings, including school desegregation and protecting rights of persons accused of crimes; presided over the Brown v. the Board of Education case
Southern Manifesto
Argued the supreme court had engaged in a gross abuse of power in the brown decision and in order to uphold their rights in the face of such abuses of power, some southern states shut schools down rather than have them integrated
Little Rock
National troops had to stand guard and protect black students entering Little Rock HS at the start of desegregation
Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC)
Southern Christian Leadership Conference, churches link together to inform blacks about changes in the Civil Rights Movement, led by MLK Jr., was a success
Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee
College kids participate in Civil Rights, stage sit-ins and such
Suez Crisis
When Egyptian president Nasser nationalized the Suez Canal, British, French, and Israeli forces staged a joint assault on Egypt, cutting off Western Europe’s oil supply; when the United States, who had been kept in the dark about the plan, refused to release emergency oil supplies, the allies were compelled to withdraw troops and the United Nations was forced to intervene.
Eisenhower Doctrine
the U.S. pledged economic and military aid to any Middle Eastern country threatened by communism
Oil Embargo
banned both petroleum exports to the targeted nations and introduced cuts in oil production. Several years of negotiations between oil-producing nations and oil companies had already destabilized a decades-old pricing system, which exacerbated the embargo’s effects
Peace Corps
a civilian organization sponsored by the United States government
Domino Theory
a theory prominent from the 1950s to the 1980s, that speculated that if one state in a region came under the influence of communism, then the surrounding countries would follow in a domino effect
Tonkin Gulf Resolution
Joint resolution of the U.S. Congress passed on August 7, 1964 in direct response to a minor naval engagement known as the Gulf of Tonkin Incident. It is of historical significance because it gave U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson authorization, without a formal declaration of war by Congress, for the use of “any force necessary” in Vietnam.
Hawks
Nickname for the group of Americans who supported the Vietnam War.
Doves
Nickname for the group of Americans who opposed the Vietnam War.
Tet Offensive
1968, during Tet, the Vietnam lunar new year - Vietcong and North Vietnamese Army raiding forces attacked many major cities throughout Vietnam, even seizing the U.S. embassy for a time. This was important because it began turning U.S. opinion against the war, since it seemed an easy victory was not apparent.
Richard Nixon
He was responsible for getting the United States out of the Vietnam War by using “Vietnamization”, which was the withdrawal of 540,000 troops from South Vietnam for an extended period
George Wallace
Racist governor of Alabama in 1962 (“segregation now, segregation tomorrow, segregation forever”). He ran for President in 1968 on American Independent Party ticket of racism and “law and order,” gaining a strong support in the Deep South even during the Civil Rights campaign.
Hubert Humphrey
escalated the war in Vietnam and the failure to win the war was blamed on him. Had a great domestic policy called “ The Great Society” and helped push for the passing of the civil rights act to end discrimination. He also issued all federal contractors to take “affirmative action” against discrimination
Vietnamization
President Richard Nixon’s strategy for ending U.S involvement in the Vietnam war, involving a gradual withdrawal of American troops and replacement of them with South Vietnamese forces
Henry Kissinger
The main negotiator of the peace treaty with the North Vietnamese; secretary of state during Nixon’s presidency.. Heavily involved in South American politics as National Security Advisor and Secretary of State. He denounced covert tactics to prevent communism and fascism from spreading throughout South America.
Kent State
This college gained national attention on May 4, 1970 when an Ohio National Guard unit shot at students in response to war protests on and around campus, killing four and wounding nine. This event propagated intense national response as hundreds of schools closed due to an eight million student strike.
Pentagon Papers
Top-secret documents, published by The New York Times in 1971, that showed the blunders and deceptions that led the United States into the Vietnam War
War Powers Act
required the president to report to Congress within 48 hours after taking military action. It further provided that Congress would have to approve any military action that lasted more than 60 days
Lyndon Johnson
Great Society
President Johnson called his version of the Democratic reform program the Great Society. In 1965, Congress passed many Great Society measures, including Medicare, civil rights legislation, and federal aid to education.
War on Poverty
President Lyndon B. Johnson’s program in the 1960’s to provide greater social services for the poor and elderly
Barry Goldwater
An American senator for Arizona who ran against Johnson for president in 1968. His extreme conservatism scared many into voting for Johnson.
Medicare
a federal program that provides health coverage if you are 65 or older or have certain disability
Medicaid
A federal and state assistance program that pays for health care services for low-income families.
Immigration Act of 1965
Abolished the “national-origins” quota and doubled the number of immigrants allowed to enter annually. Allowed close family members to be excluded from the count. Immigration was largely from Asia and Latin America
Letter from a Birmingham Jail
Letter in which MLK preaches and explains civil disobedience “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere” Explained why blacks were discontented to “wait” and the meaning of the nonviolent protest.
March on Washington
In August 1963, civil rights leaders organized a massive rally in Washington to urge passage of President Kennedy’s civil rights bill. The high point came when MLK Jr., gave his “I Have a Dream” speech to more than 200,000 marchers in front of the Lincoln Memorial.
Civil Rights Act
This act banned discrimination in public accommodations, prohibited discrimination in any federally assisted program, and outlawed discrimination in most employment. It also enlarged federal powers to protect voting rights and to speed school desegregation. Along with the Voting Rights Act, it helped to give African-Americans equality on paper, and more federally-protected power so equality could be realistically enforced.
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC)
24th Amendment
Amendment to the U.S. Constitution (1964) eliminated the poll tax as a prerequisite to vote in national elections.
March to Montgomery
Voting Rights Act of 1965
invalidated the use of any test or device to deny the vote and authorized federal examiners to register voters in states that had disenfranchised blacks; as more blacks became politically active and elected black representatives, it rboguth jobs, contracts, and facilities and services for the black community, encouraging greater social equality and decreasing the wealth and education gap
Black Panthers
a militant Black political party founded in 1965 to end political dominance by Whites
The Feminine Mystique
Classic feminist protest literature, written by Betty Friedan, that helped launch the modern women’s movement; an indictment of the “stifling boredom” of suburban housewifery
National Organization for Women (NOW)
Founded in 1966 by Betty Friedan, this women’s right’s organization called for equal employment opportunity and equal pay for women. NOW also championed the legalization of abortion and passage of an equal rights amendment to the Constitution.
Equal Pay Act of 1963
Civil Rights Act of 1964
This act made racial, religious, and sex discrimination by employers illegal and gave the government the power to enforce all laws governing civil rights, including desegregation of schools and public places.
Title IX
Equal Rights Amendment (ERA)
Cesar Chavez
Non-violent leader of the United Farm Workers from 1963-1970. Organized laborers in California and in the Southwest to strike against fruit and vegetable growers. Unionized Mexican-American farm workers.
United Farm Workers Association
Indian Self-Determination Act of 1975
Warren Court
Students for a Democratic Society
New Left
Free Speech Movement
a student protest which took place during the 1964-65 academic year on the campus of the University of California, Berkeley
Yippies
Youth International Party; anarchist party headed by Abbie Hoffman that opposed the Vietnam War & conformity; poured bags of dollars onto the New York Stock Exchange and carried pictures of LBJ upside down
Counterculture
Young Americans in 60s who rejected conventional customs & mainstream culture and built their own subculture which deliberately and consciously opposed to certain central beliefs or attitudes of the dominant culture.
Woodstock
Three Mile Island
A nuclear plant near Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, where a reactor core came close to a meltdown in March 1979. After the incident at 3 mile Island, no new nuclear plants were authorized in the United States, though a handful with existing authorization were built in the 1980s
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
Clean Air Act
1970- law that established national standards for states, strict auto emissions guidelines, and regulations, which set air pollution standards for private industry.
Clean Water Act
The primary federal law in the United States governing water pollution. The objective is to restore and maintain the chemical, physical, and biological integrity of the nation’s waters by preventing point and nonpoint pollution sources
