Truman Flashcards
What big boom happened after World War 2?
The Baby Boom would last from 1946 to 1964.
This was when the USA had a massive increase in population as a result of all the babies being born
What did returning American warriors get when returning from World War 2?
They got to enjoy the benefits of a new law called the G.I. Bill
What is the G.I. Bill?
Also known as the Servicemen’s Readjustment Act, it provided veterans with
- Gave veterans unemployment benefits for one full year
- Made it really easy for veterans to get loans to buy their own House
- Provided them with Veterans-ONLY hospitals called “VA Hospitals”, as well as their own unique health insurance, in case they get sick.
Why was the GI bill made?
FDR, before he died, had planned on trying to get new laws passed in the United States called “The Second Bill of Rights”. But many people were not in the mood to pass those laws, and so they gave them to veterans instead through the GI Bill.
What was included in FDR’s 2nd Bill of Rights?
- Government-paid for college education
- Government-paid for healthcare
- Government-backed home loans (meaning if u cant pay for ur home, the govt will pay 4 u)
There is a bit more to it than that, but for the purposes of this class, you only need to remember those 3.
Who is Jackie Robinson?
He is the first Black person to break the “color barrier” in Major League Baseball.
Before Jackie Robinson, no Black player had ever participated in a Major League Baseball game due to racism and the unwillingness of white people to watch a Black person play Baseball.
What was Executive Order 9981?
It forced the military to be desegregated. This meant that from now on, Black soldiers would fight side by side with White soldiers.
Who is Harry Truman?
He was Vice President under FDR when FDR died of Polio. He became the next Democratic President after FDR.
What is the Cold War?
An indirect war between the USA and the Soviet Union.
The USA and the Soviet Union will never have a *direct* war against each other. The Cold War is mostly a series of “Proxy” Wars.
What is another name for the Soviet Union?
Russia
United Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR)
How is the Soviet Union’s government different from the USA?
The USA elects its representatives and is a type of Democracy where the people decide what the laws are.
The Soviet Union is a communist dictatorship where one person decides what the laws are.
What did the Soviet Union do with the lands it took from the Nazis after World War 2?
The Soviet Union kept the lands for themselves and installed dictators in those lands that were loyal to the Soviet Union.
Why did the Soviet Union keep the lands it took away from the Nazis during World War 2?
Because it wanted to have more power, so it could spread its communist ideas around the world. Stalin, who was the leader of the Soviet Union, believed that Communism was a better economic and political system than the USA’s Democracy and Capitalism.
What did the USA do with the lands it took away from the Nazis during World War 2?
The USA gave those lands back their freedom.
What did President Harry Truman do about the Soviet Union keeping those lands?
He created what was called the Truman Doctrine.
The Truman Doctrine was all about containing the spread of Communism.
What was the Truman Doctrine?
It said that whenever the Soviet Union was trying to spread communism, the USA should try to contain its spread.
How is the Soviet Union different from the USA economically?
The Soviet Union has a “Command” Economy, whereas the USA has a “Free Enterprise System” Market Economy.
How is a command economy different from a free enterprise system (market economy)?
In a command economy, the government determines the price of services because the government owns all the businesses.
In a free enterprise system, (or Market Economy) the people privately own the businesses and set the prices based on factors like supply and demand.
What was the 2nd Red Scare? (Do you also remember the 1st red scare?)
The 2nd Red Scare was when, after World War 2, people in the USA became scared of the Soviet Union and the spread of Communism.
They became so scared, that they started to arrest people in the USA who were suspected of being communists.
PS the 1st Red Scare was also about a fear of communism, but it was in the 1920s after World War 1
What was HUAC?
House Unamerican Activities Committee
They were a group of people in Congress that would investigate suspected communists or people who they said were “un-American”.
Who is Joseph McCarthy?
He was one of the people who liked to accuse people of being Communist. He even said he had a list of people who were working in the US government who were communists.
What are racial covenants?
They were local laws written in small towns all around the USA, which say that only White people could live there.
Hispanics/Blacks and other non-white groups of people were not legally allowed to live in those places because of these racial covenants.
What is a “mortgage”?
It is a loan that people take from a bank to buy a house.
What did the Federal Housing Administration do?
It was a program created by FDR during the new deal to help people get into houses. Basically, if people apply for loans, they would get approved because the government paid for the insurance on their loan, in case they were unable to pay.
People who didn’t pay their loan would still get kicked out of their house BUT banks were more willing to loan people money because the government promised banks they would pay for the bad loan just in case.
