Unit 8- Cold War, Civil Rights, Cultural Change Flashcards
The Cold War
War of threats between US and Soviet Union (Russia)
- attempt to establish world dominance
Korean War
War between North and South Korea. North Korea (communist) was supported by Soviet Union. South Korea (democracy) supported by US.
Space Race
Battel between US and Soviet Union to dominate Space.
Cuban Missile Crisis
Soviet Union placed missiles in Cuba (90 miles from US). Created a sense of fear and needed to be deescalated.
Red Scare
American fear of communism and it spreading throughout the US
Joseph McCarthy
US congressmen accused government employees of being communist and created more fear during the Cold War (McCarthyism
Baby Boom
Increase in birth rate after WWII. Millions of babies were born
GI Bill
Allowed American soldiers to attend college for free
Suburbs
Small residential towns built outside of cities. meant to be perfect. - Supported new middle and upper class families (white)
Levittowns
Perfect suburbs with identical houses
Interstate Highway Act
Government funded Highways that connected major cities in the US. Allowed for quick and easy transportation across the country
Television
New technology allowed citizens to witness events live (by 1960 nearly all US households owned a television)
Containment
US policy to stop the spread of communism
Civil Rights Movement
Movement for African American equality (led by Martin Luther King Jr.
Brown vs. Board of Education
Supreme Court Case overturned Plessy v. Fergusson
- Segregation is ILLEGAL
Montgomery Bus Boycott
Movement of African Americans to stop riding public busses to protest segregation
SCLC
Non-violent Organization led by Martin Luther King Jr
Sit-Ins
Organized protests at lunch counters to illustrate the violence of segregation
Freedom Riders
Black and White College students rode busses throughout the south to protest segregation
Malcolm X
African American Leader- protested violently
Black Power Movement
Used violence to demand equality (because nonviolence was too slow)
Black Panthers
Violent Black Power organization
Voting Rights Act of 1965
Made poll taxes and literacy tests illegal to prevent people from voting
Civil Rights Act of 1964
Protected and guaranteed equal treatment of African Americans
Vietnam War
War between North and South Vietnam over communism
Gulf of Tonkin
US ships were “attacked” by North Vietnam. This led to US getting involved in the Vietnam War
Gulf of Tonkin Resolution
Gave President control over the military during Vietnam War
Selective Service Act of 1964
Draft of Americans for Vietnam war
- massively unpopular
- mostly targeted poor, working class americans
Mai Lai Massacre
US soldiers destroyed a Vietnamese village- events were televised
Anti-War movement
Movement (mostly young people) to protest the Vietnam War
Counter Culture
Going against the mainstream or dominant culture
Rock and Roll
Musical style popular with young Americans during 50s and 60s
- used to protest war.
Great Society
Government program created by LBJ to end poverty and promote racial equality
Medicare/Medicaid
Government provided healthcare for poor and elderly (Great Society)
Food Stamps
Government program to support needy families (Great Society)
Silent Spring
Book by Rachel Carson exposed the horrors of pesticides and the dangers to our environment
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
Government organization to regulate environment
