containment
American policy of resisting further expansion of communism around the world
Truman Doctrine
1947, President Truman's policy of providing economic and military aid to any country threatened by communism or totalitarian ideology, mainly helped Greece and Turkey
NATO
North Atlantic Treaty Organization; an alliance made to defend one another if they were attacked by any other country; US, England, France, Canada, Western European countries
Warsaw Pact
An alliance between the Soviet Union and other Eastern European nations. This was in response to the NATO
2nd Red Scare
A period during the Cold War where the American public was terrified of Communists and the spread of Communism.
Berlin Wall
In 1961, the Soviet Union built a high barrier to seal off their sector of Berlin in order to stop the flow of refugees out of the Soviet zone of Germany.
New Frontier
Kennedy's plan, supports civil rights, pushes for a space program, wans to cut taxes, and increase spending for defense and military
Cuban Missile Crisis
1962 crisis that arose between the United States and the Soviet Union over a Soviet attempt to deploy nuclear missiles in Cuba
The Great Society
Lyndon Johnson's program for poverty relief, healthcare, and civil rights during his presidency.
non-violent civil disobedience
A philosophy of opposing a law one considers unjust by peacefully violating it and allowing oneself to be punished as a result.
Equal Rights Amendment
Constitutional amendment passed by Congress but never ratified that would have banned discrimination on the basis of gender.
Students for a Democratic Society
A campus-based political organization founded in 1961 by Tom Hayden that became an iconic representation of the New Left. Originally geared toward the intellectual promise of "participatory democracy," SDS emerged at the forefront of the civil rights, antipoverty, and anitwar movements during the 1960s.
G.I. Bill
law passed in 1944 to help returning veterans buy homes and pay for higher educations
OPEC
An organization of countries formed in 1961 to agree on a common policy for the production and sale of petroleum.
Roe v. Wade
(1973) legalized abortion on the basis of a woman's right to privacy
Nixon Doctrine
(1969) Created during the Vietnam war. It proclaimed that the US would honor its existing defense commitments but in the future countries would have to fight their own war without support of large numbers of American ground troops.
Watergate Break-In
The 1972 illegal entry into the Democratic National Committee offices by participants in President Richard Nixon's re-election campaign.
Iran Hostage Crisis
In November 1979, revolutionaries stormed the American embassy in Tehran and held 52 Americans hostage. The Carter administration tried unsuccessfully to negotiate for the hostages release. On January 20, 1981, the day Carter left office, Iran released the Americans, ending their 444 days in captivity.
Civil Rights Act of 1964
A federal law that authorized federal action against segregation in public accommodations, public facilities, and employment.
Medicare
A federal program of health insurance for persons 65 years of age and older
Medicaid
A federal and state assistance program that pays for health care services for people who cannot afford them.
SCLC
churches link together to inform blacks about changes in the Civil Rights Movement, led by MLK Jr., was a success
Berlin Airlift
Airlift in 1948 that supplied food and fuel to citizens of west Berlin when the Russians closed off land access to Berlin
United Nations
An international organization formed after WWII to promote international peace, security, and cooperation.
Cold War
A conflict that was between the US and the Soviet Union. The nations never directly confronted each other on the battlefield but deadly threats went on for years.
Iron Curtain
A term popularized by British Prime Minister Winston Churchill to describe the Soviet Union's policy of isolation during the Cold War. The barrier isolated Eastern Europe from the rest of the world.
National Security Council
An office created in 1947 to coordinate the President's foreign and military policy advisers. Its formal members are the President, Vice President, Secretary of State, and Secretary of Defense, and it is managed by the president's national security assistant.
Central Intelligence Agency
an external intelligence service of the U.S. Government, tasked with gathering, processing and analyzing national security information from around the world, primarily through the use of human intelligence (spies).
Marshall Plan
A plan that the US came up with to revive war-torn economies of Europe. This plan offered $13 billion in aid to western and Southern Europe.
North Atlantic Treaty Organization
In 1949, the United States, Canada, and ten European nations formed this military mutual-defense pact. In 1955, the Soviet Union countered NATO with the formation of the Warsaw Pact, a military alliance among those nations within its own sphere of influence.
brinkmanship
A policy of threatening to go to war in response to any enemy aggression.
Sputnik I
Launched by the Soviet Union in 1957, the world's first space satellite; showed that US was behind in education, big push to improve science and math education.
Nikita Kruschev
Emerged as a leader in the Soviet Union after the death of dictator Josef Stalin. In 1956, he advocated reform and indirectly criticized Stalin and his methods. He became the Premier of the Soviet Union from 1958 to 1974.
peaceful coexistence
Term used by Khrushchev in 1963 to describe a situation in which the United States and Soviet Union would continue to compete economically and politically without launching a thermonuclear war.
detente
A policy of reducing Cold War tensions that was adopted by the United States during the presidency of Richard Nixon.
House Un-American Activities Committee
A congressional committee created to search out disloyal Americans and Communists.
Joseph McCarthy
Wisconsin senator claimed to have list of communists in American gov't, but no credible evidence; took advantage of fears of communism post WWII to become incredibly influential; "McCarthyism" was the fearful accusation of any dissenters of being communists.
Alger Hiss
A former State Department official who was accused of being a Communist spy and was convicted of perjury. The case was prosecuted by Richard Nixon.
Julius and Ethel Rosenberg
Arrested in the Summer of 1950 and executed in 1953, they were convicted of conspiring to commit espionage by passing plans for the atomic bomb to the Soviet Union.
Chinese Civil War
War between communist Mao Zedong and nationalist Chaing-Kai Shek. The communists took over and forced the nationalists to retreat to Taiwan
Bay of Pigs
In April 1961, a group of Cuban exiles organized and supported by the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency landed on the southern coast of Cuba in an effort to overthrow Fidel Castro. When the invasion ended in disaster, President Kennedy took full responsibility for the failure.
Korean War
The conflict between Communist North Korea and Non-Communist South Korea. The United Nations (led by the United States) helped South Korea. The war began and ended with a divided country.
Ho Chi Minh
Communist leader of North Vietnam
domino theory
A theory that if one nation comes under Communist control, then neighboring nations will also come under Communist control.
Vietcong
A group of Communist guerrillas who, with the help of North Vietnam, fought against the South Vietnamese government in the Vietnam War.
Tet Offensive
1968, during Tet, the Vietnam lunar new year - Viet Cong and North Vietnamese Army raiding forces attacked provincial capitals throughout Vietnam, even seizing the U.S. embassy for a time. U.S. opinion began turning against the war.
Tonkin Gulf Resolution
This gave the president authority to take "all neccessary measures to repel any armed attack against forces of the United States."
Robert Kennedy
1968, He was a Democrat who ran for president in 1968 promoting civil rights and other equality based ideals. He was assassinated in 1968, leaving Nixon to take the presidency but instilling hope in many Americans.
My Lai
1968, in which American troops had brutally massacred innocent women and children in the village of My Lai, also led to more opposition to the war.
Vietnamization
President Richard Nixons strategy for ending U.S involvement in the Vietnam war, involving a gradual withdrawl of American troops and replacement of them with South Vietnamese forces.
War Powers Act
A resolution of Congress that stated the President can only send troops into action abroad by authorization of Congress or if America is already under attack or serious threat.
Kent State
an Ohio University where National Guardsmen opened fire on students protesting the Vietnam War on May 4,1970, wounding nine and killing four
Pentagon Papers
A 7,000-page top-secret United States government report on the history of the internal planning and policy-making process within the government itself concerning the Vietnam War.
Eisenhower Doctrine
Presidential doctrine that said that the US would not hesitate to aid Middle Eastern nations resisting Communism.
Camp David Accords
A peace treaty between Israel and Egypt where Egypt agreed to recognize the nation state of Israel
Carter Doctrine
Warning that any attempt by outside forces to gain control of the Persian Gulf would be met with military force from the US; created because Soviets were in Afghanistan and too close to Persian Gulf oil.
Brown v. Board of Education
1954 - The Supreme Court overruled Plessy v. Ferguson, declared that racially segregated facilities are inherently unequal and ordered all public schools desegregated.
Rosa Parks
An African-American civil rights activist who, in 1955, refused to obey bus driver James Blake's order that she give up her seat to make room for a white passenger and led to the Montgomery bus boycott.
Martin Luther King, Jr.
U.S. Baptist minister and civil rights leader. A noted orator, he opposed discrimination against blacks by organizing nonviolent resistance and peaceful mass demonstrations. He was assassinated in Memphis, Tennessee. Nobel Peace Prize (1964)
Civil Rights Act of 1964
A federal law that authorized federal action against segregation in public accommodations, public facilities, and employment. The law was passed during a period of great strength for the civil rights movement, and President Lyndon Johnson persuaded many reluctant members of Congress to support the law.
SNCC
a group established in 1960 to promote and use non-violent means to protest racial discrimination; they were the ones primarily responsible for creating the sit-in movement.
sit-in
nonviolent protests in which a person sits and refuses to leave
freedom rides
a series of integrated bus rides through the South
public order laws
Laws passed by many southern communities to stop civil rights protests by allowing the police to arrest anyone suspect of intending to disrupt public order.
Voting Rights Act of 1965
A law designed to help end formal and informal barriers to African American suffrage. Under the law, hundreds of thousands of African Americans were registered and the number of African American elected officials increased dramatically.
Black Power
A slogan used to reflect solidarity and racial consciousness, used by Malcolm X. It meant that equality could not be given, but had to be seized by a powerful, organized Black community.
Malcolm X
Black Muslim leader who said Blacks needed to have separate society from whites, but later changed his views. He was assassinated in 1965.
Black Panthers
A black political organization that was against peaceful protest and for violence if needed. The organization marked a shift in policy of the black movement, favoring militant ideals rather than peaceful protest.
The Feminine Mystique
written by Betty Friedan, journalist and mother of three children; described the problems of middle-class American women and the fact that women were being denied equality with men; said that women were kept from reaching their full human capacities.
Title VII
Civil Rights Act of 1964—forbids discrimination based on sex, race, color, national origin, or religion.
National Organization for Women
Founded in 1966, called for equal employment opportunity and equal pay for women. Also championed the legalization of abortion and passage of an equal rights amendment to the Constitution.
Cesar Chavez
Organized Union Farm Workers (UFW); help migratory farm workers gain better pay & working conditions.
American Indian Movement
A Native American organization founded in 1968 to protest government policies and injustices suffered by Native Americans; in 1973, organized the armed occupation of Wounded Knee, South Dakota.
Baker v. Carr
Case that established "one man, one vote", this decision created guidelines for drawing up congresional districts and guaranteed a more equitable system of representation to the citizens of each state.
Engel v. Vitale
the Supreme Court decision in 1962, that said a public school could not require a school prayer; guaranteed separation of church and state
Gideon v. Wainwright
A landmark case in United States Supreme Court history. In the case, the Supreme Court unanimously ruled that state courts are required under the Sixth Amendment of the Constitution to provide counsel in criminal cases for defendants unable to afford their own attorneys.
Griswold v. Connecticut
found a "right to privacy" in the Consitution that would ban any state law against selling contraceptives
Miranda v. Arizona
Supreme Court held that criminal suspects must be informed of their right to consult with an attorney and of their right against self-incrimination prior to questioning by police.
GI Bill of Rights
A name given to the Servicemen's Readjustment Act, a 1944 law that provided financial and educational benefits for World War II veterans.
Sun Belt
U.S. region, mostly comprised of southeastern and southwestern states, which has grown most dramatically since World War II.
Immigration and Nationality Act
(1965) This law made it easier for entire families to migrate and established "special categories" for political refugees. This act increased the amount of immigration.
Silent Spring
1962 book by Rachel Carson that started the environmental movement
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
an independent federal agency established to coordinate programs aimed at reducing pollution and protecting the environment
Three Mile Island
Nuclear Power Plant in Harrisburg, Penn. which failed, causing radiation to be admitted in the air.
baby boom
A cohort of individuals born in the United States between 1946 and 1964, which was just after World War II in a time of relative peace and prosperity. These conditions allowed for better education and job opportunities, encouraging high rates of both marriage and fertility.
Beatnicks
group of writers and artists who refused to conform to accept ways of dressing, thinking, and acting; to show their contempt for culture, they dressed carelessly and wore colorful jargon
counterculture
A culture with lifestyles and values opposed to those of the established culture.
Woodstock
3 day rock concert in upstate N.Y. August 1969, exemplified the counterculture of the late 1960s
Watergate
(RN), 1972, The events and scandal surrounding a break-in at the Democratic National Committee headquarters in 1972 and the subsequent cover-up of White House involvement, leading to the eventual resignation of President Nixon under the threat of impeachment, Ford becomes President
Focus on the Family
Evangelical Christian organization founded in 1977 by James Dobson. Major fighter against same-sex marriage, influences the political process.
Moral Majority
A movement begun in the early 1980's among religious conservatives that supported primarily conservative Republicans opposed to abortion, communism and liberalism.
stagflation
a period of slow economic growth and high unemployment (stagnation) while prices rise (inflation)
Iranian Hostage Crisis
In 1979, Iranian fundamentalists seized the American embassy in Tehran and held fifty-three American diplomats hostage for over a year; weakened Carter's presidency; hostages released on Reagan's inauguration.