DCUSH semester 2 final

Herbert Hoover’s handling of the Great Depression

President Hoover initially relied on "rugged individualism" and voluntary cooperation from businesses, believing the economy would fix itself without direct government intervention. As the crisis worsened, he created the Reconstruction Finance Corporation (RFC) to lend money to banks and businesses, but it was seen as "trickle-down" economics that failed to provide direct aid to the starving and unemployed, leading to widespread public anger.

Critics of the New Deal

The New Deal faced intense criticism from both sides of the political spectrum. Right-wing critics and the American Liberty League argued it was socialist, unconstitutional, and overextended federal power, while left-wing critics like Huey Long ("Share Our Wealth") and Father Charles Coughlin argued it did not go far enough to redistribute wealth and help the poor.

Mexican American and Asian American repatriation

During the Great Depression, the U.S. government unconstitutionally coerced and forcibly deported an estimated one to two million people of Mexican descent—approximately 60% of whom were U.S. citizens—in a process known as Mexican Repatriation to clear up jobs and relief funds; Asian Americans, particularly Filipino immigrants, faced similar exclusionary pressures and federally funded voluntary repatriation acts aimed at reducing their population in the workforce.

John Maynard Keynes and pump priming

British economist John Maynard Keynes advocated for deficit spending during economic downturns, arguing that the government must intentionally spend money it does not have to stimulate demand. This process, known as "pump priming," involves putting money directly into consumers' pockets through government jobs and public works projects so they will spend it, thereby jump-starting the private economy.

Roosevelt presidency and the 22nd Amendment

Franklin D. Roosevelt broke the two-term tradition established by George Washington by winning election to four consecutive terms (1932-1944) due to the crises of the Great Depression and WWII. In response to his unprecedented longevity in office and fears of executive tyranny, Congress and the states passed the 22nd Amendment in 1951, officially limiting all future presidents to two terms.

Genocide

Genocide is the deliberate, systematic destruction, in whole or in part, of an ethnic, racial, religious, or national group. The term was coined during WWII to legally define the unprecedented, industrialized slaughter of European Jews and other targeted groups by Nazi Germany, later codified as an international crime at the Nuremberg Trials.

Blitzkrieg

Blitzkrieg, meaning "lightning war," was a Nazi military strategy designed to avoid the stagnant trench warfare of WWI by using swift, coordinated surprise attacks. It synchronized mechanized infantry, tanks (Panzers), and overwhelming air support (Luftwaffe) to rapidly pierce enemy lines and disorganize defenders, leading to the swift collapse of Poland and France.

Significance of the Battle of the Bulge

Fought in the winter of 1944–1945, this was Germany's final major offensive counterattack on the Western Front, aimed at splitting the Allied armies. The Allies successfully resisted the German "bulge" in the front lines, exhaustively depleting Hitler's remaining armored forces, fuel supplies, and manpower, which permanently broke Germany's ability to wage offensive war.

V-E Day

Marked on May 8, 1945, Victory in Europe Day celebrated the formal, unconditional surrender of Nazi Germany's armed forces to the Allied powers. This officially concluded the European theater of World War II, allowing the Allies to redirect their full military focus toward defeating Japan in the Pacific.

Truman’s decision to drop the atomic bombs

President Harry Truman authorized the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945 primarily to force an immediate, unconditional Japanese surrender. His administration justified the decision by arguing it would prevent a bloody land invasion of mainland Japan, saving an estimated hundreds of thousands of American soldier lives, though critics argue it was also intended to intimidate the Soviet Union.

Dwight D. Eisenhower

During WWII, General Eisenhower served as the Supreme Allied Commander in Europe, brilliantly orchestrating the massive, complex D-Day invasion of Normandy in 1944. His immense wartime popularity and reputation as a moderate, unifying leader later propelled him to two terms as U.S. President in the 1950s.

Manhattan Project

This was the ultra-secret, multi-billion-dollar U.S. government research and development program during WWII dedicated to building the world's first nuclear weapons. Led scientifically by J. Robert Oppenheimer, the project successfully tested the first atomic bomb at the Trinity Site and produced the weapons dropped on Japan.

Nuremberg Trials

A series of military tribunals held by the Allied forces after WWII that prosecuted prominent leaders of Nazi Germany for war crimes, crimes against peace, and crimes against humanity. The trials were historically significant because they rejected the defense of "just following orders," establishing the legal precedent that individuals are held personally accountable for violations of international law.

Band of Brothers

The popular moniker for Easy Company, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division, whose harrowing experiences from paratrooper training to D-Day, the Battle of the Bulge, and the capture of Eagle's Nest came to symbolize the grueling personal sacrifices, elite camaraderie, and profound psychological toll experienced by frontline American soldiers in Europe.

Auschwitz

Located in occupied Poland, Auschwitz-Birkenau was the largest and most notorious of the Nazi concentration and extermination camps. It functioned as an industrialized killing center where over 1.1 million people—predominantly Jews—were systematically murdered using Zyklon B gas chambers, making it the global symbol of the horrors of the Holocaust.

Beatniks

A media stereotype of the mid-20th-century "Beat Generation" writers and their followers, characterized by their black turtlenecks, berets, and jazz-club lifestyle. They rejected standard 1950s middle-class values, mainstream consumerism, and strict social conformity in favor of spontaneous creativity, Eastern philosophy, and drug experimentation.

Support of Mao Zedong and the Chinese civil war

During the Chinese Civil War, Mao Zedong's communist forces won the support of the massive Chinese peasant population by promising land reform and fighting Japanese occupiers, ultimately defeating Chiang Kai-shek’s corrupt Nationalist forces. The 1949 "Loss of China" shocked the American public and triggered intense political finger-pointing, fueling fears that communism was winning the global Cold War.

Iron curtain

A political metaphor coined by British Prime Minister Winston Churchill in a 1946 speech to describe the rigid ideological and physical barrier erected by the Soviet Union. It isolated the satellite states of Eastern Europe under Soviet control from the democratic, capitalist nations of Western Europe.

Truman Doctrine

Announced by President Truman in 1947, this foreign policy committed the U.S. to providing economic and military aid to any nation resisting subjugation by armed minorities or outside pressures, specifically starting with Greece and Turkey. This doctrine officially established "containment" as the core foundation of American Cold War foreign policy.

Eisenhower Doctrine

Issued in 1957, this foreign policy pledge stated that a Middle Eastern country could request American economic assistance or aid from U.S. military forces if it was being threatened by armed aggression from another state, specifically aiming to contain the spread of Soviet influence and communism in the oil-rich Middle East.

McCarthyism

Named after Senator Joseph McCarthy, this refers to the intense period of the Second Red Scare in the early 1950s characterized by reckless, unsubstantiated accusations of treason and communist subversion. It created a climate of fear and paranoia, ruining thousands of careers in government, Hollywood, and academia through blacklisting before McCarthy was finally censured for overreaching.

Suburbs

The post-WWII era saw a massive migration of middle-class families out of cities into planned residential communities on the periphery, exemplified by Levittown. This growth was fueled by the GI Bill's cheap mortgages, the expansion of the automobile industry, and the highway system, but it also institutionalized racial segregation through redlining.

Television

By the late 1950s, the television became the dominant mass medium in American homes, drastically reshaping culture by broadcasting standardized news, consumer advertisements, and idealized sitcoms. It reinforced traditional gender roles, celebrated nuclear families, and created a homogenous national culture, while later exposing the nation to the harsh realities of civil rights violence.

Beat movement and rock n roll

Both cultural phenomena emerged in the 1950s as powerful rebellions against the rigid conformity of adult society. While Beat writers challenged mainstream materialism through literature, rock 'n' roll combined African American rhythm and blues with country music to capture youth culture, breaking racial barriers and causing panic among older generations who viewed the music as immoral.

Dr. Jonas Salk

An American medical researcher who developed the first safe and effective vaccine against polio in 1953. At a time when the paralyzing disease terrified American parents every summer, Salk became a national hero by refusing to patent the vaccine, choosing instead to ensure it was distributed as widely and cheaply as possible to eradicate the virus.

Warren Commission and Lee Harvey Oswald

Established by President Lyndon B. Johnson, the Warren Commission investigated the 1963 assassination of John F. Kennedy and concluded that Lee Harvey Oswald acted completely alone in shooting the president from the Texas School Book Depository. The report failed to quiet the public, sparking decades of deep skepticism and widespread conspiracy theories regarding a government cover-up.

Brown v. Board of Education and “separate but equal”

In this landmark 1954 ruling, the Supreme Court unanimously overturned the 1896 Plessy v. Ferguson precedent, declaring that "separate but equal" facilities are inherently unequal. The decision legally dismantled de jure segregation in public schools, ruling that it violated the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment and catalyzed the modern Civil Rights Movement.

Black Power movement and critics

Emerging in the mid-1960s through leaders like Stokely Carmichael and the Black Panthers, this movement emphasized racial pride, economic self-sufficiency, and armed self-defense rather than nonviolent integration. Critics, including mainstream civil rights leaders like Martin Luther King Jr. and white politicians, condemned the movement, arguing its aggressive rhetoric alienated white allies and promoted dangerous racial separatism.

Goal of the Montgomery Improvement Association during the bus boycotts

Formed in 1955 to oversee the Montgomery Bus Boycott, the MIA—led by a young Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.—initially demanded courteous treatment by bus drivers, a first-come, first-served seating policy, and the hiring of Black drivers on Black routes, before expanding their goal to demanding the total legal desegregation of the city bus system.

Montgomery Bus Boycotts

A year-long, highly organized nonviolent protest triggered by the arrest of Rosa Parks in 1955, during which Montgomery's Black community completely refused to ride city buses, crippling the transit system financially. The boycott catapulted Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. into national prominence and ended successfully when the Supreme Court ruled segregated buses unconstitutional.

Southern Christian Leadership Conference

Founded in 1957 by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and other Black ministers, the SCLC utilized the institutional strength and moral authority of Black southern churches to organize massive, nonviolent direct-action protests against Jim Crow laws. They focused heavily on voter registration drives and peaceful marches to force federal civil rights legislation.

Freedom Riders

Civil rights activists who rode interstate buses into the segregated Deep South in 1961 to test the Supreme Court's ruling banning segregation on interstate transit. They faced brutal, orchestrated violence from white mobs and the Ku Klux Klan, forcing the federal government to step in and strictly enforce the desegregation of all interstate travel facilities.

Malcolm X

A charismatic leader of the Nation of Islam and a fierce human rights activist who challenged the mainstream civil rights movement's integrationist goals. He advocated for Black nationalism, self-reliance, and self-defense "by any means necessary," though his views shifted toward global human rights and racial unity after his pilgrimage to Mecca, shortly before his assassination in 1965.

De jure segregation

This refers to racial segregation that is explicitly enforced by law, such as the Jim Crow laws of the American South that mandated separate public facilities for Black and white citizens. This stands in contrast to de facto segregation, which occurs through socio-economic factors, neighborhood housing patterns, and personal choices rather than legal mandates.

Purpose of the March on Washington

Held in August 1963, this massive political rally brought over 250,000 protesters to the Lincoln Memorial to pressure Congress into passing JFK's proposed Civil Rights Act and to demand economic justice, including jobs and a higher minimum wage. It was the setting for Dr. King's historic "I Have a Dream" speech, demonstrating the immense power of unified nonviolent protest.

Fall of Saigon

In April 1975, North Vietnamese forces captured the South Vietnamese capital of Saigon, forcing a chaotic, desperate evacuation of American personnel and Vietnamese allies by helicopter from the U.S. Embassy roof. The event marked the definitive end of the Vietnam War, the collapse of South Vietnam, and the total unification of the country under a communist regime.

US main goal in Vietnam

The primary, overarching goal of the United States in Vietnam was containment—specifically preventing the communist government of North Vietnam and the Viet Cong from overthrowing the capitalist government of South Vietnam, which American policymakers feared would trigger the collapse of neighboring Southeast Asian countries.

General William Westmoreland

The commander of U.S. forces in Vietnam from 1964 to 1968, Westmoreland championed a strategy of attrition, believing that superior American firepower and high enemy body counts would eventually break the Viet Cong's will to fight. His repeated public assurances that the U.S. was winning and that there was "light at the end of the tunnel" severely damaged his credibility after the Tet Offensive shattered those claims.

Draft deferment

During the Vietnam War, the Selective Service System allowed draft-age men to delay military service for various reasons, most notably by enrolling in college, which disproportionately exempted affluent white men. This created deep class and racial resentment, as working-class and minority men who could not afford college were drafted at significantly higher rates until the draft lottery system was introduced.

Events in 1968

A massive turning point in modern U.S. history, 1968 saw the shocking Tet Offensive in Vietnam, the tragic assassinations of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert F. Kennedy, widespread anti-war riots at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, and the ultimate election of Richard Nixon on a promise to restore law and order to a fractured nation.

United States aid to France post- WWII

Following World War II, the United States financed the vast majority of France’s military campaign to reclaim its colony of Indochina (Vietnam) from Ho Chi Minh's nationalist communist forces. The U.S. prioritized helping France because they viewed French strength in Europe as essential to stopping Soviet expansion and feared a communist takeover in Southeast Asia.

Ho Chi Minh Trail

A highly complex network of dirt roads, jungle paths, and hidden tunnels running from North Vietnam through neighboring Laos and Cambodia into South Vietnam. It served as the vital logistical lifeline used by North Vietnam to supply the Viet Cong with weapons, soldiers, and ammunition, remaining a constant target of U.S. bombing campaigns that ultimately failed to shut it down.

War Powers Act

Passed by Congress in 1973 over President Nixon's veto, this law was a direct reaction to the executive overreach seen in the Vietnam War. It reasserted congressional authority by requiring the president to notify Congress within 48 hours of deploying military forces abroad and mandating their withdrawal within 60 to 90 days unless Congress explicitly authorizes war.

Tet Offensive

Launched in January 1968 by the Viet Cong and North Vietnamese forces, this massive, coordinated surprise attack struck over 100 cities and military bases across South Vietnam. While a military defeat for the communists, it was a staggering psychological victory that completely shattered American public trust in the government's claims of winning the war, drastically widening the credibility gap.

Gulf of Tonkin Resolution

Passed by Congress in 1964 following a controversial naval skirmish between North Vietnamese torpedo boats and U.S. destroyers, this resolution granted President Lyndon B. Johnson broad authority to take "all necessary measures" to repel attacks without a formal declaration of war. It effectively served as a blank check that allowed Johnson to massively escalate American troop involvement in Vietnam.

Domino Theory

Formulated during the Eisenhower administration, this geopolitical theory posited that if one nation in a region fell to communism, its neighboring countries would inevitably fall in a chain reaction, like a row of falling dominoes. This belief served as the primary ideological justification for decades of aggressive U.S. military intervention in Southeast Asia.

Silent majority

A political term popularized by President Richard Nixon in a 1969 televised speech to describe the large mass of conservative, mainstream Americans who did not participate in the loud anti-war protests, counterculture movement, or civil rights riots. Nixon successfully mobilized this demographic to build a new Republican electoral coalition that demanded a return to traditional values and public order.

White House Tapes and executive privilege

During the Watergate investigation, it was revealed that President Nixon had secretly recorded all conversations in the Oval Office. Nixon refused to hand over these tapes to investigators, invoking "executive privilege" by claiming a president needs absolute confidentiality to protect national security; the Supreme Court unanimously rejected this defense in U.S. v. Nixon, ruling that executive privilege cannot be used to withhold evidence in a criminal investigation.

Fall of East Germany and the Berlin Wall

In November 1989, amid massive public pro-democracy protests and a crumbling Soviet bloc, the East German government unexpectedly opened its borders, leading to jubilant crowds tearing down the Berlin Wall. This historic event symbolized the collapse of communist regimes across Eastern Europe, the end of the Cold War, and the swift reunification of Germany in 1990.

Public’s support of Reagan during the 1980 election

Ronald Reagan secured a landslide victory over incumbent Jimmy Carter due to widespread public frustration with a stagnant economy plagued by high inflation and unemployment (stagflation), as well as a perceived decline in American global strength following the prolonged Iran Hostage Crisis. Voters were strongly drawn to Reagan’s infectious optimism, fierce anti-communist rhetoric, and promises to cut taxes and reduce federal government regulations.