AP US History Unit 8

Cold War

A conflict that was between the U.S. and the Soviet Union. The nations never directly confronted each other on the battlefield but deadly threats went on for years and many proxy wars were fought across the globe.

North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)

An international organization that has joined together for military purposes. Led by the United States, its primary goal was to defend against a Soviet attack and contain the spread of Soviet influence.

Warsaw Pact

An alliance between the Soviet Union and other Eastern European nations, organized as the communist response to the establishment of NATO.

Detente

A policy of reducing Cold War tensions that was adopted by the United States during the presidency of Richard Nixon.

Korean War

The conflict between Communist North Korea and Non-Communist South Korea. The United Nations (led by the United States) helped South Korea. War ended in a stalemate after China intervened to assist North Korea.

Second Red Scare

Post-World War II Red Scare focused on the fear of Communists in U.S. government positions; peaked during the Korean War and declined soon thereafter, when the U.S. Senate censured Joseph McCarthy, who had been a major instigator of the hysteria.

House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC)

A congressional committee that investigated Communist influence inside and outside the U.S. government in the years following World War II.

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.

Sun Belt

U.S. region, mostly comprised of southeastern and southwestern states, which has grown most dramatically since World War II.

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.

Military-industrial complex

Eisenhower first coined this phrase when he warned American against it in his last State of the Union Address. He feared that the combined lobbying efforts of the armed services and industries that contracted with the military would lead to excessive Congressional spending.

Non-Aligned Movement

During the cold war, this movement was led by India and Yugoslavia to stand apart from the U.S.-Soviet rivalry.

Decolonization

The collapse of colonial empires. Between 1947 and 1962, practically all former colonies in Asia and Africa gained independence. This led to many proxy wars in which the Soviet Union and the United States backed opposing sides for control of these new nations.

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.

Cold War Liberalism

A combination of moderate liberal policies that preserved the programs of the New Deal welfare state and forthright anticommunism that vilified the Soviet Union abroad and radicalism at home. Adopted by President Truman and the Democratic Party during the late 1940s and early 1950s.

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.

Domino Theory

A theory that if one nation comes under Communist control, then neighboring nations will also come under Communist control. Used to justify U.S. entry into the Vietnam War.

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.

Sputnik

First artificial Earth satellite, it was launched by Moscow in 1957 and sparked U.S. fears of Soviet dominance in technology and outer space. It led to the creation of NASA and the space race.

Beatniks

A United States youth subculture of the 1950s that rebelled against the mundane conformity of middle class life. Prominent figures included Jack Kerouac and Allen Ginsberg.

World Bank

A specialized agency of the United Nations that makes loans to countries for economic development, trade promotion, and debt consolidation. Its formal name is the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development.

International Monetary Fund (IMF)

An international organization that acts as a lender of last resort, providing loans to troubled nations, and also works to promote trade through financial cooperation.

Levittown

New York suburb where postwar builders pioneered the techniques of mass home construction.

American GI Forum

A group founded by World War II veterans in Corpus Christi, Texas, in 1948 to protest the poor treatment of Mexican American soldiers and veterans.

Cesar Chavez

Organized Union Farm Workers (UFW); helped migratory farm workers gain better pay & working conditions.

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.

American Indian Movement (AIM)

Led by Dennis Banks and Russell Means; purpose was to obtain equal rights for Native Americans; protested at the site of the Wounded Knee Massacre.

Black Panther Party

A group formed in 1966, inspired by the idea of Black Power, that provided aid to black neighborhoods; often thought of as radical or violent.

Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC)

An organization formed in 1957 by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and other leaders to work for civil rights through nonviolent means.

Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC)

An organization formed in 1960 to coordinate sit-ins and other protests and to give young blacks a larger role in the civil rights movement.

Voting Rights Act of 1965

A law designed to help end formal and informal barriers to African-American suffrage.

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.

Stonewall Riots

A group of riots sparked by police harassment of homosexuals in New York. Marked the beginning of the gay rights movement.

Harvey Milk

First openly gay politician in California; one of only a very few in the U.S. at the time. Assassinated while in office; Helped to erase the stigma of being openly homosexual.

Counterculture

A way of life and set of attitudes opposed to or at variance with the prevailing social norm, often practiced by youths. An example would be the hippie movement in the 1960s and 1970s.

Medicare

A program added to the Social Security system in 1965 that provides hospitalization insurance for the elderly and permits older Americans to purchase inexpensive coverage for doctor fees and other health expenses.

Rachel Carson

United States biologist remembered for her opposition to the use of pesticides that were hazardous to wildlife. Author of the book Silent Spring which helped launch the modern environmental movemvent.

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)

The U.S. federal agency with a mission to protect human health and the environment.

Roe v. Wade

(1973) legalized abortion on the basis of a woman's right to privacy.

Phylis Schlafly

Conservative female activist who organized opposition to a proposed Equal Rights Amendment to the Constitution that was supported by the feminist movement.

Second Wave Feminism

Women's rights movement that revived in the 1960s with a different agenda than earlier women's suffrage movements; second-wave feminists demanded equal rights for women in employment and education, women's right to control their own bodies, and the end of patriarchal domination.

Equal Rights Amendment (ERA)

Proposed the 27th Amendment, calling for equal rights for both sexes. Defeated in the House in 1972.

Bakke v. University of California

1978 Supreme Court ruling that limited affirmative action by rejecting a quota system.

Affirmative Action

A policy designed to redress past discrimination against women and minority groups through measures to improve their economic and educational opportunities.

Stagflation

A period of slow economic growth and high unemployment (stagnation) while prices rise (inflation). Led to a major economic crisis in the 1970s that ushered in the rise of conservative economic policies.

Port Huron Statement

Manifesto of the Students for a Democratic Society, which criticized the federal government for racial inequality, poverty, and also the Cold War and international peace.

Students for a Democratic Society

Founded in 1962, the SDS was a popular college student organization that protested shortcomings in American life, notably racial injustice and the Vietnam War. It led thousands of campus protests before it split apart at the end of the 1960s.

George Wallace

Alabama governor best known for his pro-segregation attitudes during the Civil Rights Movement.

Hardhats

Construction workers and other blue collar Americans who supported the U.S. War in Vietnam and opposed the counterculture and left-wing activists.

Watergate

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.

Freedom of Information Act

Gives all citizens the right to inspect all records of federal agencies except those containing military, intelligence, or trade secrets; increases accountability of bureaucracy.

Proposition 13

Also known as the "tax revolt", it was a Californian ballot measure in 1978 that slashed property taxes and forced deep cuts in government services. Seen as an example of the rising power of the conservative movement.

Barry Goldwater

Republican candidate for President in 1964. Although he lost overwhelmingly to Lyndon Johnson, his campaign sparked the conservative movement.

Billy Graham

An Evangelist fundamentalism preacher who gained a wide following in the 1950s with his appearances across the country and overseas during and after the war. He would commonly appear at religious rallies and allowed people to connect with and appreciate religion even more, causing thousands to attend his sermons.

Marshall Plan

A plan that the U.S. came up with to revive war-torn economies of Europe. This plan offered $13 billion in aid to Western and Southern Europe.

Truman Doctrine

Truman's policy of providing military and financial aid to countries fighting against communism. Designed to contain the influence of the Soviet Union. First major examples were in Greece and Turkey.

Betty Friedan

1921-2006. American feminist, activist and writer. Best known for starting the "Second Wave" of feminism through the writing of her book The Feminine Mystique.

National Organization for Women

Founded in 1966, the National Organization for Women (NOW) 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.

My Lai Massacre

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.

Silent Majority

A phrase used to describe people, whatever their economic status, who uphold traditional values, especially against the counterculture of the 1960s