unit 6 keyterms

Kent State Massacre

1. 1.     Event in which college students were killed by National Guard troops during a protest of American attacks on Cambodia

My Lai Massacre

2. 1.     Event in which South Vietnamese civilians were killed by American soldiers during the Vietnam War, causing increased antiwar protests

Pentagon Papers

3. 1.     Leaked secret government documents that revealed mistakes, lies, and illegal activities made by government officials regarding the Vietnam War

Détente

4. Term for the lowered Cold War tension that occurred between the United States and communist countries during Nixon’s presidency

Fall of Saigon

5. 1.     Event in which South Vietnam fell to communism

War Powers Act

6. 1.     Law that limited the power of the president to wage war and returned more of this power to Congress

New Federalism

7. president Nixon’s conservative domestic policy to return more federal government power to states

Watergate scandal

8. 1.     Event in which President Nixon abused power to cover up his possible connection to a crime; resulted in his resignation

Cultural pluralism

9. 1.     The idea that minority groups, including immigrants, should embrace their unique culture within the United States 

Affirmative Action

10. 1.     Government program that aimed to prevent discrimination by requiring schools and businesses to recruit minorities

Three Mile Island

11. 1.     Site of a partial nuclear meltdown in the United States that increased concerns about environmental safety

Stagflation

12. 1.     Term that represented economic conditions of the 1970s; the combination of job stagnation and inflation

OPEC Oil Embargo

13. 1.   event in which Arab-Muslim, oil-producing countries restricted the oil sold to the United States, which caused gas shortages and damaged the American economy

Camp David Accords

14. 1.     Foreign policy victory for President Carter in which Egypt became the first Arab-Muslim country in the Middle East to recognize Israel as a country

Iranian Hostage Crisis

15. 1.     Foreign policy failure for President Carter in which Americans were held against their will for over a year by revolutionaries in Iran

Afghanistan

16.    Country that was invaded by the Soviet Union, which marked the end of détente

Liberalism

17. 1.     Political ideology characterized by a belief in stronger government regulations and social programs and higher taxes on the wealthy; often associated with the Democratic Party

Conservatism

18. 1.     Political ideology characterized by a belief in limited government regulations and social programs, lower taxes on the wealthy, and the promotion of traditional values; often associated with the Republican Party

Election of 1980

19. 1.     Event in which conservative Ronald Reagan became president, which represented a conservative reaction to liberal government policies during the 1960s and 1970s

Reagan Doctrine

20. 1.     Foreign policy that sought to defeat communism by helping anti-communist groups worldwide, especially in Afghanistan and Latin American countries

Peace through Strength

21. 1.     Reagan’s strategy of starting a major military buildup to fight the Cold War and bait the Soviet Union into an arms race it could not afford

Reaganomics

22. 1.     Strategy of lowering taxes, especially for wealthy business owners, so they could invest more in their businesses, create more jobs and raise wages, and cause prosperity to “trickle down” to middle and lower classes too

AIDS

23. 1.     Deadly disease whose rapid spread in the United States began in the 1980s and grew into an epidemi

Discount retailing

24. Business strategy of selling items in bulk at low prices; led to the rise of major chain stores such as Wal-Mart

Home media

25. 1.     Widespread use of cassette and VHS tapes, cable and satellite television, and video games which made the consumption of media more personally customized

Challenger Disaster

26. 1.     Event in which a NASA Space Shuttle exploded on live television

Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI)

27. 1.     Nicknamed “Star Wars,” this unrealistic American military program represented part of “Peace through Strength” policies

Mikhail Gorbachev

28.   Leader of the Soviet Union who increased economic and political freedom in the Soviet Union and satellite nations; oversaw the collapse of the Soviet Union

Iran-Contra Affair

29. 1.     Event in which members of President Reagan’s administration were caught illegally funding anticommunist Nicaraguan rebels, tarnishing Reagan’s reputation

George Bush

1.     President who oversaw final stages of the collapse of the Soviet Union and announced the end of the Cold War; faced multiple post-Cold War challenges

Tiananmen Square

31. 1.     Site where China’s communist government violently oppressed anticommunist protesters, causing worldwide outrage