CONFORMITY AND CHALLENGE (full unit): Key Words

Sovereignty

Ability of a state to govern its territory free from control of its internal affairs by other states.

Confedracy

southern states that formed that their own nation

Constitution

A document which spells out the principles by which a government runs and the fundamental laws that govern a society

Civil war

A war between people of the same country

Bill of Rights

The first ten amendments to the Constitution

The American Dream

The widespread belief that the United States is a land of opportunity and that individual initiative and hard work can bring economic success.

Supreme Court

the highest federal court in the United States

WASPS

White Anglo-Saxon Protestants

Tenth Amendment

The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.

Pilgrim Fathers

Religious refugees who left England for America at the beginning of the seventeenth century

federal system

A government that divides the powers of government between the national government and state or provincial governments

Founding Fathers

leaders who laid the groundwork for the United States

Congress

the legislature of the United States government

Filibuster

A lengthy speech designed to delay or kill the vote on a bill; used only in the Senate

Soviet Union

A Communist nation, consisting of Russia and 14 other states

Homogenised

make uniform or similar

Consumerism

A preoccupation with the purchasing of material goods.

Hispanic

a person living in the United States who traces his or her ancestry to Latin America

Native Americans

a member of any of the indigenous peoples of the Americas.

Republican

Right-leaning, conservative, respect tradition and believe in a limited government

New Deal

The name of President Roosevelt's program for getting the United States out of the depression

Cold War

the power struggle between the Soviet Union and the United States after World War II

Communism

a form of socialism that abolishes private ownership

Sputnik

The world's first space satellite. This meant the Soviet Union had a missile powerful enough to reach the US.

NASA

an independent agency of the United States government responsible for aviation and spaceflight

Franchise

The right to sell a good or service within an exclusive market

service industries

businesses that provide services for a fee

white-collar worker

someone in a professional or clerical job who usually earns a salary

blue-collar worker

Someone who performs manual labor, often in a manufacturing job, and who earns an hourly wage.

tax base

Tax that the city residents paid to the city for amenities etc

Federal Government

A form of government in which powers are divided between a central government and several local governments.

Interstate

between the states

Democratic Party

Left-leaning, liberal, value progress and equality

Ranch houses

A style of houses built with identical frame so that they were able to be mass produced.

Surburbia

Neighborhood outside a city; settlement for the average American family.

Streetcars

wheeled vehicle that moves along rails in city streets and is used to carry passengers within the city

White Flight

working and middle-class white people move away from racial-minority suburbs or inner-city neighborhoods to white suburbs and exurbs

Great Migration

Movement of African Americans from the South to the North for jobs.

Ghettos

a poor urban area occupied primarily by a minority group or groups

Restrictive Covenants

provision in a property deed preventing sale to a person of a particular race or religion; loan discrimination

Desegregation

the ending of a policy of racial segregation.

Segregation

separation of the races

Materialism

preoccupation with physical comforts and things

Evangelist

Christian preacher

Management Science

focuses on using mathematics to aid in problem solving and decision making

Rugged Individualism

Belief that success comes through individual effort and private enterprise.

Motion Picture Production Code

distinguished acceptable and unacceptable content for movies in the United States

bohemian

unconventional; not bound by the rules of society

Feminist

a person who works for equal rights for women

pompadours

an arrangement of a woman's hair in which it is raised over the forehead in a roll

Ducktails

Slick back hairstyle

Beatnicks

group of writers and artists who refused to conform to accept ways of dressing, thinking, and acting

hipsters

youths who were counterculture in everything from their politics to clothing and taste in music

Race Music

music popular among or played by black people, especially jazz and blues.

White Citizens' Council (WCC)

Southern opponents of racial integration

Jim Crow Laws

Laws designed to enforce segregation of blacks from whites

share cropper

a tenant farmer who gives a part of each crop as rent.

Domestics

household servants

NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People)

advocated for rights for African Americans through the courts

de jure segregation

segregation by law

Black Power Movement

African American movement that focused on gaining control of economic and political power to achieve equal rights by force in necessary

Mass direct action

Large scale protest movements

FBI (Federal Bureau of Investigation)

an agency of the Justice Department responsible for investigating violations of Federal laws

National Guard

A state's military force

Public schools

free schools supported by taxes

Sit-in

nonviolent protests in which a person sits and refuses to leave

Mississippi Freedom Summer

Campaign to register African American voters in the South

Freedom Rides

Bus journeys challenging racial segregation

Executive

Enforces laws

Legislative Branch

Makes laws

Declaration of Independence

Signed in 1776 by US revolutionaries; it declared the United States as a free state.

New Frontier

Kennedy's plan, supports civil rights, pushes for a space program, wans to cut taxes, and increase spending for defense and military

Underemployment

workers are overqualified for their jobs or work fewer hours than they would prefer

Recession

A slowdown in a nation's economy

Executive powers

the power to execute, enforce, and administer law

Food Stamp Program

government program that helps low-income recipients to buy food

Disenfranchised

denied the right to vote