Ultimate APUSH Terms (So Many!)

Chinook

Native Americans living in the Pacific Northwest of the present- day united States.

Walter Raleigh

Founder of England's first American colony. (Roanoke, it failed)

American Indian Movement (AIM)

A coalition that fought for Indian rights guaranteed by treaties(broken by the U.S. government many, many times over) and better conditions and opportunities for American Indians.

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.

Bakke v. U of CA

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.

Berkeley Free Speech Movement

1964-1965 students insisted that the university administration lift a ban on on-campus political activities and acknowledge the students right to free speech and academic freedom. campus uprising started here

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.

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.

brinkmanship

A 1956 term used by Secretary of State John Dulles to describe a policy of risking war in order to protect national interests

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.

Camp David Accords 1979

The Camp David Accords were the peace accords signed by Menachem Begin and Anwar Sadat after the 1973 Arab-Israeli War to finally end the Israeli-Egyptian disputes. The achievement by Carter is considered his greatest while in office.

Cesar Chavez

1927-1993. Farm worker, labor leader, and civil-rights activist who helped form the National Farm Workers Association, later the United Farm Workers.

Chicago convention

1968 Democratic National Convention, turned violent when leaders (specially the mayor) overreacted and set police on protesters

Civil Rights Act of 1964

outlawed discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin

Clean Air Act

(1970) set emission standards for cars and limits for release of air pollutants

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.

containment

American policy of resisting further expansion of communism around the world

counterculture

A culture with lifestyles and values opposed to those of the established culture.

Cuban Missile Crisis

The 1962 confrontation between US and the Soviet Union over Soviet missiles in Cuba.

decolonization

The collapse of colonial empires. Between 1947 and 1962, practically all former colonies in Asia and Africa gained independence.

desegregation

The ending of authorized segregation, or separation by race.

detente

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

Dixiecrats

southern Democrats who opposed Truman's position on civil rights. They caused a split in the Democratic party.

domino theory

A theory that if one nation comes under Communist control, then neighboring nations will also come under Communist control.

Dwight D. Eisenhower

leader of the Allied forces in Europe then was elected to be Pres. of the USA

ESEA

The '''Elementary and Secondary Education Act''' ('''ESEA''') was passed as a part of President [[Lyndon B. Johnson]]'s "[[War on Poverty]]" and has been the most far-reaching federal legislation affecting education ever passed by Congress. The act is an extensive statute that funds primary and secondary education, while explicitly forbidding the establishment of a national curriculum. It also emphasizes equal access to education and establishes high standards and accountability. In addition, the bill aims to shorten the achievement gaps between students by providing each child with fair and equal opportunities to achieve an exceptional education. Funds are authorized for professional development, instructional materials, for resources to support educational programs, and for parental involvement promotion. The act was originally authorized through 1970; however, the government has reauthorized the act every five years since its enactment. The current reauthorization of ESEA is the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001.

EPA

an independent federal agency established to coordinate programs aimed at reducing pollution and protecting the environment

Equal Rights Amendment

constitutional amendment passed by Congress but never ratified that would have banned discrimination on the basis of gender

Fair Deal

An economic extension of the New Deal proposed by Harry Truman that called for higher minimum wage, housing and full employment. It led only to the Housing Act of 1949 and the Social Security Act of 1950 due to opposition in congress.

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

freedom rides

a series of political protests against segregation by Blacks and Whites who rode buses together through the American South in 1961

gay liberation movement

In the 1970s, homosexuals began an effort to win social and legal acceptance and to encourage gays to affirm their sexual identity. Despite some advances, the movement was slowed by the onset of the AIDS epidemic in the 1980s and the insistence of the military on banning openly gay individuals from the armed services.

Gerald Ford

(1974-1977), Solely elected by a vote from Congress. He pardoned Nixon of all crimes that he may have committed. Evacuated nearly 500,000 Americans and South Vietnamese from Vietnam, closing the war. We are heading toward rapid inflation. He runs again and debates Jimmy Carter. At the debate he is asked how he would handle the communists in eastern Europe and he said there were none and this apparently sealed his fate.

GI Bill of Rights

Law Passed in 1944 to help returning veterans buy homes and pay for higher education

Gideon v. Wainwright

A person who cannot afford an attorney may have one appointed by the government

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.

Griswold v. Connecticut

1965 decision that the Constitution implicitly guarantees citizens' right to privacy.

Highway Act

1956 Congressional action that led to the current interstate highway system, Eisenhower's legacy

HUAC

The House Committee on Un-American Activities (HUAC) was an investigating committee which investigated what it considered un-American propaganda

Iranian hostage crisis

In 1979, Iranian fundamentalists seized the American embassy in Tehran and held fifty-three American diplomats hostage for over a year. The Iranian hostage crisis weakened the Carter presidency; the hostages were finally released on January 20, 1981, the day Ronald Reagan became president.

Iron Curtain

A political barrier that isolated the peoples of Eastern Europe after WWII, restricting their ability to travel outside the region

Jimmy Carter

(1977-1981), Created the Department of Energy and the Depatment of Education. He was criticized for his return of the Panama Canal Zone, and because of the Soviet war in Afghanistan, he enacted an embargo on grain shipments to USSR and boycotted the 1980 Olympics in Moscow and his last year in office was marked by the takeover of the American embassy in Iran, fuel shortages, and the Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan, which caused him to lose to Ronald Regan in the next election.

John F. Kennedy

President of the US during the Bay of Pigs Invasion and the Cuban Missile Crisis

Julius & 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.

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

Korean War

The conflict between Communist North Korea and Non-Communist South Korea. The United Nations (led by the United States) helped South Korea.

Little Rock Nine

In September 1957 the school board in Little rock, Arkansas, won a court order to admit nine African American students to Central High a school with 2,000 white students. The governor ordered troops from Arkansas National Guard to prevent the nine from entering the school. The next day as the National Guard troops surrounded the school, an angry white mob joined the troops to protest the integration plan and to intimidate the AA students trying to register. The mob violence pushed Eisenhower's patience to the breaking point. He immediately ordered the US Army to send troops to Little Rock to protect and escort them for the full school year.

Lyndon B. Johnson

signed the civil rights act of 1964 into law and the voting rights act of 1965. he had a war on poverty in his agenda. in an attempt to win, he set a few goals, including the great society, the economic opportunity act, and other programs that provided food stamps and welfare to needy famillies. he also created a department of housing and urban development. his most important legislation was probably medicare and medicaid.

Malcolm X

1952; renamed himself X to signify the loss of his African heritage; converted to Nation of Islam in jail in the 50s, became Black Muslims' most dynamic street orator and recruiter; his beliefs were the basis of a lot of the Black Power movement built on seperationist and nationalist impulses to achieve true independence and equality

Mapp v. Ohio

Established the exclusionary rule was applicable to the states (evidence seized illegally cannot be used in court)

March on Washington

held in 1963 to show support for the Civil Rights Bill in Congress. Martin Luther King gave his famous "I have a dream..." speech. 250,000 people attended the rally

Marshall Plan

A United States program of economic aid for the reconstruction of Europe (1948-1952)

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)

McCarthyism

The term associated with Senator Joseph McCarthy who led the search for communists in America during the early 1950s through his leadership in the House Un-American Activities Committee.

medicaid & medicare

In-kind government transfer programs that provide health and hospitalization benefits: Medicare to the aged and their survivors and to certain of the disabled, regardless of income, and Medicaid to people with low incomes.

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.

Miranda vs. Arizona

The accused must be notified of their rights before being questioned by the police

moon landing

July 20, 1969

*Neil Armstrong became the first man to walk on the Earth's moon

*Armstrong made the famous statement, "That's one small step for man... one giant leap for mankind"

*Armstrong's fellow astronauts were Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins

mutually assured destruction

(MAD) if either US or the USSR was hit with a nuclear weapons they would respond with the same

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

New Frontier

The campaign program advocated by JFK in the 1960 election. He promised to revitalize the stagnant economy and enact reform legislation in education, health care, and civil rights.

NOW

National Organization of Women, 1966, Betty Friedan first president, wanted Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) enforce its legal mandate to end sex discrimination

OPEC

An organization of countries formed in 1961 to agree on a common policy for the production and sale of petroleum.

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.

Richard Nixon

1968 and 1972; Republican; Vietnam: advocated "Vietnamization" (replace US troops with Vietnamese), but also bombed Cambodia/Laos, created a "credibility gap," Paris Peace Accords ended direct US involvement; economy-took US off gold standard (currency valued by strength of economy); created the Environmental Protection Agency, was president during first moon landing; SALT I and new policy of detente between US and Soviet Union; Watergate scandal: became first and only president to resign

Robert Kennedy

He was a Democrat who ran for president in 1968 promoting civil rights and other equality based ideals. He was ultimately assassinated in 1968, leaving Nixon to take the presidency but instilling hope in many Americans.

Rosa Parks

United States civil rights leader who refused to give up her seat on a bus to a white man in Montgomery (Alabama) and so triggered the national civil rights movement (born in 1913)

SALT I & SALT II

agreements with the Soviet Union that limited nuclear arsenals of both the US and USSR.

SCLC

Southern Christian Leadership Conference, churches link together to inform blacks about changes in the Civil Rights Movement, led by MLK Jr., was a success

SDS

Students for a Democratic Society-an antiestablishment New Left group, founded in 1960, this group charged that corporations and large government institutions had taken over America; they called for a restoration of "participatory democracy" and greater individual freedom

sexual revolution

A social outlook that challenges traditional codes of behaviour related to sexuality and interpersonal relationships. The phenomenon took place throughout the Western world from the 1960s into the 1970s.

silent majority

Term used by President Nixon to describe Americans who opposed the counterculture

Silent Spring

A book written to voice the concerns of environmentalists. Launched the environmentalist movement by pointing out the effects of civilization development.

SNCC

(Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee)-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

Southern Strategy

Nixon's plan to persuade conservative southern white voters away from the Democratic party

space race

A competition of space exploration between the United States and Soviet Union.

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.

stagflation

a period of slow economic growth and high unemployment (stagnation) while prices rise (inflation)

Stokely Carmichael

a black civil rights activist in the 1960's. Leader of the Student Non-violent Coordinating Committee. He did a lot of work with Martin Luther King Jr.but later changed his attitude. Carmichael urged giving up peaceful demonstrations and pursuing black power. He was known for saying,"black power will smash everything Western civilization has created."

Stonewall Riot

- New York city @ a bar called Stonewall Inn - Triggered activist protests among gays and lesbians - police raided gay bar - people fought back - became symbol of oppression of gays, began the gay pride movement

Sun Belt

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

Tet Offensive

1968; National Liberation Front and North Vietnamese forces launched a huge attack on the Vietnamese New Year (Tet), which was defeated after a month of fighting and many thousands of casualties; major defeat for communism, but Americans reacted sharply, with declining approval of LBJ and more anti-war sentiment

Thurgood Marshall

American civil rights lawyer, first black justice on the Supreme Court of the United States. Marshall was a tireless advocate for the rights of minorities and the poor.

Title IX

No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance

Tonkin Gulf Resolution

a resolution adopted by Congress in 1964, giving the president broad powers to wage war in Vietnam

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

United Nations

An international organization formed after WWII to promote international peace, security, and cooperation.

Vietcong

A group of Communist guerrillas who, with the help of North Vietnam, fought against the South Vietnamese government in the Vietnam War.

Vietnam Conflict

Conflict in the 1960s and 1970s during which the United States sent soldiers to South Vietnam to try to prevent communists from taking over the nation.

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

Voting Rights Act of 1965

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

War on Poverty

President Lyndon B. Johnson's program in the 1960's to provide greater social services for the poor and elderly

War Powers Act

1973. 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.

Watergate

1972; Nixon feared loss so he approved the Commission to Re-Elect the President to spy on and espionage the Democrats. A security guard foiled an attempt to bug the Democratic National Committee Headquarters, exposing the scandal. Seemingly contained, after the election Nixon was impeached and stepped down

Watts riot

1964 riots which started in an African-American ghetto of Los Angeles and left 30 dead and 1,000 wounded. Riots lasted a week, and spurred hundreds more around the country.

"Don't ask, don't tell"

is the common term for the policy about homosexuality in the U.S. military mandated by federal law. he policy prohibits anyone who "demonstrate(s) a propensity or intent to engage in homosexual acts" from serving in the armed forces of the United States, because it "would create an unacceptable risk to the high standards of morale, good order and discipline, and unit cohesion that are the essence of military capability." The act prohibits any homosexual or bisexual person from disclosing his or her sexual orientation or from speaking about any homosexual relationships, including marriages or other familial attributes, while serving in the United States armed forces. The "don't ask" part of the policy indicates that superiors should not initiate investigation of a service member's orientation in the absence of disallowed behaviors, though mere suspicion of homosexual behavior can cause an investigation.