APUSH unit 1 key terms

Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)

Civil rights law passed in 1990 that prohibits discrimination against individuals with disabilities in all areas of public life, including jobs, schools, transportation, and all public and private places that are open to the general public.

Barry Goldwater

Unsuccessful presidential candidate against Lyndon Johnson in 1964; he called for dismantling the New Deal, escalation of the war in Vietnam, and the status quo on civil rights. Many see him as the grandfather of the conservative movement of the 1980s.

Bill Clinton

President of the United States, 1993-2001. Member of the Democratic Party whose leadership represented a more centrist approach to government which included policies passed with a Republican-controlled Congress. His major achievements included the North American Free Trade Agreement, welfare reform, and a balanced budget. He became only the 2nd president in American history to have been impeached by Congress.

Camp David Accords (1979)

Agreement reached between the leaders of Israel and Egypt after protracted negotiations brokered by President Carter; Israel surrendered land seized in earlier wars and Egypt recognized Israel as a nation. Despite high hopes, it did not lead to a permanent peace in the region, however.

Civil Rights Act of 1964

Proposed by John Kennedy and signed by Lyndon Johnson; it desegregated public accommodations, libraries, parks, and amusements and broadened the powers of the federal government to protect individual rights and prevent job discrimination.

Contract with America

Document drafted under the leadership of Republican congressman Newt Gingrich that promised to enact ten items if they won control of Congress. They included congressional term limits, a balanced budget amendment, tax cuts, tougher crime laws, and welfare reform.

Crisis of Confidence (Malaise) Speech

Televised national address by President Carter in which he complained that a weak national spirit struck 'at the very heart and soul of our national will.' Carter's address made many Americans feel that their president had given up.

Deregulation

The cutting back of federal regulation of industry. In the 1980s, Reagan removed price controls on oil, eliminated federal health and safety inspections for nursing homes, reduced rules governing the airline industry and the savings and loan industry.

Earl Warren

Controversial Chief Justice of the Supreme Court (1953-1969); he led the court in far-reaching racial, social, and political rulings; including school desegregation and protecting rights of persons accused of crimes.

George H.W. Bush

President of the United States, 1989-1993. He ran his 1988 campaign building on President Reagan's legacy with the promise, 'Read my lips: no new taxes.' Despite a swift and successful military campaign against Saddam Hussein in the Persian Gulf War, the 1990s economic recession and his ultimate reversal of that promise cost him his bid for re-election in 1992.

George McGovern

Unsuccessful Democratic candidate for president in 1972; he called for immediate withdrawal from Vietnam and a guaranteed income for the poor. When his vice presidential choice got into trouble, he waffled in his defense, which cost him further with the electorate.

George W. Bush

President of the United States, 2001-2009. Member of the Republican Party who espoused a more 'compassionate conservatism' whose policies included tax cuts and education reform. His presidency was largely defined by a 'War on Terror' following the September 11 terrorist attacks, which included the Patriot Act, the creation of the Department of Homeland Security, War in Afghanistan, and the controversial War in Iraq.

George Wallace

Alabama governor and third-party candidate for president in 1968 and 1972; he ran on a segregation and law-and-order platform. Paralyzed by an attempted assassination in 1972, he never recovered politically.

Gerald Ford

President, 1974-1977, who served without being elected either president or vice president; appointed vice president under the terms of the Twenty-Fifth Amendment when Spiro Agnew resigned, he assumed the presidency when Nixon resigned.

Geraldine Ferraro

House Representative from New York chosen by Democratic presidential nominee and former Vice President Walter Mondale to be his Vice-Presidential running mate in 1984. She became the first woman on a major political party's presidential ticket.

Great Society

President Lyndon Johnson's social and economic program that helped the poor, the aged, and the young. The program of civil rights and a 'war on poverty' included the passage of Medicare, Medicaid, Immigration Act of 1965, and the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

Henry Kissinger

Advisor to Presidents Nixon and Ford; he was architect of the Vietnam settlement, the diplomatic opening to China, and détente with the Soviet Union.

Immigration and Naturalization Act of 1965

A law that opened the door for many non-European immigrants to settle in the United States by ending quotas based on nationality.

Iran Hostage Crisis (1979-1981)

Incident in which Iranian radicals, with government support, seized 52 Americans from the U.S. embassy and held them for 444 days; ostensibly demanding the return of the deposed Shah to stand trial, the fundamentalist clerics behind the seizure also hoped to punish the United States for other perceived past wrongs.

Iran-Contra Affair (1986-1987)

Scandal that erupted after the Reagan administration sold weapons to Iran in hopes of freeing American hostages in Lebanon; money from the arms sales was used to aid the Contras (anti-Communist insurgents) in Nicaragua, even though Congress had prohibited this assistance. Talk of Reagan's impeachment ended when presidential aides took the blame for the illegal activity.

Jimmy Carter

President, 1977-1981; he aimed for a foreign policy 'as good and great as the American people.' His highlight was the Camp David Accords; his low point, the Iran Hostage Crisis. Defeated for reelection after one term, he became very successful as an ex-president.

Lyndon Johnson

President, 1963-1969; his escalation of the Vietnam War cost him political support and destroyed his presidency. He increased the number of U.S. troops in Vietnam from 16,000 in 1963 to 540,000 in 1968. After the Tet Offensive, he decided to not seek reelection.

New Left

Label for the political radicals of the 1960s; influenced by 'Old Left' of the 1930s, which had criticized capitalism and supported successes of Communism, the New Left supported civil rights and opposed American foreign policy, especially in Vietnam.

No Child Left Behind

Education reform plan that called for more accountability by states for students' success, mandatory achievement testing, and more school options available for parents.

Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA)

Building off the momentum generated by the American Indian (AIM) Movement, the law was passed in 1990, and later modified in 2024. The law has provided for the protection and return of Native American human remains, funerary objects, sacred objects, and objects of cultural patrimony. By enacting NAGPRA, Congress recognized that human remains of any ancestry 'must at all times be treated with dignity and respect.'

North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA)

Legislation championed by President Clinton based on the idea that flourishing trade was essential to U.S. prosperity and world economic and political stability. The treaty was signed by Mexico, the United States, and Canada and was ratified by the U.S. Senate.

Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC)

Cartel of oil-exporting nations, which used oil as a weapon to alter America's Middle East policy; it organized a series of oil boycotts that roiled the United States economy throughout the 1970s.

Persian Gulf War (Operation Desert Storm)

Successful military campaign supported by a robust international coalition to liberate Kuwait from Iraqi control. The United States and its allies staged a massive air assault and subsequently launched a successful ground offensive from Saudi Arabia.

Richard Nixon

President, 1969-1974; he extracted the United States from Vietnam slowly, recognized Communist China, and improved relations with the Soviet Union. His foreign policy achievements were overshadowed by the Watergate scandal.

Roe v. Wade (1973)

Landmark Supreme Court ruling that first-trimester abortions were protected by a woman's right to privacy.

Ronald Reagan

President, 1981-1989, who led a conservative movement against détente with the Soviet Union and the growth of the federal government; some people credit him with America's victory in the Cold War while others fault his insensitive social agenda and irresponsible fiscal policies.

Sandra Day O'Connor

Appointed by President Reagan, she became the first woman to serve on the Supreme Court.

September 11, 2001

In a coordinated effort by members of the terrorist group al Qaeda, two highjacked commercial jets struck the twin towers of the World Trade Center in New York City, one crashing minutes after the other. About an hour later, a third plane tore into the Pentagon building, the U.S. military headquarters outside Washington. A fourth highjacked plane crashed near Pittsburg, Pennsylvania.

Silent Majority

Label Nixon gave to middle-class Americans who supported him, obeyed the laws, and wanted 'peace with honor' in Vietnam; he contrasted this group with students and civil rights activists who disrupted the country with protests in the late 1960s and early 1970s.

Stagflation

Name given the economic condition throughout most of the 1970s in which prices rose rapidly (inflation) but without economic growth (stagnation). Unemployment rose along with inflation. In large part, these conditions were the economic consequences of rising oil prices.

Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI)

A proposed defense system popularly known as 'Star Wars,' intended to protect the United States against missile attacks.

Sunbelt

Term used to describe the South and Southwest because of their warm climate. This region has experienced a significant population boom since the late 1970s.

Supply-side economics (Reaganomics)

The economic policies of President Ronald Reagan, which were focused on budget cuts and the granting of large tax cuts in order to increase private investment, savings, and jobs and ultimately increase government revenue.

Thurgood Marshall

Leading attorney for NAACP in 1940s and 1950s, who headed the team in Brown vs. the Board of Education case; later, Lyndon Johnson appointed him the first black justice on the United States Supreme Court.

Voting Rights Act of 1965

It expanded the federal government's protection of voters and voter registration; it also increased federal authority to investigate voter irregularities and outlawed literacy tests.

War on Terror

Label for the antiterrorism efforts begun after the September 11 attacks, which included government detention of foreigners suspected of terrorism, the creation of the Department of Homeland Security, increased aviation security, and a military campaign in Afghanistan to break up Al Qaeda.

Warren Burger

Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, 1969-1986; although considered more conservative in leadership than Earl Warren, his court upheld school busing, a women's right to an abortion, and ordered Nixon to surrender the Watergate tapes.

Watergate scandal

Name applied to a series of events that began when the Nixon White House tried to place illegal phone taps on Democrats in June 1972; the burglars were caught, and rather than accept the legal and political fallout, Nixon and his aides obstructed the investigation, which cost him his office and sent several of his top aides to prison.

Agenda

An underlying (often ideological) plan or program.

Bureaucracy

A body of non-elected government officials; those involved in the administration of policy.

Coalition

Groups allied for a common purpose.

Constituency

Those being represented.

Deficit

A shortage; excess of spending over revenue.

Demographic

Characteristics relating to population.

Discrimination

To show partiality in treatment.

Entitlement

Belief that one is deserving of certain privileges.

Fiscal

Relating to public revenue or public debt.

Ideology

A set of beliefs.

Inflation

Rising prices.

Marginalized

Lacking power.

Polarization

A division into two extremes of groups or interests.

Proliferation

An increase in the number of something.

Radical

One who wants immediate, extreme change.

Reactionary

One who wants to return to an idealized past.

Socioeconomic

Relating to class, wealth, and status.

Surplus

The amount that remains when use or need is satisfied.