APUSH Chapter 25

World Bank

founded at the Bretton Conference

would provide loans for the reconstruction of war-torn Europe and for the development of former colonized nations

International Monetary Fund

founded at Bretton Conference

set up to stabilize currencies and provide a predictable monetary environment for trade with the US dollar serving as the benchmark

Veterans Administration (VA)

an agency of the federal government created to provide a loan guarantee program, which enabled qualified veterans to finance real estate purchases with a higher loan-to-value ratio than is normally possible with conventional financing

Elvis Presley

Memphis-born singer whose youth, voice, and sex appeal helped popularize rock 'n' roll in the mid-1950s. Commonly known using only his first name, he was an icon of popular culture, in both music and film

Beats

groups of young (middle-class) poets, writers, and artists that criticized American life, politics, and popular culture

Pentagon

headquarters of the US Department of Defense

Motown

an American record company founded by Berry Gordy, Jr. in 1959 in Detroit, Michigan in the United States. Motown played an important role in the racial integration of popular music by achieving a crossover success

General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade

trade agreement under which countries met periodically to negotiate tariff reductions that were mutually advantageous to all members, but contained loopholes that enabled countries to avoid trade-barrier reduction agreements

Military-Industrial-Complex

the relationship between a country's military and the defense industry that supplies it, seen together as a vested interest which influences public policy

National Defense Education Act

provided funds to universities all over the country

Servicemen’s Readjustment Act (GI Bill)

provided World War II veterans with funds for college education, unemployment insurance, and housing

Kitchen Debate

televised exchange in 1959 between Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev and American Vice President Richard Nixon; meeting at the American National Exhibition in Moscow, the two leaders sparred over the relative merits of capitalist consumer culture versus Soviet state planning.

Nixon won applause for his defense of American capitalism, helping lead him to the Republican nomination for president in 1960

Bretton Woods Conference

conference at Bretton Woods, New Hampshire that


1. formed the World Bank
2. formed the International Monetary Fund
3. guided the global economy after war

the chief idea was to make American capital available, on cheap terms, to nations that adopted free-trade capitalist economies

Rock and Roll

"crossover" musical style that rose to dominance in the 1950s, merging rhythm and blues with white bluegrass and coutry; featuring a heavy beat and driving rhythm, rock 'n' roll music became a defining feature of 1950s youth culture

“In God We Trust”

quote that appears as a result of a religious revival in the US

opposition to “godless” communism

Dr. Jonas Salk

made the Polio vaccine (sorry FDR)

Dr. Benjamin Spock

The Common Sense Book of Baby and Child Care (best-seller)

world’s most famous pediatrician

believed that overprotective mothers hinder their children’s preparedness for adult life

Alfred Kinsey

“sex doctor”

talked about taboo sexual topics, such as homosexuality and sex before marriage

Estes Kefauver

ran as a Democratic candidate in the 1952 election and won against Truman (the current President)

led a movement against organized crime in America

Suburbs

cities expanded, the middle class moved to suburbs and poor immigrants and African Americans moved to the cities

Levittown

low-cost, mass-produced developments of suburban tract housing built by William Levitt after World War II on Long Island and elsewhere.

Route 66

the “mother road” to opportunity

connected Chicago and LA

Sunbelt

included from Florida to California: warmer climates, lower taxes, and economic opportunities prompted families uprooted by the war to move to these areas

Cultural Conservatism

the protection of the cultural heritage of a nation state, or of a culture not defined by state boundaries. It is usually associated with criticism of multiculturalism, and opposition to immigration.

Homophile Movement

a collective term for the main organizations and publications supporting and representing sexual minorities in the 1950s to 1960s around the world

Urban Crisis

Black migration into ethnic urban neighborhoods leads to inequality and "White Flight" \n Riots and protests break out in cities across the nation

Glass Ceiling

the invisible barrier that prevents women and minorities from advancing to the top jobs in organizations

patriarchy

Domestic Ideal

idea that women shouldn’t work and should stay at home and raise children

Juvenile Deliquency

warnings about growing criminality of American youth

Redlining

Illegal practice of refusing to make mortgage loans or issue insurance policies in specific areas for reasons other than economic qualifications of applicants

National Interstate and Defense Highways Act

authorized the building of highways throughout the nation, which would be the biggest public works project in the nation's history

McCarran-Walter Act 1952

upheld the national origins act immigration quota

William Levitt

father of modern American suburbia, created Levittown

Federal Housing Administration (FHA)

improve housing standards and conditions; to provide an adequate home financing system through insurance of mortgage loans; and to stabilize the mortgage market.