APUSH key terms

Four Freedoms

Goals outlined by Franklin D. Roosevelt: freedom of speech, religion, from want, and from fear.

Good Neighbor Policy

U.S. policy of non-intervention in Latin America to improve relations.

Isolationism

Desire to avoid foreign conflicts, especially before WWII.

Neutrality Acts

Laws in the 1930s to keep the U.S. out of war by banning arms sales and loans to warring nations.

Lend-Lease Act

Allowed the U.S. to supply Allied nations with aid without directly entering WWII.

Axis Powers

Alliance of Germany, Italy, and Japan during WWII.

D-Day

Allied invasion of Nazi-occupied France on June 6, 1944.

Holocaust

Genocide of six million Jews and others by Nazi Germany.

GI Bill of Rights

Provided veterans with education, housing, and job benefits after WWII.

Bracero Program

Brought Mexican laborers to the U.S. during WWII labor shortages.

Zoot Suit Riots

Racial conflicts in Los Angeles between servicemen and Mexican American youths.

Japanese-American Internment

Forced relocation of Japanese Americans into camps during WWII.

Korematsu v. United States

Supreme Court case that upheld Japanese internment as constitutional.

Second Great Migration

Movement of African Americans to northern and western cities for jobs.

Double-V Campaign

Effort to win victory abroad and against racism at home.

V-E Day

Victory in Europe Day, May 8, 1945.

Manhattan Project

Secret U.S. program that developed the atomic bomb.

Potsdam Conference

Meeting of Allied leaders to decide Germany’s future after WWII.

Yalta Conference

Meeting of Allied leaders to plan postwar Europe.

Bretton Woods Conference

Created international financial institutions like the IMF and World Bank.

United Nations

International organization formed to maintain peace after WWII.

Atlantic Charter

Agreement between the U.S. and Britain outlining war goals and self-determination.

Cold War

Political and military tension between the U.S. and Soviet Union after WWII.

Containment

U.S. policy to stop the spread of communism.

Long Telegram

Message that argued for containment of the Soviet Union.

Iron Curtain

Term describing the division between Western and Eastern Europe.

Truman Doctrine

U.S. policy to support countries resisting communism.

Marshall Plan

U.S. aid program to rebuild Europe and prevent communism.

NATO

Military alliance of Western nations against the Soviet Union.

NSC-68

Document calling for increased military spending to fight communism.

Korean War

War between North Korea (communist) and South Korea (non-communist), with U.S. involvement.

Decolonization

Process of colonies gaining independence after WWII.

Totalitarianism

Government that has complete control over citizens’ lives.

Fair Deal

Harry Truman’s domestic reform program.

Operation Dixie

Failed attempt by unions to organize workers in the South.

Taft-Hartley Act

Law that limited the power of labor unions.

Dixiecrats

Southern Democrats who opposed civil rights reforms.

McCarran-Walter Act

Law that restricted immigration and favored certain nationalities.

McCarthyism

Practice of accusing people of communism without evidence.

Hollywood Ten

Film industry figures jailed for refusing to testify about communism.

Army-McCarthy Hearings

Televised hearings that exposed McCarthy’s tactics.

Levittown

Mass-produced suburban housing development.

Baby Boom

Rapid population growth after WWII.

Urban Renewal

Government efforts to rebuild cities, often displacing minorities.

In God We Trust

Phrase adopted during the Cold War to emphasize American values.

Interstate Highway System

Nationwide highway network built in the 1950s.

Sputnik

First satellite launched by the Soviet Union, starting the Space Race.

National Defense Education Act

Law that funded education to compete with the Soviet Union.

Social Contract

Idea that the government should provide economic security and opportunity.

Massive Retaliation

Policy of responding to threats with nuclear force.

Geneva Accords

Agreements that temporarily divided Vietnam.

The Beats

Writers who rejected mainstream culture and values.

League of United Latin American Citizens

Civil rights organization for Latinos.

Brown v. Board of Education

Supreme Court case that ended school segregation.

Montgomery Bus Boycott

Protest against segregation on public buses.

SCLC

Civil rights group promoting nonviolence.

SNCC

Student-led civil rights organization focused on direct action.

Southern Manifesto

Document opposing school desegregation.

Missile Gap

Belief that the U.S. was behind the Soviet Union in nuclear weapons.

Military-Industrial Complex

Relationship between the military and defense industries that could influence government policy.