APUSH Unit 8/9 Key Terms

Truman Doctrine

President Truman's policy of providing economic and military aid to any country threatened by communism or totalitarian ideology, mainly helped Greece and Turkey; containment of communism

Yalta Conference

Meeting in February 4, 1945 between FDR, Winston Churchill, and Stalin during WWII to plan for post-war reorganization of Germany; established the United Nations and made plans to divide up Germany

Marshall Plan

initiative enacted in 1948 to provide foreign aid to Western Europe. The United States transferred $13.3 billion in economic recovery programs to Western European economies after the end of World War II.

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

Earl Warren

Chief Justice during the 1950's and 1960's. The Warren Court expanded civil rights, civil liberties, judicial power, and the federal power in dramatic ways. It has been widely recognized that the court, led by the liberal bloc, created a major "Constitutional Revolution"

Generation Gap

lack of understanding/cultural seperation between older and younger members of society

Military Industrial Complex

The close association of the federal government, the military, and defense industries in order to protect the country from percieved threats/ deter threats

NSC-68

A National Security Council document, developed in response to the Soviet Union's growing influence and nuclear capability; it called for an increase in the US conventional and nuclear forces to carry out the policy of containment

Move to sunbelt

Because the South had less involvement with labor unions, air conditioning, and cheap housing, unemployed Americans were able to migrate here and start a new life in industries such as the technology and defense industries.

Containment

A U.S. foreign policy adopted by President Harry Truman in the late 1940s, in which the United States tried to stop the spread of communism by creating alliances and helping weak countries to resist Soviet advances

Second Red Scare

second wave of fear of communism during the cold war

Korean War

The conflict when Communist North Korea invaded democratic South Korea. The United Nations (led by the United States) stepped in to contain communism. one of the first acts of intervention

Joseph McCarthy

Wisconsin senator who claimed to have list of communists in American gov't, but no credible evidence; took advantage of fears of communism post WWII to become incredibly influential; "McCarthyism" was the fearful accusation of any dissenters of being communists

Rosenberg cases

trial of an American married couple who were convicted/ executed for spying for the Soviet Union, including providing top-secret information about American radar, sonar, jet propulsion engines, and nuclear weapon designs. Some thought they were falsely accused because of McCarthyism

HUAC

a committee which investigated what it considered un-American propaganda/ activity, first to weed out Nazis, then alleged communists. started by McCarthy

The Great Society

a domestic program in the administration of President Lyndon B. Johnson that instituted federally sponsored social welfare programs: aid to education, attack on disease, Medicare, urban renewal, beautification, conservation, development of depressed regions, a wide-scale fight against poverty, control and prevention of crime and delinquency

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.

Medicare & Medicaid

Great Society programs to have the government provide medical aid to the elderly and the poor

SCLC

event where christian leadership met and decided to link churches together to inform blacks about changes in the Civil Rights Movement, led by MLK Jr., was a success

SNCC

a student 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

Malcolm X

renamed himself to signify the loss of his African heritage, 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

Civil Right Act of 1964

this act banned segregation in all places of public accommodation, prohibited federal money from being used to support segregated programs and created the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission to guard against employment discrimination

Voting Rights Act of 1965

invalidated the use of any test or device to deny the vote and authorized federal examiners to register voters in states that had disenfranchised blacks; as more blacks became politically active and elected black representatives, it protected jobs, contracts, and facilities and services for the black community, encouraging greater social equality and decreasing the wealth and education gap

24th Amendment

law that abolishes poll taxes

Counterculture

rejection of cultural norms of the previous generation and their values and lifestyles; music, art, behavior, politics, beliefs, etc

Beat Movement

a social and artistic movement of the 1950's about unrestrained literary self expression and nonconformity with the mainstream culture, lots of writing, poetry, art, etc

Immigration Act of 1965

Abolished the national-origins quotas and providing for the admission each year of 170,000 immigrants from the Eastern Hemisphere and 120,000 from the Western Hemisphere

Long Hot Summers

30 separate race riots in 1967 alone to express Black discontent with society— now initiated by blacks in response to police brutality, poor housing, no jobs, and exclusion from the benefits and promises of American life

War Powers Act

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.

Bombing of Cambodia

U.S. bombed North Vietnamese positions in Cambodia and Laos. Technically illegal because Cambodia and Laos were neutral, but done because North Vietnam was itself illegally moving its troops through those areas. public had no idea of the plan, resulted in some student protests

Vietnam War

the prolonged struggle between nationalist forces attempting to unify the country of Vietnam under a communist government and the United States (with the aid of the South Vietnamese) attempting to prevent the spread of communism.

American Indian Movement

A Native American organization founded in 1968 to protest government policies and injustices suffered by Native Americans; in 1973, organized the armed occupation of Wounded Knee, South Dakota.

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 Movement

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

Love Canal

A neighborhood in Niagara Falls, New York, which became the subject of national and international attention, controversy, following the discovery of 21,000 tons of toxic waste buried beneath the neighborhood.

Three Mile Island

A mechanical failure and a human error at this power plant in Pennsylvania combined to permit an escape of radiation over a 16 mile radius, led to a slowdown in the construction of other reactors and changes in the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Americans became more aware of environmental concerns

Exxon-Valdez Spill

Tanker went off course and hit submerged rocks in Alaska, worst US oil spill at the time, Coated 1600 miles of shoreline, killed wildlife and contaminated, billions spent to repair it

Silent Spring

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

Detente

A policy of reducing Cold War tensions with the Soviet Union and China that was adopted by the United States during the presidency of Richard Nixon.

My Lai Massacre

American troops massacred women and children in a Vietnamese village; this deepened American people's disgust for the Vietnam War

Silent Majority

an unspecified large group of people in a country or group who do not express their opinions publicly, popularized by President Nixon, referred to those Americans who did not join in the large demonstrations against the Vietnam War at the time, join in counterculture, and participate in public discourse. Nixon, along with many others, saw this group of Middle Americans as being overshadowed in the media by the more vocal minority

Watergate Scandal

a political scandal involving abuse of power and bribery and obstruction of justice; A break-in at the Democratic National Committee offices in this complex in Washington was carried out under the direction of White House employees. Disclosure of the White House involvement in the break-in and subsequent cover-up forced President Nixon to resign in 1974 to avoid impeachment.

EPA

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

Clean Air and Water Acts

Laws which established the basic structure for regulating discharges of pollutants into air and water and are carried out by Environmental Protection Agency.

Sputnik

the first artificial satellite sent into space, launched by the Soviets, sparked U.S. fears of Soviet dominance in technology and outer space. It led to the creation of NASA and the space race.

GI Bill

law passed in 1944 to help returning veterans buy homes and pay for higher educations

Barry Goldwater

Republican contender against LBJ for presidency; platform included lessening federal involvement, therefore opposing Civil Rights Act of 1964; lost by largest margin in history

Domino Theory

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

George Kennan

He was an American diplomat and ambassador best known as "the father of containment" and as a key figure in the emergence of the Cold War, stressed the need to contain communism within its current borders

Berlin Airlift

when the US supplied food and fuel to citizens of west Berlin when the Russians closed off land access to Berlin

Roe vs. Wade

the U.S. supreme Court ruled that there is a fundamental right ro privacy, which includes a woman's decision to have an abortion. Up until the third trimester the state allows abortion.

The 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 capabilities because of the expectation of being the homemaker/ caretaker

The ERA

a proposed amendment to the US Constitution stating that civil rights may not be denied on the basis of one's sex.

Phyllis Schlafley

Led the campaign to stop the ERA. She argued that ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment would undermine the American family by violating "the right of a wife to be supported by her husband, "requiring women to serve in combat, and legalizing homosexual marriages

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

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 weaked the Carter presidency; the hostages were finally released on when Ronald Reagan became president.

Oil Embargo

Economic crisis of 1973 that occurred when OPEC nations refused to export oil to Western nations. Ensuing economic crisis plagued Gerald Ford's time in office.

Stagflation

persistent high inflation combined with high unemployment and stagnant demand in a country's economy.

Malaise Speech

National address by Jimmy Carter in July 1979 in which the President chided American materialism and urged a communal spirit in the face of economic hardships. Although Carter intended the speech to improve both public morale and his standings as a leader, it had the opposite effect and was widely perceived as a political disaster for the embattled president.

Reaganomics

the economic policies of a president, associated especially with the reduction of taxes and the promotion of unrestricted free-market activity, reduce side of federal government and stimulate economic growth

Moral Majority

group that supported Reagan; returned to conservative, religious values, a movement begun in the early 1980's among religious conservatives that supported primarily conservative Republicans opposed to abortion, communism and liberalism.

Gulf of Tonkin Resolution

a joint resolution of the U.S. Congress passed in direct response to a minor naval engagement. It is of historical significance because it gave U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson authorization, without a formal declaration of war by Congress, for the use of military force in Southeast Asia.

Tet Offensive

North Vietnamese forces launched a huge attack on the Vietnamese New Year, 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

SALT

negotiations between the United States and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics opened in 1969 in Helsinki designed to limit both countries' stock of nuclear weapons