US History- Semester 2 Final

Viet Cong

Communist guerrillas in South Vietnam

conscientious objector

person who refuses to enter the military or bear arms due to moral or religious reasons

Woodstock Festival

1969 music festival attended by four hundred thousand young people in 1969 to celebrate their vision of freedom and harmony.

Tet Offensive

Surprise Communist attack on U.S. and South Vietnamese forces in 1968; further weakened American support for the war

Escalation

policy of increasing military involvement in Vietnam

Ho Chi Minh Trail

a network of paths used by North Vietnam to transport supplies to the Vietcong in South Vietnam

Counterculture

a group that strongly rejects dominant societal values and norms and seeks alternative lifestyles

Teach - in

Informal meetings at universities across the US to discuss issues and the Vietnam war

My Lai Massacre

1968, in which American troops had brutally massacred innocent women and children in the village of My Lai, also led to more opposition to the war.

Protest Movement 1960's

focused on ending war in Vietnam

Nixon's resignation

resigned because of the humiliation of the Watergate scandal & to avoid impeachment

1968 Democratic Convention

Policed moved in on demonstrators protesting the Democratic National Convention because of Democratic support of the Vietnam warcausing a bloody riot in 1968 in Chicago. Led to Republican win for the presidency.

Gulf of Tonkin Resolution

1964 Congressional resolution that authorized President Johnson to commit US troops to South Vietnam and fight a war against North Vietnam, beginning the escalation of the war.

JFK's Vietnam policy

increase the number of military advisers

Plumbers

Name given to the special investigations committee established along with CREEP in 1971. Its job was to stop the leaking of confidential information to the public and press. Ensure landslide victory for Nixon

Watergate Break in

Nixon's Plumbers wanted to wire tap the Democratic National Headquarters

Sit in

form of protest where participants sit and refuse to move until served

Southern Christian Leadership Conference

founded in 1957 by MLK Jr., to fight segregation stressing passive resistance, nonviolence and peaceful confrontation.

Freedom Rides

Freedom Riders rode in interstate buses into the segregated southern United States to test the ruling of unsegregated public places

Voting Rights Act of 1965

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

Congress of Racial Equality

Organization founded by James Farmer in 1942 to promote racial equality through peaceful confrontation

Black Power

a call to African Americans to unite, to recognize their heritage, build a sense of community, define own goals, etc

Nation of Islam

a religious group, popularly known as the Black Muslims, founded by Elijah Muhammad to promote black separatism and the Islamic religion.

De facto segregation

racial separation established by practice and custom, not by law

Civil Rights Act of 1964

a law that banned discrimination on the basis of race, sex, national origin, or religion in public places and most workplaces

Albany Movement

year long protest against racial injustice in Georgia

Birmingham Al.

the most racially segregated city according to MLK jr. one of the turning points of Civil Rights movement

Berlin Wall

1961 - The Soviet Union, under Nikita Khrushchev, erected a wall between East and West Berlin to keep people from fleeing from the East, after Kennedy asked for an increase in defense funds to counter Soviet aggression.

Warren Commission

Commission, headed by Chief Justice Earl Warren, that investigated the assassination of President Kennedy determining Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone

JFK's domestic policy

Program, mostly unsuccessful, called "New Frontier" and promised funding for education, medical care for the elderly, economic aid to rural regions, government intervention to aid recession, an end to racial discrimination, and tax reform.

Cuban Missile Crisis

The 1962 confrontation between US and the Soviet Union over Soviet missiles in Cuba, at the brink of nuclear war, ending with Soviet removal of missiles

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

Warren court

the supreme court during the period when Earl Warren was chief justice, noted for its activism in the areas of civil rights and people accused of crimes

Great Society

President Johnson called his version of Kennedy's New Frontier reform program the Great Society. In 1965, Congress passed many Great Society measures, including Medicare, civil rights legislation, and federal aid to education.

NASA's goal

landing a man on the moon

SNCC

Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee, college kids participate in Civil Rights, stage sit-ins, have greater influence in decision making process

Iron curtain

Churchill's name for an imaginary dividing line between eastern (communist) and western (democratic) Europe.

Arms race

the struggle between the US & USSR to gain weapons superiority

HUAC

The House Un-American Activities Committee was a Congressional committee that investigated Communist influence inside and outside the US gov. after WWII; targeted people in the movie industry thought to be Communist and investigated government officials and organizations (such as Boy Scouts), part of the 1950's Red Scare

Domino theory

the political theory that if one nation comes under Communist control then neighboring nations will also come under Communist control

Cold War

The ideological competition between communism (Soviet Union) and capitalism (United States) for world influence.

Satellite nation

nation that is dominated politically and economically by the Soviet Union

Containment

US policy to keep communism within its existing boundaries and prevent further Soviet aggressive moves

Blacklist

list that circulated among employers, beginning in 1947, containing the names of persons who should not be hired

Berlin airlift

airlift in 1948 that supplied food and fuel to citizens of west Berlin when the Soviets blockaded access to Berlin

Marshall Plan

a United States program offinancial aid for the reconstruction of Europe (1948-1952)

Martin Luther King Jr.

African-American minister whose 1955 Montgomery bus boycott made him the leader of the civil rights movement

Adlai Stevenson

The Democratic candidate who ran against Eisenhower in 1952 & 1956

Betty Friedan

United States feminist who wrote "The Feminine Mystique" founded a national organization for women

Jackie Robinson

The first African American player in the major league of baseball. His actions helped to bring about other opportunities for African Americans.

Benjamin Spock

pediatrician in the 1940s whose many books on child care influenced the upbringing of children around the world

William J. Levitt

built new communities in the suburbs after WWII using mass production techniques

Richard M. Nixon

He was selected to be the running mate of Dwight D. Eisenhower

Jonas Salk

developed the polio vaccine

Conglomerate

a giant corporation made up of three or more unrelated businesses producing various unrelated goods & services

GI Bill

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

Franchise

the right to use a specific business's name and sell its products or services in a given territory.

Baby Boom

the larger than expected generation in United States born shortly after World War II

Modern Republicanism

President Eisenhower's views. Claiming he was liberal toward people but conservative about spending money, he helped balance the federal budget and lower taxes without destroying existing social programs.

Integration

the process of bringing together different races

Truman Doctrine

President Truman's policy of providing economic and military aid to any country threatened by communism or totalitarian ideology

Korean War

the cold war conflict in which UN soldiers fought to defend South Korea from takeover by Communist North Korea, ending in a stalemate in 1953, divided as it was before the war

Joseph McCarthy

United States politician who unscrupulously accused many citizens of being Communists causing a widespread fear of communism

Sputnik

First artificial Earth satellite, it was launched by USSR in 1957 & sparked U.S. fears of Soviet dominance in technology & outer space. It led to the creation of NASA & the space race & increased spending in teaching of science & math

NATO

Organization formed in 1949 as a military alliance of Western European and North American states against the Soviet Union and its East European allies causing them to create the Warsaw Pact

Beatniks

rebelled against conformity & traditional social patterns

Brown vs. Board of Ed.

a supreme court case that ruled "separate but equal" educational public facilities were unconstitutional and a violation of the 14th amendment, ending segregated schools

War bonds

certificates sold by the United States government to pay for the World War II.

Internment Camps

Detention centers where more than 100,000 Japanese Americans were relocated because of prejudice & fears caused by Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.

Wildcat strikes

Work stoppages organized by workers and not endorsed by unions

Seniority

status derived from length of service in a job

Double V campaign

The World War II-era effort of black Americans to gain "a Victory over racism at home as well as Victory abroad."

Liberty ships

large, sturdy merchant ships that usually carried supplies or troops, but were sometimes converted to hospital ships

Victory gardens

Gardens that citizens planted to raise their own vegetables, so that food could be sent to the troops.

Rosie the Riveter

Advertising campaign character who encouraged women to take factory jobs.

Deficit spending

using borrowed money to fund war production

Depression ender

goods being produced for wartime allies

Japanese internment

result of prejudice & inflamed by attack on Pearl Harbor

George Marshall

Army chief of staff during World War II

Adolph Hitler

German leader of Nazi Party. 1933-1945.

Harry S. Truman

Became president when FDR died; gave the order to drop the atomic bomb

Benito Mussolini

Fascist dictator of Italy

Dwight D. Eisenhower

American general who commanded Allied forces in the D-Day invasion

Winston Churchill

British prime minister during World War II

Joseph Stalin

leader of the Soviet Union during WWII

Hideki Tojo

General who became prime minister of Japan during World War II

Blitzkrieg

"Lighting war", typed of fast-moving warfare used by German forces to strike deep into enemy territory

Atlantic Charter

1941-Pledge signed by US president FDR and British prime minister to work for peace after the war which formed the basis for the United Nations

GI's

term used for American soldiers in World War II.

Appeasement

policy by which Great Britain and France gave in to Germany's annexation of the Sudetenland to avoid war

Holocaust

the Nazi program of exterminating Jews under Hitler

Fascism

a political movement that promotes an extreme form of nationalism, states rights above individual rights, and a dictatorial one-party rule.

Manhattan project

Code name for the secret United States project set up in 1942 to develop atomic bombs for use in World War II

Lend-Lease act

allowed sales or loans of war materials to any country whose defense the president deems vital to the defense of the U.S

U.S entry into WWII

when Japan attacks U.S. base at Pearl Harbor

Code Talkers

Navajo radio operators who helped secure communications in the Pacific

D-Day

June 6, 1944 - Led by Eisenhower, over a million troops (the largest invasion force in history) stormed the beaches at Normandy and began the process of re-taking France. The turning point of World War II.

Battles of Coral Sea, Midway, Guadalcanal

Pacific battles, Midway\=turning point

End of WW II

dropping of Atomic bombs on Hiroshima & Nagasaki

deferment

college students could postpone being drafted into military service