Modern America - Honors Review Packet for Final Exam

Flashcards for Modern America Honors Review

Define Containment

What is containment?
Taking measures to stop the further spread of communism.

Define The Cold War

What is The Cold War?
A war without direct physical combat; an ideological and political struggle.

Who is Kennan?

Who is George Kennan?
An American diplomat who came up with the policy of communist containment.

What is the Truman Doctrine?

What is Truman Doctrine?
The allowance of the United States to help countries resisting communism, providing economic and military aid.

What is the Marshall Plan

What is the Marshall Plan?
The procurement of aid to 16 countries from the United States to help rebuild Europe after World War II and prevent the spread of communism.

What is The Berlin Airlift?

What is the Berlin Airlift?
A light that took supplies into West Berlin after Russia blocked the city off, showcasing American resolve and support for West Berlin.

North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)

What is NATO?
A defensive military alliance between 12 countries in North America and Europe, formed to counter Soviet expansion.

What is the 38th Parallel?

What is the 38th Parallel?
A ictional line splitting Korea into the democratic (South) and communist (North) sides, the site of the Korean War.

Who are the Blacklisted?

Who are the Blacklisted?
People who were shunned for having a communist background; denied employment and ostracized from society.

Central Intelligence Agency

What is the CIA?
Spies who gathered information from countries abroad, conducting covert operations to protect American interests.

What is the Warsaw Pact?

What is the Warsaw Pact?
A military pact Russia made because of Russia's fear of NATO, creating a counterbalance to Western military power.

Who is Nikita Khrushchev?

Who is Nikita Khrushchev?
The leader after Stalin. He believed in peaceful cohabitation of communism and democracy.

Francis Gary Powers

What is the U-2 incident?
A air force pilot who got shot down by the Soviet Union during a secret mission, causing a further disagreement between the U.S and the Soviet Union.

Who is Fidel Castro?

Who is Fidel Castro?
The communist leader of Cuba, who aligned Cuba with the Soviet Union and challenged American dominance in the Western Hemisphere.

Medicare and Medicaid

What are Medicare and Medicaid?
Medicare provided hospital insurance and low-cost medical insurance to poor families. Medicaid extended.

Immigration Act of 1965

What is the Immigration Act of 1965?
Ended the quota based on nationality, leading to a significant increase in immigration from non-European countries.

Civil Rights Act, 1964

What is the Civil Rights Act of 1964?
The act that prohibited race, religion, national origin, or gender discrimination, a landmark achievement in the fight for equality.

De facto segregation

What is De facto segregation?
Segregation that exists from practice and custom; segregation by tradition and societal norms.

De jure segregation

What is De jure segregation?
Segregation that is present from laws and regulations; segregation enforced by law.

Affirmative action

What is Affirmative action?
Programs made to make a special effort to hire or enroll groups of people who have suffered discrimination, aiming to redress historical imbalances.

What is the SCLC?

Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC)
A group MLK joined that’s emphasis was ending racial injustices through peaceful protesting.

Who is Rosa Parks?

Who is Rosa Parks?
Women who stroke a wave of action towards the racial injustices by not moving her seat for a white man.

Who is Thurgood Marshall?

Who is Thurgood Marshall?
The lawyer who was the director over challenging segregation in court. Later became a Supreme Court justice.

Gulf of Tonkin Incident/Resolution

What is the Gulf of Tonkin?
When the US naval thought they got attracted by torpedoes by Vietnam. Led to increased American involvement in Vietnam.

Who is Ho Chi Minh?

Who is Ho Chi Minh?
Leader of the Indochinese Communist Party; after the party’s founding in 1930 he helped stage a number of revolts, was condemned to death by the French for his rebellious activities, and orchestrated.

Who are the Vietcong?

What are the Vietcong?
Communists in south Vietnam; guerrilla fighters who fought against the South Vietnamese and American forces.

What is Napalm?

What is Napalm?
A gelatinous lammable chemical that the United States used against the Vietcong, causing severe burns and widespread destruction.

Agent Orange

What is Agent Orange?
A U.S gas weapon used in Vietnam that destroyed crops, defoliating jungles and impacting the environment and human health.

Search-and-destroy mission

What is search and destroy mission?
They would search territories in Vietnam and kill enemies in the territory. Part of the strategy to combat guerilla warfare.

Tet Offensive

What is the Tet Offensive?
A surprise attack on the U.S military by the Vietcong. I got reported on the news and told the American public the war isn't close to over. Cause an increase in protests.

Henry Kissinger

Who is Henry Kissinger?
The Security adviser who worked on the plan to withdraw the United States Vietnam troops, implementing the policy of Vietnamization.

Pentagon Papers

What are the Pentagon Papers?
Con idential papers that were released to the public about the United States involvement in the Vietnam war, revealing government deception and fueling anti-war sentiment.

War Powers Act

What is the War Powers Act?
An act that limited the president from sending military overseas without congressional approval, reasserting congressional authority over war-making decisions.

Define Vietnamization

Define Vietnamization?
The idea of putting Vietnam back in control of Vietnam; transferring responsibility for the war effort to the South Vietnamese government.

What is Kent State?

What is Kent State?
In May 1970 campus protests against the war in Vietnam led to the deaths of four students who were ired on by the Ohio National Guard, symbolizing the divisions and tensions of the era.

My Lai

What is the My Lai Massacre?
1968 massacre of Vietnamese civilians by a US platoon. Came to light in 1969 & turned Americans away from the war.

Watergate

What is the Watergate Scandal?
Were Nixon's supporters found trying to steal information on the Democratic Party, leading to Nixon's resignation and a crisis of confidence in government.

Southern

What is the Southern Strategy?
The win the favor of the southern voters by appealing to racial resentments and conservative values.

Stagflation

What is Stagflation?
When prices go up and salaries remain stagnant, creating economic hardship for many Americans.

Define Detente

Define Detente?
Friendly relations between countries especially when the countries haven't gotten along before.

SALT I

What is SALT I Treaty?
The United States and soviet union's agreement to limit their nuclear weapons, a step towards reducing Cold War tensions.

Impeachment

What is Impeachment?
To charge a president with crimes, a constitutional process to remove a president from office.

Saturday Night

What is the Saturday Night Massacre?
Nixon ired a bunch of of icials rather than giving up the tapes.

Camp David

What is the Camp David Accords?
Agreement between Israel and Egypt to have better relations done by Carter, a significant achievement in Middle East diplomacy.

Iran Hostage

What is the Iran Hostage Crisis?
Iran stormed an American embassy and took Americans hostage, further deteriorating relations between the two countries.

Ruhollah Khomeini

Who is Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini?
The head of Iran who was the head of the Iran revolution, establishing an Islamic republic and challenging American influence in the region.

Rachel

Who is Rachel Carson?
Credited for starting the modern environmental movement with her book Silent Spring.

Three Mile

What is Three Mile Island?
An incident where a Pennsylvania nuclear malfunctioned causing mass panic. It was an overreaction illed by the press, raising concerns about nuclear safety.

Roe v. Wade

What is Roe v. Wade?
The court decided that women had the right to a abortion, a landmark decision on reproductive rights.

Ronald

Who is Ronald Reagan?
Who brought in a wave of carvings into the US and who was a Hollywood actor, ushering in a new era of conservative politics.

Entitlement program

What are Entitlement programs?
Programs that guarantee bene its to people who meet certain criterias, such as Social Security and Medicare.

Reverse

What is Reverse discrimination?
a conservative idea that af irmative action was causing injustice, leading to calls for equal opportunity and an end to quotas.

Conservative

Who are the Conservative coalition?
a conservative alliance of business leaders, middle class, unhappy democrats, and christians.

Moral

What is the Moral Majority?
A group of evangelical and fundamentalist christians who aimed for trodinal moral values, becoming a significant force in conservative politics.

Acquired Immune De iciency

What is AIDS?
AIDS a immune pandemic that killed many people

Glasnost

What is Glasnost?
a policy of openness and transparency in the soviet union, initiated by Mikhail Gorbachev.

Tiananmen

What is Tiananmen Square?
The place of several large protests by mainly college students in China, resulting in a government crackdown and international condemnation.

Define Trickle Down

Define Trickle Down Economics?
The idea that if rich cities or wealthy businesses were given more money it would trickle down to the lower and middle class.

Gerrymandering

What is Gerrymandering?
the practice of drawing the boundaries of electoral districts in a way that gives one political party an unfair advantage over its rivals.

NAFTA

What is NAFTA?
a trade agreement between Canada, Mexico, and the United States. It established a free-trade zone, reducing tariffs and other trade barriers among the three countries.

Newt Gingrich/Contract with

Who is Newt Gingrich?
A contract made by republicans about what they would do if they won the house.