AMSCO AP US History Chapter 26 Flashcards

Truman's Cold War Policy

Aimed to limit Soviet expansion and communism through a strategy known as containment.

Containment Policy

U.S. foreign policy aimed at preventing the spread of communism, formulated by George F. Kennan.

George F. Kennan

Expert on Soviet affairs who proposed that the U.S. should patiently and vigilantly contain Soviet expansion.

Truman Doctrine

Policy where Truman sought aid for Greece and Turkey to prevent communist revolutions in 1947.

NATO

Military alliance formed in 1949 between the U.S., Canada, and 10 European countries to defend against Soviet aggression.

Warsaw Pact

Military alliance formed in 1955 by the Soviet Union and Eastern Bloc nations in response to NATO.

Taft-Hartley Act

A 1947 law limiting union power, passed over Truman’s veto, restricting labor union activities.

Fair Deal

Truman’s set of domestic reforms, including national healthcare, civil rights legislation, and social security expansion, which faced opposition in Congress.

Rosenbergs

Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, executed in 1953 for espionage for allegedly passing atomic secrets to the Soviet Union.

McCarthyism

The practice of making unsupported accusations of communism, led by Senator Joseph McCarthy during the early 1950s.

Berlin Airlift

U.S. operation to supply West Berlin with food and resources after the Soviet blockade of 1948-49.

Hydrogen Bomb

A thermonuclear weapon developed by the U.S. in 1952, a thousand times more powerful than the atomic bomb.

NSC-68

A 1950 report advising the U.S. to dramatically increase defense spending to counter Soviet aggression.

Korean War

Conflict (1950-1953) between North and South Korea, with U.S. involvement under a UN banner, leading to a stalemate at the 38th parallel.

38th Parallel

The dividing line between North and South Korea, which remains in place to this day after the Korean War.

McCarran Internal Security Act

1950 law limiting communist activities in the U.S. by restricting employment, travel, and creating detention camps for subversives.

Modern Republicanism

Dwight D. Eisenhower’s domestic policy that balanced fiscal conservatism with support for New Deal programs and social issues.

Interstate Highway Act of 1956

Legislation that created the U.S. national highway system, boosting the economy and encouraging suburbanization.

Brown v. Board of Education

Landmark 1954 Supreme Court case ruling that "separate but equal" in public schools was unconstitutional.

Montgomery Bus Boycott

1955 protest against segregation sparked by Rosa Parks, led by Martin Luther King Jr. in Montgomery, Alabama.

Little Rock Nine

1957 crisis where Eisenhower sent federal troops to enforce school desegregation in Arkansas after the governor tried to prevent it.

New Look Policy

Eisenhower’s Cold War strategy focusing on nuclear weapons and the threat of “massive retaliation” instead of conventional military forces.

Brinkmanship

The foreign policy strategy of pushing a dangerous situation to the verge of war to extract concessions, associated with John Foster Dulles.

Domino Theory

The belief that if one country fell to communism, others in the region would follow, particularly applied to Southeast Asia after the French defeat at Dien Bien Phu.

Suez Crisis

1956 conflict where the U.S. pressured Britain and France to stop invading Egypt, marking the beginning of the Eisenhower Doctrine.

Eisenhower Doctrine

U.S. policy offering aid to Middle Eastern countries resisting communist influence, particularly after the Suez Crisis.

Sputnik

The first artificial Earth satellite, launched by the Soviet Union in 1957, sparking the U.S. Space Race response.

NASA

U.S. government agency created in response to the Soviet Union’s launch of Sputnik to oversee American space exploration.

National Defense Education Act

1958 law that provided funding for education in science, mathematics, and foreign languages in response to the Soviet space success.

Conformity in the 1950s

Social and cultural pressure for individuals to follow the norms of suburban life, promoted by mass media and corporate structures.

Beatniks

A group of writers and social critics in the 1950s who rejected the era’s materialism and cultural conformity.