Civil Rights Study Guide (Lessons 41–46)

Baby Boom

Post-WWII increase in birth rates

Interstate Highway System

Built highways; made travel & shipping faster

Levittown

Mass-produced suburban homes

Fair Deal

Truman's plan for better jobs, housing, and civil rights

Polio vaccine

Dr. Jonas Salk's vaccine stopped deadly disease

Sunbelt

Southern states people moved to (warmer, more jobs)

Taft-Hartley Act

Limited power of labor unions

President in 1952

Dwight D. Eisenhower (Republican); WWII general, people trusted him

Eisenhower's policies

Moderate, pro-business, smaller government

1950s economy

Strong growth, more consumer goods

White collar jobs

Office jobs grew; machines replaced factory workers

Women/Men roles in 1950s

Women: homemakers | Men: providers

Where people moved

Suburbs

Race in suburbs

Mostly white; redlining kept others out

Why move to Sunbelt

Better jobs, warmer climate, tech/military industries

Highways helped

Easier travel, boosted economy, suburbs grew

Medical advances

Polio vaccine, better care & tech

Appalachia

Poor mountain region; isolated, no jobs

Housing Act of 1949

Built low-income housing

Termination policy

Ended tribal status for Native Americans

Voluntary relocation program

Encouraged Natives to move to cities

The Other America

Book by Michael Harrington; exposed hidden poverty

Poverty line

Minimum income to meet basic needs

Redlining

Banks denied loans in Black/poor neighborhoods

Farmers' poverty

Machines replaced workers, crop prices dropped

Brown v. Board

Ended school segregation (1954)

CORE

Congress of Racial Equality; non-violent protests

De facto segregation

Segregation by practice/custom

De jure segregation

Segregation by law

Executive Order 9981

Truman integrated the military

Warren Court

Supreme Court under Earl Warren; expanded rights

Plessy v. Ferguson

Said segregation was OK ("separate but equal")

Gerrymandering

Redrawing voting districts to limit Black power

Jackie Robinson

1st Black MLB player; broke baseball color line

Civil Rights Act (1964)

Banned segregation & job discrimination

Freedom Rides

Protests on segregated buses & stations

Freedom Summer

Voter registration drives in the South

SNCC

Student-led civil rights group

Montgomery Bus Boycott

Rosa Parks protest; year-long boycott

SCLC

MLK's church-based group; peaceful protests

March on Washington

1963 protest; MLK gave 'I Have a Dream' speech

Voting Rights Act (1965)

Protected Black voting rights

24th Amendment

Banned poll taxes

Little Rock 9

Black students integrated Arkansas school; faced violence

Black Panther Party

Armed group; gave food, health care to Black communities

Black Power

Pride in Black identity, self-defense

Civil Rights Act (1968)

Banned housing discrimination

Kerner Commission

Studied race riots; blamed racism/poverty

Nation of Islam

Black Muslim group; led by Elijah Muhammad, Malcolm X

Regents v. Bakke

White man won case against racial quotas in college

Swann v. Charlotte

OK'd busing to integrate schools

Watts Riot

1965 LA riot; lasted 6 days

AIM

American Indian Movement; led by Russell Means & Dennis Banks; fought for tribal rights

ADA

Americans w/ Disabilities Act (1990); required public access & job equality

Gray Panthers

Elder rights group led by Maggie Kuhn; fought age discrimination

JACL

Japanese American Citizens League; won apology & compensation for internment

NOW

National Organization for Women; led by Betty Friedan; gender equality

Stonewall Riots

1969 LGBTQ+ protests; started modern rights movement

Women's Liberation

1960s-70s push for birth control, jobs, and equality

UFW

United Farm Workers; led by César Chávez & Dolores Huerta; helped farmworkers