Post-War America Vocabulary

Flashcards for Post-War America Study Guide

United Nations

Symbol for resolution and peace after WWII

Containment

US attempt to contain and stop the spread of communism

Eisenhower Doctrine

Military and financial aid to all European countries

Demilitarized Zone (DMZ)

Border between North and South Korea, still exists today

Advisors (Vietnam War)

Troops trying to secure South Vietnam’s independence from communism

Ho Chi Minh

Communist leader of North Vietnam

Vietcong

Communist soldiers in Vietnam

Guerilla War

Camouflage, extreme fightings

Vietnamization

The US policy of withdrawing its troops and transferring the responsibility and direction of the war effort to the government of South Vietnam.

Gulf of Tonkin Resolution

Us ship explodes which amplifies US involvement

War Powers Act

Federal law designed to limit the President's ability to commit U.S. military forces to armed conflicts without Congressional consent.

Bay of Pigs Invasion

US ‘invaded’ Cuba with Cuban troops to overtake Fidel Castro in 1961

Cuban Missile Crisis

USSR was building bombs in Cuba, US makes a blockade to stop the income of materials from USSR→Cuba in 1963

Baby Boom

Soldiers were home from war-people wanted to start/expand their families

Levitt houses

The houses in Levittown, all looked the same

Federal Highway Act of 1956

Act to fix roads, create the highway

Beatniks

Spiritual values, inspiration for Hippies

Joseph McCarthy

Made unsubstantiated accusations of communist infiltration within the US government, universities, and other institutions.

Red Scare

Extreme paranoia of communism

HUAC

House un-American Activities committee- formed to investigate communists against the US

Alger Hiss and the Rosenbergs

First red scare, spies in Congress examples are Alger Hiss and the Rosenbergs.

Civil Rights

The human rights and fairness of which people are treated

Plessy v. Ferguson

Separate but equal is okay

Little Rock Nine

Integration of Little Rock Central High School- nine Black students who enrolled at Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas, in 1957, to challenge school segregation

Brown v. Board of Education

Brown won; segregation in education is prohibited

Martin Luther King, Jr.

Preacher, leader of many nonviolent protests for civil rights

Rosa Parks

Seamstress, didn’t give up seat to white man on bus, got arrested, inspired many boycotts

Montgomery Bus Boycott

Because of Rosa Parks’ arrest, people stopped taking busses to protest the arrest of Rosa Parks and segregation on public transportation

1963 March on Washington

1963 March on Washington, during which MLK gave the 'I have a dream' speech

Civil Rights Act of 1964

Outlawed discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, and national origin

24th Amendment

Voting cannot be discriminated

Voting Rights Act of 1965

Eliminate discriminatory voting practices and ensure equal access to the ballot box for all citizens, regardless of race or ethnicity.

Hippie Movement

Drop acid; not bombs

Peace Corps

You can take gap years and work on helping public things

Space Race

Jfk wanted to get a man in space

LBJ’s “Great Society”

“War on poverty”

VISTA

Financial aid

Education funding – Head Start

Elementary and secondary education act