US History EOC Review Notes

The Present With A Future

  • War Bonds:
    • Used to finance WWII.
    • Slogan: "Keep it under your hat! Careless talk costs lives."

World War II

  • Victory Gardens:
    • Encouraged to conserve resources.
    • Save waste fats for explosives.

Isolationism

  • Staying out of other countries' affairs.
  • Avoiding foreign entanglements.

Neutrality Acts (1930s)

  • Enacted in 1935 and 1936.
  • Prevented U.S. arms sales and loans to nations at war or in civil war.

Cash and Carry

  • U.S. policy allowing sale of non-military goods to nations at war.
  • Requirements: payment in cash and transportation on their own ships.

Lend-Lease Act (1941)

  • Allowed the president to send defense equipment to countries important to the U.S.
  • Aimed to supply the Allies.

Nazism

  • Political philosophy based on:
    • Extreme nationalism
    • Racism
    • Militaristic expansionism
  • Practiced by Adolf Hitler in Germany from 1933 to 1945.

Fascism

  • Political philosophy found in Italy during WWII.
  • Advocated:
    • Strong, centralized, nationalistic government
    • Powerful dictator

Appeasement

  • Making concessions to a hostile power to avoid conflict.
  • Example: Britain and France allowed Hitler to take Czechoslovakia in 1939.

Anti-Semitism

  • Prejudice and discrimination against Jewish people.
  • Prevalent in Nazi Germany during the 1930s and 1940s.

Genocide

  • Deliberate and systematic extermination of a racial, national, or religious group.

Holocaust

  • Systematic murder of 11 million Jews and other people by the Nazis before and during World War II.

Final Solution

  • Nazi approach adopted in 1939.
  • Involved rounding up Jews and sending them to slave labor camps or extermination camps.

Atlantic Charter

  • 1941 declaration of principles by the U.S. and Great Britain.
  • Outlined shared goals for the post-war world:
    • Defeat of Axis powers
    • Establishment of lasting peace and security

Axis Powers

  • Germany
  • Italy
  • Japan

Japanese Expansion

  • Japan's military took over parts of Southeast Asia and Pacific islands.
  • Aimed to create a vast empire for its growing population.

Embargo

  • A trade ban where a country stops trading with another.
  • Example: U.S. stopped selling oil to Japan in 1941.
  • Mnemonic: "Embargo = no cargo"

Pearl Harbor (December 7, 1941)

  • Surprise attack by Japanese on U.S. Pacific Fleet in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.
  • Led to the U.S. declaring war on Japan and Germany, entering World War II.

General Dwight D. Eisenhower

  • Famous WWII U.S. general.
  • Led Allied forces in Europe & North Africa, planned D-Day.
  • Served as U.S. president (1953–1961).

Battle of Midway (1942)

  • Turning point of World War II in the Pacific.
  • Stopped the Japanese advance.

D-Day (June 6, 1944)

  • Led by Eisenhower.
  • Over a million troops stormed the beaches at Normandy to retake France.
  • Turning point of World War II.

WAACS-Women’s Army Corps

  • U.S. Army group established during World War II.
  • Allowed women to serve in non-combat roles, freeing up men to fight.

Rosie the Riveter

  • Symbol representing women who took jobs in heavy industry during the war.
  • Slogan: "We Can Do It!"

Tuskegee Airmen

  • 99th all African-American fighter squadron.
  • Escorted bombers in the air over Europe and North Africa during World War II.
  • Nicknamed the Red Tails.
  • U.S. recruited 200 Navajos to send coded messages in their language.
  • Kept military plans secret from the Axis.

Japanese American Internment

  • During W.W. II, the U.S. government locked up Japanese-Americans in camps in the western U.S.
  • Fear of sabotage or terrorism against the U.S.

Korematsu v. U.S. (1944)

  • Upheld the U.S. government's decision to put Japanese-Americans in internment camps during World War II.

442nd Regimental Combat Team

  • World War II unit made up of Japanese-American volunteers.
  • Most decorated combat unit of the war.

War Production Board

  • Government agency established during World War II.
  • Coordinated the production of military supplies by U.S. industries and factories.

Rationing

  • Limiting how much of certain goods people can buy.
  • Ensured enough for the military during wartime.

Yalta Conference (1945)

  • Meeting of the leaders of the United States, Great Britain, and the Soviet Union.
  • Agreed on measures to be implemented after the defeat of Germany.

VE-DAY

  • Victory in Europe Day, May 8, 1945.
  • Marked the end of World War II in Europe after General Eisenhower’s acceptance of Nazi Germany's unconditional surrender.

Manhattan Project

  • Top-secret U.S. program to develop an atomic bomb for use in World War II.

Atomic Bomb

  • Bomb in which the splitting of atomic nuclei results in an explosion of tremendous force and heat and blinding light.
  • Used on Japan to end World War II.

Hiroshima & Nagasaki

  • The two Japanese cities that the U.S. dropped the atomic bomb on in August & September 1945.
  • Ended the war in the Pacific.

VJ-DAY

  • Victory over Japan Day, September 2, 1945.
  • Japan surrendered to the U.S., ending W.W. II.

G.I. Bill (1944)

  • Gave 13 billion in aid to help veterans adjust to civilian life.
  • Included education, housing, and other services.

The 1950s

Harry S. Truman

  • President of the United States from 1945-1953.
  • First U.S. president to face the Cold War.

Cold War

  • Rivalry between U.S. & USSR after WWII; no direct fighting.

Truman Doctrine

  • U.S. policy to aid nations against communist threats with economic and military support.
  • Examples: Greece & Turkey

Marshall Plan (1947)

  • Introduced by Secretary of State George G. Marshall.
  • U.S. gave 13 billion to rebuild Europe and stop communism.

Berlin Airlift

  • 327-day operation in which U.S. and British planes flew food and supplies into West Berlin.
  • Occurred after the Soviets blockaded the city in 1948.

Communist China (1949)

  • Communist Chinese took control of mainland China in May 1949.
  • Declared the People’s Republic of China a communist state.

Nuclear Arms Race

  • U.S. & USSR raced to build more nuclear weapons.

H-Bomb

  • The hydrogen bomb- a thermonuclear weapon much more powerful than the atomic bomb.

Post-war Organizations

  • United Nations (1945):
    • Created by Allied Powers to prevent wars and manage conflicts.
  • NATO (1949):
    • Military alliance where members defend each other if attacked.
  • SEATO (1954):
    • Anti-Communist Asian alliance; like NATO but without a joint military force.

Warsaw Pact

  • Soviet-led military alliance to counter NATO.

Containment Policy

  • U.S. goal to stop communism's spread.
  • Seen in the Korean and Vietnam Wars.

Korean War (1950)

  • North Korea invaded South Korea on June 25, 1950.
  • The UN, led by the U.S., sent troops to defend the South.
  • China backed the North.
  • This was the UN’s first military intervention.

38th Parallel Line

  • The dividing line between North and South Korea.

Limited War

  • A war with specific goals.
  • Truman aimed to keep the Korean War confined to Korea and use only conventional weapons.

Brinkmanship

  • Foreign policy plan under President Eisenhower in the 1950’s.
  • Threatening an enemy with massive military retaliation for any aggression.

The Rosenbergs

  • Julius & Ethel Rosenberg were accused of selling the Soviets information to build an atomic bomb.

Middle East

  • Region extending from Sudan, Egypt, and Turkey in the west to Iran in the east.
  • Includes Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Syria, and Saudi Arabia.
  • Site of the Suez Canal Crisis in the 1950’s.

Sputnik (1957)

  • The first artificial satellite sent into space, launched by the Soviets.

Space Race

  • The competition between the United States and the Soviet Union to develop the technology needed to successfully land on the moon.

House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC)

  • Congressional committee that investigated suspected communists.

McCarthyism (1950-1953)

  • Senator Joseph McCarthy led campaign asserting that the U.S. State Department had been infiltrated by Communists.
  • Accused the Army of covering up foreign espionage

Domino Theory (1957)

  • If one country fell to Communism, it would undermine another and that one would fall, producing a domino effect.

Khrushchev

  • Premier (dictator) of the U.S.S.R. during the 1950’s and 1960’s.
  • In 1960, he accused the U.S. of spying after a U-2 spy plane was shot down over Soviet airspace.

U-2 Incident

  • The downing of a U.S. U-2 spy plane over the Soviet Union in 1960.
  • Pilot Francis Gary Powers was captured by the Soviets and sentenced to 10 years in prison.

The 1950's Domestic Policy

Post W.W.II Economic Boom

  • U.S. economy surged as people spent on homes, cars, and goods.

Baby Boom (1945-1964)

  • The sharp increase in the U.S. birthrate following World War II.
  • Lasted from 1945 to 1964.

Suburbs

  • Growth of neighborhoods outside cities

Interstate Highway System

  • Authorized by President Dwight Eisenhower.
  • 32 billion to build 41,000 miles of 4-lane divided highways across the U.S.

Social Conformity

  • Behavioral or attitudinal compliance with recognized social patterns or standards.

The 1960s

Flexible Response

  • JFK’s plan to prepare for various military threats rather than focusing on the use of nuclear weapons.

Bay of Pigs Invasion

  • In 1961, President Kennedy approved a CIA plan to train Cuban exiles for an invasion of Cuba.
  • Aimed to incite a rebellion against the Castro communist government.

Cuban Missile Crisis (1962)

  • U.S. discovered Russians were building nuclear missile launch sites in Cuba.
  • U.S. announced a quarantine of Cuba.
  • Khrushchev agreed to dismantle the launch sites after a six-day confrontation.

Berlin Wall

  • East Germany's economy struggled, leading people to flee to West Berlin.
  • The East German government built the Berlin Wall in 1961 to stop this.
  • Separated communist-controlled East Berlin from democratic West Berlin.
  • Symbol of the fight between communism and democracy.
  • The Wall falls (1989) – Communism got weaker – People tore the wall down – Germany became one country again

Limited Nuclear Test Ban Treaty

  • Banned nuclear tests above ground.

LBJ's War on Poverty

  • LBJ's programs to fight poverty.

LBJ's Great Society

  • LBJ's laws to reduce poverty and promote equality.

Vietnam War (1964-1973)

  • U.S. goal: Stop communism in Southeast Asia.
  • Vietnam was a French colony until the 1950s.
  • In 1964, the U.S. joined to fight against communist North Vietnam.

Gulf of Tonkin Resolution (1964)

  • After a U.S. ship was attacked, Congress gave the president authority to send troops to Vietnam to defend against North Vietnamese aggression.

Nixon Doctrine

  • Outlined by President Richard Nixon on July 25, 1969.
  • The U.S. would continue to provide military aid & supplies, but expected allies to assume responsibility for their own military defense.

Vietnamization

  • President Nixon’s strategy for ending U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War.
  • Involved the gradual withdrawal of U.S. troops and their replacement with South Vietnamese forces.

Anti-War Movement

  • Americans protested the Vietnam War.

Fall of Saigon

  • The communists started a full scale invasion of the South.
  • North Vietnam took over South; Vietnam unified under communism.

Civil Rights and Other Social Movements

Plessy Vs. Ferguson

  • An 1896 case in which the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that separation of the races in public accommodations was legal.
  • Established the “Separate but Equal” doctrine.

14th Amendment

  • Adopted in 1868.
  • Made all persons born or naturalized in the United States- including former slaves- citizens of the country.
  • Granted them all equal protection under the law.

Brown v. Board of Education (1954)

  • The Supreme Court overruled Plessy v. Ferguson.
  • Declared that racially segregated facilities are inherently unequal and ordered all public schools desegregated.

NAACP

  • The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.
  • Founded in 1909 to promote full racial equality.

Thurgood Marshall

  • NAACP lawyer in the Brown v. BOE case who argued that segregated public schools were unconstitutional.
  • Became the first African-American appointed to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Rosa Parks

  • Arrested in Montgomery, Alabama for refusing to give up her bus seat to a white man on December 1, 1955.
  • Led to a major boycott of that cities bus system.

Montgomery Bus Boycott

  • 1955-1956 protest by African-Americans in Montgomery, Alabama against racial segregation in the cities bus system.

Martin Luther King, Jr.

  • The leader of the Civil Rights Movement and President of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference promoted non-violent protest.

Little Rock Central High School

  • Enrolled nine African-American students in September 1957 to gradually desegregate the public school system.

Sit-Ins

  • Demonstrations used by African-Americans to protest discrimination.
  • Protesters would sit down at a segregated business and refuse to leave until they were served.

Freedom Riders

  • Civil rights activists who rode buses through the South in the early 1960’s to challenge segregation.
  • They were attacked several times in the State of Alabama.

Birmingham (1963)

  • Alabama’s largest city known for its strict enforcement of Jim Crow laws.
  • Dr. King and civil rights demonstrators protested, even using children.
  • Police fought back with attack dogs and high powered fire department water hoses.

March on Washington (1963)

  • A major march was held in Washington, D.C. to persuade Congress to pass a civil rights bill.
  • Over 250,000 people attended.
  • Dr. King delivered his famous “I Have a Dream” speech.

Mississippi Freedom Summer (1964)

  • A 1964 project to register African-American voters in Mississippi.
  • Many participants were northern college students.

Civil Rights Act (1964)

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

Bloody Sunday

  • On 7 March 1965, about 600 protesters set out to march some 50-miles from Selma, Alabama to Montgomery, Alabama.
  • The protesters, many of which were African-American were attacked by White Alabama State Troopers who used whips, clubs, and tear gas to break-up the protest group.
  • The purpose of the march as to get Congress to pass a voting rights act.

Voting Rights Act (1965)

  • A law that made it easier for African Americans to register to vote.
  • Eliminated discriminatory literacy tests and authorized federal examiners to enroll voters denied at the local level.

Malcolm X

  • Expressed the feelings of many African American activists who had grown impatient with King’s nonviolent methods.
  • Preached a message of self-reliance and self-determination.

Women’s Movement

  • Movement that started in the U.S. in the 1800’s that sought greater rights and opportunities for women.
  • Founded NOW (National Organization for Women) in 1966.
  • Focused on creating new opportunities for women in education, employment, and politics.

Equal Rights Amendment -ERA

  • Passed by Congress in 1972, but needed ratification by 38 of 50 states.
  • Would have guaranteed equal rights and protections under the law for both men and women.
  • Failed ratification by 1982, falling 3 states short.

Cesar Chavez

  • Non-violent leader of the United Farm Workers from 1963-1970.
  • Organized laborers in California and the Southwest to strike against fruit and vegetable growers.
  • Unionized Mexican-American farm workers.

United Farm Workers-UFW

  • A labor union formed in 1966 to seek higher wages and better working conditions for Mexican-American farm workers in California.

Student’s Rights Movement

  • In the 1960’s college students protested dress codes, curfews, dormitory regulations and mandatory ROTC programs on college campuses.
  • These protest led to the Anti-War Movement protest.

Hippies

  • Members of the Counterculture Movement of the 1960’s who dropped out of mainstream society by embracing peace, love, and drugs.

Black Power Movement

  • A slogan-first used in the 1940’s and revived by Stokely Carmichael in the 1960’s- that encouraged African-American pride and political and social leadership.

Black Panthers

  • A militant African-American political organization formed in 1966 by Huey Newton and Bobby Seale.
  • Fought police brutality and to provide services in low income areas.

American Indian Movement

  • Formed in 1968 to work for Native American rights including:
    • the return of lost lands
    • the return of lost hunting, fishing and timber rights
    • the protection of burial grounds

The 1970s

Richard Nixon

  • President of the U.S. from 1969 to 1974.
  • Resigned the office in the wake of the Watergate scandal in 1974.

Watergate Scandal (1972-1974)

  • Five men were arrested for breaking into the Democratic National Committee’s executive quarters in the Watergate Hotel.
  • Nixon admitted to complicity in the burglary.
  • In 1974, as Nixon's impeachment began, he resigned.

Henry Kissinger

  • Architect of President Nixon’s foreign policy plan called Détente.
  • Served as Nixon’s National Security Advisor before becoming Secretary of State.

Détente

  • A lessening of tensions between U.S. and Soviet Union and China.
  • Addressed disarming missiles, trade relations, and a limited military budget.

SALT I

  • A five year agreement between the U.S. and the Soviet Union, signed in 1972.
  • Limited the nation’s number of intercontinental ballistic missiles and submarine launched missiles.

Title IX (1972)

  • Prohibits sex-based discrimination in any education program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance.

War Powers Act (1973)

  • Gave the president power to go to war under certain circumstances, but required Congressional approval after 90 days.

Arab-Israeli War (1973)

  • Conflict in which Egypt and Syria attacked Israel on its most holy Jewish holiday.
  • Aimed to regain territories lost to Israel in the 1967 Six-Day War.

Energy Crisis

  • Resulted from an oil embargo imposed on the U.S. by OPEC.
  • Hurt U.S. businesses, industries, homeowners, and motorist.

EPA

  • An agency established in 1970 to enforce pollution standards, to conduct research, and to assist state and local governments in pollution control.

Earth Day

  • Started in 1970 as a day set aside for environmental education.
  • Celebrated annually on April 22.

Roe Vs. Wade

  • 1973 U.S. Supreme Court case out of Texas.
  • States could regulate abortions only in certain circumstances.
  • Otherwise, a women’s right to an abortion was protected by her right to privacy.

Executive Privilege

  • Principle that the President has the right to keep certain communications between himself and other members of the executive branch private.
  • Nixon claimed this right during Watergate.

Helsinki Accords

  • Agreement made in 1975 when Gerald Ford was President of the U.S.
  • The U.S., Canada, and several European nations, including the Soviet Union agreed to support human rights.

Camp David Accords (1978)

  • Peace talks between Egypt and Israel mediated by President Carter.

Nuclear Energy

  • Energy that exists inside the nucleus of an atom is used as a source of power in the U.S.

Three Mile Island

  • Nuclear power plant near Harrisburg, Pennsylvania that malfunctioned on 28 March 1979.
  • Its reactor overheated after its cooling system failed.

Iran Hostage Crisis

  • In November 1979, armed students seized the U.S. embassy in Tehran, Iran and took 52 American’s captive for 444 days.
  • Demanded that the U.S. return their exiled king (Shah) to stand trail for crimes against his people.

Affirmative Action

  • Policy that gives special consideration to women and minorities to make up for past discrimination.

Regents of the University of California v. Bakke (1978)

  • Barred colleges from admitting students solely on the basis of race.
  • Allowed them to include race along with other considerations when deciding which students to admit.

The 1980's, 1990's & 2000's

North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) (1992)

  • The North American Free Trade Area is the trade bloc created by the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), whose members are Canada, Mexico and the United States.

Election of 2000

  • Republican George W. Bush was elected over Democrat Al Gore in one of the closest and most controversial presidential elections in the history of the United States.

September 11, 2001

  • Attacks consisted of a series of coordinated terrorist suicide attacks by Islamic extremists on the United States.

No Child Left Behind (2002)

  • President Bush signed the No Child Left Behind Act.
  • The law helps schools improve by focusing on accountability for results, freedom for states and communities, proven education methods, and choices for parents.