P8 (1945-1980)

  • Affirmative Action: policies established in 60s & 70s to overcome effects of past discriminations. setting goals for minorities and status,

  • American Indian Movement: organization to address problems Natives, including poverty and police harassment, raised awareness of treaties rights that were revoked, organized natives to end relocation and termination policies. Occupied Wounded Knee/Alcatraz. different as they did not necessarily want equal rights

  • Anti-Vietnam War Protests: opposed US involvement in Vietnam War esp due to Vietnam Civil War, increased military drafts, and casualties. Kent State University Shooting, March of Pentagon (1967)

  • Baby Boom: post WWII birthrate surge that lasted until 1964, many consumer goods and media geared here → period of economic peace

  • Bakke v. California: white male denied admission to UC Med School, affirmative action quotas were not allowed, inspired reverse discrimination

  • Beat Movement: literary and cultural movement in 1950s after WWII. opposeed American Dream surbabn lifestyle

  • Betty Friedan's "The Feminine Mystique": book that inspired louder women’s civil rights movement during this time. challenged post WWII cult of domesticity

  • Black Panthers: militant black power group. urged african americans to arm themselves and confront white society in order to force whites to grant them equal rights

  • Black Power: Black Power/Black Seperatism, belief in seperate identity and racial unity of African American community. achieved equal rights by force in necessary. (Malcolm X)

  • Brown v. Board of Education: schools needed to desegregate

  • Camp David Accords: series of agreements reached in 1978 between Israel and Egypt brokered by President Carter. marked first peace treaty between Israel and an Arab country, framework for peace in Middle East, US’s growing influence

  • Cesar Chavez and the United Farm Workers: Dolores Huerta leader, sought to empower Mexican American migrant farm workers who faced discrimination and exploitative conditions, grape riot. Chicano Movement

  • Christian Evangelicalism: post WWII growth of Protestant movements emphasizing relationship to faith.→ Religious Right/Moral Majority

  • Civil Rights Act of 1964: banning forms of discrimination, LBJ

  • Civil Rights Movement: social movements aimed at ending discrimination and segregation

  • Clean Air Act of 1970: mandated comprehensive federal state regulations to reduce air pollution, regulate air emissions. Environmental Protection Law

  • Cold War: state of tension without physical fighting between US and Soviet Union. Capitalism vs communism. idealogical war

  • Communism: USSR. classless society with public ownership of property.

  • Conservatism: political philosophy promoting traditional values, limited government on $, strong national defense, opposeed liberal programs

  • Consumerism: social/economic ideology encouraging acquisition of goods and services in increasing amounts

  • Containment Policy: foundational US foreign policy formulated by George F Kennan of stopping spread of communism

  • Counterculture Movement: Hippie youth-led cultural rebellion that rejected mainstream American norms such as traditional structures, suburbs, and capitalism. Rock and Roll.

  • Cuban Missile Crisis: US supported dictator Bautista but Fidel Castro lead a communist revolution (kinda supported from Soviets). Failed secret Bay of Pigs invasion. Soviets built nuclear missile sites. JFK and Khruschev reach agreement to avoid nuclear war. Soviets dismantle Cuba, US dismantle Turkey

  • Decolonization: post WWII dismantling of European colonial empires resulting in numerous independent nations in Asia, Africa, and Middle East

  • Delano Grape Strike: 5 year labor strike and consumner boycott by fil-ams and mex-ams farmworkers to get higher wages, better working conditions, and union recognitions

  • Detente: Nixon Policy. Focused on easing tension with Soviet Union. Established ties with Communist Chinese

  • Domino Theory: cause of vietnam war. if us allows one small country to fall to communism, other countries will follow

  • Draft Evasion: refusal to comply with militray draft laws. young men faked illness, burned draft cards, fled to canada, or went to college

  • Earth Day: first mass nationwide demonstration of environmental awareness, marked birth of modern movement

  • Execution of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg: conviction and execution of a civilian American couple for conspiracy to commit espionage by passing atomic secrets to Soviet Union

  • Eisenhower Doctrine: secure US influence in middle east (oil), deter nuclear war and save $$$ for nuclear weapons.

  • Engle v. Vitale (1962): seperation of church and state. forcing prayer in public schools is unconstitutional

  • Environmental Protection Agency; regulatory agency that sought to put limits on the environmental impact of industry on land, air, and water. protect human health. federal government increasing role in regulating environmental quality

  • Equal Rights Amendment: equality of rights shall not be denied by usa on account of sex → passed congress, failed to get state legislatures due to debates

  • Focus on the Family: founded in 197 by psychologist. interdenominational promoting abstinence only, reintroducing prayer to schools and reinforcement of traditional gender roles

  • Ford's Pardon of Nixon: 1974 Ford intended to end watergate but many believed it was a corrupt bargain. declined public’s trust in federal government

  • Free Speech Movement: student-led movement at UCB protesting university’s ban on oncampus political activities

  • Freedom Rides: interracial group of activists who rode interstate buses into segregated south to test supreme court rulings that banned segregation in interstate transportation → violence would bring national media attention

  • Freedom Summer: 1964, voter registration drive in Mississippi trying to get as many registered black voters in the state

  • George Kennan's Long Telegram:8000 word telegram sent by American diplomat from Moscow arguing USSR was aggressive. formulated policy of containment

  • GI Bill of Rights: 1944, provided veterans with funds for college education, vocational training, unemployment compensation, low interest loans

  • Great Society: lyndon B johnson's dramatic increase scope and size of federal government through a series of domestic programs, inspired by New Deal/ liberalism, ex→ Medicare/Medicaid. VISTA (domestic Peace Corps/Americorps), cabinets in transportation, housing, urban development. Head Start programs aid children. Food Stamp Aid to help poor families.

  • Growth of Aerospace Industry: expansion of tech, manufacturing, employment related to aviation and space exploration → driven heavily by Cold War defense s pending, space race, rise of commercial air travel

  • Gulf of Tonkin Resolution: North vietnam gunboats alledgedly fire on US ships. Gave president (LBJ) nearly unlimited authority in conducting Vietnam war. Senate terminated in 1971 after US invasion of Cambodia

  • Hawks and Doves: US involvement in Vietnam support, max military force vs opposition to war, peace negotiations

  • Hippies: counterculture defined by long hair, unconventional clothing, marijuana, LSD, and sexual revolution. anti war. peace and love

  • Hollywood Ten: group of screenwriters and directors who refused to answer HUAC about communist influence in media/art

  • House Un-American Activities Committee: increased during second red scare, blacklisting suspected communists, especially actors, goveernment officials, and writers → Joseph McCarthy

  • Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965: ended quotas of 1920s that were designed to restrict certain nationalities

  • Interstate Highway Act: 1956, purpose of national defense, developed suburrbs, people could communte more easily.

  • Iran Hostage Crisis: 1979-1981. Iranien militants seized US Embassy in Tehran holding diplomats and citizens hostage. Major blow to Carter’s admin

  • Johnson's Vietnam Policy: LBJ escalated US involvement in Vietnam to prevent communist takeover of South Vietnam

  • Kent State Shooting: 1970. Ohio National Guardsmen fire on protesters at Kent State University. protestors against invasion of Cambodia, national student strikes, more opposition towards vietnam war

  • Korean War: 1950-1953. North Korea vs South Korea. US test policy of containment, US spent money on defense. → stalemate, division of Korea

  • Liberal Policies: LBJ"‘s Great Society. Medicaire/Medicaid. War on Poverty (Job Corps). Civil Rights Legistlation

  • Liberalism: political ideology advocating an activist federal government to address social/economic problems, protect civil rights, and maintain an anti-foreign policy. criticized by both sides. debates on federal power

  • Little Rock Nine: 1957. 9 African American students admitted on court order into predominantly white school. Arksans National Guard troops protected these kids while angry white mob tried to intimidate african american students. Eisenhower sent US Army to protect and escort African American students

  • March on Washington: political rally in 1963 in DC where diverse participants marched to advocate for civil and economic rights for African Americans. I have a dream speech.

  • Marshall Plan: directed aid towards rebuilding western Europe and keeping radical elements at bay

  • Martin Luther King's Direct Action and Non-Violent Protest Tactics: used media to promote cause. boycotts, sit-ins, marches, civil disobedience,

  • Mass Culture: homogenization of American life driven by TV, advertising, media, suburbinization

  • McCarthyism: repression and fear-mongering campaign led by Senator Joseph McCarthy during second Red Scare and blacklisting, accusing actors, artists, employees, goveernment, educators, etcetera over communism and treason. fell due to exposed on Tv

  • Medicaid and Medicare: expansion of healthcare, for poor & disabled and for those over 65

  • Military Industrial Complex: continued growth of government military spending , spending towards private military contractors, lobbying congress for more funds

  • Montgomery Bus Boycott: nonviolent protests with Rosa Parks, boycotts beyond this.

  • Moral and Cultural Decline: conservative backlash against liberal shifts, fueling new right

  • Moral Majority: religious and cultural wing of New Right.

  • Mutual Coexistence: Soviet policy promoted by Khrushchev suggesting that capitalist and communist states could coexist without constant war. eased tensions between US and USSR

  • Nationalist Movement: flourishing across decolonized territories aiming to break free from European colonial rule but US and USSR often tried to take power in these nations

  • NATO: military alliance & mutual defense treaty. soviets counter with warsaw pact

  • NOW: national organization for women. feminist organization founded by Betty Friedan. advocated for women’s rights. SUcesses: Roe v Wade (abortion), Title IX (education, sports), Equal Pay Act of 1963 (Pay, working conditions)

  • New York Times v. Sullivan: landmark Supreme Court case that protects freedom of press

  • Nixon’s Vietnam Policy: aimed at withdrawing American troops while gradually shifting repsonsbility to South Vietnamese forces with US support, but in reality Nixon bombed Cambodia

  • Nuclear Arsenal: eisenhower policy of relying on nuclear weapons as a deterrent rather than relying on conventional troops.

  • Occupation of Alcatraz: 1969-1971. Natives occupied abandoned alcatraz island for months, part of AIM

  • Operation Rolling Thunder: sustained systemic bombing campaign conducted by the US against North Vietnam during Vietnam War, LBJ

  • Pentagon Papers: top secret department of defense study of US involvement in Vietnam,. revealed LBJ admin misled public

  • Rachel Carson's "Silent Spring": 1962. documenting the detrimental environmental effects of pesticides particular DDT on bird populations and food chain → Sparks environmental movement

  • Rust Belt: heavily industrialized regions of North East and Midwest, declined

  • SALT (Strategic Arms Limitation Talks): Limited nuclear weapons held by each side, Led to the ABM, led to unratified arms control treaty

  • Second Red Scare: hysteria that communists infilitrated american society and government. soviets were spying & had stolen nuclear secrets (rosenbergs). scared of spread of communism & nuclear war

  • Silent Majority: patriotic, family oriented, conservative → used votes instead of voices

  • Space Race: major US/Soviet battleground. Soviets released first artificial sattelite (57)-Sputnik. 1961: soviets put first man in space. JFK put first man on the moon

  • Stagflation: high inflation but economic growth is stagnant.

  • Stonewall Riots: 1969. gay bar in NY resisted raid by police and fought back. catalyzed gay civil rights momvenets.

  • Sun Belt: southern part, appeal of warm climate, defense and aerospace industries, agribusinesses (Mexican-American, Asians → affected immigrgation)

  • Sun Belt Migration: people flocked to warm climates and for industries/agriculture labor.

  • Tet Offensive: coordinated surprise attack by North Vietnamese shifting US public opinion against conflict. turning point of Vietnam War as contradicted US media. US and SOuth vietnam won by a psychological defeat

  • Title IX: education amendments of 1972, states that no person of an sex should be excluded/denied education programs. influenced women’s sports funding and access to higher education

  • Truman Doctrine: support free peoples and countries from communism. usa send aid to greece and turkey

  • United Nations: agreed upon at yalta. international body. security council

  • US v. Nixon: 1974. unanimously supreme court ruled nixon had to release white house tapes to prosecutor. arose from Watergate. confirmed executive privilege is not absolute/not above the law

  • Vietnam War: major cold war proxy conflict driven by containment and domino theory. Eisenhower, JFK, LBJ, Nixon. It was actually a Vietnam Civil War

  • Vietnamization: 1969. core policy to reduce US troops in Vietnam War, train Army of Republic of Vietnam, continue air support

  • Voting Rights Act of 1965: ended poll taxes, voting restrictions that were previously used to restrict african americans from voting

  • Warren Court: expanded individual freedoms & democracy. Yates v USA (1975); 1st amendment protects radical speech. Griswold v Connecticuit (1965): right to privacy, protect birth control, Miranda v Arizona (1966): right to remain silent and have a lawyer

  • War Powers Act: limited president’s ability to deploy US forces without congressional approval. passed in 1973 due to Nixon Adminstration expanding military to Cambodia and Laos wo approval

  • Watts Riots: 1965, series of violent protests sparked by police brutality , systemic racism, and economic deprivation. in LA

  • Watergate: 1972 break in at Democratic Party headquarters by people working for Nixon’s reelection campaign. Nixon lied to cover it up, failed to get impeached but resigned

  • Woodstock: three day music festival symbolizing hippie movement, free love, and opposition to vietnam war