1. Describe Eisenhower's politics of the middle way in the early 1950s.
His domestic agenda and leadership style were guided by moderation
2. What did anti-Communist zealot Senator Joseph McCarthy do that led to his condemnation by the U.S. Senate?
He conducted televised hearings in which he charged that the U.S. army was full of Communists
3. What was President Eisenhower's most important and far-reaching domestic initiative?
The passage of the Interstate Highway and Defense System Act of 1956
4. In the context of President Eisenhower's policy toward Native Americans, what did termination mean?
Ending the federal government's special relationship with Indians by transferring jurisdiction over tribal lands to state and local governments
5. In what direction did Eisenhower, the first Republican to serve as president after the New Deal, take the federal government during his second term?
He left the size and functions of the federal government intact
6. What foreign policy strategy was supported by Secretary of State John Foster Dulles?
Going to the brink of war to halt the Soviets' efforts to extend their territory any further
7. What did the Eisenhower Administration do when Hungarian freedom fighters mounted a revolt against the Soviet-controlled government of their country in 1956?
They did nothing, because Eisenhower was unwilling to risk American soldiers or possible nuclear war
8. Between 1955 and 1961, the United States spent $800 million in South Vietnam, what was the primary use of most of the money?
Funded the South Vietnamese army
9. Why did many Cuban people support the uprising led by Fidel Castro against Fulgencio Batista in 1959?
Many Cuban people had a strong desire for political and economic autonomy
10. Which Egyptian leader seized the Suez Canal in July 1956?
Gamal Abdel Nasser
11. How did the United States react to the Soviet Union's successful launch of Sputnik in 1957?
It passed legislation providing support for students in math, foreign languages, science and technology
12. What was the military-industrial complex Eisenhower warned Americans about before he left office?
As association between military and defense contractors to spend more money on increasingly powerful weapons systems
13. In the 1950s, most employed American women worked in _____________________________.
Clerical, service and domestic jobs
14. Describe Levittown, New York.
An example of mass-produced affordable housing in the suburbs
15. In most cities during the 1950s, what happened to the black population?
It doubled as African Americans sought economic opportunities
16. What was one reason many Americans moved to the Sun Belt in the 1950s?
the advent of air-conditioning, which made it possible to live and work in the region more comfortable
17. Why were the South and West sometimes referred to as the Gun Belt?
The regions had captured the lion's share of Cold War spending
18. Describe higher education in the United States between 1940 and 1960.
It became increasingly available to veterans, the middle class, and African Americans
19. What was one cause of the unparalleled material abundance of the United States in the 1950s?
a population increase of almost 30 million
20. What did Betty Friedan argue in her 1963 book The Feminine Mystique?
The idealization of domesticity pressured women to seek fulfillment in serving others
21. What did some critics suggest was the reason for renewed interest in religion during the 1950s?
American's need for conformity and for social outlets
22. How did television affect U.S. politics in the 1950s?
it allowed candidates to appeal directly to the voters in their homes, which elevated the importance of politicians'' personal attractiveness
23. What was sociologist David Riesman's criticism of American society in his 1950 book The Lonely Crowd?
He lamented the growing conformity in American society
24. Who wrote the best-selling books Sexual Behavior in the Human Male and Sexual Behavior in the Human Female?
Alfred Kinsey
25. What was rejected in the work of 1950s authors Allen Ginsberg and Jack Kerouac?
Almost every aspect of the mainstream culture
26. The Supreme Court's decision in Brown v. Board of Education (1954) overturned which precedent?
Separate but equal established in Plessy v. Ferguson (1896)
27. Why did whites in Mississippi murder fourteen-year-old Emmett Till in 1955?
He allegedly whistled at a white woman
28. How did President Eisenhower ultimately respond to the Arkansas National Guard's attempts to block the enrollment of nine black students in Little Rock's Central High School in 1957?
He sent army troops to Little Rock to oversee the integration of the schools
29. Why did the he Montgomery, Alabama, why did police arrest Rosa Parks on December 1, 1955?
She refused to give up her seat on the bus to a white man
30. Which new civil rights organization chose Martin Luther King Jr. as its leader in January of 1957?
The Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC)
Interstate Highway and Defense System Act of 1956:
Law authorizing the construction of a national highway system. Promoted as essential to national defense and an impetus to economic growth, the national highway system accelerated the movement of people and goods and changed the nature of American communi
Mutually assured destruction (MAD):
Term for the standoff between the United States and the Soviet Union based on the assumption that a nuclear first strike by either nation would result in massive retaliation and mutual destruction for each. Despite this, both countries pursued an ever-esc
Domino Theory:
Theory of containment articulated by President Eisenhower in the context of Vietnam. He warned that the fall of a non-Communist government to communism would trigger the spread of communism to neighboring countries.
Cuban revolution
Uprising led by Fidel Castro that drove out U.S.-supported dictator Fulgencio Batista and eventually allied Cuba with the Soviet Union.
Eisenhower Doctrine:
President Eisenhower's 1957 declaration that the United States would actively combat communism in the Middle East. Following this doctrine, Congress approved the policy, and Eisenhower sent aid to Jordan in 1857 and troops to Lebanon in 1958.
Military-industrial complex
A term President Eisenhower used to refer to the military establishment and defense contractors who, he warned, exercised undue influence in city, state, and federal government.
Sun Belt:
Name applied to the Southwest and South, which grew rapidly after World War II as a center of defense industries and non-unionized labor.
Hernandez v. Texas
1957 Supreme Court decision that found that the systematic exclusion of Mexican Americans from juries violated the constitutional guarantee of equal protection.
Baby Boom
The surge in the American birthrate between 1945 and 1965, which peaked in 1957 with 4.3 million births. The baby boom both reflected and promoted Americans' postwar prosperity.
Rock and roll
A music genre created from country music and black rhythm and blues that emerged in the 1950s and captivated American youth.
Brown v. Board of Education:
1954 Supreme Court ruling that overturned the "separate but equal" precedent established in Plessy v. Ferguson in 1896. The Court declared that separate educational facilities were inherently unequal and thus violated the Fourteenth Amendment.
Montgomery Bus Boycott
Yearlong boycott of Montgomery's segregated bus system in 1955-1956 by the city's African American population. The boycott brought Martin Luther King Jr. to national prominence and ended in victory when the Supreme Court declared segregation transportatio
How did technology contribute to changes in the economy, suburbanization, and the growth of the Sun Belt? (pp. 909-915)
Impact on agriculture: Mechanization made American farmers astonishingly productive and contributed to the decline of family farms and the rise of agribusiness. Small farmers suffered the most from these changes.
Impact on industry: Mechanization and new
Why did American consumption expand so dramatically in the 1950s, and what aspects of society and culture did it influence? (pp. 915-920)
Economic expansion: The median family income and the gross national product grew by 25 percent between 1950 and 1960. While this economic expansion did not touch all Americans, many enjoyed more disposable income to acquire goods.
Population surge: The po
What were the goals and strategies of the civil rights activists in the 1950s? (pp. 920-926)
Goals: African Americans wanted to overthrow the legal and extralegal practices that deprived them of full citizenship, including segregation, voting manipulation and disfranchisement, and employment discrimination.
Strategies: Organizations like the NAAC