baby boom
refers to the first few years after World War II in which the US underwent a huge population increase.
defense industry
In an effort to maintain a military advantage over the Soviets, the US government felt compelled to continue producing advanced weapons even during peacetime. In places like Orange County, California, growth created many jobs, led to migration and populat
interstate highway system
Under President Eisenhower, the US government built a series of interstate highways to make transportation and travel easier for military personnel and civilians.
second Red Scare
refers to the wave of fear about communism that existed among leaders and citizens during and after WWII.
The House Un-American Activity Commission (HUAC)
established by Congress in 1948 for the purpose of investigating those accused of being communists.
Hollywood Blacklist
This was a list of individuals in the motion picture industry with whom producers refused to work because they were believed to have ties to communism
McCarthyism
term used to embody the ideas about and fears of communism voiced by McCarthy and his supporters.
civil rights movement
movement of the 50's and 60's attacked de jure segregation and greatly transformed the face of race relations in the US as it sought equal rights for African Americans.
Brown v Board of Education of Topeka
This was the landmark legal case in which sparked the civil rights movement.
Little Rock 9
African American students who enrolled at Central High School amid protests in 1957.
George Wallace
governor of Alabama during the 1960's who attempted to block the integration of the university of Alabama . He was forced to comply by federal authorities and eventually ran twice for president. he lost in 1968 and had to end his election bid in 1972 shor
Rosa Parks
She was the African American woman whose refusal to give up her seat on a public bus to a white passenger sparked the Montgomery bus boycott and the civil rights movement.
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
gifted speaker and leader who became the recognized leader of the civil rights government. He first gained notoriety for his leadership of the Montgomery Bus Boycott. He advocated nonviolent reisistance, led the famed march on Washington and was eventuall
sit-ins
These were protests in which civil rights activists seated themselves in all white areas until they were served /arrested.
freedom rides
This was a method of testing the Supreme Court's ruling making segregation on buses open to interstate travel illegal , in which black and white passengers loaded buses and then rode through the traditionally segregated south. some of these trips were met
march on washington
massive civil rights march in DC, in 1963, at which Martin Luther King Jr gave what is perhaps his most famous speech.
Lyndon B. Johnson
He became president of the US after Kennedy's assassination in 1963, He supported Civil rights legislation, introduced social programs known at the Great Society and escalated the US role in Vietnam. Eventually due to the stress of the Vietnam conflict an
Civil Rights Act of 1964
This was the law passed by Congress that prohibited segregation in public accommodations and discrimination in education and employment.
24th amendment
Served to protect African American voting rights by making poll tax illegal.
Voting Rights Act of 1965
This law passed by Congress authorized the president to suspend literacy tests for voter registration and to send federal officials to register voters in the event that county officials fail to do so. it led to a huge increase in the number of African Ame
Malcolm X
He was a famous figure of the militant Nation of Islam movement during the 1960's. He preached and believed tht blacks should use any means necessary, including violence, to attain their rights. He eventually left the Nation of Islam and preached a less m
Black power
This was the message preached by Stokely Carmichael which referred to pride in African heritage, separate black economic and political institutions, self defense against white violence and sometimes violent revolution.
Montgomery Bus Boycott
event sparked by Rosa Parks refusal to give up her seat to a white passenger. African Americans boycotted the use of public transportation until the city agreed to desegregate its buses. After over a year, it ended when the Supreme Court ruled that the ci
Black Panthers
militant African American civil rights group that sought to end de facto and de jure segregation. They advocated African Americans leading their own communities and demanded that the federal government take action to rebuild the ghettos of the nations inn
counterculture
Members of this group tended to wear their hair long, men often did not shave. Drug use, non traditional attitudes about sex, meaning of rock n roll and folk music and attempts to withdraw from mainstream society also exemplified this group.
Betty Friedan
She wrote the Feminine Mystique, founded the National Organization for women and helped launch the women's movement.
National Organization for women (NOW)
Founded by Friedan, ti was begun as an organization devoted to action to bring American women into full participation in the mainstream of American society. It attacked advertising and media images which it saw as reinforcing traditional stereotypes about
Vietcong
communist group of rebels in South Vietnam who were supported by Ho Chi Minh's North Vietnamese government.
Gulf of Tonkin Resolution
issued by Congress after it was reported that the North Vietnamese had allegedly attacked US ships. It gave the president the power to take military action in Vietnam without having to get Congress's approval.
Tet Offensive
This was a coordinated surprise attack launched by the viet Cong and North Vietnamese which served as a psychological victory for the Communists because it showed that they could launch a well planned attack and led to many in the US questioning the gover
My Lai
This was the event in which US forces rounded up and executed between 175 and 400 civilians in a village where they believed Vietcong to be hiding.
Richard Nixon
became president after Johnson. He was president at the end of the official US involvement in Vietnam, He also effectively used Detente to improve US/ Soviet relations and improved relations with China.
bombing raids
late in the Vietnam War, President Nixon authorized these attacks against Cambodia and Laos.
Paris Peace Accords
This was an agreement signed by the US, North and South Vietnam and the Vietcong, which ended US involvement and divided the country between the communist North and the South along the 17th parallel.
Saigon
South Vietnamese capital, that fell to North Vietnam on April 30, 1975.
Kent State University
This was the site of a violent antiwar protest in response to Nixon's decision to invade Cambodia, It resulted in National Guardsmen opening fire on protesters, killing 4 people injuring 9 others.
Pentagon Papers
This was a study ordered by Secretary of Defense McNamara documenting the history of US involvement in Vietnam. They revealed that presidents had lied to Congress and made a number of secret decisions. When portions of the study were published in the New
Great Society
term referring to President Johnson's programs for social reform.
Students for a Democratic Society (SDS)
This organization arose out of activism on college campuses in the 1960's and began with students who had taken part in the civil rights movement now wanted to become involved in other causes as well. They launched protests and called for radical steps to
detente
policy embraced by Nixon and stressed the easing of tensions between the US and the Soviet Union through negotiations and compromises.
China
In 1949, the communist forces of Mao Zedong won control of this country. The US refused to recognize the new government. Throughout the 1960's and 1970's, relations with this country was very cold until Nixon formally recognized the nation's government an
Democratic national Convention of 1968
This convention was surrounded by unrest and attracted large numbers of radicals and protesters. Massive demonstration eventually got out of hand when delegates voted down a Vietnam peace resolution and nominated the then current vice president, Hubert Hu
Gerald Ford
became president after Nixon and continued detente. he signed the Helsinki Accords.
Jimmy Carter
became president after Ford and continued detente. He signed SALT II, but also encountered difficulty in US Soviet relations. When the Soviets invaded Afghanistan, This president responded with a grain embargo and by boycotting the Summer Olympics in Mosc
Ronald Reagan
He was the president who followed Carter and rejected detente because he believed that increasing the arms race would ultimately cause communism to collapse and eventually bring an end to the need for nuclear weapons. Thought Russia was an evil empire.
Strategic Defense Initiative(SDI)
Initiated by Reagan, it was a proposed satellite shield that would protect the US from Soviet missile attacks. The Soviet's inability to afford developing such a program to compete with the US helped lead to the collapse of the Soviet Union.
Mikhail Gorbachev
He was the Progressive leader of the Soviet Union who came to power in 1985 and formed an unlikely friendship with President Reagan. he introduced policies that ultimately led to the fall of communism in the USSR and eastern Europe and ultimately the end
Solidarity
an independent trade union in Poland that sparked a nonviolent and anticommunist movement and helped bring about an end to East European communism.
German unification
This refers to the process by which Germany once again become a united country following the fall of communism.