History 151 UMass Amherst
BATTLE OF THE BULDGE (December, 1944)
Allied soldiers were nearly surrounded and forced to surrender when the Nazis reorganized and tried one last time to counter attack. In the end, this last-ditch German offensive failed.
Dwight D. Eisenhower
American General who began in North Africa and became the Commander of Allied forces in Europe.
Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929-1968)
An Atlanta-born Baptist minister, he earned a Ph.D. at Boston University. The leader of the civil rights movement and president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. He advocated nonviolent resistance and was tragically assassinated outside his hotel room in Memphis.
Phyllis Schlafly
Anti-feminist who led the campaign to defeat the ERA claiming it would undermine the american family
Federal Aid Highway Act of 1956
Authorized the construction of the Interstate Highway System
CORE
Congress of Racial Equality
Franklin Delano Roosevelt
Democratic candidate who won the 1932 election by a landslide. He refused to uphold any of Hoover's policies with the intent on enacting his own. He pledged a present a "New Deal" (its specific meaning ambiguous at the time to the American people) to the American public.
Executive Order 8802
In 1941 FDR passed it which prohibited discriminatory employment practices by fed agencies and all unions and companies engaged in war related work. It established the Fair Employment Practices Commission to enforce the new policy.
Levittown
In 1947, William Levitt used mass production techniques to build inexpensive homes in surburban New York to help relieve the postwar housing shortage. Levittown became a symbol of the movement to the suburbs in the years after WWII.
Montgomery Bus Boycott
In 1955, after Rosa Parks was arrested for refusing to give up her seat on a city bus, Dr. Martin L. King led a boycott of city busses. After 11 months the Supreme Court ruled that segregation of public transportation was illegal.
Bay of Pigs
In April 1961, a group of Cuban exiles organized and supported by the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency landed on the southern coast of Cuba in an effort to overthrow Fidel Castro. When the invasion ended in disaster, President Kennedy took full responsibility for the failure.
Korean War
The conflict between Communist North Korea and Non-Communist South Korea. The United Nations (led by the United States) helped South Korea.
Watergate
The events and scandal surrounding a break-in at the Democratic National Committee headquarters in 1972 and the subsequent cover-up of White House involvement, leading to the eventual resignation of President Nixon under the threat of impeachment.
Suburbanization
The process of population movement from within towns and cities to the rural-urban fringe.
national security state
a government dominated by powerful military, foreign policy, and intelligence agencies
Red Scare
fear that communists were working to destroy the American way of life
NAACP
National Association for the Advancement of Colored People
NSC-68
National Securtiy Council memo #68 US "strive for victory" in cold war, pressed for offensive and a gross increase ($37 bil) in defense spending, determined US foreign policy for the next 20-30 yrs
Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC)
New Deal program that hired unemployed men to work on natural conservation projects
Cuban Missile Crisis
The 1962 confrontation bewteen US and the Soviet Union over Soviet missiles in Cuba.
Baby Boomers
The 78 million people born during the baby boom, following World War II and lasting until the early 1960s
Agricultural Adjustment Act
(FDR) 1933 and 1938 , Helped farmers meet mortgages. Unconstitutional because the government was paying the farmers to waste 1/3 of there products. Created by Congress in 1933 as part of the New Deal this agency attempted to restrict agricultural production by paying farmers subsidies to take land out of production.
Social Security Act
(FDR) 1935, guaranteed retirement payments for enrolled workers beginning at age 65; set up federal-state system of unemployment insurance and care for dependent mothers and children, the handicapped, and public health
Alfred Kinsey: sexual motivation
-attempted to assess sexual practices thru surveys and confidential interviews -Kinsey Scale: 0-6 = heterosexual to homosexual; X = no interest in sex -women = more varied/experimental than men -variations in "normal" sex globally -premarital sex, masturbation -Kinsey Institute for Sex Orientation and Reproduction Research
Smith Act
1940 act which made it illegal to speak of or advocate overthrowing the U.S. government. Was used by Truman 11 times to prosecute suspected Communists
Lend-Lease Agreement
1941: agreement to lend rather than sell munitions to the Allied countries. When Hitler attacked the Soviet Union after breaking a promise the agreement was extended to Stalin
Battle of Midway
1942 World War II battle between the United States and Japan, a turning point in the war in the Pacific
Senator Joseph McCarthy
1950s; Wisconsin senator claimed to have list of communists in American gov't, but no credible evidence; took advantage of fears of communism post WWII to become incredibly influential; "McCarthyism" was the fearful accusation of any dissenters of being communists
Malcolm X
1952; renamed himself X to signify the loss of his African heritage; converted to Nation of Islam in jail in the 50s, became Black Muslims' most dynamic street orator and recruiter; his beliefs were the basis of a lot of the Black Power movement built on seperationist and nationalist impulsesto achieve true independence and equality
Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC)
1957 group founded by Martin Luther King Jr. to fight against segregation using nonviolent means
Barry Goldwater
1964; Republican contender against LBJ for presidency; platform included lessening federal involvement, therefore opposing Civil Rights Act of 1964; lost by largest margin in history
Richard Nixon
1968 and 1972; Republican; Vietnam: advocated "Vietnamization" (replace US troops with Vietnamese), but also bombed Cambodia/Laos, created a "credibility gap," Paris Peace Accords ended direct US involvement; economy-took US off gold standard (currency valued by strength of economy); created the Environmental Protection Agency, was president during first moon landing; SALT I and new policy of detente between US and Soviet Union; Watergate scandal: became first and only president to resign
NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization)
A 1949 defense alliance initiated by the US, Canada, and 10 Western European nations
Cold War
A conflict that was between the US and the Soviet Union. The nations never directly confronted each other on the battlefield but deadly threats went on for years.
House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC)
A congressional committee that investigated Communist influence inside and outside the U.S. government in the years following World War II.
Dust Bowl
A drought in the 1930s that turned the Great Planes very dry.
Dorothea Lange
A famous photographer who wanted to be one at a young age, and, when the Depression started, landed a job to photograph the Dust Bowl, which have been recognized as showing the desperation and bravery during this time. She didn't stop documenting the suffering of people until her 1965 death, but her 1930s pictures are the most well-known.
Feminism
A female movement for gender equality.
GI Bill
A law passed in 1944 that provided educational and other benefits for people who had served in the armed forces in World War II. Benefits are still available to persons honorably discharged from the armed forces.
Rationing
A limited portion or allowance of food or goods; limitation of use
Harlem Renaissance
A period in the 1920s when African-American achievements in art and music and literature flourished
Silent Majority
A phrase used to describe people, whatever their economic status, who uphold traditional values, especially against the counterculture of the 1960s
Redlining
A process by which banks draw lines on a map and refuse to lend money to purchase or improve property within the boundaries.
Credibility Gap
A public distrust of statements made by the government
Manhattan Project
A secret U.S. project for the construction of the atomic bomb.
Zoot Suit Riots
A series of riots in L.A. California during WW2, soldiers stationed in the city and Mexican youths because of the zoot suits they wore.
Environmentalism
A social movement dedicated to protecting the earth's life support systems for us and other species.
Great Depression
A time of utter economic disaster; started in the United States in 1929.
Axis Powers
Alliance of Germany, Italy, and Japan during World War II.
Allies
Britain, France, and Russia- Later joined by Italy
Double Victory
Campaign popularized by American Black Leaders during WW2 emphasizing the need for double victory: over Germany and Japan and also over racial prejudice in the US. Many blacks were fought in WW2 were disappointed that the America they returned to still hate racial tension
military-industrial complex
Eisenhower first coined this phrase when he warned American against it in his last State of the Union Address. He feared that the combined lobbying efforts of the armed services and industries that contracted with the military would lead to excessive Congressional spending.
National Organization for Women (NOW)
Founded in 1966, the National Organization for Women (NOW) called for equal employment opportunity and equal pay for women. NOW also championed the legalization of abortion and passage of an equal rights amendment to the Constitution.
Four Freedoms
Freedom of Speech, Religion, Want, from Fear; used by FDR to justify a loan for Britain, if the loan was made, the protection of these freedoms would be ensured
Jim Crow
Laws designed to enforce segregation of blacks from whites
Second Great Migration
Mass movement of southern African-Americans to northern cities to fill jobs
Herbert Hoover
Republican candidate who assumed the presidency in March 1929 promising the American people prosperity and attempted to first deal with the Depression by trying to restore public faith in the community.
Evangelicalism
Style of Christian ministry that includes much zeal and enthusiasm. Emphasizes personal conversion and faith rather than religious ritual
Ronald Reagan
first elected president in 1980 and elected again in 1984. He ran on a campaign based on the common man and "populist" ideas. He served as governor of California from 1966-1974, and he participated in the McCarthy Communist scare. Iran released hostages on his Inauguration Day in 1980. While president, he developed Reagannomics, the trickle down effect of government incentives. He cut out many welfare and public works programs. He used the Strategic Defense Initiative to avoid conflict. His meetings with Gorbachev were the first steps to ending the Cold War. He was also responsible for the Iran-contra Affair which bought hostages with guns.
Free Speech Movement
led by Mario Savio it protested on behalf of students rights. It spread to colleges throughought the country discussing unpopular faculty tenure decisions, dress codes, dormitory regulations, and appearances by Johnson administration officials.
Bayard Rustin
one of Martin Luther King's aids though most of his involvement in the movement was kept secret because of his morals arrest and supposed homosexuality. He was very involved in the planning of the March on Washington (1963) introduced King to the ideas of Ghandi.
John F. Kennedy
president during part of the cold war and especially during the superpower rivalry and the cuban missile crisis. he was the president who went on tv and told the public about hte crisis and allowed the leader of the soviet uinon to withdraw their missiles. other events, which were during his terms was the building of the berlin wall, the space race, and early events of the Vietnamese war.
Restrictive Covenants
provision in a property deed preventing sale to a person of a particular race or religion; loan discrimination; ruled unconstitutional
Executive Oder 9066
require japanese americans to be relocated to intermittent camps
Lyndon B. Johnson
signed the civil rights act of 1964 into law and the voting rights act of 1965. he had a war on poverty in his agenda. in an attempt to win, he set a few goals, including the great society, the economic opportunity act, and other programs that provided food stamps and welfare to needy famillies. he also created a department of housing and urban development. his most important legislation was probably medicare and medicaid.
Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee
students whose purpose was coordinate a nonviolent attack on segregation and other forms of racism
New Deal
the historic period (1933-1940) in the U.S. during which President Franklin Roosevelt's economic policies were implemented