Period 8 Terms
House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC)
1938- creation to investigate disloyal activities by private citizens in the US that could have ties to communism.
Sunbelt
A stretch from the southwest to the southeast in the US. In the 60s, there was an increase in population there because of the mild and sunny weather.
McCarthyism
A vociferous campaign against alleged communists in the US government and other institutions carried out under Senator Joseph McCarthy
American Indian Movement (AIM)
A Native American organization founded in 1968 to protest government policies and injustices suffered by Native Americans; in 1973, organized the armed occupation of Wounded Knee, South Dakota.
Tet Offensive
A campaign of surprise attacks against military and civilian command and control centers throughout South Vietnam on the Vietnamese New Year
Nuclear Arms Race
A competition for supremacy in nuclear warfare between the United States, the Soviet Union, and their respective allies during the Cold War
Vietnam War
A conflict, starting in 1954 and ending in 1975, between South Vietnam (later aided by the U.S., South Korea, Australia, the Philippines, Thailand, and New Zealand) and the Vietcong and North Vietnam
Cuban Missile Crisis
A confrontation between the United States and the Soviet Union in 1962 over the presence of missile sites in Cuba
Bay of Pigs
A failed military invasion of Cuba undertaken by the Central Intelligence Agency; helped to strengthen the position of Castro's leadership, made him a national hero, and cemented the rocky relationship between the former allies
Beatniks
A media stereotype of young people in the 50s and 60s that showed superficial parts of the Beat Generation.
NATO
A military alliance of European and North American democracies founded after World War II to strengthen international ties between member states—especially the United States and Europe—and to serve as a counter-balance to the Soviet Union and the Warsaw Pact
Warsaw Pact
A military alliance of communist nations in eastern Europe; organized in 1955 in answer to NATO, the Warsaw Pact included Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, East Germany, Hungary, Poland, Romania, and the Soviet Union
Title IX
A part of the Education Amendments which prohibited sex discrimination in any educational programs or activities that are funded by the federal government.
Marshall Plan
A program by which the United States gave large amounts of economic aid to European countries to help them rebuild after the devastation of World War II
Truman Doctrine
American foreign policy that countered Soviet expansion by containing threats to Greece and Turkey
Gloria Steinem
An American feminist, journalist, and social and political activist who became nationally recognized as a leader of and media spokeswoman for the women's liberation movement in the late 1960s and 1970s.
Military-Industrial Complex
An informal alliance between the military and the arms military that was first heard in a speech made by Eisenhower.
Silent Spring
Book published in 1962 by biologist Rachel Carson. Its analysis of the pesticide DDT's toxic impact on the human and natural food chains galvanized environmental activists.
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
Born in the wake of elevated concern about environmental pollution, EPA was established on December 2, 1970 to consolidate in one agency a variety of federal research, monitoring, standard-setting and enforcement activities to ensure environmental protection. Since its inception, EPA has been working for a cleaner, healthier environment for the American people.
Sputnik
Each of a series of Soviet artificial satellites, the first of which (launched on October 4, 1957) was the first satellite to be placed in orbit
SALT I
Ending the cold war, there were conferences that resulted in Salt 1&2. Salt 1 froze ballistic missile launchers and limited ICBMs and SLBMs.
Anti-war protest: Kent State University
Four Kent State University students were killed and nine were injured on May 4, 1970, when members of the Ohio National Guard opened fire on a crowd gathered to protest the Vietnam War. The tragedy was a watershed moment for a nation divided by the conflict in Southeast Asia. In its immediate aftermath, a student-led strike forced the temporary closure of colleges and universities across the country.
Levittown/Suburbans
In the 1950s, suburbs became the new American culture because of veterans returning from war. There was a need for housing and communities for people to settle down and raise families.
New Frontier
JFK policy that provided unemployment benefits, aid for housing and transportation, water pollution control, agriculture acts, and to expand social security benefits.
1973 War Powers Act
Law passed over the veto of President Richard Nixon, the act sought to restrain the president's ability to commit U.S. forces overseas by requiring the executive branch to consult with and report to Congress before involving U.S. forces in foreign hostilities. Widely considered a measure for preventing "future Vietnams," it was nonetheless generally resisted or ignored by subsequent presidents, many of whom regarded it as an unconstitutional usurpation of their executive authority.
Rise of Mao Zedong
Leader of the Chinese Communists and proclaimed the People's republic of China in 1949 as the head of the communist party.
Great Society
Lyndon Johnson's programs for ending poverty and improving healthcare and education (War on Poverty, Job Corps, Medicare/Medicaid)
Silent Majority
Nixon Administration's term to describe generally content, law-abiding middle-class Americans who supported both the Vietnam War and America's institutions. As a political tool, the concept attempted to make a subtle distinction between believers in "traditional" values and the vocal minority of civil rights agitators, student protesters, counter-culturalists, and other seeming disruptors of the social fabric.
Equal Rights Amendment (ERA)
On March 22, 1972, the Senate passed the Equal Rights Amendment to the United States Constitution, which proposed banning discrimination based on sex. The ERA was sent to the states for ratification, but it would fall short of the three-fourths approval needed.
Dulles Foreign Policy
Policy that had an aggressive stance against communist in the world. Dulles wanted to fight communism and build alliances.
1968 Election
Richard Nixon elected on "law and order" campaigned towards white middle class, aka, silent majority. Law and Order campaign meant cracking down on student protesters, activists, etc.
SALT II
Series of talks between the United states and the Soviet Union that were to reduce the manufacturing of nuclear weapons. Created first nuclear arms treaty.
Housing and Urban Development
The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) is a cabinet-level agency that oversees federal programs designed to help Americans with their housing needs. HUD seeks to increase homeownership, support community development and increase access to affordable housing free from discrimination. The agency enforces a swath of federal housing laws, operates mortgage-supportive initiatives and distributes millions of dollars in federal grants.
Korean War
The Korean War was a war between North Korea (with the support of China and the Soviet Union) and South Korea (with the principal support of the United States). According to some sources the two Koreas are technically still at war.
US Involvement in Middle East (Israel, Suez Crisis, Iran)
The US has always been in the middle east from Truman having troops stationed during WWII, Eisenhower dealing with the Suez Canal, and Kennedy having economic aid in the middle east.
US Involvement in Latin America (Dominican Republic, Guatemala)
The US invaded and occupied the countries after revolt broke out within the countries due to dictatorship.
Berlin Crisis
The USSR provoked the Berlin Crisis with an ultimatum demanding the withdrawal of Western armed forces from West Berlin—culminating in the city's de facto partition with the East German erection of the Berlin Wall
United Farm Workers
The United Farm Workers of America (UFW) began in 1962 as a coalition of poorly paid migrant farm workers and grew into a powerful Labor Union that has consistently fought to increase wages and improve working conditions for its members, founded by Cesar Chavez
Geneva Accords
The agreement temporarily separated Vietnam into two zones, a northern zone to be governed by the Viet Minh rebels, and a southern zone to be governed by the State of Vietnam
Brown v Board & Thurgood Marshall
Thurgood Marshall won the Brown v board case with the ruling that separate is not equal, and that African Americans needed to have the same opportunities and be integrated.
Paris Peace Talks
Treaty signed to end the Vietnam war and restore peace in Vietnam. It stopped the fighting within the country and ended US military combat in the country.
Watergate
Watergate scandal, interlocking political scandals of the administration of U.S. Pres. Richard M. Nixon that were revealed following the arrest of five burglars at Democratic National Committee (DNC) headquarters in the Watergate office-apartment-hotel complex in Washington, D.C., on June 17, 1972. On August 9, 1974, facing likely impeachment for his role in covering up the scandal, Nixon became the only U.S. president to resign.
Malcolm X
activist/outspoken voice of the Black Muslim faith that challenged mainstream civil rights movement and nonviolent pursuits. He urged followers to defend themselves by "any means necessary" (Black Power movement)
Freedom Summer ('64)
aimed at dramatically increasing voting registration in Mississippi run by COFO
SCLC
civil rights organization as an offshoot of the Montgomery Improvement Association which staged a 381 day boycott of the Montgomery Alabma's Segregated bus system
The Feminine Mystique by Betty Friedan
broke new ground by exploring the idea of women finding personal fulfillment outside their traditional roles
SNCC
focused on mobilizing local communities in nonviolent protests to expose injustice and demand federal action (Ella Baker, Freedom Rides, Freedom Summer, March on Washington)
Civil Rights Act of 1964
extensive measures to dismantle Jim Crow segregation and combat racial discrimination. Included provision to strengthen voting rights of African Americans in the South
CORE
interracial organization committed to achieving integration through nonviolent direct action and civil disobedience (Montgomery Bus Boycott, Freedom Rides, March on Washington)
Affirmative Action
jfk's plan to equalize the educational, employment, and contracting opportunities for minorities and women with opportunities given to their white, male counterparts
Head Start Program
lbj's program to help meet the emotional, social, health, nutritional, and psychological needs of preschool-aged children from low-income families. "war on poverty"
Black power
militant ideology that preached black self-reliance, self-defense, and radical pride
Immigration Act of 1965
new immigration policy based on reuniting immigrant families and attracting skilled labor to the US from Asia, Africa, and Latin America
Martin Luther King, Jr.
nonviolent social activist in civil rights movement. Famous for Montgomery Bus Boycott and March on Washington
Opposition to Vietnam War (SDS)
student groups across the nation criticizing foreign policy and attacked Cold WAr assumptions (Port Huron Statement)