Cold War, Civil Rights

ROCK 'N' ROLL

"Crossover" musical style that rose to dominance in the 1950's, merging black rhythm and blues with white bluegrass and country. Featuring a heavy beat and driving rhythm, this music became a defining feature of the 1950's youth culture.

Douglas MacArthur

(1880-1964), U.S. general. Commander of U.S. (later Allied) forces in the southwestern Pacific during World War II, he accepted Japan's surrender in 1945 and administered the ensuing Allied occupation. He was in charge of UN forces in Korea 1950-51, before being forced to relinquish command by President Truman.

COLD WAR

(1945-1991) The period after WORLD WAR II marked by rivalry and tension between the two nuclear superpowers, the United States (capitalist) and the SOVIET UNION (communist.) The era ended when the Soviet government collapsed in 1991.

Cuban Missile Crisis

(JFK) , , an international crisis in October 1962, the closest approach to nuclear war at any time between the U.S. and the USSR. When the U.S. discovered Soviet nuclear missiles on Cuba, President John F. Kennedy demanded their removal and announced a naval blockade of the island; the Soviet leader Khrushchev acceded to the U.S. demands a week later, on condition that US doesn't invade Cuba

SNCC

(Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee)-a group established in 1960 to promote and use non-violent means to protest racial discrimination; they were the ones primarily responsible for creating the sit-in movement

NATO

..., North Atlantic Treaty Organization; an alliance made to defend one another if they were attacked by any other country; US, England, France, Canada, Western European countries

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

BROWN vs. BOARD OF EDUCATION

1954 Supreme Court decision which overturned Plessy vs. Ferguson. In a unanimous decision the Supreme Court ruled that all public schools should be desegregated "with all deliberate speed."

Lyndon Johnson

1963-1969, Democrat , 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 families. he also created a department of housing and urban development. his most important legislation was probably medicare and medicaid.

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

Harry Truman

33rd President of the United States. Led the U.S. to victory in WWII making the ultimate decision to use atomic weapons for the first time. Shaped U.S. foreign policy regarding the Soviet Union after the war.

KOREAN WAR

A conflict between UN forces (primarily US and S Korea) against North Korea and later China that took place between 1950 and 1953; Gen. Douglas MacArthur led UN forces until he was replaced by the president. Resulted in Korea remaining divided at the 38th parallel.

Civil Disobedience

A form of political participation that reflects a conscious decision to break a law believed to be immoral and to suffer the consequences.

LITTLE ROCK 9

A group of African American students enrolled in Little Rock Central High School in 1957. The students were initially prevented from entering the racially segregated school by Orval Faubus, the Governor of Arkansas; President Eisenhower sent in federal troops to protect the students and desegregate the school.

Vietcong

A group of Communist guerrillas who, with the help of North Vietnam, fought against the South Vietnamese government in the Vietnam War.

Boycott

A group's refusal to have commercial dealings with some organization in protest against its policies

RED SCARE

A period during the Cold War where the American public was terrified of Communists and the spread of Communism.

A-Bomb

A powerful new weapon called the atomic bomb. Made by splitting the nucleus of a uranium atom, releasing a huge amount of energy

Red Scare

A social/political movement designed to prevent a socialist/communist/radical movement in this country by finding "radicals," incarcerating them, deporting them, and subverting their activities

IRON CURTAIN

A term popularized by British Prime Minister Winston Churchill to describe the Soviet Union's policy of isolation during the Cold War. The barrier isolated Eastern Europe from the rest of the world.

Domino Theory

A theory that if one nation comes under Communist control, then neighboring nations will also come under Communist control.

THURGOOD MARSHALL

African American civil rights lawyer who argued the case of Brown vs. Board of Education on behalf of the NAACP in 1954. He was named the first black justice on the U.S. Supreme Court in 1967.

Berlin Airlift

Airlift in 1948 that supplied food and fuel to citizens of west Berlin when the Russians closed off land access to Berlin

TELEVISION

Although television had been around since the 1920's it wasn't until the late 1950's that the television had really began to replace previous news sources. In 1946 there were only 17,000 television sets in America, but by 1957 there were 40 million. Television made mass media available for people all over the United States, Europe, and other parts of the world.

24th Amendment

Amendment to the U.S. Constitution (1964) eliminated the poll tax as a prerequisite to vote in national elections.

Thurgood Marshall

American civil rights lawyer, first black justice on the Supreme Court of the United States. Marshall was a tireless advocate for the rights of minorities and the poor.

Warsaw Pact

An alliance between the Soviet Union and other Eastern European nations. This was in response to the NATO

JULIUS & ETHEL ROSENBERG

An engineer and his wife who were accused, tried, and executed in the early 1950's for running an espionage ring in New York City that gave atomic secrets to the Soviet Union; long considered unjustly accused victims of the Red Scare, recent evidence suggests that the husband was indeed a Soviet agent.

"I HAVE A DREAM" SPEECH

An historical speech given by Martin Luther King Jr. It was presented in front of 3/4 million people live, during the 1963 March On Washington; all TV programs were cancelled to broadcast this speech. He talked about his dream of equality for African Americans and an America free of racism.

United Nations

An international organization whose stated aims are to facilitate co-operation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress and human rights issues. It was founded in 1945 at the signing of the United Nations Charter by 50 countries, replacing the League of Nations, founded in 1919.

SOUTHERN CHRISTIAN LEADERSHIP COUNCIL

An organization of preachers and community leaders founded by MLK Jr., to direct the crusade against segregation. Its weapon was passive resistance that stressed nonviolence and love though peaceful confrontation.

CIVIL RIGHTS ACT OF 1964

Banned discrimination in public accommodations, prohibited discrimination in any federally assisted program, and outlawed discrimination in most employment; enlarged federal powers to protect voting rights and to speed school desegregation.This legislation, along with the Voting Rights Act of 1965, helped to finally give African-Americans legal equality in the U.S.

JOSEPH STALIN

Bolshevik revolutionary, head of the Soviet Union from 1928 to 1953. He led the country with an iron fist, using Five-Year Plans to increase industrial production and terror to crush opposition.

Satellite Nations

Communist nations in Eastern Europe on friendly terms with the USSR and thought of as under the USSR's control

WHITE CITIZENS COUNCILS

Created as a response to the Brown vs. Board of Education case as a means of preserving the "Southern way of life." Several chapters throughout the south used their economic and political power to intimidate African Americans who challenged segregation.

Fidel Castro

Cuban socialist leader who overthrew a dictator in 1959 and established a Marxist socialist state in Cuba (born in 1927)

Medgar Evers

Director of the NAACP in Mississippi and a lawyer who defended accused Blacks, he was murdered in his driveway by a member of the Ku Klux Klan.

SPUTNIK

First artificial Earth satellite, it was launched by the USSR in 1957 and sparked U.S. fears of Soviet dominance in technology and outer space. It led to the creation of NASA and the SPACE RACE.

CORE

First civil rights organization to use non-violent tactics to promote racial equality and desegregation

SPACE RACE

For military reasons, the US and USSR wanted to have the best space technology; USSR launched the first satellite and man in space; US achieved the first man on moon. This caused US to establish a focus on math and science in schools in the 1950's and '60's.

NASA

Founded in 1958 to compete with Russia's space program. It gained prestige and power with Kennedy's charge to reach the moon by the end of the 1960's.

George Marshall

He served as FDR's chief consultant during World War II and would go on to become Secretary of State under President Truman. It was during this time that he proposed the Marshall Plan which was an economic plan to rebuild post war Europe and insure that the speed of communism was contained. Army chief of staff, pushed for the formation of a women's auxiliary army corps (WAAC).

H-Bomb

Hydrogen bomb. This bomb is 67 times more powerful than the bomb that destroyed Hiroshima. The U.S. developed it first, closely followed by the Soviet Union.

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 buses. 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.

MARCH ON SELMA

In March of 1965, MLK and SCLC organized a major campaign in a small town in Alabama to pressure the federal government to enact voting rights legislation. Armed state troopers and other authorizes violently attacked the peaceful marchers on a day that became known as "Bloody Sunday." When Americans saw these attacks on the evening news millions were outraged and President Johnson went on national television to call for the passage of a strong federal voting rights law.

VOTING RIGHTS ACT OF 1965

Invalidated the use of any test or device (i.e. literacy test) designed to deny the vote and authorized federal examiners to register voters in states that had disenfranchised black people. Under the law, hundreds of thousands of African Americans were registered and the number of African American elected officials increased dramatically.

DWIGHT D. EISENHOWER

Leader of the Allied forces in Europe and commander at D DAY during WW II and President of the United States from 1953-1961. As president he sent in the national guard to help integrate Little Rock Central High School and is responsible for the INTERSTATE HIGHWAY ACT.

MAO ZEDONG

Leader of the COMMUNIST Party in CHINA that overthrew Nationalists in 1949. Established China as the People's Republic of China and ruled until his death in 1976.

38TH PARALLEL

Line of latitude that separated North and South Korea

ROSA PARKS

NAACP member who initiated the Montgomery Bus Boycott in 1955 when she was arrested for violating Jim Crow rules on a bus; her action and the long boycott that followed became an icon of the quest for civil rights and focused national attention on boycott leader Martin Luther King, Jr.

McCARTHYISM

Named after a senator from Wisconsin who, in 1950, began a sensational campaign against communists in government that led to more than four years of charges and counter-charges, ending when the Senate censured him in 1954. The term became the contemporary name for the RED SCARE of the 1950's.

LEVITTOWN

Named after the business man who, in 1947, used mass production techniques to build a neighborhood of inexpensive homes in suburban New York to help relieve the postwar housing shortage. This first example of a modern subdivision became a symbol of the movement to the suburbs in the years after WWII.

NAACP

National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, founded in 1909 to abolish segregation and discrimination, to oppose racism and to gain civil rights for African Americans, got Supreme Court to declare grandfather clause unconstitutional

THE MARSHALL PLAN

Plan of Truman's Secretary of State against "hunger, poverty, desperation, and chaos" a massive aid package offered by U.S.; they gave food and economic assistance to European countries rebuild after WW II.

CONTAINMENT POLICY

Policy introduced by Harry S. Truman after WWII that said the duty of the U.S. was to stop the spread of totalitarianism (implying COMMUNISM); Defined the foreign policy for the period after WWII until the fall of the BERLIN WALL in 1989.

TRUMAN DOCTRINE

Policy of providing economic and military aid to any country threatened by COMMUNISM or totalitarian ideology, mainly helped Greece and Turkey

INTEGRATION OF U.S. MILITARY

President Truman was unable to convince Congress to pass laws to improve civil rights. He did, however, have power over the military as the nation's Commander in Chief. On July 26, 1948, Truman issued an Executive Order to desegregate the armed forces.

INTERSTATE HIGHWAY SYSTEM

Proposed by PRESIDENT EISENHOWER, this is a network of limited access roadways that connects all major cities in the US. The system was initially designed to give troops faster routes to get to destinations across the US in the event of an attack on the US.

Segregation

Separation of people based on racial, ethnic, or other differences

SCLC

Southern Christian Leadership Conference, churches link together to inform blacks about changes in the Civil Rights Movement, led by MLK Jr., was a success

Berlin Blockade

The blockade was a Soviet attempt to starve out the allies in Berlin in order to gain supremacy. The blockade was a high point in the Cold War, and it led to the Berlin Airlift.

U.S.S.R.

The letters stand for Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (aka the SOVIET UNION) Created by Vladimir Lenin in 1922 as a COMMUNIST state and disbanded in 1991.

JACKIE ROBINSON

This player broke the color barrier in 1947 to become the first African American player in major league baseball; his actions helped to bring about other opportunities for African Americans.

DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR.

United States civil rights leader and Baptist minister who campaigned against the segregation of African Americans and for equality. He preached non-violence and was assassinated by James Earl Ray on April 4,1968. First came to national attention during the MONTGOMERY BUS BOYCOTT of 1955.

MLK Jr.

Was elected at the age of 26 to be the pastor to lead African Americans. He was to negotiate with city leaders for an end to segregation. He was a powerful speaker and had a Ph. D. in theology. He believed the only moral way to end segregation and racism was through nonviolent passive resistance. He drew upon philosophy's of Indian leader Mahatma Gandhi. He was one of the greatest leader in the Civil Rights movement.

LETTER FROM A BIRMINGHAM JAIL

Written by Martin Luther King, Jr. after being arrested during a peaceful protest in Alabama in response to criticisms from other clergymen, who believed that the fight for racial equality should not be fought on the streets, but in the courts and government.

Superpower

a country with enough military, political, and economic power to influence other countries.

Freedom Riders

a person who challenged racial laws in the American South in the 1960s, originally by refusing to abide by the laws designating that seating in buses be segregated by race.

Chiang Kia Shek

backed by US, democratic style leader, popular internationally, but lacks the peoples support

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 hate crisis and allowed the leader of the soviet union 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.

Sit-ins

protests by black college students, 1960-1961, who took seats at "whites only" lunch counters and refused to leave until served; in 1960 over 50,000 participated in sit-ins across the South. Their success prompted the formation of the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee.

Intergration

the act of unting of bringing together, especially people of different races

BABY BOOM

the collective group of babies born in the United States between 1946 and 1964, which was just after World War II, in a time of relative peace and prosperity. These conditions allowed for better education and job opportunities, encouraging high rates of both marriage and fertility.