1 Study
Civil Rights Movement: A struggle for social justice that took place mainly during the 1950s and 1960s for blacks to gain equal rights under the law in the United States.
Cold War: Geopolitical tension between the soviet union and the united states. Begins 1946 and ending between the revolutions of 1989 and the 1991 collapse of the USSR (which ended communism).
Communism: Ultimate goal is the establishment of the communist society, which is a socioeconomic order structured upon the common ownership of the means of production and the absence of social classes, money and the state.
Segregation: Stopped in schools in 1954, stopped in public in 1964, Stopped in the army in 1948.
Political polarization: The divergence of political attitudes to ideological extremes.
Vietnam: A conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975.
Engel v. Vitale: The Supreme Court ruled that it is unconstitutional for state officials to compose an official school prayer and encourage its recitation in public schools.
Gideon v. Wainwright: The Supreme Court unanimously ruled that states are required under the Sixth Amendment to provide an attorney to defendants in criminal cases who are unable to afford their own attorneys.
Scopes Trial: Formally known as The State of Tennessee v. John Thomas Scopes and commonly referred to as the Scopes Monkey Trial, was an American legal case in July 1925 in which John T. Scopes was accused of violating Tennessee's Butler Act, which had made it unlawful to teach human evolution in any state-funded school. The trial was deliberately staged in order to attract publicity to the small town of Dayton, Tennessee, where it was held.
Warren G. Harding: The 29th President of the United States from March 4, 1921, until his death in 1923. At the time of his death, Harding was one of the most popular presidents, but the subsequent exposure of scandals that took place under his administration such as Teapot Dome eroded his popular regard, as did revelations of an affair by Nan Britton, one of his mistresses.
Korematsu v. U.S.: A landmark United States Supreme Court case concerning the constitutionality of ordering Japanese Americans into internment camps during World War II regardless of their citizenship. In a 6–3 decision, the Court sided with the government, ruling that the exclusion order was constitutional.
Calvin Coolidge: John Calvin Coolidge Jr. was an American politician and the 30th President of the United States (1923-1929). A Republican lawyer from New England, born in Vermont, Coolidge worked his way up the ladder of Massachusetts state politics, eventually becoming governor.
Herbert Hoover: Herbert Clark Hoover was an American engineer, businessman and politician who served as the 31st President of the United States from 1929 to 1933 during the Great Depression.
The Free Speech Movement: A massive, long-lasting student protest which took place during the 1964–65 academic year on the campus of the University of California, Berkeley. The Movement was informally under the central leadership of Berkeley graduate student Mario Savio.
Student Anti-war movement: The movement against U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War. It began mostly on college campuses, as members of the leftist organization Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) began organizing "teach-ins" to express their opposition to the way in which it was being conducted. 1965.
Martin Luther King: In 1957 he was elected president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. In the eleven-year period between 1957 and 1968, King traveled over six million miles and spoke over twenty-five hundred times, appearing wherever there was injustice, protest, and action; and meanwhile he wrote five books as well as numerous articles. Worldwide recognition in Alabama. Named Man of the Year by Time magazine in 1963. Killed in 1968.
Malcolm X: An American Muslim minister and human rights activist. Advocated for black violence. He has been called one of the greatest and most influential African Americans in history. On February 21, 1965, he was assassinated by three members of the Nation of Islam.
Robert Kennedy: An American politician and lawyer who served as the 64th United States Attorney General from January 1961 to September 1964, and as a U.S. Senator in New York from January 1965 until his assassination in June 1968.
Franklin Roosevelt: An American statesman and political leader who served as the 32nd President of the United States from 1933 until his death in 1945. With World War II looming after 1938, Roosevelt gave strong diplomatic and financial support to China as well as the United Kingdom and the Soviet Union while the U.S. remained officially neutral. Following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941 Roosevelt obtained a declaration of war on Japan the next day, and a few days later, on Germany and Italy.
Tet Offensive: A coordinated series of North Vietnamese attacks on more than 100 cities and outposts in South Vietnam. Jan 30, 1968.
Manhattan Project: A research and development undertaking during World War II that produced the first nuclear weapons. Led by the United States with the support of the United Kingdom and Canada. From 1942 to 1946. U.S. Army corps of engineers.
Agricultural Adjustment Act: A United States federal law of the New Deal era designed to boost agricultural prices by reducing surpluses. FDR.
Works Progress Administration: The largest and most ambitious American New Deal agency, employing millions of people to carry out public works projects, including the construction of public buildings and roads. Headed by Harry Hopkins. May 6, 1935. Dissolved 1943.
Civilian Conservation Corps: A public work relief program that operated from 1933 to 1942 in the United States for unemployed, unmarried men. FDR march 21, 1933.
John F. Kennedy: An American politician who served as the 35th President of the United States from January 1961 until his assassination in November 1963. The majority of his presidency dealt with managing relations with the Soviet Union.
World War II: The Second World War, was a global war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. Generally said to have begun on 1 September 1939. Allies: Soviet Union, USA, UK, China. Axis: Italy, Japan, Germany.
Persian Gulf War: 2 August 1990 – 28 February 1991, operations leading to the buildup of troops and defense of Saudi Arabia and Operation Desert Storm. Together with the UK's prime minister Margaret Thatcher who had resisted the invasion by Argentina of the Falkland Islands a decade earlier George H. W. Bush deployed US forces into Saudi Arabia, and urged other countries to send their own forces to the scene. An array of nations joined the coalition, forming the largest military alliance since World War II. Before the term "Iraq War" became identified instead with the 2003 Iraq War. The Iraqi Army's occupation of Kuwait that began 2 August 1990 was met with international condemnation and brought immediate economic sanctions against Iraq by members of the UN Security Council.
Kent State Massacre: Shootings on May 4, 1970, of unarmed college students by members of the Ohio National Guard at Kent State University in Kent, Ohio, during a mass protest against the bombing of Cambodia by United States military forces.
Roe v. Wade: A landmark decision issued in 1973 by the United States Supreme Court on the issue of the constitutionality of laws that criminalized or restricted access to abortions.
2000 Presidential Election: The 54th quadrennial presidential election. It was held on Tuesday, November 7, 2000. Republican candidate George W. Bush, the Governor of Texas and the eldest son of the 41st President George H. W. Bush, won the election by defeating Democratic nominee Al Gore, the incumbent vice president. It was the fourth of five presidential elections in which the winning candidate lost the popular vote.
New Left: A broad political movement mainly in the 1960s and 1970s consisting of activists in the Western world who campaigned for a broad range of social issues such as civil and political rights, feminism, gay rights, abortion rights, gender roles and drug policy reforms.
New Right: A descriptive term for various right-wing political groups or policies in different countries. It has also been used to describe the emergence of Eastern European parties after the collapse of the Soviet Union and Soviet-style communism. The first New Right (1955–64) was centered around the libertarians, traditionalists, and anti-communists at William F. Buckley's National Review. The second New Right (1964–2014) tended to focus on emotional, wedge issues (such as abortion) and was often linked with the Religious Right.
Since 2014, the term 'New Right' has been used to describe the sudden wave of young conservative, libertarian, classical liberal, nationalist alt-lite, and supporters of President Donald Trump.
Korean War: A war between North Korea and South Korea. The war began on 25 June 1950 when North Korea invaded South Korea following a series of clashes along the border. The United Nations, with the United States as the principal force, came to the aid of South Korea. China came to the aid of North Korea, and the Soviet Union also gave some assistance to the North.
Beats: The Beat Generation was a literary movement started by a group of authors whose work explored and influenced American culture and politics in the post-World War II era. The bulk of their work was published and popularized throughout the 1950s.
Hiroshima: On August 6, 1945, during World War II an American B-29 bomber dropped the world's first deployed atomic bomb over the Japanese city of Hiroshima. The explosion wiped out 90 percent of the city and immediately killed 80,000 people.
Bush v. Gore: a decision of the United States Supreme Court that settled a recount dispute in Florida's 2000 presidential election. Issued on December 12, 2000.
Bush Doctrine: Refers to various related foreign policy principles of the 43rd President of the United States, George W. Bush. These principles include unilateralism and the use of preventative war.
Barack Obama: An American politician who served as the 44th President of the United States from January 20, 2009, to January 20, 2017. The first African American to become president.
Brown v. Board of Education: A landmark 1954 United States Supreme Court case in which the Court declared state laws establishing separate public schools for black and white students to be unconstitutional.
Lyndon Johnson: An American politician who served as the 36th President of the United States from 1963 to 1969.
Richard Nixon: An American politician who served as the 37th President of the United States, serving from 1969 until 1974, when he resigned from office, the only U.S. president to do so.
Watergate Scandal: A major political scandal that occurred in the United States during the early 1970s, following a break-in by five men at the Democratic National Committee headquarters at the Watergate office complex in Washington, D.C. on June 17, 1972, and President Richard Nixon's administration's subsequent attempt to cover up its involvement.
Iran-Contra Scandal: Senior administration officials secretly facilitated the sale of arms to Iran. Reagan Administration. 20 August 1985 – 4 March 1987.
Monica Lewinsky Scandal: an American political sex scandal that involved 49-year-old President Bill Clinton and 22-year-old White House intern Monica Lewinsky. Came to light in 1988.
Teapot Dome Scandal: A government scandal that took place in the United States during 1921–1923. A bribery incident involving the administration of then President Warren G. Harding.
War on Terror: An international military campaign that was launched by the United States government after the September 11 attacks in the United States in 2001.
Osama bin Laden: A founder of al-Qaeda, the organization responsible for the September 11 attacks in the United States and many other mass-casualty attacks worldwide.
Stock Market Crash (1929): Began on October 24, 1929, and was the most devastating stock market crash in the history of the United States. 12 year great depression.
Harvey Milk: An American politician and the first openly gay elected official in the history of California. January 8, 1978 – November 27, 1978. On November 27, 1978, Milk and Mayor George Moscone were assassinated by Dan White, who was another city supervisor.
SNCC: One of the major Civil Rights Movement organizations of the 1960s. Formed at a May 1960 meeting organized by Ella Baker at Shaw University. The Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee. Black power and anti Vietnam.
Japanese Internment: Japanese Americans incarcerated based on local population concentrations and regional politics. February 19, 1942 – March 20, 1946.
Court Packing Scheme: On February 5, 1937, President Franklin Roosevelt announces a controversial plan to expand the Supreme Court to as many as 15 judges, allegedly to make it more efficient.
Silent Majority: An unspecified large group of people in a country or group who do not express their opinions publicly. The term was popularized by U.S. President Richard Nixon on November 3, 1969.
Great Society: A set of domestic programs in the United States launched by Democratic President Lyndon B. Johnson in 1964–65. The main goal was the elimination of poverty and racial injustice.
Iran Hostage Crisis: A diplomatic standoff between Iran and the United States of America. Fifty-two American diplomats and citizens were held hostage for 444 days from November 4, 1979, to January 20, 1981, after a group of Iranian college students belonging to the Muslim Student Followers of the Imam's Line, who supported the Iranian Revolution, took over the U.S. Embassy in Tehran. The longest hostage crisis in recorded history.
John Lewis: an American politician and civil rights leader. He is the U.S. Representative for Georgia's 5th congressional district, serving since 1987, and is the dean of the Georgia congressional delegation. Freedom Bill and Freedom Schools. The youngest of the Big Six civil rights leaders.
Woodstock Music Festival: A music festival held on a dairy farm in the Catskill Mountains, northwest of New York City, between August 15–18, 1969, which attracted an audience of more than 400,000.
Sputnik 1: The first artificial Earth satellite. The Soviet Union launched it into an elliptical low Earth orbit on 4 October 1957, orbiting for three weeks before its batteries died, then silently for two more months before falling back into the atmosphere.
Jimmy Carter: An American politician who served as the 39th President of the United States from 1977 to 1981.
Levittown: The name of seven large suburban housing developments created in the United States of America and in Puerto Rico by William Levitt and his company Levitt & Sons. Built after World War II for returning veterans and their new families. 1947.
Détente: The name given to a period of improved relations between the United States and the Soviet Union that began tentatively in 1971 and took decisive form when President Richard M. Nixon visited the secretary-general of the Soviet Communist party, Leonid I. Brezhnev, in Moscow, May 1972.
McCarthyism: The practice of making accusations of subversion or treason without proper regard for evidence. The term refers to U.S. Senator Joseph McCarthy and has its origins in the period in the United States known as the Second Red Scare, lasting roughly from 1947 to 1956.
Baby Boom: A period marked by a significant increase of birth rate. Beginning in late 1930s or early 1940s and ending in the 1960s.
1. The first atomic bomb was developed in secret as a result of the U.S. Government's: Manhattan Project
2. In the 1920 campaign for president, Warren G. Harding said the country needed to return to: Normalcy
3. Which occurred first?
A. Germany's invasion of Poland
B. Japanese attack on U.S. Naval base at Pearl Harbor
C. Battle of Iwo Jima
Answer: C
4. Which occurred first?
A. Watergate scandal
B. Iran-Contra scandal
C. Teapot Dome scandal
Answer: C
5. Richard Nixon was impeached as a result of the Watergate scandal. True.
6. McCarthyism, when used in the context of the early 1950s refers, does not refer to a style of utilitarian architecture that dominated public university campuses in the post-World War II decades.
7. The U.S. Supreme Court's ruling in the case of Plessy v. Ferguson overturned the "separate but equal doctrine."
8. During the Carter Administration, Iran held 52 Americans hostage for 444 days.
9. Lyndon Johnson, Great Society.
Harvey Milk, Gay Rights.
Albert Fall, Teapot Dome Scandal.
Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, Espionage.
Martin Luther King, Jr., SCLC
