SEMESTER 2 STUDY GUIDE
(available in podcast form on homepage with definitions for each term)
37 Did the United States learn from past mistakes
at the end of World War II?
World Bank – a bank founded in 1944 by the United States and 43 other nations in order to
provide loans to help countries recover from World War II and develop their economies.
United Nations (UN) - an international organization founded in 1945 to further the causes of
peace, prosperity, and human rights.
Four Freedoms – essential freedoms identified by FDR in a 1941 speech and later incorporated
into the UN charter: freedom of speech and expression, freedom of worship, freedom from want,
and freedom from fear.
Universal Declaration of Human Rights- a document adopted by the United Nations in 1948
affirming basic human rights, including the right to life, liberty, and equality before the law, as
well as freedom of religion, expression, and assembly.
Nuremberg War- a series of trials in 1945 and 1946 in Nuremberg, Germany, in which an
international military tribunal convicted former Nazi leaders of war crimes.
Crimes Trials- ?????
GI Bill of Rights – a law passes in 1994 to provide federal funds to help returning GI’s make the
transition to civilian life.
Geneva Conventions – a series of international agreements that set rules for proper conduct
toward sick and wounded enemy soldiers and the civilians who take care of them.
International Criminal Court (ICC)- a permanent international tribunal established in 1998, with
the power to try people accused of genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes, and the
crime of aggression. More than half of the world’s nations, including the United States, have not
joined the ICC.
38 How did the United States and the Soviet Union
become Cold War adversaries?
Cold War – the hostile but nonviolent struggle for power between the United States and the
Soviet Union, as well as their respective allies, from the end of World War II to the collapse of
the Soviet Union in 1991.
Yalta Conference – held in February 1945 in the Soviet city of Yalta, a conference of the main
Allied Leaders – U.S. president Franklin D. Roosevelt, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill,
and Soviet premier Joseph Stalin – to plan the future of post – World War II Empire.
Potsdam Conference – in July and August 1945 in the German city of Potsdam, a conference of
the main Allied minister Winston Churchill and later his successor Clement Atlee, and Soviet
premier Joseph Stalin- to finalize post- World War II plans for Europe.
UN Atomic Energy Commission- ???
Iron Curtain- the ideological barrier that existed between Eastern and Western Europe from
1945 to 1990
Truman Doctrine- a U.S. foreign policy, established in 1947 by President Harry S. Truman, of
providing economic and military aid to countries- initially Greece and Turkey- that were
attempting to resist communism
Marshall Plan-a U.S. plan, initiated by Secretary of State George Marshall and implemented
from 1948 to 1951, to aid in the economic recovery of Europe after World War II by offering
certain European countries substantial funds.
Molotov Plan – a soviet plan, initiated by Soviet Foreign minister Vyacheslav Molotov in 1949, to
aid in the economic recovery of Eastern Europe after World War II by establishing the Council
for Mutual Economic Assistance to create two-way trade agreements between the Soviet Union
and other COMECOM members and to integrate members’ economies.
39 Were the methods used by the United States to
contain communism justified?
Berlin Blockade- the Soviet Blockade of the German city of Berlin, implemented from 1948 to
1949 to halt land travel into the city in hopes of forcing the Unites States, Great Britain, and
France to give up their plan to combine their occupation zones into a single, democratic West
German state; the Allied nations resisted the blockade by airlifting food and supplies into Berlin.
North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)- - as part of the Cold War, a military alliance forms in
1949 among the United States, Canada, France, Luxembourg, Belgium, the Netherlands,
Iceland, Italy, Britain, Denmark, Norway, and Portugal- and expanded to include Greece and
Turkey in 1952 and West Germany in 1955- to establish collective security against the Soviet
Union.
Warsaw Pact –as part of the Cold War and in response to the formation of the North Atlantic
Treaty Organization, an agreement signed in 1955 by Soviet Union, Albania, Bulgaria,
Czechoslovakia, East Germany Hungary, Poland, and Romania to establish a military alliance
for mutual defense.
Korean War – a war fought on the Korean Peninsula from 1950 to 1953 after troops from
communist North Korea, armed Soviet weapons, invaded democratic South Korea, prompting
the United States and the United Nations to send forces to support South Korea and fight to
unify the Korean Peninsula into one democratic nation, which in turn prompted China to join the
war on North Korea’s side; at war’s end, the peninsula remained divided into two nations.
Third World – originally, the group of nations that had recently gained independence from
colonial rule and were no aligned with the West (First World) or the East (Second World) after
World War II; more broadly, the developing nations of the world.
H-bomb – a hydrogen bomb, or a bomb created by fusing atoms; more powerful an atomic
bomb, a weapon of mass destruction that the United States first Tested in 1952 as part of the
arms race.
Mutual Assured Destruction (MAD) – during the arms race between the United States and the
Soviet Union, the principle that either side would respond to a nuclear attack launching its own
missiles, which helped prevent the Cold War from becoming a hot war.
40 How did the anxieties raised by the Cold War affect
life in the United States?
Communist sympathizer – a person who believes in communist ideology but is not a member of
the Communist Party.
House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) – formed in 1938, a committee of the U.S.
House of Representatives that investigated subversive organizations in the United States until
1975
Alger Hiss case – a court case involving Alger Hiss, a U.S. State Department official accused of
passing secrets to the Soviet Union, that contributed to a growing fear of subversion during the
early Cold War; in 1950 a federal grand jury convicted Hiss of perjury, but his guilt in regard to
espionage was not proven.
Rosenberg trial – the controversial 1951 trial of two Americans, Ethel and Julius Rosenberg,
charged with passing atomic secrets to the soviet Union; the two were sentenced to death and
executed in 1953, making them the only American civilians to be put to death for spying during
the Cold War.
McCarthyism – the practice of publicly accusing people of subversive activities without evidence
to back up the charges; named for Senator Joseph McCarthy, who began such a practice in the
early 1950s as part of the search for communists in the United States during the early Cold War.
Atomic Age- the era in which atomic weapons have been used, beginning in 1945 with the first
use of atomic bomb and lasting to the present time
Federal Civil Defense Administration (FCDA)-a federal agency established by Congress in 1951
to plan for civil defense during the arms race by preparing Americans to survive a nuclear
attack.
41 Why are the 1950s remembered as an age of affluence?
Fair Deal- President Harry S. Truman’s domestic program, which he began promoting in 1945
with such intentions as increasing the minimum wage, increasing aid to agriculture and
education, and enacting a national health insurance program, only some of which Congress
approved.
Taft-Hartley Act – a law passed by Congress, though President Harry S. Truman vetoed it, in
1947 to limit the power of unions.
baby boom – the large increase in the number of babies born in proportion to the size of the
population that took place after World War II and lasted until 1964
Levittown- the first planned community in the nation, built between 1947 and 1951 in Long
Island, New York, to relieve the housing shortage of the Great Depression and World War II
years.
Sunbelt – the “belt” of warm-weather states that stretches across the southern third of the
United States, from Florida to California.
interstate highway system – authorized by Congress in 1956, a network of highways that
connect major cities around the country; all highways are built under the same guidelines, so
that each has at least two lanes in each direction, periodic rest areas for travelers, and no traffic
lights or railroad crossings.
polio vaccine – a vaccine, for the often deadly disease polio, developed by Dr. Jonas Salk and
released for use in the Unites States in 1955
42 How did some Americans rebel against conformity in the 1950s?
rock ’n’ roll – a popular music form that originated in the United States during the 1950s
suburbia –the nation’s suburbs, collectively, and the people who live there.
The Organization Man – a 1956 book by sociologist William Whyte that influenced Americans’
perception of corporate and bureaucratic work life in suburbia
beat movement – a social and literary movement that began in the 1950s in New York City’s
Greenwich Village, spread to San Francisco, and broke from convention in many ways,
including setting a new style of dress, the adoption of Eastern religions, and the use of a writing
technique known as stream of consciousness.
youth culture – the popular culture of the teenagers in a society
abstract expressionism- a movement in American painting, which became widely practiced in
the 1950’s that rarely depicted recognizable objects and intended to evoke an emotional
response rather than intellectual appreciation
PR
43 Why did poverty persist in the United States in an age of affluence?
Housing Act of 1949- a law passed by Congress In 1949 to create public housing and urban
renewal programs in order to help all Americans live in decent conditions
Appalachia – a mountainous region in the southeastern United States
termination policy – during the 1940s and 1950s, a federal policy focused on ending the special
status of American Indian tribes and integrating Indians into mainstream American culture.
Voluntary Relocation Program – during the 1950s and 1960s, a federal program that worked to
relocate American Indians from reservations to cities.
44 How did segregation affect American life in the postwar period?
De facto segregation- segregation established by practice and custom, rather than by law.
De jure segregation- segregation by law.
Executive Order 9981- an executive order issued by President Harry S. Truman in 1948 ending
segregation in the military.
Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) - an organization founded in 1942 that was dedicated to
civil rights reform through nonviolent action.
Brown v. Board of Education- the 1954 Supreme Court ruling declaring that segregation in public schools
was unconstitutional
Warren Court- a supreme court under Chief Justice Earl Warren from 1953 to 196, known for its
activism on civil rights and free speech
45 How did civil rights activists advance the ideals of liberty,
equality, and opportunity for African Americans?
Montgomery Bus Boycott-a 1955 boycott that resulted in the integration of Montgomery,
Alabama’s bus system
Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC)-an organization formed by MLK Jr. and
other civil rights leaders in 1957 to use nonviolent resistance to achieve social and political
goals
Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC)-a civil rights organization formed in 1960
by college students, who organized sit-ins and other nonviolent protests.
March on Washington- a 1963 protest in which more than 250,000 people demonstrated in the
nations capital for “jobs and freedom” and the passage of civil rights legislation.
Civil Rights Act of 1964-a landmark act that banned discrimination on the basis of race, sex,
religion, or national origin, the most important civil rights law since reconstruction.
Freedom Summer-a 1964 campaign in which blacks and whites rode interstate buses together
in 1961 to test whether southern states were complying with the supreme court ruling against
segregation on interstate transport.
Voting Rights Act of 1965- an act of congress outlawing literary tests and tactics that had long
been used
46 How did civil rights activists change their strategies and goals in the 1960s
and 1970s, and how successful were they in achieving racial equality?
black power-the call by many civil rights activists, beginning in the mid-1960’s for African
Americans to have economic and political power, with an emphasis on not relying on nonviolent
protest
Watts riot-a 1965 race riot in Watts, a black ghetto in los Angeles, caused by frustrations about
poverty, prejudice and police mistreatment
Kerner Commission-the national Advisory Commission on Civil disorders that concluded that
white racism was the fundamental cause of the Watts riot
Nation of Islam-a religious group, also known as the black muslims, that promoted complete
separation from white society by establishing black businesses, schools, and communities
Black Panther Party-a group founded in 1966 that demanded economic and political rights and
was prepared to take violent action
a landmark act that banned discrimination on the basis of race, sex, religion, or national origin,
the most important civil rights law since reconstruction.
Swann v. Charlotte- the 1971 Supreme Court ruling that busing was an acceptable way to achieve school
integration
Mecklenberg Board of EducationRegents of the University of California v. Bakke- a 1978 supreme court ruling that narrowly upheld
affirmative action, declaring that race may be one factor, but not the sole criterion , in school admissions
47 Why and how did the civil rights movement expand?
United Farm Workers(UFW)- a small union for migrant workers for migrant workers, founded in
the late 1960’s
National Organization for Women (NOW)-a group formed in 1966 to advance women’s rights
women’s liberation-the goal of emancipating women from customs and laws that keep them
subordinate to men
American Indian Movement (AIM)-a movement formed in 1968 by Indian activists to protest
unfair
Japanese American Citizens League (JACL)-an organization formed in 1929 to defend the
rights of Japanese Americans
Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)-a law passed by congress in 1990 requiring better public
access and improved education for people with disabilities
Stonewall riots-riots in 1969 by customers of a gay bar in New York in response to a police raid;
the clash marked the beginning of the gay rights movement.
Gray Panthers-an organization formed in 1972 to speak out against unfair treatment of older
Americans
SEMESTER 3 1960’S & VIETNAM
48 Was John F. Kennedy a great president?
New Frontier- President JFK’s domestic program from 1961 to 1963, which aimed to increase
support for education, antipoverty programs, and medical care for the elderly; cut taxes; raise
the minimum wage; ban racial discrimination; and increase defense spending.
National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) - a U.S. government agency
established in 1958 for the research and development of space exploration vehicles and
projects.
Bay of Pigs invasion- an invasion of Cuba in 1961, which was authorized by JFK for the purpose
of overthrowing Castro’s regime, organized by the CIA, executed by Cuban exiles, and defeated
by Castro’s forces.
Berlin Wall- a concrete wall that the communist East German government erected in 1961 to cut
off West Berlin from the rest of East Germany and prevent East Germans from escaping into
democratic West Berlin; the wall stood until 1989.
Cuban missile crisis- a confrontation between the United States and Soviet Union in fall 1962
over the building of Soviet missile-launching sites in Cuba, in response to which the United
States established a quarantine to prevent Soviet ships from transporting missiles to Cuba and
to demand withdrawal of all Soviet weapons from the island; after a few days, the Soviet Union
agreed to withdraw its missiles and president JFK agreed to not invade.
Test Ban Treaty- an agreement signed by the U.S., the Soviet Union, and great Britain in 1963
to ban nuclear testing in the atmosphere but allow underground testing.
Peace Corps
49
Great Society- President Lyndon Johnson’s domestic reform program from 1965 to 1969, which
focused on social welfare improvements, with the War on Poverty at its centerpiece, and almost
all of which Congress passed.
War on Poverty- President Lyndon Johnson’s extensive antipoverty program from 1964 to 1969
was the centerpiece of which was the Economic Opportunity Act of 1964.
Economic Opportunity Act- a law passed by congress in 1964 to create dozens of federal
antipoverty programs, including the Job Corps and VISTA, and the Office of Economic
Opportunity to oversee them.
Medicare- a federal health insurance program that pays for hospital and nursing home services
for U.S. citizens 65 years or older.
Medicaid- a health insurance program that is jointly financed by federal and state governments
and that covers low-income people as well as older Americans who have used up their
Medicare benefits.
Immigration Act of 1965- a law passed by Congress in 1965 to eliminate immigration quotas
based on country of origin and to make a person’s skills and ties to family in the United States
the key criteria for admission into the country.
Silent Spring- a 1962 book by Rachel Carson that raised public interest in environmentalism by
revealing how uncontrolled pesticide use was poisoning the environment.
Warren Court- the Supreme Court under chief Justice earl Warren from 1953 to 1969, known for
its activism on civil rights and free speech.
Miranda rights- the rights of a person accused of a crime to remain silent and to have a lawyer
present when being questioned.