Peiod 8 APUSH Vocabulary

containment

the concept of applying counter pressure to every political, military, or economic advance wherever and whenever the Soviets tried to make them

- it was seen as the only way to stop Russia's expansionist ways

fair deal

a package of economic and social reforms put forward by President Harry Truman, with the stated purpose of giving all Americans access to education, healthcare, and good jobs

- repealed the Taft-Hartley Act and included civil rights legislation

House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC)

created in 1938 to investigate alleged disloyalty and rebel activities on the part of private citizens, public employees, and organizations suspected of having communist ties

- they wrongly accused many people

McCarthyism

a campaign against alleged communists in the US government and other institutions during 1950-1954

- became famous for accusing people without evidence

Korean war

a proxy war between Soviet-backed North Korea and US-backed South Korea

- established the demilitarized zone at the 38th parallel

marshall plan

a plan for aiding the European nations in economic recovery after World War II in order to stabilize and rebuild their countries and prevent the spread of communism

- the US gave $13 billion

North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)

a military alliance of the western democratic countries that pledged to aid any member country that was attacked

- the Soviet Union responded with the Warsaw Pact

National Security Act

established the Department of Defense, Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), and National Security Council

- passed in 1947 in response to perceived threats from the Soviet Union after WWII

NSC-68

concluded that the only plausible way to deter the Soviet Union was for President Harry Truman to support a massive build-up of both conventional and nuclear arms

- called for an immediate increase in defense spending, to be paid for with a large tax increase

potsdam conference

July 26, 1945 - Allied leaders Truman, Stalin and Churchill met in Germany to set up zones of control and to inform the Japanese that if they refused to surrender at once, they would face total destruction

- paved the way for the division into east and west Germany

taft-harltley act

required workers to join a union after being hired, outlawed secondary boycotts, and gave the president power to invoke a cooling-off period before a strike endangering national safety

- was intended to check the power of unions

truman doctrine

established that the US would provide political, military, and economic assistance to all democratic nations under threat from internal or external authoritarian forces

- tried to prevent countries from falling into the Soviet sphere of influence

United Nations

an organization of independent states formed in 1945 to promote international peace and security

- mainly used to stop or deescalate wars

warsaw pact

a military alliance formed in 1955 by the Soviet Union and its eastern European satellite nations

- was the counter-alliance to NATO

yalta conference

a meeting in which Roosevelt, Churchill, and Stalin discussed the treatment of Germany, the status of Poland, the creation of the UN, and Russian entry into the war against Japan

- focused on forming a post-war peace

beats/beatnik/beat generation

a group of rebellious writers and intellectuals who advocated spontaneity, the use of drugs, and rebellion against social standards

- rebelled against traditional American values

brinkmanship

the act of pushing a situation to the verge of war in order to threaten and encourage one's opponent to back down

- many believed that the Cold War was a prime example of this

brown v. board of education

the 1954 Supreme Court decision that ruled that school segregation was unconstitutional because it violated the 14th amendment

- marked the end of legal segregation

levittown

the mass production of inexpensive suburban homes in New York

- became a symbol for the flight to the suburbs

massive retaliation

a military doctrine and nuclear strategy in which a state commits itself to retaliate in much greater force in the event of an attack

- was a counterpart to brinkmanship in the cold war

military industrial complex

the linking of the military and the defense industry

- emerged with the arms buildup of the Cold War

sputnik

the first satellite ever launched in space, launched by the Russians on October 4, 1957

- began the "Space Race”

UNIVAC

the first programmable computer

- it was used by the British in WWII to help crack coded messages being sent to the German Army

Bay of Pigs

a failed attack launched by the CIA during the Kennedy administration to push Cuban leader Fidel Castro from power

- caused Cuba to seek closer relations with the Soviet Union

black power

emphasized racial pride and the creation of black political and cultural institutions to nurture and promote black collective interests, advance black values, and secure black autonomy

- led to the passage of important civil rights acts

cuban missile crisis

the 1962 confrontation between US and the Soviet Union over Soviet missiles in Cuba

- greatly increased tensions

domino theory

a Cold War policy that suggested a communist government in one nation would quickly lead to communist takeovers in neighboring states

- justified US military intervention in Vietnam

freedom rides

organized mixed-race groups who rode interstate buses deep into the south to draw attention to and protest racial segregation

- these were a great success for the civil rights movement

freedom summer

a 1964 voter registration drive aimed at increasing the number of registered Black voters in Mississippi

- fought against voter intimidation and discrimination at the polls

geneva accords

a 1954 peace agreement that divided Vietnam into communist-controlled north Vietnam and non-communist south Vietnam

- officially ended the first indochina war

great society

President LBJ's legislations and programs intended to end poverty, reduce crime, abolish inequality, and improve the environment

- very similar to Roosevelt's New Deal

gulf of tonkin resolution

authorized President Johnson to take any measures he believed were necessary to retaliate and to promote the maintenance of international peace and security in southeast Asia

- gave the president the ability to send troops without congressional approval

immigration act of 1965

abolished the "national origins" quote and doubled the number of immigrants allowed to enter annually

- wanted to reunite immigrant families and attract skilled labor

medicaid

guaranteed healthcare for the poor

- part of Johnson's Great Society reforms

medicare

guaranteed healthcare for those 65 and older

- part of Johnson's Great Society reforms

march on washington

a peaceful civil rights demonstration led by Dr. Martin Luther Kind Jr in support of Kennedy-backed legislation to secure legal protections for American blacks

- one of the largest demonstrations for human rights in US history

new frontier

the campaign program launched by JFK in the 1960 election to revitalize the stagnant economy and enact reform legislation n education, health care, and civil rights

- his plan to "get America moving again"

Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC)

a group established in 1960 to promote and use non-violent means to protest racial discrimination

- they were primarily responsible for creating the sit-in movement

tet offensive

a series of major attacks by the Viet Cong and north Vietnamese troops on American and south Vietnamese troops

- weakened US public support for the war in Vietnam

viet cong

a communist-led army and guerilla force in south Vietnam that fought its government and was supported by north Vietnam

- wanted to overthrow the American backed south Vietnamese government

American Indian Movement (AIM)

a Native American organization founded in 1968 to protest government policies and injustices suffered by Native Americans

- wanted to protect the cultural independence of the Native Peoples

Cesar Chavez

a farm worker, labor leader and civil rights activist who helped improve conditions for migrant farm workers and unionize them

- founded the National Farm Workers Association in 1962

counterculture

a 1960s movement that rejected mainstream values and rebelled against the cultural norms of the time

- often called "hippies"

National Organization for Women (NOW)

founded in 1966, they called for equal employment opportunity and equal pay for women

- the largest feminist organization in the United States

New Left

new political movement of the late 1960s that called for radical changes to fight poverty and racism

- consisted of a lot of students

nixon doctrine

stated that the US would honor its existing defense commitments, but in the future other countries would have to fight their own wars without the support of American troops

- enforced "vietnamization"

OPEC

an economic organization consisting primarily of arab nations the controls the price of oil and the amount of oil its members produce and sell to other nations

- helped stabilize the oil market

pentagon papers

top-secret documents, published by the New York Times in 1971, that showed the blunders and deceptions that led the United States into the Vietnam war

- led many Americans to believe the government was untrustworthy

roe v. wade

all state laws prohibiting abortions were made unconstitutional based on a woman's right to privacy

- recognized the decision whether to continue/end a pregnancy belongs to the individual, not the government

silent majority

a term to describe the generally content, law-abiding middle-class Americans who supported both the Vietnam war and America's institutions

- they supported Nixon

stagflation

high rates of inflation combined with an economic slowdown and persistent high rates of unemployment

- characterized the 1970s recession

stonewall riot

a series of spontaneous, violent demonstrations by members of the gay community against a police raid of a gay nightclub

- influenced the founding of LGBTQ civil rights organizations

title IX

a law that bans gender discrimination in schools that receive federal funds

- designed to address discrimination against wome

vietnamization

a strategy to reduce American involvement in the Vietnam war by withdrawing US troops from south Vietnam and gradually replacing them with south Vietnamese troops

- transferred all military responsibilities to south Vietnam

watergate

Nixon attempted to cover up his participation in an illegal break-in at the Democratic National Committee offices in 1972

- he resigned before he was impeached for it