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Levittown
The Levittown was developed on Long Islands. This place has a very affordable mass-produced housing. Highways were being built here to go from Rust Belt to Sun Belt. -
House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC)
This committee was responsible for investigating any communist activity going on in the U.S. during the Cold War. This was used as a weapon to get all citizens testify any high-profile hearings. -
War Powers Act
This act increased federal power during World War 2. It was only used in an emergency and it was signed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt. This act was created right after Japan attacked at Pearl Harbor. -
G.I. Bill (Servicemen's Readjustment Act 1944)
This G.I. Bill was created to hep any veteran coming back from World War 2. It provided each veteran with their needs like hospitals, low-income mortgages and tuition expenses for those veterans attending college or trade schools. This helped out many of the Veterans because coming back from war wasn't easy for them. -
Baby Boom Generation
The baby boom generation was a time during the 1950's that many babies were being born. The military coming back from war restarted their lives which meant getting married and having kids. It was estimated that about 78 million American babies were born during this generation. -
Iron Curtain
The Iron Curtain was popularized by a speech given by Churchill. This speech gave the explanation of the division of the Western Europe and the Soviet Bloc. They used the iron curtain as a call to war. -
Rust Belt vs Sun Belt
The Rust Belt was the region that stands in the upper Northeastern U.S, it went from the Great Lakes to the Midwest States. The Sun Belt was the region that stretched across the Southeast and Southwest in the U.S. There were highways that lead from Rust Belt to Sun Belt. -
Truman Doctrine
The Truman Doctrine was created by President Truman. This doctrine was created to hold communism together. It was now going to give aid to any country that was non-communist. They started with giving economic help to Greece and Turkey. -
Cold War
The Cold War was rivalry between the United States and the Soviet Union. This tension began during the WW2 but even after these two sides were yet not happy with each other, which lead to the Cold War. It was mostly about the Soviets being communist and the United States being anti-communist. -
Containment Policy
The Containment Policy was a strategy used by the United States to prevent the spreading of communism abroad. This policy would approach military and economic. The United States used this policy to justify their involvement in the Korean and Vietnam War. -
Marshall Plan
The Marshall Plan would give aid to all European nations so they could rebuild. This was created after the war because many were suffering from all the damage the war left behind. -
Berlin Airlift
After WW2 Germany was divided into two sides. The soviets had cut down all the entrances into Berlin, but the U.S. and its allies decided to supply people from that city. More than 2.3 million cargos were sent into West Berlin by they U.S. -
North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)
This was a way of defending the Western Europe from any Soviet aggression. This was the main alliance used by the U.S. against the Soviet. -
1950's Prosperity
Baby boom began it was when many children were born due to the soldiers coming back home and getting married. Polio Vaccine was being invented by Jonas Salk. Rock n' Roll was a hit during this time. -
McCarthyism
Named after Joseph McCarthy who was a republican senator. This was to decrease the communism threat. McCarthy was the judge when these suspects were accused, this meant that no one was safe from him. No evidence was needed to make these accusations. -
Korean War
The Korean War was the start of the Cold War. About 75,000 North Korean soldiers joined. Americans feared that the Koreans would start the World War 3. This war was divided by the 38th parallel that divided North Korea and South Korea. -
Rosenberg Trail
Ethel and Julius Rosenberg were executed because they were being spies for Russia. It was said that they were sending the U.S. info over the bomb. -
Dwight D. Eisenhower
Eisenhower was the leader of the Nazi invasion that began the D-Day. He proposed the open skies in 1955, this would allow the U.S. flights over the Soviet territory. He issued the Eisenhower doctrine, this would help any country that was threatened by any communist nation. -
Jonas Salk
Jonas Salk was a American medical researcher. Jonas Salk came up with the a vaccine that cured polio. With this new vaccine many people were saved from dying of the disease Polio. He was one of the greatest doctors during that time. -
Ray Kroc
Ray Kroc was a entrepreneur, he was the founder of the McDonald's Corporation. Kroc quickly made McDonald's a very successful business. His goal was always to produce the same food in different states and to all of it carry the same taste. -
Domino Theory
The domino theory soon began to lead a chain reaction of communist takeovers. This happened in the U.S. and eventually ended up with the neighboring states. The U.S. supported a non-communist government in South Vietnam against the communist government of North Vietnam. -
Space Race
The space race was a competition between the United States and the Soviet Union. This race began right after the launch of the Sputnik. The U.S. was disappointed that the Soviets were more advanced. -
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was conflict of a communist government in North Vietnam against South Vietnam and the U.S. More than 3 million people were killed from both sides. This war brought diversity in the United States. -
Rock n' Roll
Elvis Presley was on of the most known rock n' rollers. This genre became really popular in the early 50's. Most teenagers were listening to this and wee classified as "teenage rebellion." It was said that this type of music was encouraging race mixing and immoral behavior. -
Interstate Highway Act
The President at the time was Dwight D. Eisenhower and he was the one that signed this act into a law. This act created a "National System of Interstate and Defense Highways," that would get rid of unsafe roads, inefficient routes and traffic jams. This new route would also create quick evacuations in case of a atomic attack. -
Sputnik
The Sputnik was the first artificial satellite, that was launched by the Soviet Union. The Sputnik created more tension with the Americans because they were not yet that far on technology. This new invention just meant that the Soviet Union had just started a "space race." -
Bay of Pigs
Cuba invaded the Bay of Pigs. The invasion here was unsuccessful because the Cuban people did not plan it well. The invasion was said to happen to overthrow the Cuban leader Fidel Castro. -
Beatniks
The Beatniks displayed a superficial aspect of the Beat Generation. This term was referred to people that used drugs, were hustlers, and petty thieves. -
John F. Kennedy
John F. Kennedy was the 35th president of the United States. Kennedy experienced many war tensions between Cuba, Vietnam and elsewhere. He provided public services and later federal support for the civil rights movement. -
Cuban Missile Crisis
The U.S. discovered missiles in Cuba by the U.S. reconnaissance flights. This brought much fear to the U.S because they didn't know what Cuba had in mind, this meant for the U.S. to keep a eye out. John F. Kennedy later came up with a plan to deal the Missiles in Cuba. -
Anti-War Movement
The anti-war movement was a disapproval to start an armed conflict. After the U.S. helping South Vietnam many American started to reconsider their commitment in helping them with the communist aggression. -
Betty Friedan
Wrote a book called "The Feminine Mystique," this book questioned the roles of the women. All women during the 1950's had a traditional role that they had to just worry about keeping everything under control for their husbands. Friedan made this book to began to pursue the women to get out of that traditional role and become more independent. -
Lyndon B. Johnson
Lyndon B. Johnson became the 26th president of the United States. He started office right after JFK was assassinated. Johnson came up with the "great society," he wanted all Americans to live out of poverty and injustice. -
Gulf of Tonkin Resolution
This gave approval for an expansion of the Vietnam war. This was signed after the Gulf of Tonkin Incident. President Johnson didn't think the pubic was going to support this decision. Later Senator Barry Goldwater was criticizing Johnson for not taking action and not pursuing the war more aggressively. -
Great Society
The idea of great society was meant to end poverty and racial injustice. This was brought up by President Lyndon B. Johnson. -
Tet Offensive 1968
Tet was the Vietnamese New Year holiday. North Vietnam launched several attacks, South Vietnam had a lot destruction after this. During the Tet Offensive North Vietnam lost part of their military. -
Richard Nixon
Richard Nixon was the 37th president in the United States. He is also well known for being the only president that voluntarily left his position as a president instead of facing the consequences of illegal activities from member of his administrations. When he was president he wanted to withdrawal U.S. troops from the unpopular war in Vietnam. -
Vietnamization
This term was put by the U.S. President Richard Nixon. Vietnamization was a significant term because it meant the ending of American involvement in the Vietnam War. The Vietnam War had created a lot division in the American society, so putting this out would fix things with them and the Americans. -
Moon Landing
The moon landing began with aerospace technology. Nations quickly developed technology to go to the moon since it was the closes cosmic neighbor. -
26th Amendment
President Richard M. Nixon signed this amendment into a law. This amendment lowered the age for voting during the World War 2. Reason for this was because 18 year-old citizens were conscripted to fight war, but they were denied the right to vote until they were 21. President Franklin D. Roosevelt lowered the age to 18 because it was said "Old enough to fight, old enough to vote."
