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House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC)
A committee created to search out disloyal Americans and organizations suspected of communism. -
G.I. Bill
The G.I. Bill was created to help veterans from WWII it made low interest mortgages available, granted stipends covering tuition, and expenses for veterans attending college. The bill was brought up and signed by President Roosevelt June 22, 1944. The bill gave serviceman benefits. -
Baby Boom Generation
The baby boom generation is the term given to the huge birthrate jump from 1945 to 1964 following WWII. People believe the baby boom was a result from people that postponed marriage and starting a family during the Great Depression and WWII after everything was over they were all eager to start families. Baby boomers lived the first idea of a teenage life. -
Iron Curtain
The iron curtain is a metaphor for the division between Western Europe and the Soviet Bloc after WWII to help decline the spread of communism. -
Cold War
A 45 year long war of words between the U.S. and Soviet Union, threats went on forever but no war on the battle field ever happened. -
Levittown
Levittown is the name of seven large suburban housing developments created in the U.S. It was the first truly mass produced suburb, to seed up production there was a 26 step rationalized building method that was like an assembly line in home building. -
Containment Policy
This is a policy used from 1947 to 1989 in order to stop the spread of communism. It was a component of the Cold War, a response to the Soviet Union after they were trying to influence other places to be communist. -
Truman Doctrine
The Truman Doctrine was a policy of containment, created to help keep communism from spreading to neighboring countries. The U.S. promised to provide military and economic help to any countries threatened by communism. -
Berlin Airlift
The Berlin Airlift was one of the first international crises of the Cold War. Russians wanted Berlin all to themselves so they closed pathways so parts occupied by other countries could not get any resources. The U.S. the decided to supply their sectors from air, this was known as the Berlin Airlift. -
Marshall Plan
Western Europe struggled to get back up on their feet after the war. The Marshall Plan proposed to aid all European nations to rebuild, it also promoted european integration and federalism and created a mixture of of public organization of the private economy. -
NATO
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization was a European pact that Truman joined on April 4, 1949 it was an alliance made to defend each other if they were attacked by another country. "an attack on one is an attack on all" -
McCarthyism
McCarthyism was the practice of investigating and accusing people in positions of power or influence of disloyalty or treason. It began to emerge in politics shortly after WWII. -
Domino Theory
A theory that a political event in one country will cause similar events in other countries. This theory was prominent from the 1950's to the 1980's. During the Cold War it suggested a communist government in one country would quickly spread to other countries. -
Rock n' Roll
Rock n' roll helped alienate a generation from the political system and sparked a youth revolution. The attraction of rock n' roll served to eat away at Soviet authority by humanizing the West. -
1950's Prosperity
The economy was booming new cars, suburban houses, and other goods were available to more people than ever. Tons of families were being started and a lot of young families bought houses on the outskirts of cities and everyone was thriving. Among all the great things going on there were some conflicts such as the Civil Rights Movement and the Cold War. -
Korean War
A war between North Korea (with China and Soviet Union) against South Korea (with the U.S.) the war began June 25, 1950 when North Korea invaded South Korea. -
Rosenberg Trial
The Rosenberg couple was accused of selling nuclear secrets to the Russians. There was not much evidence to prove the case, some believed they were prosecuted because of their involvement with the Communist Party. They lost the case and were sentenced to death. -
Dwight D. Eisenhower
Eisenhower was a republican candidate in the 1952 election, he was a wartime hero, and became president from 1953 to 1961. While president he managed the Cold War era tensions with the Soviet Union under the threat of nuclear weapons, he ended the war in Korea in 1953, and authorized anti-communist operations by the CIA. He strengthened Social Security, and created the Interstate Highway System. However, he failed to protect the rights of African Americans in Brown vs Board of Education. -
Jonas Salk
Jonas Salk was a doctor who successfully found a vaccine for polio disease. Sabin a doctor with the Soviet Union found a vaccine but the U.S. and Soviets did not trust each others vaccines to because of the tensions between the two. -
Vietnam War
A long costly conflict the U.S. was in the war fighting with South Vietnam against North Vietnam over communism. The war started in 1955 and didn't end until 1975. The U.S. withdrew from the war and North Vietnam communist governments took over South Vietnam. -
Ray Kroc
Ray Kroc was an American business man. He's best known form expanding McDonalds from a local business chain to a world wide known restaurant. Kroc visited the restaurant and was amazed by the efficiency from focusing on a few menu items. -
Beatniks
A young person in the 1950's and 60's belonging to a subculture associated with the beat generation. These group of people rose up against the mundane horrors of the middle class. -
Interstate Highway Act
This bill created 41,000 miles of "National System of Interstate and Defense Highways" It was created to eliminate dangerous roads, inefficient routes, and traffic jams. This bill was signed by President Eisenhower on June 29, 1956. -
Space Race
The Space Race was a competition of space exploration between the United States and the Soviet Union. Each side wanted to prove dominance in their technology. -
Sputnik
The Soviet Union were the first to successfully launch an artificial satellite into outer space, it was called "Sputnik" The launch triggered new political, military, technological, and scientific developments. The launch intensified the arms race and rose tensions in the Cold War. -
John F. Kennedy
Elected president in 1960, he renewed the drive for public service and provided federal support for the Civil Rights Movement. He ended the Cuban Missile Crisis and confronted tensions in Vietnam. JFK was assassinated in Dallas on November 22, 1963. -
Bay of Pigs
An attempt from the CIA authorized by President Eisenhower to overthrow Castro regime in Cuba that failed due to poor planning and lack of support from people in Cuba. -
Cuban Missile Crisis
Leaders of the U.S. and Soviet Union were in an intense 13 day political and military standoff in 1962 over Soviet missiles being placed in Cuba (close to U.S. shore). Kennedy made a naval blockade around Cuba, the U.S. then agreed to not invade Cuba and remove the missiles from Turkey, if the Soviets removed their missiles from Cuba. -
Lyndon B. Johnson
Johnson was sworn in as president after the assassination of JFK in 1963. He launched progressive reforms aiming to create a "great society". He supported Medicare, the Voting Rights Act and the Civil Rights Act. Although he worked towards completing these great achievements, he failed to lead the nation out of the Vietnam War causing him to lose support. -
Betty Friedan
Betty Friedan was an American writer, activist, and feminist. She helped advance the women's right movement as one of the founders of the National Organization for Women. She advocated for an increased roll of women in politics. She wrote a book called 'The Feminine Mystique' she broke new ground by exploring the idea of women finding personal fulfillment outside of their typical roles. -
Gulf of Tonkin Resolution
This allowed military action without declaration of war from congress. The resolution effectively launched Americas full involvement in the Vietnam War. -
Great Society
A set of domestic programs by Johnson that had two main goals, one to eliminate poverty and second to end racial injustice. Other goals were to reduce crime, and improve the environment. -
Tet Offensive 1968
Tet is the Vietnamese New Year. The offensive causes the U.S. to lose support on the involvement in the Vietnam War. North Vietnam (communist) launched a series of surprise attacks on towns in South Vietnam. It was an attempts from North Vietnam to get the U.S. to back down with their involvement in the war. -
Richard Nixon
Nixon became president in 1961 and resigned in 1974 rather than face impeachment from efforts to cover illegal activities from members of his administration in the Watergate scandal. While president he achieved forging diplomatic ties with China and the Soviet Union, and withdrawing U.S. troops from the Vietnam War. -
Anti-War Movement
An anti-war movement is a movement in opposition to a nations decision to start or join a war. In the U.S. As the Vietnam war dragged on more and more people became weary of it. An anti war movement sparked attractive all different kinds of people, it gained national prominence 1965 peaked in 1968 and remained powerful throughout the conflict. -
Moon Landing
The Soviet Union achieved an early lead in in the space race by launching Sputnik. Apollo 11 was launched July 16, 1969 and landed on the moon July 20, 1969. Neil Armstrong was the first person to ever step foot on the moon this effectively won the space race that started in 1957 from the launch of Sputnik. -
Rust Belt vs Sun Belt
The rust belt was the northern and midwestern industrial areas that fell into sharp decline after WWII because Americans were relying more on cheaper products rather than costly ones. The sun belt is the southern states focusing mainly on Texas, Florida, Arizona, and California in these states there was a warmer climate, lower taxes, and more economic opportunities that attracted people to these states. -
Vietnamization
A U.S. policy made my Nixon starting a process of handing the war over to the Vietnamese, so we could get out of the war. This greatly affected the public opinion in the U.S. -
26th Amendment
The 26 Amendment lowered the age to be available to vote from 21 to 18 years old. The debate for this to happen began in WWII and intensified in the Vietnam War, because young men were being denied the right to vote and being enlisted in the war. Congress passed the amendment in March of 1971, and it was signed into law by President Nixon in July of 1971. -
War Powers Act
This act states that the president must report to congress within two days of putting troops in danger in a foreign country, and there is a 60 to 90 day limit for over seas troop presence.
