-
The Iron Curtain
The iron curtain was a metaphor first used by Winston Churchill in his speech at Fulton. It was a metaphor used to describe the efforts of the soviet union to block themselves and its satellite sates from the west and non-soviet-controlled areas. This term explains the the tension between countries that was a major cause of the cold war. -
the 2nd Red Scare
The 2nd Red Scare took place during the late 1940's through the 1950's. It referred to the fear of communism that spread throughout American politics, culture, and society during the Cold War with the Soviet Union. Many people were accused of being communists, some of which lost their jobs and were executed. -
Period: to
The Cold War
The cold war is a name given to the time period in which a relationship between the United States and the USSR formed. During the cold war weaponry increased, putting fear into many Americans. People were fearful of the possibility of a hydrogen or atomic bomb being dropped over the U.S.. Since the possibility of a bomb being dropped was high, they made a video called "Duck and Cover" to inform students on how to protect themselves if one ever did. -
The Truman Doctrine
The Truman Doctrine was a foreign policy where President Truman established that the United States would help provide political, military, and economic aid to all democratic nations under threat from external or internal authoritarian forces. This reoriented the U.S. foreign policy to one of possible intervention in far away conflicts. -
Marshall Plan
The Marshall Plan was also known as the Europe Recovery Act, which successfully sparked economic recovery. This is significant due to its goal of restoring the confidence of the European people in the economic future of their own countries and Europe as a whole. -
The Berlin Airlift
Soviet forces had blocked off access to rail, road, and water to allied-controlled areas of Berlin. The United States and the United Kingdom worked together by airlifting food and fuel to Berlin from allied airbases in western Germany. This finally ended when the Soviets lifted the blockade on May 12, 1949. -
Rock N' Roll
Rock N' Roll was a popular genre of music during the late 1940's and early 1950's. The phrase originated on Alan Freed's show as he used it to describe the amalgamation of rhythm and blues and country music he played during his show. -
News
The first news station to be viewed across screens in America was NBC. Lowell Thomas hosted the first-ever regularly scheduled news broadcast on television in 1940. It was simply just a simulcast of his nightly NBC network radio newscast. Today there are more news tv shows all racing to catch America's eye. -
The Beat Generation
The Beat Generation is 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. Their work was published and popularized throughout the 1950's. -
Period: to
The 1950's
It was an exciting time period, where people had more money to spend on cars, tv, and fashion. -
Fair Deal
The Fair Deal was the name Truman used for his plan addressed in his speech. It recommended that all Americans have health insurance, the minimum wage be increased, and that, by the constitution, all Americans be guaranteed equal rights. Truman's plans were not popular with congress, in fact they rejected his plans for health insurance, but raised the minimum wage. -
G.I. Bill
The G.I. Bill was created to help veterans with an education after they return from home. Many veterans leave school and go straight into the military without completing any college classes, so the G.I. Bill helps them take those classes when they return. They pay for their education and seems only fitting since they served our country. -
The Korean War (The Forgotten War)
The Korean War, also known as the forgotten war, started on June 25, 1950 when North Korea invaded South Korea. The United States, with help from the United Nations, came to the aid of South Korea, whereas China and the Soviet Union aided North Korea. The war ended on July 27, 1953 after an armistice was signed agreeing on the Korean Demilitarized Zone to separate North and South Korea and the return of prisoners. -
Tv Shows
The first advertisement were aired in 1941 over New York station WNBT before a baseball game between the brooklyn dodgers and and philadelphia phillies. Shows like "I love lucy" became very popular with high reviews. -
Television
Televisions were first invented on September 7, 1927 and has continue to grow since. It was invented by Philo Taylor Farnsworth, a twenty-one-year-old inventor who had lived in house without electricity until he was 14. Once tv's were introduced, you could find them in thousands of homes around the late 1940's. -
Atomic/Hydrogen Weapons
The atomic bomb ended World War II by being dropped in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. They dropped the fat man and the little boy. Decision to drop the bomb was very controversial, because Truman, president at the time, was unsure whether he wanted to drop it directly on them and end the war or just demonstrate its power. -
Bill Haley and the Comets
Bill Haley and the Comets were an American rock and roll band who stayed together all the way until Haley's Death. This band is most known for their famous song "Rock Around the Clock". They broke into rock and roll with western and country music. -
Period: to
Civil Rights
Protect our freedom! -
Brown vs. the Board of Education
Brown vs. the Board of Education was a landmark supreme court case in which the court declared state laws establishing separate public schools for black and white students to be unconstitutional. This paved the way for integration and angered many whites. -
The Polio Vaccine
The polio vaccine was created by Dr. Salk to help prevent poliomyelitis. Polio was a highly common disease that paralyzed many children and adults. This vaccine help rest many Americans worries. -
Martin Luther King Jr's Civil Rights Beginning
Martin Luther King Jr. was an American Baptist minister and activist who was a leader in the Civil Rights Movement. He is best known for his role in the advancement of civil rights using nonviolent civil disobedience based on his Christian beliefs. He believed not using violence would earn them the rights they were rightfully granted in the constitution. -
Joseph McCarthy
Joseph McCarthy was an american politician who stoked the fear of communism into many. Since his accusations were so intimidating no one argued against this and because of this a lot of people accused lost their jobs and were executed. He negatively impacted American society and raised fear of communism. -
Emmett Till Tragedy
Emmett Till was reportedly caught flirting with a white woman on August 24, 1955 in Mississippi. These false accusation led to two white men torturing Till four days later, eventually killing him. His murder was what helped galvanize emerging civil rights movements. -
Rosa Parks
Rosa Parks was an iconic figure in the fight for civil rights. She refused to give up her seat to a white woman on a Montgomery and was later arrested. Many members of the African American community were outraged and replied to her arrest by boycotting Montgomery buses. Montgomery had no option but to deem segregation on public buses as unconstitutional. -
Montgomery Bus Boycott
The Montgomery Bus Boycott was sparked by the arrest of Rosa Parks for refusing to give up her seat to a white lady. This was a 13 month protest that ended with U.S. Supreme court ruling that segregation on public buses were unconstitutional. This was one huge step on getting rid of segregation and paving the way for integration. -
Elvis Presley
Elvis Presley was an iconic figure during the Rock N' Roll era. He is referred to as "The King", because his music during Rock N' Roll gained a lot of popularity and his album was also deemed the greatest album. While Elvis did have many popular dance moves, his most popular was where he swiveled his hips and snarled his lips all the way around. -
Supreme Courts Decision
The supreme court ruled in favor of African Americans and said that it is unconstitutional for there to be segregation in public bus companies. They didn't release their decision until December, allowing the boycott to last 13 months. -
Little Rock 9
The Little Rock Nine was a group of nine African American students who were enrolled in Little Rock Central High School. They were enrolled because of the law passed by the supreme court case, brown versus the board of education. Their enrollment was followed by the Little Rock Crisis, in which the students were initially prevented from entering the racially segregated school by Orval Faubus. This was a huge step towards integration. -
The Space Race
The space race was another competition between the United States and the Soviet union to prove their superiority of their technology, military firepower, and its political-economic system. This competition started in 1957 and didn't end until 1975 after many space explorations took place. The soviet's were the first to make it into space with the release of sputnik, however the United States were the first to land on the moon. -
Hippies
A hippie is a person of unconventional appearance, typically having long hair and wearing beads, associated with a subculture involving a rejection of conventional values and the taking of hallucinogenic drugs. They promoted peace and war against war. -
LSD
LSD stands for Lysergic acid diethylamide and is synthetic drugs. Albert Hofmann was a chemist who worked for Sandoz Pharmaceutical. He synthesized LSD for the first time in 1938, in Basel, Switzerland while looking for a blood stimulant. -
Period: to
The 1960's
Time of hope and failure, innocence and cynicism. -
Sit- Ins
Sit-ins are where a group of people would go and sit and refuse to leave until they are served. During the civil rights movement many African Americans protested this way in hopes that whites would finally give in and allow for integration. They often did this at diners, had wade-ins at segregated swimming pools, and pray-ins at white only churches. -
New Frontier
The term the new frontier was used by President John F. Kennedy at the presidential election. The New Frontier was meant for renewal and change as well as economic, social, and intellectual pursuits. -
Peace Corps
The Peace Corps is a service opportunity for people who are looking to change the community. There mission is to promote peace and friendship by fulfilling three goals. It is a volunteer program that is government run and was founded by JFK. -
Freedom Rides
Freedom rides were when civil right activists would ride interstate buses into the segregated southern United States. This was used to challenge the non-enforcement of the cases that ruled that segregated buses were unconstitutional. -
Assassination of JFK
President John F. Kennedy was shot on November 22, 1963 in Dallas while riding in a motorcade. He was killed by Lee Harvey Oswald and died 30 minutes after he was shot at Dallas Parkland Hospital. It was a tragedy for many, especially his wife who was sitting next to him the moment he got shot. -
Lee Harvey Oswald
Lee Harvey Oswald was an American former U.S. Marine soldier is responsible for the assassination of JFK. After he shot JFK he killed a police officer who questioned him on the street. He ran to hide in a movie theater and was found 30 minutes later by police. -
Civil Rights Act of 1964
The civil rights act of 1964 outlawed discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, or national origin, required equal access to public places and employment, enforced desegregation of schools and the right to vote. This was a huge step forward in the fight for integration. -
Counter Culture
Counter culture is a way of life and set of attitudes opposed to or at variance with the prevailing norm. In simpler terms, it rejects or challenges mainstream culture or particular elements of it. -
Anti-War Movenment
The Anti-War Movement is a social movement, usually against a particular nation's decision to start or carry on an armed conflict, unconditional of a maybe-existing just cause. It began mostly on college campuses but gained national prominence in 1965 after the U.S. began bombing North Vietnam -
Feminism
Feminism became a constantly talked about topic in the 1960's because of the feminism movement. It was originally focused on dismantling workplace inequality, such as denial of access to better jobs and salary inequity, via anti-discrimination laws. They sought women's equality on both a political and personal level. -
The Great Society
The Great Society was a set of democratic programs launched by President Lyndon Johnson. The main goal for President Johnson was the elimination of poverty and racial injustice. In his first state of the union message, he called for a war on poverty and the creation of a great society, a prosperous nation that had overcome racial divisions. -
Period: to
1970's
The 1970's were a lot of things, but boring certainly wasn't one of them. -
Nixon's Presidency
President Nixon's greatest achievement was nuclear arms control agreements with the Soviet Union and the diplomatic opening to China. Nixon was eventually forced to resign or be impeached making him the first and only president to resign. -
Warren Burger Supreme Court
The Warren Burger Supreme Court refers to the court when Warren Burger was chief justice. They expanded civil rights, civil liberties, judicial power, and the federal power in dramatic ways. -
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
The Environmental Protection Agency was created to protect human health and the environment. They plan to do so by writing and enforcing regulations based on laws passed by congress. It is one of the many federal government agencies. -
Watergate
Watergate was a major scandal dealing with Nixon during his presidential term. Nixon denied the conspiracies revolving around this scandal, however when proven true, Nixon was forced to resign for lying under oath. The scandal led to many discoveries of the Nixon administration abusing power. -
Title IX
Title IX is a federal law that states that "No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance". It protected people from discrimination based on sex. -
Roe vs. Wade
Roe vs. Wade is a supreme court case over abortion. It was decided that women had the right to choose whether they wanted an abortion or not because it was there body. This decision is protected under the right of the fourteenth amendment. -
The Heritage Foundation
The Heritage Foundation is an American conservative think tank that is mainly based on donations. They took a leading role in the conservative movement during the presidency or Ronald Reagan. There mission is to formulate and promote conservative public policies based on the principles of free enterprise, limited government, individual freedom, traditional American values, and a strong national defense. -
Eisenhower Interstate System
The Eisenhower Interstate System is one of many highways that form part of the National Highway system of the U.S.. President Eisenhower championed for its formation and is why it is called the Eisenhower Interstate System. Its main purpose was to provide a safer and faster evacuation route. -
Endangered Species Act
The Endangered Species Act provides for the conservation of species that are endangered of threatened throughout all or a significant portion of their range, and the conservation of the ecosystems on which they depend. They protect species that are dying off, so that way the circle of life can continue. -
Gerald Ford's Presidency
Gerald Ford served as president from August 9, 1974 until January 20, 1977. He was the thirty-eighth president and followed after Nixon's resignation. Ford was confronted with almost insuperable tasks. There were the challenges of mastering inflation, reviving a depressed economy, solving chronic energy shortages, and trying to ensure world peace. -
The Moral Majority
The Moral Majority was a prominent American political organization associated with the Christian right and Republican Party. It was founded by Jerry Falwell in 1797 and was dissolved in the 1980's. -
Period: to
The 1980's
Americans embraced a new conservatism in social, economic, and political life. -
Election of 1980
The United States presidential election of 1980 was basically a contest between Jimmy Carter and his opponent, Ronald Reagan, as well as John B. Anderson, who ran as an independent. Ronald Reagan ended up winning by a landslide. -
Ronald Reagan
Ronald Reagan was the 40th president of the united states, beating Carter in a landslide. He was an American politician and actor as well. During his term he created an economic policy called Reaganomics as a means of controlling inflation and spurring economic growth through tax cuts, reduced business regulation, and reduced growth in government spending. -
Space Shuttle Program
The Space Shuttle Program was the united states government's manned launched vehicle program. It first flew on April 12, 1981 and its purpose was to do a routine earth-to-orbit crew and cargo transport. -
Sandra Day O'Connor
Sandra Day O'Connor was appointed justice of the supreme court in 1981. She served with Ronald Reagan and resigned in 2006. She was to first women to serve on the supreme court, and justice at that. This took a huge leap forward for womans rights and the equalization of both men and women. -
Jimmy Carter
Jimmy Carter was the thirty-ninth president of the United States. During his term two new cabinet-level departments were formed. The two cabinet-level departments that were formed is the department of energy and the department of education. The end of his presidential tenure was marked by the Iran hostage crisis, the energy crisis, the Three Mile Island nuclear accident, and the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. -
Reagan Presidency
Reagan was the 40th president of the united states. During his term he managed to lower the federal income tax rate significantly, reauthorized the voting right acts of 1965, and signed the civil liberties act of 1988. -
Sam Walton's Just-In-Time Inventory
Sam Walton is founder of Wal-Mart and Sam's Club. His introduction of these stores sent ravishing rumors flowing through out the states. He offered everything at low prices, just like people needed. It was great that it was just in time, otherwise his companies wouldn't of flourished the way they are today. -
Reagan Doctrine
As President Ronald Reagan reads his state of the union address, he defines key concepts of his foreign policy, establishing the Reagan doctrine. The doctrine served as the foundation for the Reagan administration’s support of freedom fighters around the globe. -
Iran Contra Affair
The Iran–Contra affair was a political scandal in the United States that occurred during the second term of the Reagan Administration. President Ronald Reagan's administration supplied weapons to Iran a sworn enemy in hopes of securing the release of American hostages held in Lebanon by Hezbollah terrorists loyal to Iran's leader. This was not approved by congress and caused a conflict. -
Challenger Explosion
The challenger took off charging into space, however, exploding not 73 seconds after lift off. It brought a devastating end to the spacecrafts 10th mission. Unfortunately all seven crew members were killed in this brutal explosion. -
Period: to
The 1990's
A decade of extreme change. -
Technology
In December of 1990 The World Wide Web and its HTTP protocol and HTML language were first successfully parsed by Tim Berners-Lee and eventually displace the Gopher protocol. This paved the way for many great inventions to arise. -
Balkans Crisis
Parliaments of Slovenia and Croatia declared independence, triggering the immediate deployment of the Belgrade-controlled Yugoslav army towards the affected borders and airports.
After a ten-day conflict the JNA withdrew from ethnically homogeneous Slovenia. However in Croatia, Serbian troops moved to fight on the side of Croatia's ethnic Serb rebels who opposed independence, launching a four-year war. -
Election of 1992
The election of 1992 was a competition between Bill Clinton, George H.W. Bush, and Ross Perot. Bill Clinton won the election of 1992, however he was impeached due to the Clinton scandal. This was the first election since 1968 that there was a third party candidate. -
Bill Clinton
Bill Clinton was the forty-second president of the united states and is known for being very charismatic and understanding. Clinton created the Clinton Administration and within that came the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy. -
George H.W. Bush
George H.W. Bush was the forty-first president of the United States. Ross Perot stole votes away from daddy Bush causing him to lose the election of 1992 and not serve for a second term. -
Clinton Presidency
The democrats suffered a major defeat and lost both houses of congress. Clinton was part of the Lewinski Affair, where he had an affair with a white house intern. He denied all accusations even on oath and was given the decision to either resign or be impeached, so he resigned. -
World Trade Center Attack
The World Trade Center Attack in 1993 was when a truck bomb detonated below the North Tower of the World Trade Center in New York City. the truck was intended to send the North Tower crashing into the South Tower, bringing both towers down and killing tens of thousands of people. It failed to do so but killed six people and injured over a thousand. -
Don't Ask, Don't Tell
The Don't Ask, Don't Tell policy was Clinton's new policy of allowing gays in the military. They didn't tell anyone about it. The old policy did not allow gays, so therefore that's where this one came from. -
Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA)
The Defense of Marriage Act was passed by congress in May of 1996, but wasn't signed by President Clinton until September of 1996. DOMA is a law that forbids the federal government from recognizing same-sex marriages. This law is no longer legal. -
Welfare Reform
Welfare reform was used to get Congress to enact the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Act in the United States. It further reduced aid to the poor, to reduce government deficit spending without coining money. President Clinton signed this into law to maintain his promise of "ending welfare as we have come to know it". -
Period: to
Contemporary
The present -
Election of 2000
The Election of 2000 was a contest between Republican governor of Texas candidate, George W. Bush, who was the son of former president George H. W. Bush, and Democratic vice-president candidate Al Gore. George W. Bush ended up beating Al Gore and becoming president of the United States. -
George W. Bush
George W. Bush was elected the forty-third president of the united states on November seventh, two thousand. He is the son of George H.W. Bush. He was also the president at the time of the 9/11 terror attacks and the Iraq war. -
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States from 2001 to 2009. He was also the 46th Governor of Texas from 1995 to 2000. -
George W. Bush Presidency
President Bush's time in office was shaped by the 9/11 terrorist attacks on America. He declared a global "war on terrorism" and established the Department of Homeland Security and also U.S. led wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. -
9/11 Attacks
The 9/11 attacks were acts of terrorism that cost the lives of thousands. It was led by the terrorist group Al-Qaeda and was a series of four different events. Four planes were taken over by terrorists however only two crashed into the twin towers, one crashed into the pentagon, and the fourth was taken back over by Americans but unfortunately crashed minutes later into the ground. -
PATRIOT Act
The USA PATRIOT Act stands for "Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism". It was signed and passed over by congress in 2001 to try and help with the prevention of terrorism. -
No Child Left Behind Education Act
The No Child Left Behind Act authorizes several federal education programs that are administered by the states. This law is a re-authorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, which under the 2002 law, states are required to test students in reading and math in grades 3–8 and once in high school. -
Hurricane Katrina Disaster
The Hurricane Katrina Disaster devastated the coasts of Mississippi and Alabama, making Katrina the most destructive and costliest natural disaster in the history of the United States, and the deadliest hurricane since the 1928 Okeechobee Hurricane. It cost millions of dollars to rebuild due to the affects of the storm. -
Obama Presidency
Barack Obama was the forty-forth president of the United States and was the first ever African American to be elected as president. He was also the first African american president to be elected again to serve for a second term, making a total of eight years. -
American Recovery and Reinvestment Act
The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act was a stimulus package enacted by the 111th U.S. Congress and signed into law by President Barack Obama in February 2009. It is an unprecedented effort to jump start our economy, create or save millions of jobs, and put a down payment on addressing long-neglected challenges so our country can thrive in the 21st century. -
Affordable Care Act (ACA) "Obamacare"
The Affordable Care Act is a comprehensive health care reform law enacted in March of 2010. The law provides consumers with subsidies that lower costs for households with incomes between 100% and 400% of the federal poverty level.
