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House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC)
A committee of the U.S. House of Representatives, created to investigate disloyalty and subversive organizations. Its first chairman, Martin Dies, set the pattern for its anti-Communist investigations. -
1950’s Prosperity
The economy overall grew by 37% during the 1950s. At the end of the decade, the median American family had 30% more purchasing power than at the beginning. Inflation, which had wreaked havoc on the economy immediately after World War II, was minimal, in part because of Eisenhower's persistent efforts to balance the federal budget. Except for a mild recession in 1954 and a more serious one in 1958, unemployment remained low, bottoming at less than 4.5% in the middle of the decade. -
Baby Boom Generation
Generation born from soldiers coming back from WWII. -
Iron Curtain
A barrier separating Russia between them and european countries prior to the decline of communism. -
Truman Doctrine
An American foreign policy created to counter Soviet geopolitical expansion during the Cold War. It was first announced to Congress by President Harry S. Truman -
Cold War
Was a state of tension between the eastern and western powers more specifically united states and Russia or Communism and Anticommunism -
Levittown
Was created by William Levitt also known as the king of suburbia -
Containment Policy
This was a United States policy using numerous strategies to prevent the spread of communism abroad. This policy was a response to a series of moves by the Soviet Union to enlarge its communist sphere of influence in Eastern Europe, China, Korea, and Vietnam. -
Marshall Plan
The Marshall Plan was an American initiative to aid Western Europe, in which the United States gave over $12 billion in economic support to help rebuild Western European economies after the end of World War II. -
Berlin Airlift
The Berlin Airlift was at the end of WWII the U.S., British, and Soviet military forces divided and occupied Germany. They also divided into occupation zones, Berlin was located far inside Soviet-controlled eastern Germany. -
North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)
An organization designed for countries to help one another in times of need sending aid, supplies, and support for allied countries in NATO and countries asking for support of NATO -
Gi Bill (Servicemen’s Readjustment Act 1944)
Bill acted for soldiers of WW2 to find and have more opportunities after their act of duty -
Mccarthyism
McCarthyism is the practice of making accusations of subversion or treason without proper regard for evidence. -
Rock n’ Roll
This became the popular music genre in this time period, Elvis Presley had just come out. -
Korean War
A conflict between North Korea and the South Korea in which at least 2.5 million persons lost their lives. Both Sides divided into separate sections (North and South) -
Rosenberg Trial
Julius Rosenberg was arrested a few weeks after the Korean War began. He was executed, along with his wife, Ethel,, a few weeks before it ended. The legal charge of which the Rosenbergs were convicted was vague: “Conspiracy to Commit Espionage.” -
Dwight D. Eisenhower
He was the 34th President of the U.S.
Eisenhower obtained a truce in Korea and worked endlessly during his two terms to ease the tensions of the Cold War. -
Ray Kroc
Ray Kroc was an American businessman. He joined McDonald's in 1954 and built it into the most successful fast food operation in the world -
Domino Theory
Held that a communist victory in one nation would quickly lead to a chain reaction of communist takeovers in neighboring states. -
Jonas Salk
Introduced the vaccine for Polio. News of his vaccines success was made public later on -
Vietnam War
This conflict between communist and capitalist countries was part of the Cold War. The Viet Cong (also known as the National Liberation Front, or NLF), was a South Vietnamese communist force helped by the North. It fought a guerrilla war against the anti-communist forces in the South. -
Interstate Highway Act
President Eisenhower signed the Federal-Aid Highway Act, The bill created a 41,000-mile “National System of Interstate and Defense Highways” that would, get rid of unsafe roads, inefficient routes, traffic jams and all of the other things that got in the way of “speedy, safe transcontinental travel.” -
Space Race
The competition between nations regarding achievements in the field of space exploration. -
Sputnik
The First artificial earth satellite launched by the Soviet Union -
Moon Landing
A Moon landing is the arrival of a spacecraft on the surface of the Moon. This includes both manned and unmanned missions. The first human-made object to reach the surface of the Moon was the Soviet Union's Luna 2 mission. -
Sun Belt
The southern US from California to Florida, noted for resort areas and for the movement of businesses and population into these states from the colder northern states. -
John F Kennedy
An American politician who served as the 35th President of the United States from January 1961 until his assassination in November 1963. -
Bay of Pigs
The Bay of Pigs Invasion was a failed military invasion of Cuba undertaken by the CIA-sponsored paramilitary group Brigade 2506 on 17 April 1961 -
Cuban Missile Crisis
The Cuban Missile Crisis, also known as the Caribbean Crisis or the Missile Scare, was a 13-day confrontation between the United States and the Soviet Union concerning American ballistic missile deployment in Italy and Turkey with consequent Soviet ballistic missile deployment in Cuba. The confrontation is often considered the closest the Cold War came to escalating into a full-scale nuclear war. -
Betty Friedan
Her book was "The Feminine Mystique" Friedan broke new ground by exploring the idea of women finding personal fulfillment outside of their traditional roles -
Lyndon B Johnson
Envisioned “the great society” our 36th president taking JFK place after his assassination escalating the Vietnam War, not running for a second term of presidency, Also known for signing the Civil Rights act in 1964 -
Gulf of Tonkin Resolution
Was a resolution put before the US Congress by President Johnson. In reaction two allegedly unprovoked attacks by the North Vietnamese Torpedo. -
Great Society
Created by Lyndon B Johnson for his agenda to the congress on January of 1965 giving aid to education, Medicare, attack on disease, a wide scale fight against poverty etc. -
Anti-War Movement
This began during the Vietnam war where citizens protested against the Vietnam war because of its harmful acts to the innocent lives in Vietnam as well as the harmful and deceitful acts from our government. -
Tet Offensive 1968
It was one of the largest military campaigns of the Vietnam War, launched on January 30, 1968, by forces of the Viet Cong and North Vietnamese People's Army of Vietnam against the forces of the South Vietnamese Army of the Republic of Vietnam, the United States Armed Forces, and their allies. -
Richard Nixon
An American politician who served as the 37th President of the United States from 1969 until 1974, when he became the only U.S. president to resign from office -
Vietnamization
President Richard M. Nixon pledged to withdraw 150,000 more U.S. troops from South Vietnam in the next 12 months. -
26th Amendment
The 26th amendment granted the right to vote to American citizens aged eighteen or older. -
War Powers Act
War Powers Act was law passed by the U.S. Congress, over the veto of President Nixon. The joint measure was called the War Powers Resolution, though the title of the Senate-approved bill, War Powers Act, became widely used. -
Rust Belt
The region of the United States from the Great Lakes to the upper Midwest States, referring to economic decline, population loss, and urban decay due to the shrinking of its once-powerful industrial sector, also known as deindustrialization.
