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Atomic/Hydrogen Weapons
The Atomic Bomb was a part of the Manhatten Project, the bomb is very deadly and radioactive.The hydrogen bomb invented in 1950's, more powerful than atomic bomb, example of Cold War arms race -
G.I. Bill
The G. I. Bill of Rights or Servicemen's Readjustment Act of 1944 provided for college or vocational education for returning World War II veterans as well as one-year of unemployment compensation. It also provided loans for returning veterans to buy homes and start businesses. -
38th Parallel
Korea was divided at the 38th parallel for purposes of military occupation. This line then solidified into a political frontier between American-supported Republic of Korea and the Soviet backed Democratic People's Republic of Korea. -
Iron Curtain
A term used to describe the Soviet Union's policy of isolation during the Cold War. The barrier isolated Eastern Europe from the rest of the world. -
Period: to
Cold War
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Marshall Plan
The United States helped rebuild Europe by giving them money. This would increase foreign trade and prevent communism. -
Truman Doctrine
First established in 1947 after Britain no longer could afford to provide anti-communist aid to Greece and Turkey, it pledged to provide U.S. military and economic aid to any nation threatened by communism. -
Berlin Airlift
A 327-day operation in which the U.S. and British planes flew food and supplies into West Berlin after the Soviets blockaded the city in 1948. -
Stalin Closes Border
Soviet Union blocked the Western Allies' railway, road, and canal access to the sectors of Berlin under allied control. The Soviet's aim was to force the western powers to allow the Soviet zone to start supplying Berlin with food, fuel, and aid, thereby giving the Soviets practical control over the entire city. -
Second Red Scare
Post-World War II Red Scare focused on the fear of Communists in U.S. government positions; peaked during the Korean War and declined soon thereafter, when the U.S. Senate censured Joseph McCarthy, who had been a major instigator of the hysteria. -
Fair Deal
The Fair Deal was a domestic reform proposals of the second Truman administration (1949-53); included civil rights legislation and repeal of the Taft-Hartley Act, but only extensions of some New Deal programs were enacted. -
News
News stations were now available in Television, helped shape america's view on the Korean, and even the Vietnam War. News shows helped provide and educate American on current events. -
Beat Generation
The Beatniks were a group of American writers who came to prominence in the 1950s, as well as the cultural phenomena that they wrote about. Central elements of "Beat" culture include a rejection of mainstream American values, experimentation with drugs and alternate forms of sexuality, and an interest in Eastern spirituality. -
Period: to
1950s
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Politics (Nixon, Kennedy)
Televised debates were crucial to Kennedy's win in the election of 1960. This was the tightest election since 1888. Debates were now being filmed for the Television audience which greatly impacted opinions of many viewers. -
Korean War (The Forgotten War)
After WWII, Korea had been partitioned along the 38th parallel into a northern zone governed by the Soviet Union, and a southern zone controlled by the U.S. In 1950, after the Russians had withdrawn, leaving a communist government in the North, the North invaded the South. The U.N. raised an international army led by the U.S. to stop the North. It was the first use of U.N. military forces to enforce international peace. -
North Korea Invades South Korea
The Korean conflict began with the North Korean invasion of the South Korean peninsula. Northern Koreans were being supported by The Soviet Union and later by China -
TV Shows
TV in the 1950's helped shape what people thought a perfect society should be. Popular shows were, I love Lucy, The Honeymooners, Father Knows Best, Leave it to Beaver and Dennis the Menace -
Dr. Jonas Salk
Dr. Jonas Salk was an American biologist and physician, he was best known for the research and development of a killed-virus polio vaccine. -
Polio Vaccine
Polio is a crippling virus, during the 1950s a huge epidemic spread through The United States. The Polio vaccine came into use in 1955, the vaccine helped many Americans from getting this deadly virus. -
Elvis
Elvis Presley was a Memphis-born singer whose youth, voice, and sex appeal helped popularize rock 'n' roll in the mid-1950s. Commonly known using only his first name, he was an icon of popular culture, in both music and film. -
Period: to
Civil Rights
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Brown Vs. Board of Education
Topeka board of education denied Linda Brown admittance to an all white school close to her house. Thurgood Marshall argued that a separate but equal violated equal protection clause of the 14th amendment. Warren decided separate educational facilities were inherently unequal. -
Bill Haley and the Comets
Bill Haley was one of the first American rock and roll musicians. He is credited by many with first popularizing this form of music in the early 1950s with his group Bill Haley & His Comets and their hit song "Rock Around the Clock". -
Space Race
a competition of space exploration between the United States and Soviet Union, This investment led to great scientific advances, but also caused friction and insecurities -
Emmett Till Tragedy
Emmett Till was a fourteen year old boy that was from Chicago visiting his family in Mississippi. He was murdered for whistling at a white woman. Emmett's death attracted attention nation-wide and for the first time Northern blacks saw that violence against blacks in the South could affect them in the North. -
Vietnam War
Vietnam War was a Cold War military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from November 1, to April 30, 1975 when Saigon fell. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of South Vietnam, supported by the United States and other capitalist nations -
Rosa Parks
United States civil rights leader who refused to give up her seat on a bus to a white man in Montgomery, Alabama and so triggered the national civil rights movement -
Montgomery Bus Boycott
African Americans refused to ride city buses in Montgomery, Alabama, to protest segregated seating, chose to go walking instead of riding the public transportation. -
Civil Rights Act of 1957
Established a Civil Rights Commission, but had little real effect and was mostly symbolic and it did not guarantee a ballot for blacks. -
Little Rock 9
Governor Faubus sent the Arkansas National Guard to prevent nine Black students from entering Little Rock Central High School. Eisenhower sent in U.S. paratroopers to ensure the students could attend class. -
Orval Faubus
He was the governor of Arkansas during the time of the Little Rock Crisis. He attempted to block the integration of the school by using the national guard, leading to a confrontation with the Eisenhower and ultimately integration of the school. -
New Frontier
Promoting this was Kennedy's way of putting a new spin on the Cold War, pushing for increases in technology and the space race etc.; liberal activism at home and abroad. -
Hippies
Hippies believed in anti-materialism, free use of drugs, they had a casual attitude toward sex and anti-conformity, practiced free love and took drugs, smoked marijuana and took LSD, sexual revolution, new counter culture, Protesters who influenced US involvement in Vietnam -
LSD
Many people in the 60s had interesting social society ideas. Many did drugs.The "hippies" were disgusting with their causal sex and drug use.Most teenagers in this time period experimented with drugs like LSD. -
Feminism
1960s to present. argued that the traditional family form is oppressive for women and children. Takes away women's independence and that we need to start looking at families differently, Women urged for equal rights to men as traditional family roles were fading gradually. -
Period: to
1960s
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Sit-ins
Sit-ins were protests by black college students, 1960-1961, who took seats at "whites only" lunch counters and refused to leave until served. -
Student Non-violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC)
SNCC is one of the principal organizations of the American Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s. It emerged from a series of student meetings led by Ella Baker held at Shaw University in Raleigh, North Carolina in April 1960. -
Peace Corps
a program in which the assistance of U.S. volunteers is offered to the developing nations of Asia, Africa, and Latin America -
Cuban Missile Crisis
The Cuban Missile Crisis was an incident where Soviet missiles were placed in Cuba as a response for help. The event greatly increased tensions between the Soviets and the Americans. As a result, a hotline was established between the two nations to avoid any accidents. -
March on Washington
A large political rally that took place in Washington, D.C. on August 28, 1963. Martin Luther King, Jr. delivered his historic "I Have a Dream" speech advocating racial harmony at the Lincoln Memorial during the march. -
Assassination of John F. Kennedy
In 1963 in Dallas, riding in a parade to drum up support for the upcoming presidential election in 1964, JFK was shot twice by Lee Harvey Oswald and pronounced dead at Parkland hospital. -
Lee Harvey Oswald
Accused of assassinating JFK, but he was never convicted because he was killed two days after John F. Kennedy's assassination by Night Club Owner Jack Ruby. -
Earl Warren Supreme Court
Chairman of the Warren commission, which was formed to investigate the assassination of JFK, one of the most influential supreme court justices. -
Barry Goldwater
Barry Goldwater was a Republican contender against LBJ for presidency; platform included lessening federal involvement, therefore opposing Civil Rights Act of 1964; lost by largest margin in history -
Daisy Girl Ad
The Johnson campaign's ad attempts to associate Goldwater with nuclear war. -
Race To Space/The Moon
The Soviet Union landed the first object on the moon called Luna 2.The U.S. landed astronauts on the moon on June 20, 1969. America landed on the moon six times, the last man on the moon was in 1972. -
Warren Burger Supreme Court
The U.S. Supreme Court under Chief Justice Warren Burger. Though not as activist as the Warren Court, this court maintained most of the rights expanded by its predecessor and issued important rulings on abortion and sexual discrimination -
Period: to
1970s
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Stagflation
During the 60's and 70's, the U.S. was suffering from inflation and unemployment. Refers to the unusual economic situation in which an economy is suffering both from inflation and from stagnation of its industrial growth. -
Watergate
Five men arrested for breaking into the Democratic National Committee's executive quarters in the Watergate Hotel. -
Executive Privilege
The right of the executive officials to refuse to appear before, or to withhold information from, a legislative committee. Executive privilege is enjoyed by the president and by those executive officials accorded that right by the president. -
OPEC (Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries)
Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries; international cartel that inflates price of oil by limiting supply; Venezuela, Saudi Arabia and UAE are prominent members. -
Nixon Tapes
Tapes which proved Nixon was involved in the Watergate scandal. Although he withheld them at first, the Supreme Court made Nixon turn over these recordings of the plans for the cover-up of the scandal. -
Nixon's Resignation
The Committee recommended 3 articles of impeachment against Nixon: taking part in a criminal conspiracy to obstruct justice, "repeatedly" failing to carry out his constitutional oath, and unconstitutional defiance of committee subpoenas. Nixon resigned on August 9. -
Camp David Accords
The Camp David Accords were the peace accords signed by Menachem Begin and Anwar Sadat to finally end the Israeli-Egyptian disputes. -
The Moral Majority
The Moral Majority was a political organization of the United States which had an agenda of evangelical Christian-oriented political lobbying. Formed by Jerry Falwell. -
Iran Hostage Crisis
A diplomatic crisis triggered on Nov 4, 1979, when Iranian protesters seized the US embassy in Tehran and held 66 American diplomats hostage for 444 days. -
Period: to
1980s
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Reagonomics
The belief that a combination of monetarism, lower federal spending, and supply-side economics will stimulate the economy. -
Robert Johnson
Robert Johnson was the founder of BET he later sold the program to Viacom in 2001; became first African American billionaire. -
Sam Walton's Just-in-Time Inventory
Sam Walton was the founder of Walmart, he revolutionized the way he stock items up. Instead of wasting warehouse space inside the store, he would have supplies and goods shipped directly to the stores and into the shelves of the department stores. -
Election of 1980
Republicans nominated Ronald Reagan, against re-nominated Jimmy Carter, who nobody, not even his own Democrats liked. -
Ronald Reagan
President of The United States that believed in tax cuts and less government spending; cut out many welfare and public works programs; used the Strategic Defense Initiative to avoid conflict; His meetings with Gorbachev were the first steps to ending the Cold War -
Jimmy Carter
President of the United States who Signed SALT II - to further reduce nuclear weapons, while also dealing with The Camp David Peace agreement - brought peace between Israel and Egypt, weak during the hostage crisis. -
Sandra Day O'Connor
The first woman to be in the Supreme Court. Appointed by Ronald Reagan, O'Connor was an Associate Justice from 1981 until 2006 -
Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI)
Popularly known as "Star Wars," President Reagan's SDI proposed the construction of an elaborate computer-controlled, anti-missile defense system capable of destroying enemy missiles in outer spaced. -
Reagan Doctorine
One of the key aspects of Reagan's foreign policy, in keeping with America's tough stance toward the Soviets; policy theme pledged America's support to insurgent groups battling Communist governments in the Third World; resulted in military and economic aid to anti-Communist fighters on three continents -
Iran Contra Affair
The Iran Contra Affair was a scandal that was uncovered after investigations in 1987 revealed that the US had been selling weapons to the anti-American government in Iran & had been using the profits from these sales to secretly & illegally finance the Contras in Nicaragua -
Fall of The Berlin Wall
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Technology
With the steady growth of the web, technology boomed in the late 90s, as did investments in it, new technology prospered like personal computers which made life easier. -
Period: to
1990s
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Persian Gulf War / 1st Iraq War
The U.S. fought against Iraq when they illegally invaded Kuwait, resulted in a small scale war. -
Communism Collapses/ Dissolution of The Soviet Union
The Soviet Union was dissolved -
Election of 1992
Democrats chose Bill Clinton and Albert Gore Jr. as his running mate. Republicans chose Bush for another election and J. Danforth Quayle as his running mate. Third candidate Ross Perot added color to the election by getting 19.7 million votes in the election, but Clinton won, 370 to 168 in the Electoral College. -
Bill Clinton
Entered off in January 1993, as the first democratic president since Jimmy Carter and a self-proclaimed activist. He had a very domestic agenda. When in office he had a lot of controversial appointments. When a longtime friend, Vince Foster, committed suicide it sparked an escalating inquiry into some banking and real estate ventures involving the president and his wife in the early 1980s. -
Hillary Clinton
Prominent child care advocate and health care reformer in Clinton administration; won U.S. senate seat in 2000 -
Ross Perot
Battled with Clinton over free trade but eventually gave the approval for the North Atlantic Free Trade Agreement. Also tried running against Clinton but lost. -
North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA)
Allows free movement of goods and services among the countries, Promote competition in the free trade areas, Protect the property rights of people and businesses in each country. -
Balkans Crisis
Bosnian Muslims, Serbs, and Croats were killing each other, Clinton eventually was forced to intervene, U.S led NATO forces launched a massive aerial bombardment of Serbia -
Welfare Reform
Bill that made reductions in welfare grants and required able welfare recipients to find employment. -
Lewinsky Affair
After Clinton confessed before a jury that he and Lewinsky had an improper relationship, the prospect of impeachment became an issue, especially in the congressional elections. The House narrowly approved 2 counts of impeachment; lying to the grand jury and obstructing justice. -
Period: to
Contemporary
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Al Gore
Served as the 45th Vice President of the United States from 1993 to 2001 under President Bill Clinton. Ran for President in 2000 and won popular vote but lost Electoral College -
George W. Bush
Former Texas governor sworn into office in 2001, Won presidential race after the Democratic nominee and former vice president, Al Gore, conceded following a voting ordeal in Florida. Passed initiatives in attempts to improve education( No Child Left Behind Act), His declaration against terrorism led to the liberation of Afghanistan and the invasion of Iraq. -
Election of 2000
George W. Bush v. Al Gore. Gore won the popular vote. Bush won Florida and the election.Republicans controlled the House of Representatives and the Senate was evenly divided by the parties. -
9/11 Attacks
The United States was attacked by members of the group Al Qaeda. Four planes were hijacked and used as weapons. Two planes crashed into the North and South Towers of the World Trade Center in New York City. One plane crashed into the Pentagon outside of Washington, D.C. -
PATRIOT ACT
After September 11, congress passed a security legislation in order to make the country safer. The Patriot Act gives the authorities enhanced powers, such as looking up library records, to protect the country. -
No Child Left Behind Education Act
Meant to fix a broken public education system; linked federal money to state action requiring states to have high standards for all students; evaluation of progress was through standardized testing -
Election of 2008
Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama fought for the Democratic nomination; John McCain as the Republican; Obama ran a grass roots campaign that engaged young voters and the black community; the failing economy was the centerpiece of the election -
John McCain
Was a prisoner of war during the Vietnam War and is seeking the Republican nomination in the 2008 presidential election -
Barack Obama
44th president of the United States that won the 2008 and 2012 elections. His administration campaigned for change and equality throughout the United States. He was also the first African American president. -
Affordable Care Act (ACA) "Obamacare"
A law consisting of two pieces of legislation that are collectively referred to as "Healthcare Reform" or "Obamacare" -
Idiot is Elected President
Downfall of The United States
