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G.I Bill
The G.I Bill officially the Servicemen’s Readjustment Act of 1944 was intended to get all WWII veterans on their feet. Providing them with very low interest rates on houses, and college tuition. Not only that but some were even given money to start their own business, and this continues to be around until this day. -
Iron Curtain
The term Iron Curtain was first introduced by Winston Churchill which separated Western and Eastern Europe. Thus, blocking all trade and contact that came from Eastern Europe. -
Second Red Scare
The Second Red Scare was a fear in the United States that a communist revolution could take place in America. Many people working in the government were analyzed to see if they were remaining loyal to the government and HUAC. -
Truman Doctrine
The Truman Doctrine was a way to maintain communism in the Eastern part of Europe without allowing it to expand elsewhere. While also providing those that need any military or economic aid with all the support we can give if they're at risk of communist takeover. -
Period: to
The Cold War
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Berlin Airlift
After the soviet army stopped all road and rail traffic into West Berlin. Britain and the U.S began dropping 7,00 tons of food, fuel, medicine, coal and equipment. In order to keep all the 2.25 million Berliners alive. -
The Fair Deal
The Fair Deal was President Henry Truman's plan in addition to the New Deal. Where he plans to focus on health care, public housing, education and public works. Although his plans were not all favored by Congress one that was supported was minimum wage when they allowed it to be increased. -
Domino Theory
The Domino Theory began in the 1950s that later lead to the involvement of the Vietnam war. The theory basically stated that if one country was taken over under communism it's only a matter of minutes before the surrounding countries fall to communism as well making it into a domino effect. -
Rock & Roll
Rock and Roll was part of African-American rhythm and blues that was typically associated with a slang word for sexual intercourse. Rock and Roll was a time that really brought out the rebellious side of teens to parents since they had more leisure time and money from after-school jobs. -
Period: to
1950s
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Julius and Ethel Rosenburg
Julius and Ether Rosenburg were both accused of taking Atomic Bomb information from U.S and giving it to The Soviet Union. Soon after they were both convicted and electrocuted, but Julius was the one who was really a spy Ethel was innocent all along. -
Duck and Cover
This was begun by the Federal Civil Defense Administration (FCDA) in 1951 in order to educate people on the ways to help survive an atomic attack from the Soviet Union. Duck and Cover was able to provide an animated way to encourage kids to duck and get any sort of cover from a desk or wall. -
Ike Turner
Ike Turner was an African-American who was the first to make a Rock & Roll recording of the song " Rocket 88." That was later taken when Bill Haley sang the exact same song just entirely different style and beat. -
Tv Shows
“I Love Lucy” & “Father Knows Best” were two of the best-portrayed ideals of the 1950s. Both of these shows were able to resemble the obediance and hard work during the time era. -
Politics
As media-savvy politicians found ways to make connect with the audience through television. Both kennedy and Nixon took this opportunity to endorse the "Checkers Speech" and all of the debates. -
Bill Haley & the Comets
Bill Haley & the Comets are best known for "Rock Around the Clock Tonight." Since it was one of the first songs to ever make Rock & Roll popular in the 1950's. -
Beat Generation
"Beats" or "Beatniks" were a group of artists, novelists, and poets who all rejected American materialism, culture, but also rejected home ownership, careers, and marriage. Beats valued individual freedom and pleasure, that later laid some of the foundation for all the war protests later in the 1960s. -
Brown v. Board of Education
Is the Civil Rights case that constituted " Separate but equal" as unconstitutional. After Linda Brown's parents wanted her to a attend a fortunate white school that did not allow colored kids in. Although with Thurgood Marshall's psychological evidence they win the case in favor of the Bown's. -
Period: to
Civil RIghts
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Television
Although televisions didn't appear on the markets soon enough after WWII. By 1955 a grand majority of Americans had a black and white Tv, but many of them still continued to attend drive in theaters since they were still very popular. -
Emmett Till Tragedy
Emmett traveled to Money, Mississippi from Chicago to visit relatives when he was there he accepted a challenge from his friends to ask a white girl out in a country store, and everything went downhill from there. After they accused him of using vulgar language and manhandling Carolyn they abduct him at night. Beating him so much and shooting him that the only way they knew it was him was through a ring he had on. -
Sit-Ins
One of the first sit-ins was in Greensboro, North Carolina. This movement began in school and slowly integrated into public places. Protesters went to white lunch counters to sit in their seats until they were fed, an act of civil disobedience. Although it got violent after whites threw protestors off their seats and beat them, and no one was allowed to fight back. -
Eisenhower Interstate system
The Eisenhower Interstate system was brought about after President Dwight Eisenhower signed a Federal-Aid Highway act of 1956. The interstate highway system served to allow quick evacuation if we ever needed it, and also eliminated any traffic buildup. -
Space Race
Once the cold war began it created an issue between The United States (capitalist) and The Soviet Union (communist). Although the conflict wasn't just on land space also became another area of competition. They both wanted to prove their dominance in technology and military firepower. -
Civil Rights Act
The Civil Rights Act was enacted by President Eisenhower. This was made in order to protect African-American's voting rights throughout the country. Although whites in the south were heavily resisting black voting rights. -
Little Rock Nine
Little Rock had decided to slowly integrate blacks into the school, but many whites resisted the integration. Along with Governor Orval Faubus who orders state troops to stop 9 black students from entering. He had the National guard preventing black students from entering, and everything after that became more violent for days. -
LSD
LSD grew in the 1960s by individuals such as psychologist Timothy Leary, who motivated students to “turn on, tune in, and drop out.” Thus creating the counterculture of drug abuse and increase lsd throughout america and even to parts of Europe. -
Great Society
In the Great Society, there were a lot of problems that needed to be fixed. Many Moderates grew tired of "entitlement" for minorities because they felt like it only helped African Americans. During this time is when many white people turned to the Republican Party and Nixon utilizes a lot of the Southern Strategy. -
Period: to
1960s
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Malcom X
Malcolm X converts to Islam after spending 6 years in prison, because he thought it was a religion for only black people. Malcolm's name was also not his birth name he changed it from Malcolm Little to "X" to signify all the African Ancestors with lost names. So during the Civil Rights, he opposed MLK's non-violent strategy and didn't allow white people to be involved. -
The New Fronteir
During John F. Kennedy's Presidency, he established The New Frontier and challenged the U.S to land a man on the moon. In The New Fronteir Kennedy had numerous ideas for changes. Like raising the minimum wage, relieve overcrowded schools, cutting taxes for businesses from 90%, and wanted to alleviate a downturn. -
The Peace Corps
The Peace Corps was Founded by President Kennedy in order to help spread capitalism. The peace corps was able to inspire many young graduates that served in nations like Latin America, Africa, Asia, and the Middle East. Although it wasnt able to go through in his 3 years of office. -
Dr. Jonas Salk
Dr. Jonas Salk was an American medical researcher and virologist. Who developed a vaccine to combat Polio disease, and was made available by 1961. This vaccine was able to successfully eliminate Polio from the U.S by 1994. -
Freedom Rides
On 1961 13 African-American and white civil rights activists launched the Freedom Rides. Bus trips through the Deep South to protest segregation in interstate bus terminals. Although a lot of violence arose when a bus was firebombed and riders beaten up. -
Feminism
Around the 1960s many women split from the civil rights and waited on Feminism to come about. So after Helen Gurley released “Sex and the Single Girl” many women were empowered through sexuality to explore. And when Betty Friedman released “The Feminine Mystique" women everywhere began to believe that they could do anything a man could do. -
The Cuban Missle Crisis
The Cuban Missile Crisis was a 13-day military conflict between the U.S & Soviets when they decided to place nuclear weapons in Cuba. After receiving notice the U.S announced the blockade they'd put on Cuba for threatening their national security. Although the issue was avoided after they promised to remove missiles with the condition that the U.S didnt invade Cuba. -
Earl Warren Supreme Court
Earl Warren Supreme Court was one of the most liberal SCOTUS in history run by Chief justice Ear Warren. Warren was able to shut down all conservative tenements that were portrayed as unconstitutional. Like prayer in school, jim crow, interracial marriage, free counsel for the accused, and right to remain silent when arrested. -
Birmingham March
The Birmingham campaign was started by the Southern Christian Leadership conference (SCLC) who had MLK as one of their leaders. This campaign sought to desegregate all Birmingham not just the buses. Many teens were part of it since they really had nothing to loose, and when the march began the police unleashed fire hoses and dogs and this was all caught on camera showing the whole country what it was like -
The Assassination of JFK
Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas, near the Texas School Book Depository in Dealey Plaza. Lee Harvey Oswald is supposedly the only shooter in the assassination. Where 5 shots where made, and two of them striked his neck and head. He was pronounced dead an hour later, and to this day there is still conspiracy's on whether or not Oswald acted alone since the shots appear to come from the side and not from behind. -
The Warren Commission
The Warren Commission was set up by President Johnson to investigate the assassination of JFK. Many who were part of it were enemies to Kennedy and came to a conclusion that Oswald acted alone in the crime. Although many still are in full disbelief of this making it a current conspiracy to this day. -
Daisy Girl Ad
The Daisy Girl Ad was started by Lyndon Johnson for his presidential campaign.That formed an unstated message a vote for Goldwater meant everyone dies along with the daisy girl. This ad gave us victory over Barry Goldwater and made an important turning point in both politics and advertising. -
Watts Riots
The Watts riot was the worst urban riot in 20 years. They began in Los Angeles, California in a ghetto are with high unemployment, poor schools, and drug use. Riots break out after two white policemen scuffle with a black motorist suspected of driving under the influence. -
Black Panther Party
The Black Panther Party was originally founded in Oakland, California and founded by Huey Newton. They were African-Americans armed in self-defense for helping black people. Typically feared by many whites due to their militant style in the way they dressed. -
The Counterculture
The Counterculture was integrated with hippies, Yippies, and communes. That were against middle-class values, mainstream institutions, and behavior. This began after Liberalism starts forming the "New Left" and Protests begin across the country by SDS. -
EPA (Environmental Protection Agency)
The EPA was initiated by Nixon in 1970, In order to protect the environment. Through setting air and water pollution standards although the EPA was a controversial issue for some of the conservative politicians today. -
Equal Rights Amendment (ERA)
The Equal Rights Amendment was a proposed amendment to the United States Constitution designed to guarantee equal rights for all citizens regardless of gender. It goes into ratification but it fails by 3 states in 1979. -
Period: to
1970s
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Nixon's Presidency
Nixon is part of the election in 1972 when he crushes George McGovern a democrat in the election. Although he doesn't last long because he is impeached on 1974 for obstruction of justice. When he withholds information in his own wrongdoing. A month later the release the unedited version of the tape where it shows Nixon's cover-up. -
The Heritage Foundation
The Heritage Foundation promoted conservative policies. Their values stood by free enterprise, limited government, individual freedom, values, and strong national defense. The Heritage Foundation also stood by being a non-profit lobbying group. -
Roe v. Wade
Was a U.S Supreme court case where they ruled (7-2) that it was unconstitutional to regulate abortion.The court said that a Texas statutes criminalizing abortion in most instances violated a woman’s constitutional right of privacy, which it found to be implicit in the liberty guarantee of the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. -
OPEC (Organization of Oil Exporting Countries)
OPEC was founded by in 1960 by Saudi Arabia, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, and venezuela. in this time took over and began to raise prices for oil. Although what furthers the crisis of oil prices increasing is the Iranian Revolution in 1979. -
Endangered Species Act
Due to most wildlife being killed off by industrialization and poison in the environment. The Endangered Species Act was an organization that requires Fish and Wildlife Service to list species of plants and animals that are threatened with extinction. Along with many other steps in order to protect after identification like placing a tracker on them. -
Stagflation
Stagflation was high unemployment and rising prices this was something that happened in the Recession of 1974. Then while trying to solve it they actually made it worse. During this time many deficits rose while taxes decreased. -
Panama Canal
The U.S still controlled the Panama Canal, but some of their - Biggest ships and subs couldn’t fit in Canal. So on September 7, 1977 they signed a treaty to give the Panama Canal back to Panama and the handover was completed in 2000. -
Three Mile Island
At Three Mile Island, many mechanical and human errors happened at the nuclear generating plant near Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. That resulted in a Nuclear radiation that leaked out into a nearby town luckily no one got sick. After this incident many americans were weary of nuclear power after this occured. -
Reagonomiccs
During Ronald Reagan's election, he announced a way to fix the nation's economic mess. Where for the first 3 years of his presidency he would put in a tax cut of 30%, the media called this Reaganomics, this would be concentrated on the higher income levels. -
Robert Johnson
Robert Johnson was the 1st Black billionaire. He founded BET, and to this day is viewed in more than 90 million homes worldwide. The BET's premiered in the 1980s as a channel that ran two hours of weekly programming in select east coast cities. -
Election of 1980
This was an election between Republican Ronald Reagan and Democrat Jimmy Carter, but Reagan defeats Carter in the election. Reagan won by a landslide because he had more electoral and popular votes. -
Ronald Reagan
Reagan was a former governor of California, actor in the 40/50s and also a Republican. Reagan also testified before HUAC about communism, but still many people like the Unites Conservative Coalition still stood behind him. -
Jimmy Carter
During the Election he went up against Ronald Reagan, but lost. What brought his popularity down during the election was mostly the hostage crisis in Iran. Where failure to free the hostages led the government to be perceived as inept and inefficient. -
Period: to
1980s
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AIDS (Acquired immune deficiency syndrome)
AIDS starts affecting thousands of homosexuals in 1981. It then spreads to the heterosexual community through blood transfusions. -
Sandra Day O’Connor
She was the first female Supreme Court Justice nominated by Reagan. She may have sided with the conservatives of the court at first but then begins to side more with the liberals. She served her term well enough until 2006 when she retires due to her husban's health where he was declared with alzheimer's. -
Space Shuttle Program
The space shuttle program evolved when it first launched Columbia in April. During this program is when the first American women went off into space her name was Sally Ride. During this program the space shuttle Challenger exploaded soon after it took off. -
Music Television (MTV)
MTV revolutionized music and became an influential source of pop culture and entertainment in the United States. The first few days of MTV they aired basic music videos and opened up the show each time with “Ladies and gentlemen, rock and roll.” Which was typically said by one of the creators John Lack. -
Video Head System (VHS)
The VHS dominated the theater of video recording and video watching. The VHS was around for so long that many didn't expect it to last as long as it did. Many few media formats can expect to match the long life that VHS had. -
Climate Change
Scientists continue to warn us about great changes that can occur if reductions to the burning of fossil fuels don't stop. They have seen a rise in temperature by 1.8 degrees Fahrenheit since 1800. Although it doesnt stop there they have seen ice caps melting, beaches eroding and water to encroach coastal cities. -
Period: to
1990s
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The Persian Gulf War / First Iraq War
The Persian Gulf War was an international conflict that was triggered by Iraq's invasion of Kuwait. Saddam Hussain ordered the invasion in order to acquire the nation's large oil reserves. Although the United States and its western European NATO allies rushed troops to Saudi Arabia to stop a possible attack. -
Black Entertainment Television (BET)
During this time the BET network became the first black-controlled TV company to be listed on the New YorkStock Exchange. And then expanded with the launch of digital cable networks. -
Health Care Reform
The Healthcare reform was started by Clinton but passed on the task to his wife Hillary Clinton. This was started in order to form a longtime liberal goal of nationalized healthcare. Although it was put to an end in 2009 when it fails. -
World Trade Center Attack
During the World Trade Center attack, Terrorists explode massive car bombs in the basement parking garage of the World Trade Center. Where they hoped to collapsed the building, but it only left only six story hold in the ground. THis event was easily forgotten. -
NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement)
NAFTA consisted of United States, Mexico, & Canada. It called for the gradual elimination of most remaining barriers to cross-border investment and to the movement of goods and services among the three countries.NAFTA also put rules in place for both agriculture & technology industries, but with everything, NAFTA put an end to Mexican knock-off products. -
Don't Ask Don't Tell
DADT was started by the Clinton Administration. This was an official United States policy on military where they allowed gays, bisexuals, and lesbians into the military. Since the policy before DADT did not allow them to enlist. -
Lewinsky Affair
This was a scandal where Clinton has an affair with Monica Lewinsky a White house intern. Although the story gets out about his affair and he denies the entire thing, but that soon gets back to him when the house of representatives impeaches him for lying under oath, and obstructive justice. -
DOMA ( Defense of Marriage Act)
The Defense of Marriage Act was a Federal law that defines marriage between a man and women and stated that states didn't have to accept gay marriages of other states. Although in 2011 the Federal court rules that DOMA was unconstitutional. -
Oprah Winfrey
Oprah Winfrey created a well-known talk show about issues and trends of the day. Making her one of the richest women in the world. Not only was she very successful but she also supported Obama in his 2008 presidential election. -
Election of 2000
This was a presidential election between Al Gore, George W. Bush, and Ralph Nader.This is known as one of the closest elections in American history. Al Gore was a Democrat, environmentalist and who wanted to save the new government surplus for social security. George Bush was a government of texas while Nader was an environmentalist, and former consumer rights advocate. -
Immigration upticks from Asia and Latin America
During this Era, there were many Latin American and Asian immigrants. So many Right-wing politicians call for restrictions to protect American jobs. Since they were many concerns of Crime, taxes, and healthcare. -
Period: to
Contemporary
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Bush v. Gore
The Supreme Court of the United States reversed a Florida Supreme Court request for a selective manual recount of that state’s U.S. presidential election ballots. SCOTUS decided 5-4 that Bush won, Gore won the popular vote but Bush won the electoral college. -
No Child Left Behind Education Act
The No Child Left Behind Education Act was put in place because there had been no reports of declining schools across the country. So in a wish to prevent this Bush sends a bill trough congress, so he could revamp standards and link federal funding to student performance on standardized tests. -
9/11 Attacks
During 9/11 19 al-Qaeda, hijackers boarded 4 planes with box cutters. 2 planes hit the World Trade Center building and one hits the Pentagon while the last one couldn't find the White house due to all the trees. 2,973 people will die of these attacks, resulting in President Bush to demand Afghanistan to turn over al-Queda terrorists. -
Second Iraq War
This was a conflict in Iraq that consisted of two phases. The first of these was a brief that combined the United State and Great Britain troops where they defeated their military forces. While the second one which was much longer resulted in the U.S occupation of Iraq which opposed an insurgency. -
Hurricane Katrina Disaster
In 2005, Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast of the United States. While the storm made great damage the aftermath made even more horrible disasters. Levee branches led to a massive flooding which led to many people blaming the government for not preventing it sooner. -
Election of 2008
During this presidential election, it was a fight between Barack Obama, a previous senator from Illinois, and John MacCain a former Vietnam prisoner of war. Both of these candidates promised to end the Bush Tax cuts and to get out of Iraq. -
Sonya Sotomayor
Was nominated by Obama as part of the Spreme Court Justice. Making her one of the first Hispanic SCOTUS judges. -
Affordable Care Act (ACA)
The Affordable Care Act also known as "Obama Care" was a reform for private health insurance. Where everyone would be required to have health insurance or pay a fine. This made many Liberals upset becuase it wasnt a single-player system like Europe.
