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1947 BCE
2nd Red Scare
The second Red Scare refers to the fear of communism that permeated American politics, culture, and society from the late 1940s through the 1950s, during the opening phases of the Cold War with the Soviet Union. -
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Cold War
During World War II, the United States and the Soviet Union fought together as allies against the Axis powers. However, the relationship between the two nations was a tense one. Americans had long been wary of Soviet communism and concerned about Russian leader Joseph Stalin’s tyrannical, blood-thirsty rule of his own country. -
Atomic / Hydrogen Bombs
President Truman ordered the US troops to drop nuclear weapons on the Japanese cities, respectively, during the final stage of World War II. The United States dropped the bombs with the consent of the United Kingdom as outlined in the Quebec Agreement. The two days that involved the bombing, killed at least 129,000 people. Today these are the only bombs that remain in history. -
Joseph McCarthy
McCarthy became the most visible public face of a period in which Cold War tensions fueled fears of widespread Communist subversion. Joseph Raymond "Joe" McCarthy was an American politician who was a U.S. Senator from the state of Wisconsin from 1947 until his death in 1957 -
Fair Deal
The Fair Deal was created by President Truman. His "deal" was created in aspects that all Americans will have health insurance, minimum age should be increased, and that all Americans have equal rights by law. -
Marshall Plan
The Marshall Plan gave over $12 billion to finance the economic recovery of Europe to rebuild Western Europe economies after the end of World War II. The Marshall Plan was named after George Marshall, Secretory of State when he presented the plan at Harvard University in June 1947. -
Alger and Ethel Rosenberg
Alger was a soviet spy and was convicted of perjury. The couple was later executed for giving atomic secrets to the soviets. -
Berlin Airlift
After World War II, the Allies defeated Germany into a four sections. The Russians–who wanted Berlin all for themselves closed all highways, railroads and canals from western-occupied Germany into western-occupied Berlin. Berlin then carried supplies to the people of West Berlin, a difficult feat given the size of the city's population -
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. The bulk of their work was published and popularized throughout the 1950s -
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1950s
The time period of civil rights, Rock and Roll, TV, Radio, Beat Generation, Brown v. Board, Emmett Till, Montgomery Bus Boycott, Martin Luther King Jr., SCLC, Little Rock Nine, Sit-Ins, SNCC, Polio. -
Bill Haley and the Comets
Bill Haley and the Comets were an American rock and roll band that started in 1952 and continued until the death of Bill Haley in 1981 -
Korean War
The Korean War begin when North Korea invaded South Korea. The United Nations, with the United States as the principal force, came to the aid of South Korea. China came to the aid of North Korea, and the Soviet Union gave some assistance. -
Izear Luster Turner Jr.
Also known as "Ike", Lzear was an American musician, bandleader, songwriter, and producer. He was the first person to write the first Rock and Roll song called "Rocket 88" -
Richard Wayne Penniman
Richard Wayne Penniman, known as Little Richard is an American musician, singer and songwriter. An influential figure in popular music and culture for more than six decades and helped defined the Rock and Roll time period -
Polio Vaccine
Developed by Dr. Jonas Salk, a deactivated vaccine to combat the disease, later oral vaccine made in 1961, and eradicated polio from the United States by 1994 -
Brown vs Board of Education
Brown v. Board of Education was a landmark United States Supreme Court case in which the Court declared state laws establishing separate public schools for black and white students to be unconstitutional. -
G.I Bill
Offers World War II vets low interest rates on houses and college tuition, money to start business. This bill is still around today for veterans. -
Space Race
A competition between two Cold War rivals, the Soviet Union and the United State, for spaceflight capability. The Space Race spawned pioneering efforts to launch artificial satellites, unmanned space probes of the Moon, Venus, and Mars, and human spaceflight in low Earth orbit and to the Moon. -
Emmett Till
The tragedy of Emmett Till. He traveled to Money, Mississippi, from Chicago, accepted a challenge from his friends to ask a white girl out in a country store, 21 year old Carolyn Bryant, supposedly grab her arm and said " How about a date baby". 4 days later he was abducted from his house in the middle of the night, beaten, taken to a nearby river and forced him to strip, shot him in the head, dumped the body and tied a cotton gym to him, body was unrecognizable. had an open casket funeral. -
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was a long, costly armed conflict that pitted the communist of North Vietnam and its southern allies, known as the Viet Cong, against South Vietnam and their ally, the United States. More than 3 million people (including 58,000 Americans) were killed in the Vietnam War; more than half were Vietnamese civilians. -
Anti War Movement
Americans became weary of the war, some focused on the issue of the war, others used the war to protest injustice inside the United States, Universities were sites were protest happened, some burnt their draft cards, tens of thousands move to Canada, protest were starting to become violent. -
Montgomery Bus Boycott
Four months after Emmett Till's death the boycott lasted a year, after a year, SCOTUS ruled that segregated buses were unconstitutional, December 1056, black riders could sit were ever they wanted, encouraged to ride in pairs. -
Rosa Parks
Forty- three year old seamstress, boards the front of the bus, white man comes on and demands she give him the seat, she refuses to move and is arrested. -
Elvis Presley
Elvis Aaron Presley was an American singer and actor. Regarded as one of the most significant cultural icons of the 20th century, he is often referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll", or simply "the King". He created his own sexually suggestive dance style, "Elvis the Pelvis", his music was taken from African Americans. -
Eisenhower Interstate Highway System
Linked cities for multiple uses, civilian and military use, evacuation of cities in case of attack, mobilization of the military. -
Little Rock 9
Segregationist resist brown v. board for as long as they can, moderate whites will do half-way measures, integrating buses, libraries, and parks like little rock nine, they decide to slowly integrate Central High School, Governor Orval Fabus orders state troops to stop 9 black students from entering the high school, nation guard only admits white students and turned the black ones away, things got very violent. -
Sputnik
The Sputnik was the first artificial Earth satellite. The Soviet Union launched it into an elliptical low Earth orbit, as it was a 58 cm diameter polished metal sphere, with four external radio antennas to broadcast radio pulses. -
NASA
NASA stands for National Aeronautics and Space Administration. It is a United States government agency that is responsible for science and technology related to air and space. The Space Age started in 1957 with the launch of the Soviet's Sputnik. NASA was created in 1958. -
Hippies
Part of the counter culture, they reject middle class values, explain their inner selves, some lived in separate communities, rejected cars, suburban homes, and average jobs their parents had. They are all about sex, drugs, and Rock and Roll. -
Lysergic Acid Diethylamide
This drug also known as LSD is known for its psychological effects, hippies used this drug as well as heroin. -
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The 1960s
The New Frontier, John F Kennedy, Earl Warren, Assassination, Lyndon Johnson, The warren commission, Lee Harvey Oswald, HSCA, The Great Society, Civil rights, Affirmative Action, Birmingham Campaign, MLK, March on Washington, Freedom Summers, Selma, Black power movement, Black Panthers, Watts Riots, Malcolm X, Mexican Americans, Native Americas, Counter Culture Feminism, Men on the Moon. -
Feminism
Many white women (women in general) split from from civil rights, looked towards feminism. Empowerment through sexuality, encouraged women to explore their sexuality believed women could do what men could, movement focused on equal rights and equal pay. -
Sit-Ins
Non-violence goes from schools to other public places, more whites could see the struggle, eateries, first sit-in was in Greensboro, North Carolina, started movement across the country, protesters thrown from seats and beaten, never could fight back, Nashville desegregates its lunch eateries. -
Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries
OPEC Controls much of the worlds oil, places an oil embargo on U.S. for supporting Israel, Nixon convinces Israelis to give up some territory, embargo ends. is an intergovernmental organization of 13 nations as of 2017, founded in 1960 in Baghdad by the first five members (Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Venezuela), and headquartered since 1965 in Vienna. -
Nixon and Kennedy
As far as politics, Kennedy was young, invigorating, Nixon was old but was picked for success, the first ever televised election, Kennedy knew the power of the TV, he wore make up, took notes and looked professional, Nixon sweated, nervous, didn't look so good, helps push Kennedy over the top in one of the closets elections in American history, does who watched it on TV thought Kennedy had won, does who listened to it on the radio thought Nixon had won. -
Cuban Missile Crisis
This was a 13-day confrontation between the United States and the Soviet Union. However, the disaster was avoided when the U.S. agreed to Soviet leader and offered to remove the Cuban missiles in exchange for the U.S. promising not to invade Cuba. US President Kennedy agreed to remove U.S. missiles. -
Martin Luther King's Letter
MLK writes a letter in Birmingham Jail stating his continued the policy of non-violence, it was the only way blacks could succeed, "injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere", King needed liberal and moderate whites on his Civil Rights plan to work. -
Birmingham Bombig
A bomb burled inside the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, 2 weeks after MLK's march, 4 girls killed, the KKK was behind the bombing, upset abut the march, men responsible were put on trial for the actual bombing until after 200, some are still in jail today, others died in jail. -
Assassinatioin of John F Kennedy
Kennedy was campaigning for re-election in Texas, Houston, San Antonio, Austin, Dallas, route he was going to take was publicized, open air motorcade, took him by the Texas school bank depository, Killed by Lee Harvey Oswald, Shot Twice. -
Lee Harvey Oswald
Ex-Marine with communist sympathies, defected to U.S.S.R, got married, Came back to the States with Special Permission, Supposedly the only shooter in the assassination. -
Jack Ruby
Jack Leon Ruby was an American, originally from Chicago, Illinois, who lived in Dallas, Texas where he owned a nightclub. Killed Lee Harvey Oswald, dies of cancer almost 4 years later. -
Warren Commision
Set by President Johnson to investigate the assassination, Kennedy's enemies were on the commission, Came to the conclusion that Oswald acted by himself, many disbelieved the findings of the commission, Kennedy's last shot looked like it came from the front not from the back, people believed it to be a conspiracy from the findings. -
The Great Society
Proposed by Lyndon Johnson, promised education, good standard of living and beatification, went further than the New Deal. -
3 Missing Civil Rights Movers
1st day of the freedom summers, 3 civil rights workers went missing (2 whites,1 black), Michael Schwerner 24, Jewish social worker, James Chaney, 21 black activist, Andrew Goodman, 20, Jewish volunteer, they investigated Klan burning of a church in a rural area of Mississippi, pulled over on the way back from local police,arrested for "speeding", booked at the jail , let them go, sheriff called KKk buddies to ambush them, All 3 disappeared, the F.B.I put out missing posters. -
Gulf of Tonkin Incident
An American destroyer was "attacked" by a North Vietnamese torpedo ship, Johnson's way of getting troops involved. -
Daisy Girl Ad
Plays to the fear of the cold war mentality, responses to Goldwater's NATO comments, commanders should have authority to use nuclear weapons. -
Selma March
600 marchers set out walking 50 miles to Montgomery for the right to vote, MLK too, country police waited at the end of the Edmond Peters Bridge in Selma for them with clubs and gas, orders to go back, protesters prayed, white spectators cheered as black were beaten, TV cameras were there to see the violence. -
Nixon's Election
Ran against George Wallace, came back after almost a decade, promised to bring back law and order, promised to end the war. Nixon easily wins. -
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The 1970s
Vietnam. Ho Chi Minh, Lyndon Johnson, Gulf Of Tompkin, Domino theory, Agent orange, Napalm, Cambodia, My Lai Massacre, Youm Kippur war, OPEC, Nixons Policies, Watergate, Impeachment, Ford, Carter, Community Reinvestment Act, Camp David Accords, Panama Canal, Iran Hostage Crisis. -
Waerren Burger Supreme Court
Appointed by Nixon for the Chief of Justice for SCOTUS, wants burger to sale back desegregation, burger goes forward with integration, busing policies in the 70's. -
Apollo 11
Kennedy challenged the US to put a man on the moon ten years prior .Neil Armstrong was the first man on the moon, planted American flag, beat the soviets to the moon. -
Watergate Hotel
Headquarters of the Democratic Party, 5 of Nixon's "plumbers" stole campaign information, fixed a broken wire tap, caught by a security guard, arrested, Nixon distanced himself from Watergate, came out that the white house paid the "plumbers" to keep quite, revealed that Nixon was taping systems to record conversations. -
Title IX
Title IX of the Education Amendments Act of 1972 is a federal law that states: "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." -
Roe vs Wade
Women protesting for legalized abortion for years, most states totally outlawed it, sometimes allowed only for the life of the mother, other extreme reasons, Norma McCorvey sued Texas for her right to privacy, sued under the name Jane Roe, Had baby before SCOTUS case, gave it up for adoption, SCOTUS rules outlawing abortion in unconstitutional. -
Truman Doctrine
President Truman establishes that the United States would provide political, economic, and military assistance to all democrat nations. Truman did this because Greek and Turkey were being threatened by communism. This document was extended to become the basis of the Cold War. -
Nixon's Tapes
Senate and Justice Department launched investigation into Nixon, demanded he turn the tape over, Nixon refuses, cities Executive Privileged, Nixon ask Attorney General to fire Head of Justice Department, court orders for tapes to appear, attorney general resigns, Nixon gives edited version of tapes over to senate investigation committee, Nixon said he was proven innocent. -
Gerald for President
Modest person, famous for saying, "Im a Ford, Not a Lincoln", distanced himself from the elite, on the Warren Commission, Pardons Nixon for all crimes, adds to the distrust people had/have for Washington D.C., thought pardoning Nixon would help people quickly get over watergate. -
Federal Election Commission
The Federal Election Commission (FEC) is an independent regulatory agency that was founded in 1975 by the United States Congress to regulate the campaign finance legislation in the United States -
Panama Canal
U.S. still controlled the canal, biggest ships and subs couldn't fit in canal, carter signed treaty to give canal to panama, had over completely in 2000. -
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The 1980s
Gay rights, Stonewall riot, AIDS, EPA (environmental protection agency), Three mile island, The endangered Species Act, Heritage Foundation, NRA ( National Rifle Association), Carter, Reagan, Assassination Attempt, Tax reforms, MAD ( Mutually Assured Destruction), Retail -
Iran Hostage Crisis
U.S. supported Shah of Iran, major oil supplier, brutal dictator and anti-communist (became unpopular), Ayatollah Khumeini leads Islamic Revolution, mistrusted the U.S, U.S gave amnesty to the Shah, 52 Americans taken from the American embassy in Tehran, A special forces team was sent to rescue hostages, helicopters crash, are released 1/20/1981. 444 days -
Soviet War In Afghanistan
An invasion in Afghanistan by the Soviet Union that lead to a nine year war. Without proper equipment and training, the Afghanistan government was unable to resist the foreign mercenaries. Eventually, seeking the aid of the Soviet Union.The entry of the Soviet Union into the country caused an immediate increase in the presence of foreign mercenaries. -
Rap Music
Rap music became popular during the 1980s, people such as, Beastie Boys, Run DMC, Public Enemy, N.W.A., Eric B. & Rakim, LL Cool J, Grandmaster Flash, the Furious Five, Boogie Down Productions. -
Black Entertainment Television
B.E.T was started by Robert Johnson, First black billionaire, Features music and stories from the African-American community. -
Video Head System
The Video Home System (VHS) is a standard for consumer-level analog video recording on tape cassettes. Developed by Victor Company of Japan (JVC) in the early 1970s, it was released in Japan in late 1976 and in the USA in early 197. -
AIDS Crisis
Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome, Starts affecting thousands of homosexuals(1981), Spreads to heterosexual community through blood transfusions. -
Election of 1980
Ronald Reagan, former governor of california, former actor in 40's and 50's, testified before HUAC about communism, unites conservatives coalition behind hi, Jimmy Carter, incumbent, haunted by a bad economy, hostage crisis in iran brought down his popularity, special forces mishaps seals his defeat, Reagan defeats Carter on November, 1980 -
Reagan Doctrine
U.S. supports guerrilla groups fighting communist, No longer contain, but get rid of communism -
Reaganomics
Cut income and corporate taxes to spur economy and create better jobs, reduction in welfare spending, massively increased defense spending, "supposedly" offset by new taxes from a booming economy, democrats critical of is ideas and trickle-down economics. the economic policies of the former US president Ronald Reagan, associated especially with the reduction of taxes and the promotion of unrestricted free-market activity. -
Space Shuttle Program
1st space shuttle (Columbia) launched in April 1981, Sally Ride-first American woman in space, 1986 challenger explosion, Satellites, become important for communication, TV entertainment. -
Music Televsion
MTV is an American cable and satellite television channel owned by Viacom Media Networks and headquartered in New York City -
Satellite Entertainment
Satellite Entertainment was a joint venture owned/operated by Warner Communications and American Express that developed interactive television shows in the 1970s and 80's and initiated several successful cable networks that remain well-known. -
Challenger Explosion
The NASA shuttle orbiter mission and the tenth flight of Space Shuttle Challenger broke apart 73 seconds into its flight, killing all seven crew members, which consisted of five NASA astronauts and two Payload Specialists. The spacecraft disintegrated over the Atlantic Ocean, off the coast of Cape Canaveral, Florida, at 11:39 -
Oprah Winfrey
Worlds richest woman, Creates well-known talk show about issues and trends of the day, Supports Obama in 2008 -
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The 1990s
The fall of Communism,Iraq, The Persian Gulf War, Operation Desert Shield, NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement), Rodney King, Election of 1992, Bill Clinton, George H.W. Bush, The Lewinski Affair. -
Persian Gulf War
Fights Iran in the 1980s,war ends in a stalemate, U.S. and Arab nations (Kuwait) lend Iraq billions of dollars, Saddam Hussein (Iraqi leader) blames Kuwait for flooding the world with cheap oil, Hurts Iraq, Invades Kuwait when they refuse to forgive the debt, claimed Kuwait historically part of Iraq, Operation Desert Storm, president bush quickly deploy troops to Saudi Arabia, Gets U.N. resolution to use force against Iraq if they didn't withdraw, U.S. worried about invasions of other countries. -
Rodney King Incidnet
Rodney King (African-American) chased 78 miles in his car by L.A. police, Chase ends with him being beaten, Caught on tape, Riots take place for 4 days, Asian shops looted by black and latino residents, Angry fro asians not hiring people of color -
Election of 1992
William "Bill" Jefferson Clinton (democrat), governor of Arkansas, An unknown running for president, Charismatic and understating, George H.W. Bush (republican), Incumbent, Large deficits and down turning economy, Popular for Persian Gulf War, Ross Perot (independent) took votes away from Bush, Clinton wins 43% of the votes. -
World Trade Center Attack 1993
Terrorist explode massive car bombs in the basement parking garage of the World Trad Center, Hoped to collapse the building, Left only six story hold in the ground, The incident was quickly forgotten, Obama Bin Laden tries again, Gets financing from sympathizing in Saudi Arabia, Builds complex terror network (al-Qaeda) BIn Laden attacks U.S embassies i late 90s, Naval destroyer attacked in Yamen (2000) -
North American Free Trade Agreement
Encompasses Mexico, U.S. , Canada, Knocks down trade barriers, Rules put in place for several industries, Agriculture and Technology, Americans lose many jobs from NAFTA, Stopped Mexican knock-off products -
Lionel Sosa
Hispanic advertising mogul, Created famous ads for big corporations and presidential campaigns -
Defense of Marriage Act
Federal law that defines marriage between a man and a woman, States don't have to except gay marriages of other states, in 2011, Federal court ruled DOMA in unconstitutional, Justice Department does not defend legal challenges to the law. -
The Lewinsky Affair
Clinton has affair with a White House intern, Monica Lewinski, Special prosecutor(Kenneth Star)got a hold of the affair from a Linda Tripp, Tripp told by Monica in confidence, Media gets a hold of the story, Clinton denies the whole affair, Testifies to Starr that he did no wrong, House of Representatives impeaches Clinton for lying under oath and obstruction of justice, The charges didn't get the 2/3 vote required to remove Clinton, Many were tired of the lies and scandals at the end of the 90s -
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Contemporary
Election of 2000, AL Gore, George W. Bush, Ralph Nader, BUsh v. Gore, Housing bubble, No Child left behind Act, Personal Computers, The Internet, Cell phones, Space Technology, BET, Oprah, Gay marriage, Immigration, Donald Trump. -
Bush vs Gore
Gore takes it to SCOTUS, SCOTUS decides 5-4 that bush won, Judges couldn't be told how to count votes, Gore wins popular vote by half a million, Bush won electoral college. -
9/11
19 al-Qaeda hijackers boarded 4 planes, Had box cutter, 4 planes turn course, 2 hit the World Trade Center building, 1 hit the pentagon, couldn't find the white house, 4th plane passengers learn of the attacks, Subdue the terrorist, Terrorist nosedive the plane, 2,973 will die in the attacks. -
Patriot Act
Expands government's law enforcement powers, Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism, Security concerns lead to new federal legislation, Law enforcement and intelligence agencies allowed to conduct wide-sweeping searches and surveillance, Detained immigrants, Monitored bank accounts, Wiretapped suspected callers without warrant, Many opposed it because of executive overreach in power, Invaded a personal privacy. -
No Child Left Behind Education Act
Reports of declining schools across the country, Bush sends bill through congress, Revamps standards and liking federal funding to student performance on standardized test -
Hurricane Katrina
Levee system fails to hold storm surge in New Orleans, 80% of new Orleans flooded. made Bush unpopular because of the way they handled the situation. -
John McCain
Former Vietnam war prisoner of war, Former navy pilot, Ran against G.W. Bush in 2000 and lost, Tries to get Hillary supporters by selection Sarah Palin as Running mate, Run as a moderate, Both candidates promised to end the Bush tax cuts, Both promise to get out of Iraq. -
Barack Obama
U.S President (democrat) 47 years old, First term senator from Illinois, Against the war in Iraq, Beats out Hillary Clinton, Nasty Campaign -
American Recovery and Reinvestment Act 2009
700$ billion in government spending, Create new jobs, save existing ones, Spur economic growth. -
Judge Sonia Sotomayor
Obama nominates her( first hispanic judge) -
Affordable Care Act
Also known as "Obama Care". Obama gets passed reforms for private health insurance, Everyone required to have insurance or pay a fine, Many liberals upset it's not a single-payer system like in Europe.
