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Cold War
The Cold War was a war between The United States and Soviet Union. It was caused because the Soviets were trying to spread communism to the whole world, which the U.S. would not allow. The phrase "race to space" was commonly used during the war to describe the U.S. and Soviet competition to get to space first. -
Iron Curtain
The Iron Curtain was a metaphorical barrier that divided Europe into two sides, the free West and communist East. Later, the Berlin Wall was built, literally dividing East and West. -
Marshall Plan
The Marshall Plan hoped to rebuild the economy of Western Europe, and many people called it "Europe's New Deal", referencing the post-war recovery efforts. -
Levittown
Cookie cutter homes that were affordable and easy to build, contributed to "return to normalcy" after WWII. -
NSC-68
NSC-68 was a document that explained a method of containment towards the Soviets, stating that both sides would be militarily prepared for war if necessary. -
Army-McCarthy hearings
These were trials led by McCarthy that accused innocent people of being linked to communism. McCarthy was later condemned for his behavior, and the term "McCarthyism" was created to describe his abuse of power and disrespect. -
Brown v. Board of Education
5 cases combined into 1, outlawed the "separate but equal" only in public schools, no immediate implementation by government. -
Massive retaliation
John Dulles' massive retaliation said that a Soviet attack on a U.S. ally would be met with nuclear assault on the Soviets(brinkmanship) -
Montgomery bus boycott
Rosa Park's arrest led to a movement known as the "Montgomery bus boycott" which was a mass boycott against segregated buses, which helped initiate the civil rights movement of the South. -
"In God We Trust"
During the 50's, religion was growing at a very large rate, and the phrase "In God We Trust" was added to paper money. -
New Left
The New Left was a rising social trend among the teens/college students at the time, and was defined by rejecting the mainstream American culture and going against their parents' conservative views. This movement started in the late 50s and lasted through the early 60s. -
Freedom Rides
CORE launched freedom rides, which were groups of black AND white activists who traveled South by bus to protest the unfairness of segregation in public transportation areas. -
Cuban Missile Crisis
The Soviets had missiles put in Cuba to face the United States, and after finding out from a spy, the United Sates had missiles put in Turkey pointed at the Soviets. Later, the U.S. and Soviets came to an agreement about the crisis, stating that the U.S. would not invade Cuba and the Soviets would withdraw their missiles. -
Civil Rights Act
The Civil Rights Act barred racial discrimination in employment, institutions, public accommodations. In addition, the Act banned discrimination based on sex. -
My Lai massacre
The My Lai massacre was a massacre carried out by American troops which killed around 350 Vietnamese civilians -
Stonewall Inn
After the police raided the Stonewall Inn, a gathering place for homosexual people, many of the gays fought back, rioting and demanding equal rights, and this sparked a movement of "gay pride". -
Busing
Busing was used to help the integration of blacks into society and to help lessen the racial segregation present in school systems and public areas. -
Watergate
The Watergate scandal was a scandal that involved the breaking-in of a democratic building by Nixon's men, which led to the downfall of President Nixon after the rumors of what happened. -
Stagflation
Stagflation was used to describe the combination of stagnant economic growth and rising oil prices(inflation) due to the oil embargo put on the United States from Eastern Arab states who fought with the U.S.'s ally, Israel. -
Reaganomics
Tax reforms which helped reduced the wealthy people's taxes by using "supply-side economics", also known as "trickle-down economics", which was a system of high interest rates to stop inflation and lower tax rates for businesses or wealthy people to elevate private investment.
