Founding Docs
Declaration of Independence
to explain the colonists' right to revolution.
Nuclear Race
initially, only the United States possessed atomic weapons, but in 1949 the Soviet Union exploded an atomic bomb and the arms race began. Both countries continued building more and bigger bombs.
Spanish-American War
Baby Boom/G.I. Bill
GI Bill benefits promised the decent pay, access to good jobs, and affordable housing that made raising a family possible.
Communism
a political theory derived from Karl Marx, advocating class war and leading to a society in which all property is publicly owned and each person works and is paid according to their abilities and needs
Locke/Hobbes/Rousseau
While Hobbes and Locke saw humans as naturally selfish—and in need of government to keep us from killing each other—Rousseau saw human beings as naturally good: filled with pity and compassion for one another, and a natural propensity to cooperate.
Sputnik/Space Race
the Soviet entry in a scientific race to launch the first satellite ever.
U.S.S. Maine
Interstate Highway Act
This act authorized the building of highways throughout the nation, which would be the biggest public works project in the nation's history. Popularly known as the National Interstate and Defense Highways Act of 1956, the Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956 established an interstate highway system in the United States.
Nativism
the policy of protecting the interests of native-born or established inhabitants against those of immigrants.
Bill of Rights
the first ten amendments to the US Constitution, ratified in 1791 and guaranteeing such rights as the freedoms of speech, assembly, and worship.
Containment
the action of keeping something harmful under control or within limits.
Panama Canal
The Panama Canal is a constructed waterway that connects the Atlantic and Pacific oceans across the Isthmus of Panama. It is owned and administered by Panama, and it is 40 miles long from shoreline to shoreline. Ships can cross going in either direction, and it takes about 10 hours to get from one side to the other.
Age of Affluence
Age of Affluence, a period when men's economic security and income have increased and when, for the first time in history, it appears likely.
Red Scare
Magna Carta
the first document to put into writing the principle that the king and his government was not above the law.
Iron Curtain
Iron Curtain, the political, military, and ideological barrier erected by the Soviet Union after World War II to seal off itself and its dependent eastern and central European allies from open contact with the West and other noncommunist areas.
Big Stick Policy
Big Stick policy, in American history, policy popularized and named by Theodore Roosevelt that asserted U.S. domination when such dominance .
Growth of the Suburbs
providing inexpensive housing outside the city.
Sacco and Venzetti
charged with committing robbery and murder at the Slater and Morrill shoe factory in South Braintree.
Natural Rights
those that are not dependent on the laws or customs of any particular culture or government, and so are universal, fundamental and inalienable
Berlin Wall/Airlift
Soviet forces blockaded rail, road, and water access to Allied-controlled areas of Berlin. T
Good Neighbor Policy
President Franklin Delano Roosevelt took office determined to improve relations with the nations of Central and South America.
LBJ’s Great Society
Roaring Twenties
Roaring Twenties, colloquial term for the 1920s, especially within the United States and other Western countries where the decade was characterized by economic prosperity, rapid social and cultural change, and a mood of exuberant optimism.