Weekly Muse
Eyes on the Prize
Cold War America
Creeps & Peeps
Reagan's Revolution
100
This author, a journalist, wrote a collection of firsthand accounts of the Vietnam War called Dispatches. The essay titled "Khe Sanh" details the experiences of soldiers at the Khe Sanh military base during a siege by North Vietnamese forces.
Who is Michael Herr.
100
This act, passed in 1965, prohibited racial discrimination in voting. It outlawed literacy tests and other methods used to prevent minorities from voting, and prevented state and local governments from imposing voting laws that discriminated on the basis of race.
What is the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
100
This idea, popular from the 1950s to the 1980s, posited that if one state or country in a region fell to communism, other countries in the region would do the same.
What is the Domino Theory.
100
This event, in which Nixon's "plumbers" broke into the headquarters of the Democratic National Committee, led to Nixon's resignation and ultimately undermined Americans' faith in the federal government and contributed to a rise in conservatism in American politics.
What is Watergate.
100
This phrase emerged from Reagan's commitment to challenging legal segregation, and described the lens through which the Constitution must be viewed to guarantee civil liberties for all Americans and protect the advancements of the Civil Rights era.
What is color-blind.
200
This author edited and compiled previously un-released tapes recorded during Nixon's presidency. Though the book is mostly carefully transcribed conversations between Nixon and his top aides, the contents reveal that Nixon was determined to seek retribution and counteract the release and publication of the Pentagon Papers, which he viewed as evidence of a liberal Democratic Party plot against him, by any means necessary. This author relied on the Freedom of Information Act and the hard work of the court system to get the tapes released.
Who is Stanley Kutler.
200
This militant movement arose in response to the failure of the federal government to stop violence against civil rights workers and the persistence of economic inequalities that the civil rights movement seemed unable to address. As part of this movement, several nonviolent direct action group - like SNCC and CORE - repudiated their nonviolent stance.
What is Black Power.
200
This policy committed the United States to provide aid to those countries wherever "freedom" was threatened by communism. Though this policy originally applied only to Turkey and Greece, it ultimately committed the United States to assist anti-communist regimes around the world.
What is the Truman Doctrine.
200
This man became president after the death of Roosevelt. He is known for giving the order to drop the atomic bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and for committing the United States to the worldwide containment of Soviet power.
Who is Harry S. Truman.
200
This term describes Reagan's unique approach to economics. According to Reagan, economic freedom meant curtailing the power of unions, dismantling regulations, and reducing taxes. His policies favored big business, and lowered the tax rate for the wealthiest Americans and marked a retreat from the liberal New Deal approach.
What is Reaganomics.
300
In a chapter titled "I am Woman, Hear me Roar," this author argued that news media, especially print and television, both hurt and helped the women's movement; on the one hand, reporters were critical and dismissive of women's efforts to achieve equality, but on the other, even negative attention drew more supporters to the movement.
Who is Susan J. Douglas.
300
This act was passed in 1964, and prohibited racial discrimination in employment, institutions like hospitals and schools, and privately owned public accommodations such as restaurants, hotels, and theaters. It also banned discrimination on the grounds of sex.
What is the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
300
This policy had its origins in the "long telegram" written by George F. Kennan to the Truman administration, in which he advised that the communist Soviet Union was bent on worldwide expansion and that only the United States could stop it.
What is containment.
300
Nixon's foreign policy technique, in which other countries were led to believe that he was insane and prone to unpredictable action, such as "pushing the button" to release nuclear warheads.
What is the Madman Theory.
300
This scandal, which involved the sale of arms to release hostages and the secret diversion of funds to Nicaraguan fighters trying to oust the Sandinista government, tarnished Reagan's presidency and undermined public confidence in his administration.
What is the Iran-Contra Affair.
400
These authors, in an article titled "Prostitutes on Strike," argue that World War II allowed prostitutes in Hawaii to create a larger civic space for themselves. Though illegal in Hawaii, many women made a significant living from prostitution, but their rights and freedoms were severely curtailed by the local police. Wartime military control allowed them to demand more rights and greater freedoms as local and military police battled for authority.
Who are Beth Bailey and David Farber.
400
This landmark court case overturned Plessy v. Ferguson and declared that separate but equal was not legal, and required schools to integrate. This decision marked the Warren Court as an active agent of social change, created optimism that discrimination would soon end, and was a turning point in postwar United States history.
What is Brown v. Board of Education.
400
This updated version of the policy of containment, pronounced by secretary of state John Foster Dulles in 1954, declared that any Soviet attack on an American ally would be answered with a nuclear attack on the Soviet Union. This policy increased the risk and fear of an all-out nuclear war, but also forced the U.S. and the U.S.S.R. to deal more cautiously with one another.
What is massive retaliation.
400
A military leader with political appeal, was elected president in 1952. He called his domestic agenda Modern Republicanism, and created the largest public works project with the building of an interstate highway system. The first Republican in office since Hoover, he consolidated and legitimized the New Deal and worked to develop a diplomatic relationship with the Soviet Union.
Who is Dwight D. Eisenhower.
400
Though he was elected by a coalition of voters that included the Christian Right, Reagan's administration did little to advance its social agenda. This court case, however, was a rare victory for cultural conservatives, and the decision upheld the constitutionality of state laws outlawing homosexual acts.
What is Bowers v. Hardwick.
500
This author wrote an article titled "The Prison-Industrial Complex" and argues that a confluence of politicians, private companies, and the US government has created a prison system that continues to grow, despite a falling level in violent crime.
Who is Eric Schlosser.
500
This event was sparked by the actions of Rosa Parks, who was arrested when she refused to give her bus seat up to a white man, and resulted in a 1956 Supreme Court decision that ruled segregation in public transportation unconstitutional.
What is the Montgomery Bus Boycott.
500
This event was the closest the world ever came to nuclear war. Its resolution resulted in the U.S. removal of American missiles from Turkey, and ultimately led to a desire to reduce Cold War tensions and to a series of talks between the U.S. and the U.S.S.R. that produced a limited test ban treaty.
What is the Cuban Missile Crisis.
500
This president oversaw the creation of a domestic program titled the "Great Society" that aimed to wipe out poverty and poured federal funding into education and urban development. Amidst growing opposition to the Vietnam War and the early electoral successes of Eugene McCarthy, he withdrew his candidacy from the 1968 election.
Who is Lyndon B. Johnson.
500
The 1980s witnessed a growing gap between the wealthy and the poor as a result of tax reform, deregulation, and deindustrialization, which has led some historians to give the period this name.
What is the Second Gilded Age.
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