The Cold War
In 1947, the United States launched a program to provide billions in aid to rebuild war-torn Western Europe and strengthen resistance to communism. This initiative was called the _______.
The Marshall Plan.
The dramatic increase in the U.S. birth rate from 1946 to 1964, which led to a generation of about 76 million new Americans.
The Baby Boom
He emerged as the most prominent leader of the civil rights movement, advocating nonviolent protest and famously delivering the 1963 “I Have a Dream” speech at the March on Washington.
Martin Luther King Jr.
The collective name for President Lyndon B. Johnson’s ambitious domestic agenda (1964–65) that aimed to end poverty and racial injustice, and included programs like Medicare, Medicaid, and federal aid to education.
The Great Society.
The Cold War theory that if one country fell to communism, neighboring countries would soon follow, like a row of falling dominoes. This idea was used to justify U.S. involvement in Southeast Asia.
The Domino Theory
The 1950–1953 conflict in which U.S.-led United Nations forces fought to prevent the spread of communism in East Asia, ending in a stalemate at the 38th parallel.
The Korean War.
The popular name for the 1944 Servicemen’s Readjustment Act, which provided World War II veterans with benefits for education, housing, and business loans.
GI Bill
The 1954 Supreme Court case in which the Warren Court unanimously struck down racially segregated public schools, declaring that “separate educational facilities are inherently unequal.”
Brown v. Board of Education (1954).
The federal health insurance program established in 1965 as part of the Great Society that provides government-funded medical coverage to Americans age 65 and older.
Medicare.
The 1964 congressional resolution that authorized President Johnson to take “all necessary measures” in Vietnam after alleged attacks on U.S. ships, effectively giving him a blank check to escalate the war.
The Gulf of Tonkin Resolution.
This U.S. senator from Wisconsin became notorious in the early 1950s for alleging that communists had infiltrated the government, sparking a nationwide “witch hunt.”
Joseph McCarthy (the McCarthyism Red Scare).
The first mass-produced suburb, begun in the late 1940s on Long Island, NY, which became a symbol of postwar suburban growth and middle-class conformity.
Levittown
The landmark federal law, pushed by President Lyndon B. Johnson and passed in 1964, that outlawed segregation and discrimination in public facilities and employment on the basis of race, color, religion, or national origin.
The Civil Rights Act of 1964.
The 1965 law (also known as the Hart–Celler Act) that abolished the national-origin immigration quotas from the 1920s, leading to a surge in immigration from Asia and Latin America in the following decades.
The Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965 (Immigration Act of 1965).
The massive surprise attacks launched by Communist forces (the Viet Cong and North Vietnamese Army) during the Vietnamese New Year in 1968. Although U.S. and South Vietnamese troops ultimately repelled the offensive, it shocked the American public and eroded support for the war.
A 13-day confrontation in October 1962, when the discovery of Soviet nuclear missiles in Cuba brought the world to the brink of nuclear war, is known as the ________________.
The Cuban Missile Crisis.
The 1956 law initiated under President Eisenhower that created a nationwide network of highways, accelerating suburbanization and the growth of car culture.
The Interstate Highway Act (Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956).
The 1965 law that banned literacy tests and other tactics that had been used to disenfranchise Black voters in the South, dramatically increasing African American voter registration.
The Voting Rights Act of 1965.
The 1966 Supreme Court ruling (Miranda v. Arizona) expanded the rights of the accused by requiring police to inform people under arrest of their right to remain silent and to an attorney. These advisements are commonly known as __________.
Miranda rights.
In May 1970, National Guard troops opened fire on anti-war demonstrators at a university in Ohio, killing four students. This tragedy fueled nationwide protests and added to public outrage over the Vietnam War.
The Kent State shootings (Kent State University).
The term for the general easing of Cold War tensions in the 1970s – exemplified by President Nixon’s visits to China and the USSR and the signing of SALT agreements.
Détente.
The informal name for the southern and western states (such as California, Texas, and Florida) that saw significant population and industrial growth after WWII, becoming a new political and economic powerhouse.
The Sun Belt.
A militant African American group founded in Oakland in 1966 that advocated armed self-defense against police brutality and ran community programs like free breakfasts for children.
The Black Panther Party (Black Panthers).
The 1962 bestseller by biologist Rachel Carson that exposed the environmental dangers of pesticides (like DDT), sparking public awareness and helping launch the modern environmental movement.
Silent Spring.
A 1973 law passed by Congress, overriding President Nixon’s veto, to reassert legislative control over military deployments. It requires the president to obtain either a declaration of war or specific congressional approval to keep U.S. forces engaged in combat for more than 60 days.
The War Powers Act (War Powers Resolution of 1973).