| Term | Definition |
|---|
| Jonas Salk | Invented the vaccine for polio |
| 22nd Amendment | Sets a term limit for the President |
| Elvis Presley | Early rock n ' roll performer |
| GI Bill | A 1944 law that gives military veterans financial and education benefits. |
| Harry S. Truman | Pres. of the US during WWII & early Cold War. Made the decision to use the atomic bomb on Japan. |
| The Baby Boom | The period from the end of WW II through the mid-1960's marked by unusually high birth rates. |
| Baker v. Carr | Reapportionment / one man, one vote |
| Bay of Pigs | Failed invasion of Cuba planned by the US government |
| Bobby Kennedy | JFK's brother and attorney general. Assassinated 1968 |
| Cesar Chavez | United Farm Workers activist |
| Cuban Missile Crisis | A standoff between the Us and the Soviet Union when it was discovered that the Soviets had installed missiles pointed at the Us. |
| Escobedo v. Illinois | Ruled criminal suspects have a right to counsel during police interrogations |
| Gideon v. Wainwright | Ruled courts are required to provide counsel in criminal cases for defendants unable to afford attorneys. |
| Gloria Steinem | American feminist icon, journalist, and social and political activist. |
| Great Society | LBJ's program that addressed America's social problems including health care, civil rights, and urban decay. |
| John F. Kennedy | President 1961-63 |
| Lyndon B. Johnson | President 1963-68 |
| Miranda v. Arizona | Ruled those arrested must be informed of their right to an attorney before questioning |
| Neil Armstrong | First astronaut to land on the moon. |
| The War on Poverty | LJB's agenda designed to help poor American's. |
| Viet Nam | War between the communist of North Vietnam and non-communist armies of S Vietnam supported by the US. |
| 26th Amendment | Gave 18 year-olds the right to vote, largely due to the draft. |
| Regents of Univ. of California v. Bakke | Ruling bared quota systems in college admissions but affirms the constitutionality of affirmative action |
| Richard M. Nixon | President 1968 - 74. Resigned after Watergate |
| Ronald Reagan | President 1980-88. |
| 24th Amendment | Abolished the poll tax. |
| Booker T. Washington | Early African-American leader- believed African-Americans should achieve economic independence before social equality. |
| Brown v. Board of Education | Made segregation illegal in public schools. |
| George Wallace | Alabama governor, segregationist, presidential candidate. Shot and left paralyzed. |
| Jim Crow laws | Laws that maintained segregation by preventing African Americans from voting. |
| Malcolm X | Black Muslim who argued for separation, not integration. He changed his views, but was assassinated in 1965. |
| Martin Luther King Jr | Civil Rights leader from 1950's-1960's. Assassinated in 1968. |
| Medger Evers | Mississippi civil rights activist. Assasinated by KKK member. |
| Plessy v. Ferguson | Supreme Court decision that upheld segregation and said that "separate but equal" facilities were legal. |
| Reynolds v. Sims | Ruled that state legislature districts had to be roughly equal in population. |
| Rosa Parks | Refused to give up her seat to a white passenger. After she was jailed, the Montgomery bus boycott was organized. |
| Segregation | Separation by race. |
| Shirley Chisholm | The first African-American woman elected to the U.S House of Representatives. |
| The Civil Rights Act of 1964 | Made discrimination based on race, religion or national origin in public places. |
| The Civil Rights Act of 1968 | Prohibited discrimination in the sale or rental of housing. |
| The Little Rock Nine | Group of African-American students that were integrated into an all-white school in 1957 |
| WEB DuBois | Early civil rights leader and founder of the NAACP. Du Bois demanded equality for African-Americans |
| 13th Amendment | Abolished slavery |
| 14th Amendment | Gave all U.S. citizens equal protection under the law regardless of color. |
| 15th Amendment | Gave African-American men the right to vote. |
| Abraham Lincoln | President of the US during the Civil War. |
| Civil War | 1860 - 1865 |
| Emancipation Proclamation | Abraham Lincoln freed all slaves in the Confederate states. |
| Nullification Crisis | Argument between South Carolina and the federal government over the role of the national government. |
| Reconstruction | Period after the Civil War in the US when the southern states were reorganized and reintegrated into the Union. |
| The Voting Rights Act of 1965 | Eliminated literacy tests for voters. |
| Berlin Airlift | US operation that flew food and supplies into West Berlin after the Soviet Union set up a blockade in 1948. |
| Berlin Wall | A wall built by the Soviets to separate East and West Berlin. The wall stood until 1989. |
| Containment | The policy that the US should prevent communism from spreading to other nations. |
| Domino Theory | The belief that if a nearby nation becomes communist then surrounding nations will do the same. |
| Dwight D. Eisenhower | US General in Europe during WWII. He was in charge of the Invasion of Normandy (D-Day). Cold War President |
| Fidel Castro | Communist leader of Cuba. |
| Joe McCarthy | accused people of being Communists without providing evidence. |
| Korean War | 1950-53 war with N Korea & China. Ended in a stalemate but S. Korea remained a democracy. |
| Marshall Plan (1948) | Program to rebuild Europe after World War II. |
| NATO (1959) | North Atlantic Treaty Organization. Formed to defend Europe against Soviet Union. |
| Nikita Kruschev | Soviet leader during 1950's - 60's |
| Sputnik | The first man-made satellite to be launched into outer space. |
| The Rosenberg's | American couple accused of Communism and helping the Soviet Union obtain information about the atomic bomb. They were found guilty and sentenced to death. |
| Truman Doctrine (1947) | Policy that gave military and economic aid to countries threatened by communism. |
| U-2 Incident | A U-2 spy plane was shot down over the Soviet Union and the pilot, Francis Gary Powers, was captured. |
| Andrew Carnegie | Business tycoon who controlled most of the steel industry. |
| Industrialization | The rise of a manufacturing economy and decline of an agriculture economy. |
| Jacob Riis | Photographer who raised awareness of working and living conditions of immigrants in the factories and tenements. |
| Laissez Faire | The idea that government should not interfere with business practices. |
| Muckrakers | Progressive-era journalists sought to bring about reform. |
| Political machines | Corrupt organized groups that controlled political parties in the cities. A boss leads the machine and attempts to grab more votes for his party. |
| Social Darwinism | The belief that the rich succeed because they re superior to the poor. |
| Tenements | Apartments built in city slums to house large numbers of immigrants. |
| Upton Sinclair | Author of The Jungle, book that describes conditions of the meat packing plants and immigrants struggles. |
| Urbanization | Growth of cities. Large range of urban problems including sanitation, transportation, and crowded living conditions. |
| William "Boss" Tweed | New York political machine boss. |
| court packing | Where FDR tried to add more members to the Supreme Court to pass his programs. |
| Dust Bowl | Area of the Great Plains where heavy droughts had dried up the farmland. |
| FDIC | (Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation) – Insurance for people's bank accounts. |
| Franklin Delano Roosevelt | President during Great Depression & WW II. 1933 - 1945 |
| Hoovervilles | Depression-era shantytowns on the outskirts of the cities of homeless and unemployed people. |
| SEC | Securities & Exchange Commission - regulates stock market. Created during Depression. |
| The New Deal | FDR's program for fighting the Great Depression. |
| WPA | Works Progress Administration. New Deal work program during Depression. |
| 10th Amendment | Powers reserved to the states |
| 1st Amendment | Freedom of speech, religion and press; |
| 2nd Amendment | Right to bear arms |
| 3rd Amendment | No quartering of troops during peace time |
| 4th Amendment | No unlawful search and seizure. |
| 5th Amendment | No double jeopardy, do not have to testify against yourself. |
| 6th Amendment | The right to a fast and public trial. |
| 7th Amendment | Trial by jury. |
| 8th Amendment | No cruel or unusual punishment. |
| 9th Amendment | Rights reserved to the people. |
| Benjamin Franklin | Founding father, politician, scientist |
| Bill of Rights | 1st ten amendments to Constitution. Protects individual rights. |
| Checks and Balances | Makes sure no branch of the government becomes too powerful. |
| Columbian Exchange | The exchange of crops, animals, and disease and ideas of different cultures after Europeans landed in the Americas |
| Command Economy | Economy in which economic decisions (supply, prices, etc.) are made by the government rather than by market forces. |
| Federalism | Power is shared between the states and national government. |
| Federalist Papers | Essays written to encourage ratification of the constitution. |
| Free Enterprise Economy | A system by which people can conduct business free of government control except for reasonable regulations made for the public good. |
| George Washington | First president of the US. General in Revolutionary War. |
| Great Compromise | Compromise between the big and small states over representation in Congress |
| Immigration | Movement of people into a country from another country. |
| King George III | King of Great Britain during American Revolution |
| Manifest Destiny | The belief that America had the God-given right and duty to expand across the continent |
| Samuel Adams | Statesman, political philosopher, and one of the Founding Fathers |
| Separation of Powers | Divides the powers of government into 3 branches: legislative, executive, judicial |
| The Articles of Confederation | First form of government established by the 13 states. |
| Thomas Jefferson | Author of the Declaration of Independence and 3rd President of the United States. |
| Thomas Paine | Revolutionary era British pampleteer. Wrote Common Sense. |
| 16th Amendment | Established the federal income tax. |
| 17th Amendment | The direct election of US Senators. |
| 18th Amendment | The prohibition of alcohol. |
| 19thAmendment | The right to vote for women. |
| Clarence Darrow | Defended John Scopes during the Scopes Trial. He argued that evolution should be taught in schools. |
| Henry Ford | Auto manufacturer who created the Model T and began to mass-produce the auto |
| Initiative / Referendum / Recall | Progressive-era reforms that gave citizens more political power` |
| John Scopes | Teacher was charged with violating laws prohibiting the teaching of evolution in Tennessee schools. |
| Populism | Political movement involving farmers, who wanted silver dollars (inflation), government ownership of railroads, and lower protective tariffs. |
| Prohibition | Reform movement that banned the sale and consumption of alcohol. It also increased organized crime. |
| Susan B. Anthony | Leader of the women's suffrage movement. |
| The Scopes Trial | "Monkey Trial" that pitted creationism against Darwin's theory of evolution. |
| William H. Taft | Progressive president chosen as successor to Teddy Roosevelt. |
| William Jennings Bryan | Populist presidential candidate and prosecutor in the Scopes Trial. |
| Yellow Journalism | News that exaggerates the truth in order to sell more newspapers. |
| 21st Amendment | Repealed the 18th amendment and ends Prohibition |
| Calvin Coolidge | President during Roaring 20's |
| Charles Lindbergh | American pilot who made the first non-stop flight across the Atlantic Ocean. |
| Flappers | 1920's women began to demand more freedom and assert their independence. |
| Georgia O'Keefe | American painter from 1920's |
| Red Scare | Fear that Communists were going to take over the US in the 1920's. |
| Sacco and Vanzetti | Anarchists and Italian immigrants accused of murder. Sentenced to death. |
| Teapot Dome Scandal | Example of corruption during Warren G. Harding's Presidency |
| The Great Migration | The mass migration of African-Americans to Northern cities from 1910 through both World Wars. |
| The Harlem Renaissance | Period of African-American cultural creativity in Music, art, literature during the 1920's |
| The Jazz Age | Alternate term for 1920's. |
| Warren G. Harding | President during 1920's period of corruption. Died in office. |
| Barbed wire | Used to fence in land on the Great Plains, eventually leading to the end of the open frontier. |
| Battle of Wounded Knee | US soldiers massacred 300 unarmed Native American in 1890. This ended the Indian Wars. |
| Cattle Drives | cowboys drove herds of cattle along trails to be shipped to the East by railroad. |
| Dawes Act | Law that attempted to assimilate Indians by giving them individual plots of land. |
| Homestead Act | Law that provided 160 acres to anyone who was willing to settle land in the West. |
| Transcontinental railroad | 1869, it helped connect the West and East coasts. |
| Alfred Thayer Mahan | US Admiral who encouraged the US to strengthen its naval power to become a world power. |
| Imperialism | Competition between European countries to create empires. |
| Rough Riders | Volunteer calvary unit led by Teddy Roosevelt that gained fame at the battle of San Juan Hill. |
| Spanish-American War | 1898 war with Spain. Acquired Spanish colonies in Caribbean and Pacific. |
| Theodore Roosevelt | Progressive era President. Pro-imperialist. |
| Tonkin Gulf Resolution | Congressional approval that gave LBJ the power to escalate the war in Vietnam. |
| U.S.S. Maine | US warship blown up in Havana Harbor off the coast of Cuba. The Spanish were blamed and war was declared. |
| Archduke Franz Ferdinand | Archduke of Austria Hungary assassinated by a Serbian in 1914. His murder was one of the causes of WW I. |
| Fourteen Points | W. Wilson's proposal for peace after WW I |
| John J. Pershing | commander of the American Expeditionary Force during WW I |
| League of Nations | Post-WW I attempt to create a United Nations type organization. US did not join. |
| Treaty of Versailles | Treaty that ended WW I. It blamed Germany for WW I and handed down harsh punishment. |
| Trench Warfare | Opposing side's attack from the ditches instead of an open battlefield. |
| Woodrow Wilson | Progressive president who served during WW I. |
| World War I | 1914 - 1918 |
| Battle of Midway | The turning point in the war in the Pacific. |
| Bracero Program | Allowed temporary work contracts for Mexican immigrants. |
| Double V Campaign | African Americans pledged to fight for "Double Victory" – victory over Hitler in Europe, but also against racism at home. |
| Douglas MacArthur | US general in charge of the Allied forces in the Pacific Ocean. |
| Island hopping | Allied naval strategy to reach Japan by taking one island at a time. |
| Normandy | 1944 invasion of Europe. (D-Day) |
| Omar Bradley | US General who led the US 1st Army during the Invasion of Normandy. |
| Pearl Harbor | Dec.7, 1941, Japanese attack on US naval base at Pearl Harbor. U.S. enters the war as a result. |
| The Holocaust | The mass murder of 6 million Jews and others in Nazi concentration camps. |
| World War II | 1939 - 1945 |
| Watergate | Political scandal involving abuse of power and bribery and obstruction of justice, led to the resignation of Richard Nixon in 1974. |
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