Term
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Definition
Explosion of the birth rate in America that lasted from 1945 to 1964
Began with celebrations following end of WWII and continued into the financially stable era of the 1950s
Ends when people become less comfortable due to increased deployment to Vietnam and the assassination of JFK
Leads to popularity of Benjamin Spock's "Baby and Child Care" |
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Term
| Military-Industrial Complex |
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Definition
| An economy based solely on the military - dangerous because when the military needs drops away, the economy is threatened |
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Definition
Universal Automatic Computer
One of the first commercial computers ever produced
Successfully predicts the outcome of the 1952 election from 1% of the voting population |
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Definition
Drill system used with school children to prepare for a nuclear attack
Really just propaganda used for the sake of comfort (both for kids and parents) |
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The first satellite ever launched (Oct 1957)
Built and launched by the Soviet Union, which began the Space Race and created worries about a technological gap (the Sputnik crisis) |
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Term
| National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) |
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Definition
American gov't agency created by Eisenhower in 1958 to respond to the launch of Sputnik
Has control of civilian space program (not meant for military uses) |
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Town on Long Island where a planned community was built by architect William Levitt in 1949
Considered the new American Dream - Shows shift to the suburbs/home as center of life |
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Definition
Area of Southern CA and Southwestern America in general that became central to the American economy during the 1950s
LA in CA is the fastest growing area in the nation |
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Term
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Definition
What had once been the Steel Belt between New York and Chicago and had been central to the economy
Becomes less central as wealthy businessmen begin to gravitate toward the West |
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Term
| President Dwight D. Eisenhower |
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Definition
Elected in 1952 (takes office 1953) after winning in a landslide over Democrat Adlai Stevenson (also ran against him again in 1956)
Time as president characterized as prosperous and mostly peaceful (except for the Korean War, which he ended while in office)
Begins the nuclear buildup and policy of massive retaliation
Creates Domino Theory to support actions in Vietnam, Iran, etc.
Places trade embargo on Cuba after Castro comes to pwr, leads to later conflict/more ties between Cuba and USSR
Set up the Interstate Highway System
Sent troops to Little Rock, AK in support of the Little Rock Nine (one of the first direct acts of support by a president) |
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Term
| Vice President Richard M. Nixon |
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Definition
Republican who runs alongside Eisenhower
Scandal occurs during campaign over whether he is accepting illicit campaign contributions - Checkers speech
He ran for president in 1960, but lost to JFK |
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Term
| Federal Highway Act (1956) |
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Definition
| Built to connect the nation, but also for military purposes - could accommodate missiles and tanks as well as cars |
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Term
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Definition
Secretary of State under Eisenhower
Important figure in early Cold War, aggressively opposed to communism
Writes many key treaties and supports US intervention on French side in Vietnam (against the Geneva Accords)
Head of the CIA under Kennedy |
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Term
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Definition
Practice of pushing dangerous events to the brink of disaster for the most favorable outcome.
Used with nuclear force during the Cold War |
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Definition
Communist leader of the Vietminh during the war with France
After Geneva Accords, leader of N Vietnam, tries to win election in S Vietnam (required by Geneva agreement) but the Western pwrs do not allow elecs to take place |
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Term
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Definition
Battle between the French and the Vietminh in which the Vietminh force a French surrender by surrounding them
Ends French war in Indochina - forces French out |
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Term
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Definition
| Treaty ending the French war in Indochina against the Vietminh by creating two Vietnamese states (N is communist, S is capitalist and largely controlled by US) |
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Definition
| Longitude along which Vietnam was divided |
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Term
| Southeast Asia Treaty Organization (SEATO) |
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Definition
Treaty between US, GB, France, Australia, New Zealand, Thailand, the Philippines, and Pakistan
Created by Eisenhower in response to the situation in Vietnam (dominated by the US) |
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Term
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Definition
Leader of S Vietnam backed by US aid
Weak leader - collaborates with Japanese (past enemy), part of small Catholic minority, alienates peasants with corruption/repression
Ultimately, that government faces civil war |
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Term
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Definition
| The idea that the US has the right to help any nation threatened by Communist aggression |
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Term
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Definition
President of Egypt (Gamal Abdel Nasser) wants aid from US and GB to build dam on the Nile
When negotiations break down, he says he will nationalize the Suez Canal (threat to internat'l trade), turns to the USSR for aid
British, French, and Israeli troops move in to take the canal back and the US sponsors a UN resolution for cease-fire - successful |
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Term
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Definition
CIA action follows worries about the nationalization of the British Anglo-Iranian Oil Comp by president Mohammed Mossadegh
Opposition is set up on the streets of Tehran and Mossadegh is forced out of office - replaced by Riza Shah Pahlavi > assures US of 40% of oil |
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Term
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Definition
Led the Soviet Union during part of the Cold War (First Secretary of the Communist Party and later Premier)
Helps remove Stalin's influence from the nation (begun with his "secret speech")
Despite efforts to make things better for Russians/cool tensions with the West, oversees one of the tensest parts of the the Cold War (culminated w/ Missile Crisis) - afterwards negotiates arms limitation treaty with the US |
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Term
| "The Ugly American" (1958) |
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Definition
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Definition
People of Hungary revolt against communist regime, hoping for American support
Realizing that it would ultimately become a huge war, the US refuses - uprising is put down by gov't |
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Definition
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Term
| Brown v. Board of Education, Topeka, KA (1954) |
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Definition
SC decision that reverses Plessy v. Ferguson
States that segregation in schools deprives black children of equal education specifically, more generally states that segregation deprives minorities of equal protection from the 14th Amendment |
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Term
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Definition
NAACP lawyer who puts together the case for Brown v. Board of Education and the suits that precede it
Later given a federal court position by JFK, ultimately ends up on SC |
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Term
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Definition
Nine black students who are meant to be integrated into the Central High School of Little Rock, Arkansas
Governor decides to challenge Brown v. Board of Edu decision - calls into National Guard to keep students out
When convinced to by Eisenhower, promises to admit students, ends up removing protection from white mob, leaving students trapped
Eisenhower sends 101st Airborne to protect them and integrate the school |
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Term
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Definition
Black woman in AL who refuses to give up her seat to a white man
Arrested, sparks protests around the South, especially the Bus Boycott |
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Term
| Montgomery, AL Bus Boycott |
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Definition
After Rosa Park's arrest, mvmt begins to stop riding city buses - company loses profit, forced to desegregate
Led by MLK Jr. and is ultimately successful |
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Term
| Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. |
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Definition
Civil rights leader who enters the scene during the Montgomery Bus Boycott (makes him famous)
Holds to the idea of civil disobedience (learned from Thoreau, Gandhi) |
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Term
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Definition
First civil rights legislation passed since Reconstruction
Shows Cong support for Brown v. Board of Edu
Created the Civil Rights division of the Justice Dept - meant to deal with injunctions protecting black voeters from discrim
Made much more useful after election of JFK (Eisenhower makes little use of it) |
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Term
| Southern Christian Leadership Conference |
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Definition
Set up by MLK in early 1957 with other black ministers
Meant to build support for the idea of nonviolent civil disobedience |
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Definition
| First black baseball player to play outside the Negro Leagues - integrates professional baseball |
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Term
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Definition
Counterculture which distrusted the virtues of progress, power, and material gain and were "weary of the modern industrial state"
Sharp contrast from typical conformity of age
Led by Jack Kerouac and Allen Ginsberg |
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