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AP US History - Unit 6

Terms from the 6th Unit (Making Modern America) of the American Pageant Text Book. Use these to study for your AP US History Exam.

Terms

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Strom Thurmond
He was an American politician who served as governor of South Carolina and as a United States Senator. He also ran for the presidency of the United States in 1948 under the segregationist States Rights Democratic Party banner.
NATO
A military alliance that established a system of collective defense whereby its member states agree to mutual defense in response to an attack by any external party.
Rosa Parks
She became famous for refusing to obey bus driver James Blake's order that she give up her seat to make room for a white passenger.
McCarran Act
A United States federal law that required the registration of Communist organizations with the Attorney General in the United States and established the Subversive Activities Control Board to investigate persons suspected of engaging in subversive activities or otherwise promoting the establishment of a "totalitarian dictatorship," fascist or communist. Allows for the detention of dangerous, disloyal, or subversive persons in times of war or "internal security emergency".
Malcolm X
One of the most well-known of the leaders who believed the civil rights movement was moving too slowly. He supported the Nation of Islam, a form of Islam whose members were known as black Muslims. He rejected the goal of integration altogether. He called on African Americans to separate completely from white society. Later, he severed his relationship from the Nation of Islam. He rejected separation and spoke instead of an honest white-black brotherhood. Before he could fully develop these new ideas though, he was shot to death.
Iron Curtain Speech
Given by the former Prime Minister of Britain, Winston Churchill, in Missouri, in which he talks about the dangers of communism engulfing Europe.
Nikita Khrushchev
He served as First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1953 to 1964, following the death of Joseph Stalin, and Chairman of the Council of Ministers from 1958 to 1964. He was responsible for the De-Stalinization of the USSR, as well as several liberal reforms ranging from agriculture to foreign policy.
"military-industrial complex"
Composed of a nation's armed forces, its suppliers of weapons systems, supplies and services, and its civil government cooperating together.
Thomas Dewey
He was the Governor of New York (1943-1955) and the unsuccessful Republican candidate for the U.S. Presidency in 1944 and 1948. As a leader of the liberal faction of the Republican party he fought the conservative faction led by Senator Robert A. Taft, and played a major role in nominating Dwight D. Eisenhower for the presidency in 1952.
Truman Doctrine/Containment
Stated that the U.S. would support Greece and Turkey with economic and military aid to prevent their falling into the Soviet sphere. Stopping the spread of the sphere of communist influence.
Geneva Conference
A conference between many countries that agreed to end hostilities and restore peace in French Indochina and Vietnam.
John F. Kennedy
The thirty-fifth United States President who represented the state of Massachusetts in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1947 to 1953 as a Democrat, and in the U.S. Senate from 1953 until 1961. Events during his administration include the Bay of Pigs Invasion, the Cuban Missile Crisis, the building of the Berlin Wall, the Space Race, the American Civil Rights Movement and early events of the Vietnam War. He was assassinated by Lee Harvey Oswald.
Fair Deal
U.S. President Harry S. Truman's policy of social improvement. Remains significant in establishing a call for universal health care as a rallying cry for the Democratic Party.
Martin Luther King Jr.
He was one of the pivotal leaders of the American civil rights movement. He led the Montgomery Bus Boycott (1955-1956) and helped found the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (1957), serving as its first president. He delivered his famous "I Have a Dream" speech.
U-2 Incident
Occurred on May 1, 1960 when an American spy plane was shot down over the Soviet Union. At first, the United States government denied the plane's purpose and mission, but was forced to admit its role as a covert surveillance aircraft when the Soviet government produced its remains (largely intact) and surviving pilot, Gary Powers. The incident was a great embarrassment to the United States and prompted a marked deterioration in its relations with the Soviet Union.
Dean Acheson
He was an American statesman and lawyer; as United States Secretary of State in the administration of President Harry S. Truman during 1949-1953, he played a central role in defining American foreign policy during the Cold War.
Sputnik
The first artificial satellite to be put into outer space; Launched by the Soviet Union in 1957.
Eisenhower Doctrine
Stated that the United States would use armed forces upon request in response to imminent or actual aggression to the United States. Furthermore, countries that took stances opposed to Communism would be given aid in various forms.
House Un-American Activities Committee
The group that prosecuted those accused of being communists.
Betty Friedan/The Feminine Mystique
An American feminist, activist and writer, best known for starting what is commonly known as the "Second Wave" of feminism through the writing of a book.
National Defense Education Act
Instituted primarily to stimulate the advancement of education in science, mathematics, and modern foreign languages as a response to the Soviet launch of Sputnik.
Eugene McCarthy
1968 Democratic candidate for President who ran to succeed incumbent Lyndon Baines Johnson on an anti-war platform.
Sunbelt
A region of the United States generally considered to stretch across the South and Southwest that has seen substantial population growth in recent decades, partly fueled by a surge in retiring baby boomers who migrate domestically, as well as the influx of immigrants, both legal and illegal.
Joseph McCarthy
A Republican U.S. Senator from the state of Wisconsin. He became the most visible public face of a period of intense anti-communist suspicion. Noted for making claims that there were large numbers of Communists and Soviet spies and sympathizers inside the federal government and elsewhere.
Yalta Conference
The wartime meeting from 4 February 1945 to 11 February 1945 between the heads of government of the United States, the United Kingdom, and the Soviet Union—President Franklin D. Roosevelt, Prime Minister Winston Churchill, and Premier Joseph Stalin, respectively.
Fidel Castro
He was a Cuban revolutionary leader who served as the country's 22nd president, led the country from January 1959 until his retirement in February 2008. He took power in an armed revolution that overthrew the dictatorship of Fulgencio Batista, and was shortly thereafter sworn in as the Prime Minister of Cuba.
Hungarian Revolt
A spontaneous revolt against the Stalinist government of a nation and its Soviet-imposed policies, lasting from October 23 until 10 November 1956.
SEATO
An international organization for collective defense, primarily created to block further Communist gains in Southeast Asia.
Berlin Airlift
After the Soviet Union declared that the Autobahn leading into Berlin from West Germany was "closed for repairs," Truman chose to drop supplies on West Berlin with planes. Lasted for a year until the Soviet Union removed their blockade. Major American success.
Marshall Plan
The primary plan of the United States for rebuilding and creating a stronger foundation for the allied countries of Europe, and repelling communism after World War II.
Montgomery Bus Boycott
A political and social protest campaign started in 1955 in Montgomery, Alabama, intended to oppose the city's policy of racial segregation on its public transit system.
Checkers Speech
Given by Richard Nixon on September 23, 1952, when he was the Republican candidate for the Vice Presidency. Said to have saved his career from a campaign contributions scandal.
"white flight"
An increasing trend of white people moving out of cities and into suburbs during the 1950s.
NSC 68
A document that made the case for a US military buildup during the Cold War. Requires for a military capable of defending the Western Hemisphere, conducting offensive operations to destroy vital elements of the Soviet war-making capacity, and providing aid to allies.
Lee Harvey Oswald
Assassinated President John F. Kennedy.
Civil Rights Act of 1957
Primarily a voting rights bill, was the first civil rights legislation enacted by Republicans in the United States since Reconstruction.
38* Parallel
The dispute over the border between North and South Korea.
Richard Nixon
President of the United States from 1969 to 1974 who followed a foreign policy marked by détente with the Soviet Union and by the opening of diplomatic relations with China. In the face of likely impeachment for the Watergate scandal, he resigned.
"missile gap"
The term used in the United States for the perceived disparity between the number and power of the weapons in the U.S.S.R. and U.S. ballistic missile arsenals during the Cold War.
Dwight D. Eisenhower
Nicknamed "Ike", was a General of the Army (five star general) in the United States Army and U.S. politician, who served as the thirty-fourth President of the United States (1953-1961).As President, he oversaw the cease-fire of the Korean War, kept up the pressure on the Soviet Union during the Cold War, made nuclear weapons a higher defense priority, launched the Space Race, enlarged the Social Security program, and began the Interstate Highway System.
United Nations
Founded in 1945 to replace the League of Nations, to stop wars between nations and to provide a platform for dialogue.
Ho Chi Minh
He was a Vietnamese revolutionary and statesman, who later became prime minister (1946-1955) and president (1946-1969) of North Vietnam.
Harry Truman
He was the thirty-third President of the United States (1945-1953). As vice president, he succeeded Franklin D. Roosevelt, who died less than three months after he began his fourth term.
Taft-Hartley Act
A United States federal law greatly restricting the activities and power of labor unions.
National Security Act
Signed by U.S. President Harry S. Truman, this realigned and reorganized the United States' armed forces, foreign policy, and Intelligence Community apparatus in the aftermath of World War II and created the Central Intelligence Agency as well as the Department of Defense and Pentagon.
Julius/Ethel Rosenberg
American citizens who received international attention when they were executed having been found guilty of conspiracy to commit espionage in relation to passing information on the American atomic bomb to the Soviet Union.
George Kennan
He was an American diplomat and ambassador best known as "the father of containment" and as a key figure in the emergence of the Cold War.
Nuremberg Trials
A series of trials most notable for the prosecution of prominent members of the political, military and economic leadership of Nazi Germany.
Billy Graham
A televangelist who has preached in person to more people around the world than anyone who has ever lived.
Earl Warren
He was a California district attorney of Alameda County, the 20th Attorney General of California, the 30th Governor of California, and the 14th Chief Justice of the United States (from 1953 to 1969). As Chief Justice, his term of office was marked by numerous rulings affecting, among other things, the legal status of racial segregation, civil rights, separation of church and state, and police arrest procedure in the United States.
Douglas MacArthur
An American General who fought in three major wars (World War I, World War II, Korean War) and was one of only five men ever to rise to the rank of General of the Army.
Ngo Dinh Diem
The first President of South Vietnam (1955-1963).

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