Afghanistan

Invaded by America less than two months after the 9/11 attacks. Afghanistan was under the control of the Taliban, which supported the mastermind on the 9/11 attacks, Osama Bin Laden.

American Indian Movement (AIM):

An advocacy group in the United States founded in July 1968 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. It was initially formed to address American Indian sovereignty, treaty issues and spirituality.

Asian American Movements

Traces to the late 1960s the initial genesis of an Asian American identity, culture, and activism through which members of this pan-Asian group could assert their right to belong to and be respected as responsible members of this society. The movement actually resulted from the protests against the Vietnam War and the emergence of a generation of college-aged Chinese and Japanese Americans

Brown v. Board of Education

A landmark United States Supreme Court case in which the Court declared state laws establishing separate public schools for black and white students to be unconstitutional.

Civil Rights Act of 1964

A landmark civil rights and US labor law in the United States that outlaws discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin

Cold War

A state of political and military tension after World War II between powers in the Eastern Bloc (communist) and powers in the Western Bloc (democratic).

Communist Ideology

A social, political, and economic ideology and movement whose ultimate goal is the establishment of the communist society, which is a socioeconomic order structured upon the common ownership of the means of production, absence of social classes, money, and the state.

Conservatives and Liberals

A political and economic ideological battle between republicans and democrats that emerged in the post WWII – era and still continues today

Containment

A military strategy to stop the expansion of an enemy. It is best known as the Cold War policy of the United States and its allies to prevent the spread of communism abroad through such organizations as NATO, SEATO and CENTO.

Cuban Missile Crises

This was a pivotal moment in the Cold War. Fifty years ago, the United States and the Soviet Union stood closer to Armageddon than at any other moment in history. In October 1962, President JFK was informed of a U-2 spy-plane’s discovery of Soviet nuclear-tipped missiles in Cuba.

Eisenhower’s Farewell Address

Warned of the necessary, but dangerous combination of the military and the industrial sector (military –industrial complex). This combination ensured that the U.S. would constantly be prepared for war.

Election of 1980

Reagan vs Carter, Reagan's election broke up a key element of the New deal coalition by taking over 50 percent of blue-collar vote. Marked the end of a half century of Democratic dominance.

End of the Cold War

Rise of dissident movements in Eastern Europe; Eastern European dissatisfaction with their economies; Arms race between the United States and the Soviet Union and the collapse of the Berlin Wall

Evangelical Christian Churches / Organizations

Spearheaded the "new right" movement that helped to elect Reagan. The backbone of the New Right and chief fund-raisers for key organizations such as the National Conservative Political Action Committee and the Moral Majority. "traditional family values"

Feminist, Gay, Lesbian Activists

Supporters of the alternative lifestyle agenda which include gay marriage and equal rights

Gulf of Tonkin Resolution

It gave U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson authorization, without a formal declaration of war by Congress, for the use of military force in Southeast Asia.

HUAC

It was created in 1938 to investigate alleged disloyalty and subversive activities on the part of private citizens, public employees, and those organizations suspected of having Communist ties.

Internet

The global system of interconnected computer networks that links devices worldwide. It is a network of networks that consists of private, public, academic, business, and government networks of local to global scope, linked by a broad array of electronic, wireless, and optical networking technologies.

Iraq

Lasted from 20 March to 1 May 2003 and signaled the start of the Iraq War, which was dubbed Operation Iraqi Freedom by the United States.

Korea and Vietnam

Two hot wars fought during the cold war to uphold the policy of containing communism in southeastern Asia

Latino Movements

Also known as The Chicano Movement was a Mexican American empowerment movement that pressed for bilingual education and equal rights.

Lyndon Johnson’s Great Society

It was a set of domestic programs in the United States launched in 1964–65. The main goal was the elimination of poverty and racial injustice.

Marshall Plan

United States program of economic aid for the reconstruction of Europe immediately after WWII to contain communism

Martin Luther King, Jr.

He was an American Baptist minister and activist who was a leader in the Civil Rights Movement. He is best known for his role in the advancement of civil rights using nonviolent civil disobedience based on his Christian beliefs. King became a civil rights activist early in his career. He led the 1955 Montgomery bus boycott and helped found the Southern Christian Leadership Conference in 1957

Middle East – Cold War

The United States needed to protect this area from Soviet control because of the vast oil reserves

Middle East Post Cold War

Concern of Muslim terrorism and limited access to the oil reserves cause the United States to maintain a strong military presence in that region.

Mutual Coexistence (Détente

Term used by Khrushchev in 1963 to describe a situation in which the United States and Soviet Union would continue to compete economically and politically without launching a thermonuclear war (the easing of tensions or strained relations)

Nationalist Movements (Asia, Africa, Mid East

Nationalism is the advocacy of political independence for a particular country. Postwar decolonization and the emergence of powerful nationalist movements in Asia, Africa, and the Middle East led both sides in the Cold War to seek allies among new nations, many of which remained nonaligned.

NSC 68

It was a 58-paged top secret policy paper issued by the United States National Security Council on April 14, 1950, during the presidency of Harry S. Truman. It was one of the most significant statements of American policy in the Cold War.

Religious Conservatives

A movement holds that people should interpret the holy book or books of the religion literally. It also adheres to the traditions and teachings of the early founders of the religion. They heavily supported Ronald Reagan and the Republican party.

Ronald Reagan

First elected president in 1980 and elected again in 1984. He ran on a campaign based on the common man and "populist" ideas. Iran released hostages on his Inauguration Day in 1980. While president, he developed Reaganomics, the trickledown effect of government incentives. He cut out many welfare and public works programs.

SDS (Students for a Democratic Society)

Founded in 1962, a popular college student organization protested shortcomings in American life, notably racial injustice and the Vietnam War. It led thousands of campus protests before it split apart at the end of the 1960s.

Second Red Scare

Refers to the fear of communism that permeated American politics, culture, and society from the late 1940s through the 1950s, during the opening phases of the Cold War with the Soviet Union.

Soviet Union (USSR)

The communist superpower that the United States competed with during the cold war

Suburbs

1. A residential area or a mixed use area, either existing as part of a city or urban area or as a separate residential community within commuting distance of a city that boomed after WWII – consisted mainly of white Americans

Technological Innovations

Developments with computerization produced an economic and social change globally

The Sun Belt:

It is a region of the United States generally considered to stretch across the Southeast and Southwest in which many northerners moved to in the post-WWII era

Truman Doctrine

A new policy of active engagement to contain communism in response to communist uprisings in Greece and Turkey; setting foundation for Cold War policy

U.S. Military

Its build up during the Cold War and after has keep the United States at the world’s superpower

World Trade Center and Pentagon (9/11 attacks

Perpetrated by Al Qaeda and directed by Osama bin Laden; when the Taliban regime in Afghanistan refused to hand over bin Laden, the US launched a massive military attack against them; the terrorist attacks brought a sense of fear and anxiety to the American people, leading to legislation and policies that aimed to increase security, but also encroached on civil liberties