Unit 8

Question 1

Define the cold war?

Answer 1

A conflict between US and USSR in which neither engages in open military conflict with the other. However, war could erupt at any time. 1940s

Question 2

What was the source of the rivalry between US and USSR?

Answer 2

Capitalism vs Communism

Question 3

What was the overarching US strategy during the Cold War?

Answer 3

Containment, Marxist-Leninism was inherently expansionist, calling for worldwide revolution, which compelled the US to attempt to halt its spread economically, diplomatically, and militarily

Question 4

How did democratic/capitalist nations and communist nations align themselves?

Answer 4

The notion of collective security on both
sides caused like-minded countries to enter
into mutual defense pacts.

Question 5

What is NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization)

Answer 5

Founded in 1949 > alliance between 31 countries (does not include USSR)

Question 6

What is the warsaw pact?

Answer 6

Friendship pact for communist countries (NATO but communist version)

Question 7

Define “arms race”.

Answer 7

The advancement and stockpiling of new weapons specifically bombs during this period.

Question 8

Why didn’t nuclear war happen?

Answer 8

As the US and USSR flaunted their newest weapons through massive test, both sides came to realize the devastating potential for the planet should war break out

Question 9

How was the Korean war a “proxy war”?

Answer 9

Korea divided into two one side being a communist government and the other being a non communist side essentially the US and USSR took sides during the war “fighting” each other without actually fighting each other

Question 10

What was the Second Red Scare?

Answer 10

In the 1920s there was a lot paranoia regarding communism taking over. This paranoia reached the government McCarthy accused multiple government personal of being affiliated with communism/USSR

Question 11

What was the GI Bill?

Answer 11

gave
WWII veterans access to a free college
education and low-interest home and
business loans

Question 12

What caused the demographic spike and shift after WWII?

Answer 12

The postwar population spike in the United
States as a result of young men returning
from war to a generally prosperous
economy.

Question 13

Where did people move?

Answer 13

Massive planned communities
sprang up in suburban areas across the
country, especially in the South and West.

Question 14

Baby Boom

Answer 14

Many people came back from the War and started families.

Question 15

Levittown suburbanization

Answer 15

Suburbs were created with identical houses all around

Question 16

What were two primary
causes for increased
mass culture?

Answer 16

The succession of the radio by the
television and the continued growth and
pervasiveness of the advertising.

Question 17

Consumerism

Answer 17

people buying a bunch of things cause they can

Question 18

What was the Beat
Generation?

Answer 18

Literary movement that rejected the
conformity and capitalism of postwar
America through their writing, as well as
through their fashion and drug use.

Question 19

Kerouac’s “On the Road” beatniks

Answer 19

Novel by Jack Kerouac about the Best Generation pushing back

Question 20

Describe the reaction to
Brown v BoE?

Answer 20

Massive resistance by white people > led to school closures and violence against black students

Question 21

What was the decision in
Brown v Board of Ed.? (1954)

Answer 21

Segregation justified by Plessy v Ferguson
was overturned on the basis of “separate
but equal” being “inherently unequal”. This
led to the long and arduous process of
school integration.

Question 22

Civil disobedience used by civil rights activists in the 1950s and 1960s

Answer 22

Montgomery Bus Boycotts by NAACP and MLK > forced busses to desegregate
Sit in Movements > Black college students got arrested for sitting in dinners and other areas

Question 23

What was the March on
Washington?

Answer 23

1963: MLK I have a dream speach

Question 24

Political success in the civil rights movement in the 1960s

Answer 24

JFK and Lyndon B Johnson befriend civil rights movement. LBJ signs multiple legislation including Civil Rights Act (1964) and Voting Right act (1965)

Question 25

Civil Rights Act

Answer 25

1964: prohibits discrimination based on race sex color religion national origin

Question 26

Voting Rights Act

Answer 26

1965: outlawed discriminatory voting practices (literary tests and prerequisites)

Question 27

Malcom X

Answer 27

Vocal critic of Dr.
King’s optimism and nonviolent methods.
He saw white racism as unavoidable, thus
the separation of races was the pragmatic
way forward. This sentiment gave rise to
more extreme and militant forms of activism
as well as increased conflict with police and
the federal government.

Question 28

Describe the women’s
rights movement during
this period.

Answer 28

This movement called for legislation
protecting the economic and social rights
for women. The Equal Rights Amendment
would have been the crowning
achievement but conservative backlash
prevented it from being ratified.

Question 29

Examples of fighters during women’s rights movement

Answer 29

Women’s Liberation
Feminine Mystique
National Organization
for Women
Phyllis Schlafly

Question 30

How did other groups
approach the issue of
civil rights?

Answer 30

Chicano Movement, American Indian
Movement, the Gay Liberation Movement,
among others to use similar tactics of civil
disobedience, nonviolence, and militant
activism for gaining protections and
equality.

Question 31

Examples of people/organizations that fought for civil rights

Answer 31

César Chávez
Wounded Knee
Occupation
Occupation of Alcatraz
Self-Determination Act
Stonewall Riots

Question 32

What was the
counterculture
movement?

Answer 32

Predominantly young people who cast off
societal restraint with rebellious styles of
clothing, and music, along with
experimental drug use and free love. (Woodstock festival and Sexual Liberation)

Question 33

Baker v Carr

Answer 33

established the precedent for
legislative reapportionment, or redistricting,
subject to court review. This attempted to
balance the representation of rural and
suburban white communities with
increasingly minority-majority urban
communities.

Question 34

Engel v Vitale

Answer 34

further reaffirmed separation
of church and state, making mandatory
Bible readings and teacher-led prayers in
public schools illegal.

Question 35

Who was Fidel Castro?
How did the US respond
to his actions?

Answer 35

The leftist revolutionary who established a
communist regime in his native Cuba in
1959. The US attempted to overthrow his
regime through invasion and assassinate
him, though both failed.

Question 36

What actions did the US
take in the Middle East?

Answer 36

The Central Intelligence Agency assisted in
the overthrow of a socialist government in
Iran amid its efforts to nationalize Iranian oil
reserves.

Question 37

What caused the Vietnam
War?

Answer 37

Similar to the Korean War, conflict between
communist and democratic forces broke
out, bringing Russia and China to North
Vietnam’s aid and the US to the South’s.

Question 38

What escalated American
involvement in Vietnam?

Answer 38

The Gulf of Tonkin incident, though
disputed like the sinking of the USS Maine
in Cuba, was used as justification for
increasing American troop presence in
Vietnam.

Question 39

Describe the outcome of
the Vietnam War.

Answer 39

After over a decade of military involvement
in Vietnam, over 50,000 Americans died
which paled in comparison to the upwards
of 2 million Vietnamese deaths. The US
withdrew in 1973 amid massive protests
throughout the late 1960s and early 70s,
having never declared war.

Question 40

What was the Great
Society?

Answer 40

President Lyndon Johnson’s continuation of
New Deal era government-led social and
economic reforms. These programs and
legislation focused on safety nets for the
poor. aka NEW DEAL different dude

Question 41

Medicare

Answer 41

provided health insurance to
people over the age of 65

Question 42

Medicade

Answer 42

provided health insurance to people in low-income situations or with disabilities

Question 43

Immigration Act

Answer 43

abolished immigration quotas

Question 44

What was stagflation?

Answer 44

A recession, or a decline in economic
activity, struck in the early 1970s. This slow
economic growth, or stagnation, occurred
at the same time as rising prices for goods,
or inflation.

Question 45

What was the Watergate
Scandal?

Answer 45

The 1972-1974 political scandal involving
the Nixon administration in which the
Democratic presidential campaign was
brazenly spied. Investigative journalists
uncovered the plot. Nixon was impeached,
choosing to resign in order to escape
removal from office.

Question 46

What was the Roe v
Wade decision?

Answer 46

The Supreme Court ruled that abortion was
a constitutional right on the basis of the
“right to privacy”.

Question 47

What
effect did this decision
have on society?

Answer 47

This decision galvanized
evangelical Christians around the
conservative Republican Party as a vehicle
for opposing the right to abortion.

Question 48

What was the EPA?

Answer 48

The Environmental Protection Agency was
a regulatory agency that sought to put limits
on the environmental impact of industry on
the land, and air, and water.