unit 8 Flashcards
Q: What was the policy of containment?
A: A U.S. strategy to prevent the spread of communism, central to Cold War diplomacy.
What was the significance of the Truman Doctrine ?
year
1947
A: It pledged U.S. support for countries resisting communism, starting with Greece and Turkey.
Q: How did the Marshall Plan work?
A: Provided economic aid to rebuild Western Europe countries and prevent communist influence. (containment policy)
Q: What was the purpose of NATO (1949)?
A: A military alliance formed by US, Canada, and ten other western European nations for collective defense against Soviet aggression (if one is attacked all is attacked)
Q: What triggered the Berlin Airlift (1948–1949)?
A:The Soviet blockade of West Berlin; the U.S. responded with massive airlifts of supplies.
first test of Cold War wills
Q: How did the Soviet Union respond to NATO?
A: They created the Warsaw Pact in 1955 as a counter-alliance.
Q: What triggered the Korean War (1950–53)?
A: North Korea invaded South Korea; the U.S. led UN forces to resist the invasion.
Q: What was the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC)?
A: Investigated alleged communist influence in U.S. society, especially in Hollywood.
Q: What is McCarthyism?
A: The practice of making unproven accusations of communism, associated with Senator Joseph McCarthy because failed to uncover any communists after relentless tries and persecution of americans
Q: What was the Second Red Scare?
Q: What was the Second Red Scare?
A: Fear of communist infiltration in the U.S.; led to loyalty tests and McCarthyism (ignored civil liberties and didnt catch anyone)
response to cold war tensions from soviets - threat of nuclear warefare led to fear
baby boom
the significant increase in births in the United States between 1946 and 1964
mass production of homes
In 1947, William Levitt used mass production techniques to build inexpensive homes in surburban New York to help relieve the postwar housing shortage.
Levittown became a symbol of the movement to the suburbs
Q: What consumer trends marked the 1950s?
A: Rising income, TV culture, and increased automobile and home ownership.
Q: How did television impact the 1950s?
A: Became the dominant medium for entertainment and advertising; reinforced traditional gender roles.
Q: What was the role of women in 1950s culture?
A: Expected to focus on homemaking, but many also entered or stayed in the workforce.
Q: What did The Feminine Mystique argue?
A: Though written later (1963), it criticized the limited roles available to women in the 1950s.
Q: What was it and what was the significance of Brown v. Board of Education (1954)?
A: Declared school segregation unconstitutional, overturning Plessy v. Ferguson.
Q: What was the Southern Manifesto?
A: Document signed by Southern Congress members opposing school integration.
Q: What was Eisenhower’s approach to Cold War containment?
A: “Massive retaliation” and brinkmanship—threatening overwhelming force, especially with nuclear weapons.
Q: What is the significance of the Interstate Highway Act (1956)?
A: It funded a vast national highway system, bolstering defense and stimulating suburban growth.
Q: What was the U-2 Incident?
A: A U.S. spy plane shot down over the USSR in 1960, damaging U.S.-Soviet relations.
Q: What role did Martin Luther King Jr. play in the civil rights movement?
A: Led nonviolent protests such as the Montgomery Bus Boycott and the March on Washington.
Q: What was the Civil Rights Act of 1964?
A: Banned discrimination in public places and employment based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin.
Q: What role did Rosa Parks play in the movement?
A: Her arrest sparked the Montgomery Bus Boycott (1955–56) which led to the ruling that segregation on public buses was unconstitutional.
