| A | B |
|---|
| civil rights | basic privileges and liberties of citizens |
| Rosa Parks | a black women arrested for refusing to move her seat on a bus for a white man. Her refusal led to the Montgomery Bus Boycott which ultimately ended segregation on the bus system in Montgomery, Alabama |
| sit-in | African Americans went to "whites only" lunch counters and waited to be served. They refused to leave in spite of being yelled at, spit on, and hit. They were eventually arrested. |
| civil disobedience | form of nonviolent protest used by people who refuse to obey a law with which they disagree |
| Freedom Riders | Black and white protestors who rode buses through the South to protest segregation and to desegregate bus terminals. Some were assaulted, while others were arrested. |
| Brown vs. Board of Education (1954) | Supreme Court case that over-ruled Plessy vs. Ferguson and said that segregation was inherently unequal. It made "separate but equal" unconstitutional. |
| Affirmative Action | Program in areas such as employment and education to provide more opportunities for members of groups that faced discrimination in the past by giving them special consideration. |
| Watergate | term used in reference to the biggest political scandal in U.S. history; named for the Washington, D.C. hotel where the Democratic Party's national headquarters were broken into by supporters of President Nixon. The scandal eventually led to President Nixon's resignation. |
| George Bush Sr. | Republican president of the United States (1989-1993). He led the U.S. into the Persian Gulf War |
| Persian Gulf War | war with Iraq in January 1991 after Iraq invaded the oil rich country of Kuwait and refused to withdraw. The Persian Gulf War lasted only six weeks. |
| William J. Clinton | Democratic president of the United States (1993-1989). Clinton led a middle-of-the-road approach where he increased some taxes, but reduced spending helping decrease the size of the federal deficit. Clinton came under attack for his personal conduct that exploded into a major scandal concerning an affair with a white house intern. |
| North Atlantic Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) | Passed by Congress in 1994 eliminating trade barriers between the U.S., Mexico, and Canada |
| human rights | basic rights believed to apply to all people around the world |
| Tinker vs. DesMoines (1969) | Supreme Court case which established that students' constitutional rights do not stop at the "schoolhouse gates". |
