| A | B |
|---|
| affirmative action | Policies designed to increase opportunities for historically disadvantaged groups, especially in employment and education |
| AIDS epidmeic | A period of widespread disease and death caused by HIV, particularly impacting the U.S. in the 1980s and 90s. |
| antiwar movement | A social movement opposed to a nation's decision to start or continue an armed conflict, often referring to protests against the Vietnam War. |
| antiwar protests | Public demonstrations against a war, often involving marches, rallies, and acts of civil disobedience. |
| Berlin War (1961-1989) | A barrier constructed by East Germany to separate East and West Berlin, symbolizing the Cold War division between communism and the West |
| black empowerment | The movement to increase the political, economic, and social power of Black communities. |
| boycotts | Refusals to buy goods or use services as a form of protest |
| Brown v. Board of Education | A Supreme Court case that declared state-sponsored segregation in public schools unconstitutional. It overturned Plessy v. Ferguson and ended the separate-but-equal doctrine. |
| campus activism | Student-led movements focused on social or political change, often seen during the Civil Rights and anti-Vietnam War eras. |
| civil disobedience | The refusal to comply with certain laws or government demands as a form of peaceful political protest. |
| Civil Rights Act of 1964 | Landmark legislation that outlawed discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin. |
| Civil Rights legislation | Laws enacted to protect individuals from discrimination based on various characteristics. |
| Civil Rights Movement | A broad social and political movement aimed at ending racial segregation and discrimination against African Americans |
| climate change | Long-term shifts in temperatures and weather patterns, increasingly recognized as a major environmental and political issue. |
| Cold War | The ideological and political struggle between the United States and the Soviet Union from the late 1940s to 1991. |
| containment policy | U.S. strategy to prevent the spread of communism during the Cold War |
| Cuban Missile Crisis (1962) | A tense 13-day political and military standoff between the U.S. and the Soviet Union over the presence of Soviet missiles in Cuba |
| de facto segregation | Segregation that exists in practice, even without legal mandate, often due to social or economic factors. |
| de jure segregation | Segregation enforced by law |
| Delano Grape Strike and boycott | A labor strike by Filipino and Mexican American farmworkers in California, advocating for better wages and working conditions |
| deregulation | The reduction or elimination of government power in a particular industry, often seen in the late 20th century. |
| detente | The easing of Cold War tensions between the U.S. and the Soviet Union in the 1970s. |
| dissolution of the Soviet Union (1991) | The formal disintegration of the USSR into 15 independent states, marking the end of the Cold War. |
| Dixiecrats | Southern Democrats who seceded from the Democratic Party in 1948 in opposition to its stance on civil rights. |
| domino theory | The belief that if one country fell to communism, neighboring countries would also fall, justifying U.S. intervention in Vietnam |
| Eisenhower Doctrine (1957) | A U.S. policy pledging military and economic aid to Middle Eastern nations threatened by communist aggression. |
| Election of 1980 | A significant shift towards conservative politics in the U.S., with Ronald Reagan's victory. |
| Election of 2000 | A highly contested election between George W. Bush and Al Gore, ultimately decided by the Supreme Cour |
| Election of 2008 | A historic election that saw Barack Obama become the first African American president of the United States |
| environmental protection | Policies and actions aimed at preserving and protecting the natural environment. |
| Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) | A U.S. government agency created to protect human health and the environment. |
| Equal Pay Act (1963) | A federal law that prohibits wage discrimination based on sex |
| failure of the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) | The ERA, intended to guarantee equal legal rights for all American citizens regardless of sex, was passed by Congress but failed to be ratified by the states. |
| feminism | A range of social movements, political movements, and ideologies that aim to define, establish, and achieve political, economic, personal, and social equality of sexes. |
| fiscal conservatism | An economic philosophy advocating for lower taxes, reduced government spending, and minimal government debt |
| freedom rides | Civil rights activists who rode interstate buses into the segregated Southern United States in 1961 to challenge non-enforcement of the Supreme Court rulings. |
| G.I. Bill (1944) | A law that provided benefits to World War II veterans, including financial assistance for education, housing, and other needs. |
| Gideon v. Wainwright (1963) | A Supreme Court case that ruled states must provide an attorney to defendants who cannot afford one. |
| Great Recession (2007-2009) | A severe economic downturn in the United States and other parts of the world. |
| Great Society | A set of domestic programs launched by President Lyndon B. Johnson, aimed at eliminating poverty and racial injustice |
| Gulf of Tonkin Resolution | A Congressional resolution that gave President Lyndon B. Johnson broad war powers in Vietnam. |
| gun control | Government regulations on the manufacture, sale, possession, and use of firearms.Terms used to describe those who support (hawks) or oppose (doves) military intervention. |
| hawks and doves | Terms used to describe those who support or oppose military intervention. |
| Indian Civil Rights Act of 1968 | A federal law that applies certain provisions of the Bill of Rights to tribal governments. |
| international space station (1998) | A large spacecraft in orbit around Earth, serving as a research laboratory and space environment testbed. |
| Interstate Highway Act (1956) | A law that authorized the construction of a nationwide network of highways, significantly impacting transportation and development |
| Iran Hostage Crisis (1979-1981) | A diplomatic crisis in which Iranian students seized the U.S. embassy in Tehran and held American diplomats hostage. |
| Kent State | The site of a 1970 shooting in which Ohio National Guard members killed four unarmed students protesting the Vietnam War. |
| Korean War | A conflict between North Korea and South Korea, with U.S. involvement on the side of South Korea. |
| Malcolm X | A prominent figure in the Civil Rights Movement, advocating for Black empowerment and separatism before his assassination. |
| Marshall Plan (1948) | A U.S. program providing economic aid to Western European countries after World War II. |
| Martin Luther King, Jr. | A leader of the Civil Rights Movement, advocating for nonviolent civil disobedience. |
| McCarthyism | The practice of making accusations of subversion or treason without proper regard for evidence, associated with Senator Joseph McCarthy's anti-communist campaigns. |
| Miranda v. Arizona (1966) | A Supreme Court case that ruled criminal suspects must be informed of their rights before being interrogated by police |
| Montgomery Bus Boycott | A civil rights protest during which African Americans in Montgomery, Alabama, refused to ride city buses to protest segregated seating |
| Moral Majority | A prominent American political organization associated with the Christian right, which played a key role in the rise of the Republican Party in the late 1970s and 1980s. |
| NAFTA | A trade agreement between the United States, Canada, and Mexico that eliminated most tariffs on goods traded between the three countries. |
| NASA | The U.S. government agency responsible for the civilian space program as well as aeronautics and aerospace research. |
| New Federalism | A political philosophy of devolution, or the transfer of certain powers from the United States federal government back to the states. |
| New Left | A broad political movement primarily in the 1960s and 1970s consisting of activists, educators, and others who sought reforms on issues such as civil rights, gay rights, abortion, gender roles, and drug policies. |
| New Right | A political coalition of conservative groups that emerged in the late 1960s and 1970s, advocating for conservative social values, limited government, and a strong national defense. |
| NATO (1949) | A military alliance of North American and European countries formed after World War II to counter the threat of Soviet expansion. |
| Nuclear Arms Race | A competition between the U.S. and the Soviet Union during the Cold War to develop and stockpile the most powerful nuclear weapons. |
| Oil Embargo of 1973 | A period when Arab OPEC nations imposed an embargo on oil shipments to the U.S. and other Western countries in response to their support of Israel during the Yom Kippur War. |
| Operation Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom | The U.S.-led military operations launched in response to the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. One focused on Afghanistan and another focused on Iraq. |
| OPEC | An intergovernmental organization of 13 countries that coordinates and unifies the petroleum policies of its member countries |
| Persian Gulf War | A conflict between Iraq and a U.S.-led coalition of forces after Iraq invaded Kuwait. |
| proxy wars | Conflicts during the Cold War in which the U.S. and the Soviet Union supported opposing sides but did not directly engage each other militarily |
| Reaganomics | The economic policies of President Ronald Reagan, characterized by tax cuts, deregulation, and reduced government spending. |
| renewable energy | Energy derived from natural processes that are replenished at a higher rate than they are consumed, such as solar, wind, and hydropower. |
| Second Red Scare | A period of intense anti-communist suspicion in the U.S. in the late 1940s and 1950s, often associated with McCarthyism |
| September 11, 2001 | The day of the terrorist attacks on the United States by al-Qaeda, involving the hijacking of four planes and the destruction of the World Trade Center and part of the Pentagon. |
| sit-ins | A form of nonviolent protest during the Civil Rights Movement, in which activists occupied segregated businesses or public spaces and refused to leave. |
| space race | A competition between the U.S. and the Soviet Union during the Cold War to achieve superior spaceflight capability |
| Sputnik | The first artificial Earth satellite, launched by the Soviet Union in 1957, sparking U.S. concerns about technological and military superiority. |
| stagflation | An economic condition characterized by slow economic growth and relatively high unemployment at the same time as rising prices. |
| tax cuts | Reductions in taxes, often implemented to stimulate economic growth. |
| Tinker v. Des Moines (1969) | A Supreme Court case that upheld students' right to freedom of speech in schools, specifically the right to wear armbands protesting the Vietnam War. |
| Title IX (1972) | A federal law that prohibits sex-based discrimination in any school or other education program that receives funding from the federal government. |
| Truaman Doctrine (1947) | A U.S. policy aimed at containing the spread of communism by providing aid to nations threatened by communist expansion, initially Greece and Turkey. |
| U.S. Patriot Act | A law enacted after the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, designed to strengthen domestic security and counter terrorism. |
| U.S. support of Israel | The longstanding policy of the United States to provide military and economic assistance to Israel. |
| United Farm Workers Union (1962) | A labor union founded by Cesar Chavez and Dolores Huerta to advocate for better wages and working conditions for farmworkers. |
| United Nations | An international organization founded in 1945 to promote international cooperation and prevent future conflicts |
| Vietnam War (1955-1975) | A long and divisive conflict in which the U.S. supported South Vietnam against communist North Vietnam. |
| Voting Rights Act of 1965 | A landmark piece of federal legislation that outlawed discriminatory voting practices in many southern states after the Civil Rights Movement. |
| War on Drugs | A U.S. government initiative aimed at reducing the illegal drug trade. |
| War on Terror | The U.S.-led global campaign to counter terrorism following the September 11, 2001, attacks. |
| War Powers Act (1973) | A federal law intended to check the U.S. president's power to commit the United States to an armed conflict without the consent of the U.S. Congress |
| Warren Court | The Supreme Court of the United States during the period known for its liberal rulings that expanded civil rights and liberties. |
| Watergate | A political scandal in the 1970s that led to the resignation of President Richard Nixon, stemming from the Nixon administration's attempts to cover up its involvement in the break-in at the Democratic National Committee headquarters. |
