Modern U.S. History Terms

• Cold War


  The open yet restricted rivalry that developed after World War II between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies
• McCarthyism


  Post–World War II Red Scare focused on the fear of Communists in U.S. government positions
• G.I. Bill of Rights (1944)


  The 1944 Legislation that provided money for education and other benefits to military personnel returning from World War II
• Redlining


  Practice of grading areas as desirable or undesirable to live according to the socioeconomic and geographic makeup
• House Un-American Activities Committee


  Created in 1938 to investigate alleged disloyalty and rebel activities on the part of private citizens, public employees and organization suspected of having Communist ties
• Chavez Ravine (Dodger Stadium)


  An area home to generations of families, most of them Mexican, who were displaced for a massive public housing project but were ultimately abandoned in favor of creating a baseball stadium
• The three main neighborhoods in Chavez Ravine

  • Palo Verde
  • La Loma
  • Bishop
• Brown v. Board of Education (1954)


  1954 U.S. Supreme Court decision that struck down racial segregation in public education and declared "separate but equal" unconstitutional
• Many school district used the phrase "with all deliberate speed" as loophole to resist the desegregation of their schools
• Little Rock Nine


  A term that refers to the nine teens who became the first African American students to enter Little Rock's Central High School
• Watts Riots


  It was a large series of riots that broke out August 11, 1965, in the predominantly Black neighborhood of Watts in Los Angeles
• United Farm Workers


  A union forged out of unity between Filipino-American and Mexican-American farm workers to better position themselves to receive fair wages, fair contracts, and seek change in the working and living
• The Grape Strike and Boycott were lead by

  • Larry Itliong
  • Caesar Chaves
  • Dolores Huerta
• Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965

  The act abolished quotas, opening doors to "those who can contribute most to this country – to its growth, to its strength, to its spirit"
• Compton's Cafeteria Riot


  A historic act of trans resistance, three years before Stonewall
• The Feminine Mystique


  The book widely credited with sparking second-wave feminism in the United States
• Neoliberalism


  An ideology where everyone is supposed to focus on economic prosperity or economic growth
• In policy, neoliberalism focuses on


  • Deregration
  • Liberalization
  • Privatization
• NAFTA


  Approved in 1993, the agreement with Canada and Mexico that allowed goods to travel across their borders free of tariffs
• Primary Source


  An original document or object from the time period under study
• Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882

  An absolute ten-year ban on Chinese laborers immigrating to the United States
• Pullman Strike


  Widespread railroad strike and boycott due to the company's denial of requests for higher wages, lower rents, and better working conditions
• Thesis


  Identifies the topic being discussed, includes the points discussed in the paper, and is written for a specific audience
• Philippine-American War


  A war between the United States and Filipino that broke out due to Filipinos fighting against American colonization after winning the Spanish-American War
• Plessy v. Ferguson (1896)


  U.S. Supreme Court decision supporting the legality of Jim Crow laws that permitted or required "separate but equal" facilities for Blacks and whites
• Tape v. Hurley (1885)


  California Supreme Court found the exclusion of a Chinese American student from public school based on her ancestry unlawful
• 1907 Gentlemen's Agreement


  An agreement with Japan to stop issuing visas/passports for laborers to come to the United States
• 1902 Anthracite Strike


  Coal miners demanded better pay, shorter hours, and recognition of their union, the United Mine Workers of America (UMW)
• 19th Amendment


  The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex. Makes it illegal to deny the right to vote to any citizen based on their sex
• Secondary Source


  Text written by scholars/researchers that interpret primary sources
• Immigration Act of 1924

  Reduces the annual quota of any nationality from 3% of their 1910 population to 2% of the number of foreign-born persons of any nationality residing in the U.S. according to the 1890 census
• New Woman


  A revolutionary social ideal at the turn of the century that defined women as independent, physically adept, and mentally acute, and able to work, study, and socialize on a par with men
• Dorothea Lange


  Documented effects of the Great Depression for state and government agencies
• Second New Deal


  Addressed the problems of the elderly, the poor, and the unemployed; created new public-works projects; helped farmers; and enacted measures to protect workers' rights
• Keynesianism


  Argues that governments need to spend money during depressions to turn the economy around
• Executive Order 9066


  This order authorized the forced removal of all persons deemed a threat to national security from the West Cost to "relocation centers" further inland – resulting in the incarceration of Japanese Americans
• Zoot Suit Riots


  It was a series of violent clashes during which mobs of U.S servicemen, off-duty police officers and civilians brawled with young Latinos and other minorities in Los Angeles