Henretta’s America’s History 8th – Flashcards
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kitchen debate
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an 1959 debate over the merits of their rival systems between US VP Richard Nixon and the Soviet premier Nikita Khrushchev at the opening of an American exhibition in Moscow
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Bretton Woods
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an international conference in New Hampshire in July 1944 that established the World Bank and IMF
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World Bank
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an international bank created to provide loans for the reconstruction of the war-torn Europe as well as for the development of former colonized nations in the developing world
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International Monetary Fund (IMF)
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a fund established to stabilize currencies and provide a predictable monetary environment for trade, with the US dollar serving as the benchmark
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Military-Industrial Complex
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a term President Eisenhower used to refer to the military establishment and defense contractors who, he warned, exercise undue influence over the national government
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Sputnik
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the world's first satellite, launched by the Soviet Union in 1957. After its launch, the Untied States funded research and education to catch up in the Cold War space competition
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National Defense Education Act
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an 1958 act, passed in response to the Soviet launching of the Sputnik satellite, that funneled millions of dollars into American universities, helping institutions such as the University at Berkeley and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, among others, become the leading research centers in the world
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The Affluent Society
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a 1958 book by John Kenneth Galbraith that analyzed the nation's successful middle class and argued that the poor were only an "afterthought" in the minds of economists and politicians
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The Other America
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a 1962 book by left-wing social critic Michael Harrington, chronicling "the economic underworld of American life". His study made it clear that in the economic terms the bottom class remained far behind
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Veterans Administration
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a federal agency that assists former soldiers. Following WWII, the VA helped veterans purchase new homes with no down payment, sparking a building boom that created jobs in the construction industry and fueling consumer spending in home appliances and automobiles
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collective bargaining
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a process of negotiation between labor unions and employers, which after WWII translated into rising wages, expanding benefits, and an increasing rate of home ownership
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teenager
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a term for young adult. American youth culture, focused on the spending power of the teenager
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Beats
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a small group of literary figures based in NYC and San Francisco in the 1950s who rejected mainstream culture and instead celebrated personal freedom, which often included drug consumption and casual sex
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baby boom
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the surge in the American birthrate between 1945 and 1965, which peaked in 1957 with 4.3 million births
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Shelley v. Kraemer
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a 1948 Supreme Court decision that outlawed restrictive covenants on the occupancy of housing developments by African Americans, Asian Americans, and other minorities
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National Interstate and Defense Highways Act
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a 1956 law authorizing the construction of a national highway system
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Sunbelt
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name applied to the Southwest and South, which grew rapidly after World War II as a center of defense industries and non unionized labor
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Kerner Commission
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informal name for the National Advisory Commission on Civil Disorders, formed by the president to investigate the causes of the 1967 urban riots. Its 1968 report warned that "our nation is moving toward two societies, one black, one white, separate and unequal."
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Dwight D. Eisenhower
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34th President of the United States from 1953-1961, successful army general in WWII, first Supreme Commander of NATO, President of Columbia University, republican who fought Soviet communism and Korea
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Miles Davis
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jazz musician whose 1959 album, Kind of Blue, was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and recognized by the US House of Representatives
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Allen Ginsberg
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poet and leading figure in the Beat generation and culture, opposed militarism, economic materialism, and sexual repression, his poem "Howl" sparked widespread controversy, Buddhist, won US National Book Award for Poetry, won the National Arts Club gold medal, was inducted into the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters, Pulitzer Prize finalist
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Jack Kerouac
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novelist and poet, pioneer of the Beat Generation, known for his spontaneous prose, progenitor of the hippie movement, died of alcohol abuse
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Billy Graham
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Christian evangelist, Southern Baptist minister, held many rallies, sermons, radio and television broadcasts, spiritual advisor to Dwight D. Eisenhower, Lyndon Johnson, and Richard Nixon
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Dr. Benjamin Spock
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pediatrician whose book Baby and Child Care was one of the best-sellers of all time, first pediatrician to study psychoanalysis to understand children and family dynamics, was involved in the anti-Vietnam War movement, won an Olympic gold medal
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William J. Levitt
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real-estate developer who was president of a real-estate successful business, the father of modern America suburbia, named in Time Magazine's 100 Most Influential People of the 20th Century
