Flashcards · 9489 · A Level Topic 6

American option: The USA, 1945–93 (A Level) flashcards

16 cards on A Level Topic 6, subtopics 4 to 6. Pick a subtopic or study them all.

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What was the Taft-Hartley Act (1947)?: A law restricting the power of trade unions, passed by Congress over President Truman’s veto.
Which policies committed the USA to containment under Truman?: The Truman Doctrine and the Marshall Plan (1947), the Berlin airlift (1948-49) and the creation of NATO (1949). The Korean War began in 1950 and ended in an armistice in 1953.
What was McCarthyism?: Senator Joseph McCarthy’s campaign, from 1950, of claims that communists had infiltrated government, fed by the Soviet atomic test and the communist victory in China (both 1949). It faded after the Senate censured him in 1954.
What did Brown v Board of Education (1954) decide?: The Supreme Court ruled that segregated public schools were unconstitutional, overturning "separate but equal" in education.
How did Eisenhower act on civil rights?: He sent federal troops to enforce school desegregation at Little Rock (1957) and signed the limited Civil Rights Act of 1957. Assess how far federal action was slow and reluctant.
What did Eisenhower warn of in his farewell address (January 1961)?: The growing influence of the "military-industrial complex".

What were the main laws of Johnson’s Great Society?: The Civil Rights Act (1964), the Voting Rights Act (1965), Medicare and Medicaid (1965) and the War on Poverty. Results were mixed, and costs rose with the war in Vietnam.
Name key episodes of the civil rights movement, 1960-65: The sit-ins (1960), the Freedom Rides (1961), the Birmingham campaign (1963), the March on Washington (August 1963) and Selma (1965).
What was the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution (August 1964)?: A congressional resolution that gave President Johnson broad authority to use force in Vietnam, enabling escalation.
Why was the Tet Offensive (1968) a turning point?: It was a military setback for communist forces, but it badly damaged American public confidence in the war. Johnson did not seek re-election.
How did Watergate end Nixon’s presidency?: The break-in at the Watergate building (June 1972) and the cover-up led to impeachment proceedings, and Nixon resigned on 9 August 1974.

What is stagflation?: High inflation combined with high unemployment and slow growth. It troubled the US economy in the 1970s, worsened by the oil shocks.
What were Carter’s main successes and failures?: Success: the Camp David Accords (1978) between Egypt and Israel. Failures: economic problems and the Iran hostage crisis (1979-81), which weakened him before the 1980 election.
What did Reagan’s economic programme include?: Tax cuts through the Economic Recovery Tax Act (1981), deregulation, cuts in domestic spending and higher defence spending. Growth revived, but federal deficits grew.
How did Reagan’s policy towards the USSR change?: From hostile rhetoric to negotiation with Gorbachev, including the INF Treaty (1987), which removed a class of intermediate-range nuclear missiles.
Why did George H. W. Bush lose the 1992 election despite foreign successes?: The Cold War ended and the Gulf War (1991) was won, but recession and breaking his "no new taxes" pledge damaged him at home.