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The 1940's: a decade of progress
Starting in 1940, the NAACP legal defense fund founded by Thurgood Marshall. In 1941, there was a ban against discrimination in defense industry. Then in 1942, CORE, congress of racial equality, was founded. In 1947, Integration of Major League Baseball by Jackie Robinson. Late in 1948 desegregation of armed forces was forced. -
The Lives of Native Americans
Just as African Americans and women were held back, so were Native Americans. The average income of Native American men was less than half that of white American men. they also suffered disproportionatley from poor health. The governement failed to help them adjust in urban life. -
The domino theory
After Dwight D. Eisenhower became president, he warned that if Vietnam fell to communism, other countures would follow quickly. This explains the domino theroy. The United States sent arms, ammunition, and money to the French Forces in Vietnam. Even though we provided france with aid, they still were defeated. -
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Decade of change
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Brown V. Board of Education
The Brown V. Board of Eduaction of Topeka, Kansas was a combination of cases around the country based on the issue of school segregation. The Supreme Court hear its arguments over a two-year period. In the end Chief Justice Earl Warren Issued that separate schools for African Americans and whites violated the Constitutions guarantee of equal protection of the law. -
The Montgomery bus boycott
1955 was a year that a decisive action was taken. A local NAACP member, Rosa Parks, boarded a montgomery bus after a day of work. She refused to give up her seat for a white rider and was arrested. This began the Montgomery bus boycott, a boycott of the Montgomery, Alabama bus system in respone to the racial segregation of city buses. -
The Decline of Black Power
The civil rights movement took place during the cold war and FBI director J. Edgar Hoover created a secret program within the FBI to keep an eye on many types of groups that were involved in the nrest that was plaguing society. Hoover was concerned about the balck panthers. in 1970, the Black Panthers group was disbanded. -
Sit-ins and Freedom Rides
On February 1, 1960, four college students began a sit-in of their own after being denied coffee becuase of their race. The sit-ins attracted and gainded hundred of supporters. The sit-ins marked a shift in civil rights movement. The SNCC was formed. -
The Warren Court
During Kennedy's presidency, the Supreme Court needed major changes in Amerian society. Chief Justice Earl Warren, greatly extended individual rightsand freedoms. Warren led the Court in 1954 to one of the most significant civil rights advances in U.S. history. The 1960's was the time of Warren Court, a term that refers to the years when Earl Warren served as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. -
The Bay of Pigs Invasion
During the 1960 campaign, Kennedy learned that the Central Intelligence Agency was secretly training about 1,500 Cuban exiles in Central America in order to invade Cuba. The Bay of Pigs Invasion was the failed attempt of Cuban exiles backed by the U.S. to overthrow the Cuban socialist government of Castro. -
The Lives of Latinos
In 1960, more than 900,000 Latinos lived in the United States. The Latino Population increased partyly beucase of the Immigration Act of 1965. However one-third of Mexican families lived below the poverty line and tiwce as many Mexican Americans as white Americans were unemployed. -
Integrating Higher Education
By 1960, legal campaing against school segregation expanded its efforts to inculde colleges and universities. James Meredith attempted to enroll at the University of Mississippi and was rejected becuase he was a "negro". A mob of 2,500 protesters accompanied him. The riot worsened and President Kennedy sent troops to end it. -
Rise of the Counterculture
The counterculture of the 1960's was a rebellion of teens and young adults against mainstream American society. These young americans were known as hippies. Turning their backs on the mainstream which they called the Establishment, hippies wanted to create an alternative culture based on peace and love. -
kennedy takes office
Tuesday November 8, 1960, 43 year old John F. Kennedy was elected for president. This election was one of the closet in American history. Fewer than 120,000 votes separated the two candidates out of nearly 69 million ballots cast. Kennedy became the youngest person and the first Catholic elected president. -
Life in the Counterculture
Throughout the 1960's, thousands of teens and young adults abandoned school, jobs, and traditional home life in search of a more freewheeling life. Some hippies formed communities in run-down urban neighbrohoods. Many young people flocked there becuase of the cheap rents and flourishing hippie culture. -
Kennedy's New Frontier
Kennedy's New Frontier was a nickname given to his plans for changing the nation. However, most Americans were not reform minded. Some of the changeds were to reduce taxes to fight rising unemployment and to explore into space. Kennedy restored America. -
Movements for Latino Rights
In the 1960's, some Mecican Americans began to embrace a form of cultural nationalsim. They called themselves Chicanos, a shortened form of mexicanos. The name conveyed their ethnic pride and commitment to political activism. -
Gaining Voting Rights
In 1962, the VEP, Voter Education Project, was founded. This project registered Southern African Americans to vote. Late the Twenty-fourth Amenement was passes. this amendement banned states from taxing citizens to vote. -
The Cuban Missile Crisis
In 1962, the Cuban missile crisis was a confrontation between the United States and theSoviet Union over Soviet missiles in Cuba. Kennedy ordered U-2 spy-planes to fly over the island. the detected SAMs, but the Soviets defened that they were defensive missiles. We argued for a naval blockade that would provoke a missile launch and avoid war. In the end the Soviets offered to remove the missiles if the United States pledged to never invade Cuba. -
The Kennedy Assassination
In 1963, President Kennedy flew to Texas to help win the backing of southern Democrats. Kennedy rode in an open car of a motorcade through the city of Dallas to the site where he was to deliver a speech. November 22, 1963 from the sixth floor of a schoolbook depository building, Lee Harvey Oswald shot Kennedy. Kennedy's tragic death shocked the nation and the world. -
Johnson Becomes President
Lyndon B. Johnson ran for presdient but was unable to defeat John F. Kennedy. Johnson did accept Kennedy's offer of the vice presidency in order to unite the party. After Kennedy's assassination, Johnson became president. Johnson escalated as president. Unfortunatly, as the Vietnam war dragged on without success, Johnson's popularity decreased so he decided not to run for re-election. -
The Great Society
The phrase Johnson used, The Great Society, became the term for the domestic programs of his administration. Johnson needed to work hard to gain voters and ensure his victory and to achieve his goals for the Great Society. The Great Society created The Higher Education Act that created the first federal scholoarships for needy college students. the OEO was luanched as well as Medicaid and Medicare. -
The Civil Rights Act of 1964
The Civil Rights Act of 1964 was an act signed it into law on July 2,1964 that banned discrimination in emplyment and in public accommodations. This act was passed after the March on Washington when Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his "I Have a Dream" speech. -
The Tonkin Gulf Resolution
President Johnson believed that only expanding U.S. military involvement in south vietnam could prevent a Communist victory. To increase the military effort, Johnson needed to obtain authority from the U.S. congress. The Tonkin Gulf Resolution was a congressional resolution that authrized military action in Southeast Asia.5 -
Political Organizing
Many African Americans wanted Johnson to defeat Barry Goldwater, who voted against the civil rights act. Then the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party (MFDP) was organized. This political party created in 1964 had the purpose of winning seats at the 1964 Democratic National Convention -
The Voting Rights Act
In January 1965, Martin Luther King Jr. began a campaign to gain voting rights for African Americans. Soon the Voting Rights Act of 1965 was passed. This was a civil rights law that banned literacy tests and other practices that discouraged blacks from voting. -
The Air War
The first major direct U.S. military activity in Vietnam took place in the air. President Johnson orderd operation rolling thunder, a bombing campaign over north vietnam. U.S. bombed anything North Vietnam would find useful in war effort. The main Target to bomb was the Ho Chi Minh Trail. -
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The antiwar movement
As opposition to the war grew, a large anitwar movement developed. The movement attracted students, civil rigts workers, doctors, homemakers, retirees, and teachers. Yet, many Americans opposed the antiwar movement, especially the actions of the extreme groups. -
Johnson's Foreign Policy
Johnson increased the involvement of the United States in the Vietnam War. The US government was spending $2.5 billion each month on war. Johnsons Doctrine was a philosophy that revolutions in Latin America were not just local concerns when "the object is establishment of a Communist dictatorship." -
Cuban Americans
After Fidel Castro Seized power in cuba, many Cubans fled Castro's Communist government for the United States. 78,000 Left cuba in 1962. Then between 1965-1973 50,000 cubans fled to the United States. Most left their homeland for political reasons, not economic reasons. -
The Women's Liberation Movement
The core belief of the women's liberation movement was feminism, the conviction that women should be socially, politically, and economically equal. A group of feminists then formed the National Organization for Women (NOW). this fought gender discrimination in the workplace, schools, and justice system. -
Fractures in the Movement
By the 1960's, conflicts among diverse groups had developed. In May 1966 Stokely Carmichael replaced John Lewis as head of SNCC. Carmicheal abandoned the philosophy of nonviolence. Black power began. Black power is an African American social movement in the late 1960's that advocated unity and self-reliance to address injustice. -
Expanding the Movement
The March brought and end to de jure sefreagation, or segregation by law, in the south. Outside the south African Americans faced different conditions. Most states did not deny African Americans voting rights. Martin Luther took his marches into big cities to end racism riots. -
A Change in Goals
One important expansion of the civil rights movement was the Poor People's Campaign. This campaign tried to raise awareness about poverty among people of all races. The poopr People's Campaign turned out to be a disaster. All these factors combined to cause the SCLC and its role in the civil rights movement decline. -
The Tet Offensive
The Vietcong assault on the U.S. Embassy marked the start of the Tet Offensive in 1968. The Tet Offensive is a series of massive coordinated attacks throughout South Vietnam. This offensive caused 1968 to become a critical year in the Vietnam War. -
Native Americans Fight for Fairness
In 1968, President Johnson declared his support for Indian self-determination. Then in 1969, a group of Native Americans tired to reclaim Alcatraz Isalnd. The Alcatraz Island takeover helped invigorate the American Indian Movement. this was an organization founded by Native American leaders calling for a renewal of Native American culture and recognition of Native Americans' rights. -
Johnson Seeks a Solution
People beleived that the Tet Offensive had been devastating to the enempy. Johnson Sent more than 206,000 to Vietnam to deliver a crushing blow to the weakened communists. This choice didnt turn out the way he wanted it to. In the end Johonson removed the troops. -
The Assassination of King
Martin Luther King Jr. went to Memphis, Tennesse in March 1968 to aid African American sanitation workers who were on strike against discrimination in the city's work and pay policies. On april 4, 1968 James Earl Ray shot and killed Martin Luther King Jr. After his Assassination riots began abruptly. -
New Changes and Gains
In spite of the challenges, the civil rights movement did make gains in the lates 1960's. The civil rights Act of 1968 banned discrimination in the sale or rental of housing. The affirmative action also was a program passed that gave preference to minorities and women in hiring and admissions. -
Election of 1968
After Johnson withdrew from the 1968 presidential campaign, his vice president, Hubert Humphrey, entered the race. Humphrey ran against Nixon. In the End Nixon Comfortably won the election and became President. -
Widening the War
During Nixons campaing, he pldged that if electedhe would end the war in Vietnam. Nixons "Peace with honor" plan was to end the war. Part of the plan was Vietnamization. This involved turning over more of the fighting in Vietnam to the South Vietnamese while gradually brining U.S. ground troops home. -
The Counterculture's Legacy
The Counterculture did not last long but it did make a lasting impact on American culture. Particulary in attitudes, are, and music. Many Americans dressed more casualy and attitudes toward sexual behavior loosened. Also in this period, a new style develpoed called pop art. Pop art is a style of art in the 1950's and 1960's intended to appeal to popular tastes -
End of U.S. Involvement
In 1972 Nixon Campaigned for re-election while continuing his efforts to acieve peace with honor in vietnam. His challenger, McGovern inisted to bring the war to an end. He hoped the ratification of the Twenty-sixth Amendment would help him win. This amendment lowered the voting age from 21 to 18. -
The war's political impact
The U.S. government spent more than $150 billion on the Vietnam War. The spending added greatly to the national debt and fueled inflation. We passed the War of Powers Act in 1973 to prevent another Vietnam. This law set a 60-day limit on the presidential commitment of U.S. troops to foreign conflicts. -
Causes of the Vietnam War
One cause of the war was Vietnam's desire for freedom from colonial rule. another cuase was U.S. fears of the spread of communism (the domino theory). A third cause was South Vietnam's faliure to comply with the Geneva Accords. Another cause was efforts by North Vietnam to reunite the nation under Communist rule. A last cause was U.S. support for the anti-Communist government of South Vietnam. -
Sources
US history Book and Google Images
