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Brown Vs Board of Education
In Brown v. Board of Education of 1954 Supreme Court case, the justices ruled unanimously that racial segregation of children in public schools was unconstitutional. It violated the 14th Amendment which prohibits states from denying equal protection of the laws. It overturned the “separate but equal” doctrine, ruled in Plessy v. Ferguson (1896). -
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Vietnam war
The US entered the Vietnam war as an aid to South Vietnam who was also anti-communist. North Vietnam ruled by Ho Chin Minh was communist and an ally to USSR which the US as strongly against. President Kennedy sent advisers to the South to help Diem confront the Viet Cong threat. He advocated the “domino theory,” which held that if one Asian country fell to communism, others would follow.
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Rock n Roll Pop Culture
The 1950s was the birth of Rock n' Roll, which was an era for American teenagers, giving them the ability to express adolescent problems through music. This "crossover" musical style merged rhythm and blues with white bluegrass and country. A prominent figure was Elvis Presley. His music used a heavy beat and driving rhythm, with crazy dance styles.
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Hippie Movement
During the mid-1960s a hippie counterculture started to emerge among the youth population. The main belief that they expressed was their anti-sentiments towards the war in Vietnam. The hippies created their own social groups, listened to psychedelic rock, embraced the sexual revolution and used drugs such as marijuana, LSD, and "magic mushrooms" to explore other states of consciousness.
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Kennedy's Assasination
President John F. Kennedy was assassinated on November 22, 1963, at 12:30 p.m. while riding in a motorcade in Dallas during a campaign visit by Lee Harvey Oswald. Oswald defected to the Soviet Union in 1959. This sparked LBJ's fears against much broader efforts by the Soviets or other enemies of the United States to destabilize the American government.
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Anti War Protest
After the United States began bombing North Vietnam during the Vietnam war, Anti-war marches and protests, began. The anti-war movement began mostly on college campuses. Groups such as Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) began organizing “teach-ins” to express their opposition to the way the government was reacting because many lives were being taken.
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Black Panther Party
The Black Panther Party was an African American revolution leftist organization that lasted from 1966 to 1982. They believed in preventing racism against African Americans, and that all blacks deserved to be treated equally to whites in society. They promoted black nationality and were specifically known for their rhetoric, militaristic ways of expressing their beliefs.
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Kent State University Shooting
The Massacre of four unarmed college students by members of the Ohio National Guard at Kent State University in Ohio, during a mass protest. This was in response to Nixon's announcement that he had expanded the Vietnam War into Cambodia and the US military forces bombing. Due to this violence sprouted in college campuses. -
Watergate Scandal
The scandal involved a break-in of the Democratic National Committee headquarters at the Watergate Office Complex. President Nixon was aware and members of the Committee to Re-elect the President participated in the break-in. It was revealed that conversations in the oval office were taped and that Nixon was supposed to hand over the tapes. He handed uncompleted tapes and failed to provide full evidence. This led to his resignation -
Roe Vs Wade
This was a landmark decision in which the US Supreme Court ruled that the 14th amendment Due Process Clause, provides a "right to privacy" that protects a pregnant woman's liberty or right to choose whether or not to have an abortion. This caused a lot of controversy in the country between pro-life and pro-choice. -
HIV/AIDS Epidemic
The disease AIDS appeared in the early 1980s and quickly became an epidemic among homosexual men. Drug users who shared needles, blood transfusion patients, and women with infected sexual partners were also at higher risk of contracting AIDS. Gay rights activists took initiatives promoting education about safer sex and countering discrimination against AIDS. In these early years, there was no treatment for AIDS. -
The Cold War Ends
The Cold War 'officially' ended when Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev met with US president George Bush. He introduced the policies of glasnost and perestroika to the USSR. The Berlin wall was deconstructed and its fall marked an end to Soviet influence in the country and allowed for Germany to become reunited.
