APUSH Period 8 [1945-1980]: Cold War, Vietnam War, and the Civil Rights Movement

By Maya.Sneller1118

  • CORE founded

    The Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) is an African-American civil rights organization in the United States that played a pivotal role for African Americans in the civil rights movement.

  • Potsdam Conference

    held in Potsdam, Germany, from July 17 to August 2, 1945 to allow the three leading Allies to plan the postwar peace (Japan wouldn’t surrender after they had a choice and the Soviets agreed to help fight Japan).
    Agreed on a United Nations and wanted Germany occupied by the Allies (Americans and British didn’t want it because different forms of government would sit right next to each other : America and Britain would rebuild west Germany while the Soviets would rebuild Eastern Europe)

  • Japan bombed, Yalta Conference,

    Japan: Truman dropped the atomic bomb on Japan to avoid an invasion and lose soldiers, to get Japan to surrender, Japan would lose less people with the bomb, and to stop Japan from making future war
    Yalta:
    - Collective Security (United Nations)
    - Self-Determination (“free and unfettered” elections)
    - Poland had its own government
    - Truman wanted to continue friendship with the Soviets only if they gave up Poland
    - Free Trade
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    Truman's Presidency

    Democrat, took a strong stance on civil rights, ordering equal rights in the military to the disgust of the white politicians in the Deep South
    Pledged that the United States would help any nation resist communism in order to prevent its spread. His policy of containment is known as the Truman Doctrine
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    Baby Boom

    • more than 65 million children were born in the United States
    • GI bill
    • Television and Magazines encouraged parenthood
    • Couples who had delayed marriage during WWII could now marry, buy homes, and begin families
    • Conformity: everyone else was doing the same thing
    • Large families reflected the good economy
    • Single income homes where women were told to embrace this new culture

  • Cold War Begins, National Security Act, Loyalty Review Board, MPS, Taft-Hartley Act, Truman Doctrine

  • The Domino Theory

    If one country fell to communism, neighboring countries would too
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    2nd Red Scare

    Almost all Americans feared communists would take over the world and thought communists should be exiled, interned, or executed

  • Marshall Plan, NATO, HUAC

    Marshall: initiative to provide foreign aid to Western Europe. The US transferred over $13 billion in economic recovery programs to Western European economies after the end of WWII to stop communism NATO: First peacetime military alliance in U.S. history : if one country were to get invaded then the other countries in the agreement would be called to help HUAC: the House established the Committee on Un-American Activities (HUAC) to investigate "subversion" (opposition to the government)

  • Shelly V. Krraemer

    Declared racially restrictive neighborhoods legally enforceable

  • Atomic Energy Commission, China turns communist, Soviets launch first H-bomb, Fair Deal program, Housing Act, US supports France in acquiring Vietnam

  • McCarran Internal Security Bill, Social Security Act, North Korea invades South Korea, Grand Expectations

  • Dennis v. US, MacArthur removed from command

  • New look in foreign policy (Republican)

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    Eisenhower's Presidency

    Republican
    Supported the policy of "modern Republicanism", a middle ground between liberal Democrats and the conservative wing of the Republican Party.
    Continued New Deal programs, expanded Social Security, prioritized a balanced budget over tax cuts
    Eisenhower Doctrine: Any Middle Eastern country could request economic assistance or aid from U.S. military forces if it was being threatened by armed aggression
    Much more conservative than Truman's foreign affairs, but both were for containment

  • Battle of Dien Bien Phu, Brown v. Board, Geneva Accords, SEATO

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    Vietnam War

    The US backed S Vietnam, the Soviets backed N Vietnam, when the USS Maddox was "fired on" (exploited by the US press) American group troops were deployed to defend South Vietnam. People didn't want the US to lose Vietnam "like they lost China". Victory was measured in body count, this combined with the press made the war highly unpopular. The US struggled to withdraw from the losing fight, eventually did in 1973. In 1975 despite a decade of US involvement, all of Vietnam fell to communism

  • Geneva summit conference, MIA formed

  • Sarah Keys V. Carolina Coach Company

    Sarah Keys refused to give up her seat on a bus, the court ruled in favor of Keys but the ruling was poorly enforced

  • Emmett Till

    Emmett Till, age 14, was brutally tortured and murdered after whistling at a white woman, his attackers were found not guilty by an all white jury and later admitted to killing him

  • Suez Crisis

    Egyptian President took control of the Britain and France owned Suez Canal aided by Soviet arms and money; Britain, Israel, and France retaliated without telling the US and tensions rose to the point that Soviets were threatening to use nukes on Western Europe. The US threatened sanctions on Britain, France and Israel who backed off, marked the first use of a UN peacekeeping force

  • Eisenhower Doctrine, Sputnik I, NASA, Civil Rights Act, SCLC, Little rock nine

  • National Defense and Education Act, USSR and US nuclear break

  • Landrum-Griffin Act

    Eisenhower passed the Landrum-Griffin Act in 1959 designed to hold labor leaders more accountable for financial illegalities.

  • Cuban Missile Crisis

    Communist dictator Castro took over Cuba, the US broke off diplomatic relations and sent a Cuban strike force in to defeat him, it failed and pushed Cuba into Soviet arms. The Soviets then deployed missiles in Cuba and were on the brink of war with the US until a disarming pact was signed

  • OPEC, Students for a Democratic Society, Young Americans for Freedom, SNCC

  • Freedom Riders, US breaks relationships with Cuba, Albany movement, Presidential Commission on the Status of Women

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    Kennedy's Presidency

    Democrat
    He proposed the need for a Civil Rights Act, which passed after he died, created a new space program and set up the Peace Corps
    Proposed a tax cut designed to help economic growth, believed the tax cut would stimulate consumer demand, which in turn would lead to higher economic growth, lower unemployment, and increased federal revenues
    Adopted containment in the Cold War

  • Battle of Ole Miss, Rachel Carson: Silent Spring

  • Birmingham Campaign (Project-C), March on Washington, Feminine Mystique, Kennedy sends advisors to Vietnam, Gideon v Wade

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    LBJ's Presidency

    • Democrat and Liberal
    • Great Society main goals: ending poverty, reducing crime, abolishing inequality and improving the environment; failed to eliminate suffering or increase civil rights to the extent that LBJ wished but by the end of Johnson's administration, the percentage of people living below the poverty line had been cut nearly in half
    • Still committed to containment and escalated the Vietnam War by sending thousands of troops
    • Signed the Civil Rights Acts

  • Civil Rights Act, Great Society, Free Speech movement, Gulf of Tonkin Resolution,

  • Community Action Programs

    LBJ's liberal poverty relief program that let poor Americans choose programs to help them, was impactful but criticized for being expensive

  • Operation Rolling Thunder

    the code name for an American bombing campaign during the Vietnam War. U.S. military aircraft attacked targets throughout North Vietnam from March 1965 to October 1968. (Caused many anti-war protests)

  • Voting Rights Act, Watts Riot, EEOC,

    VRA: vigorous federal oversight of southern states’ election laws in order to guarantee minority access to the ballot Watts: a large series of riots that broke out August 11, 1965, in the predominantly Black neighborhood of Watts in Los Angeles EEOC: The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) gave women protection to work in traditionally male occupations, politics, and management (1965)
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    Ho Chi Mein Trail

    Nixon bombs the Ho Chi Mein Trail which supplied the Vietcong, invades the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia, and more countries get involed (Laos, Cambodia)

  • Fulbright Hearings, Cuban Adjustment Act, NOW formed, Miranda v Arizona

    fulbright: The Foreign affairs committee investigated the Vietnam war in order to give advice on ending US involvement. Cuban: Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Cuban Adjustment Act in 1966 allowing Cubans to become permanent residents increasing Cuban immigration NOW: feminist movement formed by Betty Friedan for women to fulfill roles outside of the house Miranda: detained criminal suspects must be informed of their constitutional right to an attorney and against self-incrimination.

  • Black Panther Party

  • Detroit Riots, Interracial Marriage passed, NY Radical Women

  • MLK assassinated, WITCH,

    WITCH: radical feminist organization that battled against consumerism, advertising, and the media (all men oppress women)

  • Redstockings Manifesto, Nixon Doctrine, Stone Wall Inn, My Lai Massacre,

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    Nixon's Presidency

    • Republican and Conservative
    • Shifted the US from liberal policies to conservative
    • Watergate scandal escalated distrust in the government
    • Supported detente (easing Cold War tension) but also bombed Vietnam often
    • Madman Theory of "make Soviets think I'm crazy enough to use nukes"

  • Women's Strike for Equality, Earth Day, Kent Massacre, Environmental Protection Agency, Clear Air Act, Endangered Species Act, March on 5th Avenue

  • Pentagon Papers

  • Stop ERA, Clean Water Act, Watergate Scandal, SALT I

  • Roe v. Wade, Paris Peace Accords, Oil Embargo, War Powers Act,

  • Nixon Impeached, US v. Nixon

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    Ford's Presidency

    Republican-
    Received backlash for pardoning Nixon.
    Focus in domestic policy was mostly the economy, which experienced a recession during his time. After initially promoting a tax increase designed to combat inflation, Ford championed a tax cut designed to rejuvenate the economy.
    WIN (Whip Inflation Now): program to combat inflation that ultimately failed
    Ford continued Nixon's détente policy with both the Soviet Union and China, easing the tensions of the Cold War.

  • Hyde Amendment, Gregg v. Georgia

  • "Save our Children", ERA passed,

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    Carter's Presidency

    Democrat
    At first he backed his party's liberal policies but was actually conservative minded and didn't really support organized labor
    Was conservative in that he spent less money rather than making a "second new deal" to help the economic crisis

    Angered Catholics/Christians and caused them to turn Republican
    He created a national energy policy that included conservation, price control, and new technology

  • Camp David Accords, IRS taxes private schools, Panama Canal Treaties

  • U.S. v Michigan, Hostage Crisis