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Period: to
An Era of Change
This time period was marked by changes in politics and culture. People were very passionate and involved. -
Brown v. Board of Education, Topeka, KS
Summary: Supreme Court unanimously voted that separate schools are unequal and desegregated schools.
Importance: It ended separate but equal education. Black kids and white kids could go to school together. Some saw it as the start of the civil rights movement. -
Rosa Parks and the Montgomery Bus Boycott
Summary: Rosa Parks got on a bus in Montgomery, Alabama and refused to move back and give up her seat to a white person. She was arrested and it launched the Montgomery Bus boycott.
Importance: Rosa Parks inspired the start of planned nonviolent civil rights protests. Protests like this became the foundation of the American civil rights movement for many years. -
March on Washington
Summary: More than 200,000 people marched in a nonviolent demonstration on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. Martin Luther King, Jr. delivered his famous "I Have a Dream" speech.
Importance: It is viewed as the high point for the civil rights movement. No other demonstration in Washington has ever had more people. -
The Great Society
Summary: President Johnson outlined his vision for domestic policy in America. The Great Society established Medicare, Medicaid, the Elementary and Seconday Education Act, environment and consumer protection laws, and new immigration policies.
Importance: Programs made differences, poverty declined from 22.2% to 12.6%. Most of the programs still exist today. -
Gulf of Tonkin Resolution
Summary: Congress passes a resolution after North Vietnamese attacks on the US navy in the Gulf of Tonkin. It gave President Johnson the ability to send troops to Vietnam without a formal declaration of war.
Importance: It gave the President tremendous power and increased American involvement in the war. More soldiers were drafted and Americans started to doubt the war. -
Martin Luther King, Jr. Assassination
Summary: James Earl Ray assassinated Martin Luther King Jr. on his hotel balcony with a sniper rifle.
Importance: He was the biggest civil rights leader in America. Without his leadership the movement decreased in power. He left a lasting legacy that continues with his own holiday. -
John F. Kennedy Assassination
Summary: John F. Kennedy was assassinated while riding in a motorcade in Dallas, Texas.
Importance: He represented the hope of America in a time when there were a lot of scary things going on. Lots of people think history would have been different if he had lived. -
Woodstock music festival
Summary: Three day music festival attracted hundreds of thousands of people. It symbolized the counterculture.
Importance: The counterculture challenged the values of mainstream American society and traditional values. This generation is now running America. -
Kent State Protestors Shot
Summary: Ohio National Guard fired into a crowd of antiwar protestors at Kent State University. They killed four students and wounded nine others.
Importance: Americans were divided over the Vietnam War but more and more questioned the war. Afterward the shootings represented the political and social crisis going on in America. -
EPA established
Summary: Congress created the EPA after American protests and environment disasters. They also passed the Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act, and Endangered Species Act.
Importance: First time government recognized environmental issues. People asserted rights to a clean and safe environment. -
Nixon visits China
Summary: Nixon went on a diplomatic trip to China for eight days. He was the first president to visit communist China.
Importance: It ended over 20 years of bad relations. American public got to see the trip on television and it was the first images from the country in over 20 years. -
Watergate Scandal
Summary: Five men broke into the Democratic National Committee headquarters at the Watergate complex and placed wire taps. President Nixon was connected to the break-in and lied about it.
Importance: One of the biggest political scandals in American history. Americans lost confidence in the presidency. -
Roe v. Wade
Summary: Supreme Court decided 7-2 that women can have an abortion. Women have a right to privacy.
Importance: This is one of the most controversial Supreme Court decisions ever. People are still debating it and challenging it. Feminists saw it as a victory for women. -
Paris Peace Accords end Vietnam War
Summary: United States, South Vietnam, North Vietnam, and the Vietcong signed the Paris Peace Accords and agree to cease-fire and withdrawal of U.S. troops.
Importance: American troops can finally come home and the divisions in America start to resolve. Mixed reactions to the veterans meant that they didn't always get support and some are still suffering. -
Iran Hostage Crisis
Summary: Iranian radicals invaded the U.S. embassy and took 66 Americans hostage. They were made because President Carter let the emperor of Iran into the United States
Importance: The hostage crisis changed the way Americans looked at the world. The Middle East now become a threat and foreign policy challenge.
