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The First Red Scare
The first Red Scare occurred in 1917 when the rise of the communist party in Russia began to stake a claim in Russian society. This event lasted over several years in which American people were petrified due to the unclaimed bombs that proceeded to go off in American cities, assumed to be put there by the communist party. This event was incredibly lasting and significant because of the personal strain and fear it invoked in American citizens. -
Second Red Scare
The Second Red Scare was similar to the first in the sense that every American was terrified of Communism spreading throughout America. This event lasted much longer than the first however.The HAUC, Federal Employee Loyalty Review Program, Hollywood Blacklist all lead to this long lasting event. -
Marshall Plan
This was a a four-year plan enacted to help rebuild the European countries affected from WWII. It gave over $15 billion to the European countries neighboring the Soviet Union and was believed to have caused the Cold War. By lending loads of money to the neighboring countries, the U.S was able to obtain favors in return. This meant that the tensions between the Soviet Union and the U.S were increased because the U.S had so called "allies." -
Berlin Blockade and Airlift
With Germany being split after WWII, the U.S controlled the West and the Soviets controlled the East. Berlin became a neutral territory, however after feeling threatened by the U.S foreign policy of democracy, the Soviets blocked all trade/travel to western Berlin. This is significant because it forced the U.S to airlift in supplies for the soldiers. This airlift continued for a seemingly endless amount of time after about 2.3 million tons of supplies were dropped into West Berlin. -
NATO
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization was formed on April 4th, 1949 to help combat the overwhelming Soviet Allied powers in Europe. This consisted of Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Iceland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, the United Kingdom, and the United States. This was believed to be defensive and precautionary, however it only increased tensions between the U.S and Soviets. The Soviets saw this as aggressive attempts to evoke fear in the the Soviets. -
Korean War
The Korean War started after Soviet backed N Korean people pushed past the neutral line of the 38th parallel. This cause the U.S backed S Korean people to retaliate to defend the previously agreed neutral zone of the 38th parallel. This all was significant because the Soviets wanted to spread Communism throughout S Korea, while the United States wanted to spread Democracy throughout N Korea. This ended after a ceasefire was agreed upon with the 38th parallel still being the neutral line. -
McCarthyism (the Red Scare)
This ism was created by Joseph McCarthy and was essentially an extreme anticommunist belief. This originated after McCarthy served in office and claimed to know 205 members of the Communist Party who all took place in the State Department. This sparked the belief of McCarthyism, extreme anticommunism. This was significant because this was a common practice during the Cold War, and was used to scapegoat randomly selected people. -
Battle of Dien Bien Phu
This battle settled ownership of French Indochina. It was fought between the French and the Viet Minh forces, and ultimately resulted in the conquering and removal of French forces in Indochina. This was significant because it gave the Soviets a greater field to spread their communist beliefs which was a very large component of the Cold War. -
Brown v. Board of Education
This was an extremely important Supreme Court hearing that resulted in segregated schools, and the doctrine of "separate but equal" was ruled illegal. This was an incredibly significant ruling because this was the first "win" for African Americans and the Civil Rights movement. -
Geneva Peace Accords
This was an agreement for the French to get their troops out of Vietnam. This agreement also called for a cease-fire along the 17th parallel. This was significant because it was a win for communism, which the U.S found so hard to combat. -
Daughters of Bilitis
This was one of the first lesbian organizations to be founded. During this time being openly gay was frowned upon heavily and people were constantly met with discrimination or violence. This organization was significant because despite starting small and being one of the first, they were able to grow and pave the way for the gay rights movement. -
Emmett Till
Emmett Till was an African American who lived in Chicago during the Cold War era. One day Till was hanging out with some of his friends and he told them he was dating a white girl. His friends in disbelief told him to ask the nearest white woman on a date. For fun, Till exclaimed "bye baby" as he walked away. Later he was prosecuted and lynched because a white woman bearing witness claimed he made lewd advances toward her. This caused a minor spark to the civil rights era. -
Montgomery Bus Boycotts
These were a set of civil rights protests where African Americans refused to support bus companies and refused to ride. This took place in Montgomery Alabama and was supposed to protest the mandatory seating in the back of the bus for African Americans. This was a positive step for the civil rights movement because it gained national attention to the discrimination and struggle of African Americans. -
Little Rock
The Little Rock Nine were a group of nine black students living in Arkansas. Post a Supreme Court hearing, the Little Rock Nine were supposed to combine and intermix with a strictly white school. The Little Rock Nine were forcibly escorted into school that day by the national guard. This entire event was a massive step in the civil rights movement because it was a white president making calls for black children. -
Civil Rights Act of 1957
This Act was essentially a reform and an added protection to voting rights for African Americans. This act did not add any rights for African Americans, rather added another layer of protection to their already granted rights. This was significant because this added a way to how African Americans were protected, and actually had fines in place if someone broke of these rules. -
Greenboro Sit-In
This was a civil rights protest where African Americans would sit down at white-only lunch counters, and refuse to leave after being denied service. This became a popular way of protesting, and became especially popular in colleges. This is significant because this began to spread to a national level where African Americans where doing it all over. -
Election of JFK
Kennedy won the election after battling a Republican named Richard Nixon. This election made Kennedy the youngest man to ever become president. Kennedy was believed to have won due to his progressive thoughts upon foreign policy. This was significant because it brought an inexperienced man into office to determine the fate of the country. Kennedy had many failures to come. -
Freedom Rides
Freedom rides were a set of bus trips through the south to protest segregated bus terminals. Freedom Riders could consist of white people or African Americans. Regardless these people all opposed the segregation and discrimination shown just strictly at a bus terminal. Although there was plenty of bloodshed and aggressive responses from the opposition, this brought even more attention to the civil rights cause and eventually resulted in desegregated travel. -
Bay of Pigs Invasion
This invasion was led by president Kennedy was sought out to push the Cuban nationalist Fidel Castro out of power. This failed massively and resulted in a surrender from the U.S in under 24 hours. This is significant because Castro's ended up overthrowing President Fulgencio Batista who was reliably anticommunist, and converting the entire Cuban government to communism. -
Berlin Wall
This wall was built by the communist East Germany to prevent the West Germany democrats from crossing the boarder and attempting to spread democratic beliefs. This was significant because in Germany it finally prevented the spread from either communism into democratic society or vice versa. -
Cuban Missile Crisis
This Crisis was found out when America sent out spy planes over Cuba (an ally of the Soviet Union), and scouted the installment of nuclear weapons of the Soviets. This was incredibly significant because this was the first real time that war could have possibly reached American soil because the nuclear weapons were built just 90 miles from U.S shores. -
24th Amendment
This Amendment granted all U.S citizens to vote in any election, despite religion, race, age, or sexuality. This was incredibly significant because it was a huge win for African Americans during the Civil Rights movement. This was a large fight that African Americans were trying to win and eventually ended up winning. -
Feminine Mystique
This was a book published by Betty Friedan (a feminist) written about the injustice women were shown during the 1960s. This book was significant because it in a sense was the spark to the women's rights movement. This book changed the way many women thought about themselves and opened lots of eyes surrounding their roles and identities. -
March on Washington
This was a huge protest where about a quarter of a million people gathered in Washington D.C to protest in favor of Civil Rights. This was in an attempt to gain a large understanding of the poor treatment and extreme discrimination African Americans had. This event became the breeding ground for one of the most important speeches of all time. MLK's "I have a dream" speech. This protest was significant because it did the intended, and gained a larger understanding. -
Demonstrations in Birmingham
Birmingham, Alabama was always an epicenter for extreme racism. Birmingham was a hot spot of the civil rights movement where in the spring of 1963, there began a series of sit-ins, marches, and boycotts to protest segregation. Despite none of these protests being aggressive, police still took offense and took action to combat said protests. This was significant because it was a booming time for the civil rights movement and was still frowned upon by the nation. -
Assassination of JFK
John F. Kennedy was the American President during the Cold War. This assassination sent shutters through most Americans spines and caused extreme speculation for the years to come. However, this was significant because it was a win for the Soviet Union because America now had to function under new leadership, while American citizens were also speculating about the Communist involvement of the assassination. It turned Americans against each other even more than previously. -
Freedom Summer
This was a project to increase the number of registered African American voters. During this time period, the civil rights movement was in full swing and there were over 700 white Americans that fought alongside the African Americans in an attempt to gain more registered voters, and less discriminated polls. The significance of this, however, was determined later with the passing of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 which was believed to have been passed because of the Freedom Summer. -
Civil Rights Act of 1964
This act banned segregation in public, and in the workplace based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin. This act was the largest win for the civil rights movement because this essentially banned segregation everywhere. This was incredibly significant because it gave those protestors a great sense of hope and success. -
The Gulf of Tonkin Resolution
This bill was passed by congress to permit President Lyndon Johnson to "take all necessary measures to repel any armed attack against the forces of the United States and to prevent further aggression" of the communist North Vietnam. This was incredibly significant because it made the the battles getting fought in Vietnam, America's jurisdiction. This was important because it caused many U.S soldiers to be killed in war. -
March on Selma
This march was a series of protests in the extremely racist south, mainly focusing on Alabama. This was a 54-mile march from Selma to Montgomery that was met with large amounts of violence and brutal attacks from white groups. This event was significant because these protesters ended up getting protection from the National Guard to prevent any violence. This march was watched by the entire nation and was a large turning point in getting black people the right to vote. -
Voting Rights Act of 1965
This Act solidified African Americans right to vote, and prevented individual poll-takers from discriminating against African Americans. This was incredibly significant because African Americans previously were allowed to vote, however, this act made it illegal to prevent African Americans to vote under the 15th Amendment. -
The Black Panthers
Founded by Huey Newton and Bobby Seale, this political party attempted to challenge unnecessary police brutality against African Americans. This party was significant because they had lots of collusion with other parties which negatively affected the party as a whole. This party was significant because while they were not aggressive, the FBI and deadly shootouts did their best to disband the organization. -
Pentagon Papers
This was a series of studies done on the military involvement in Vietnam. It was extremely classified information that got leaked to the press and published by the New York Times, exposing the unnecessary American intervention in the Vietnam war. This was significant because it exposed a 47 volume 7,000 page list of classified government information to the public, which outlined the unnecessary involvement. This made American citizens upset and with a feeling of betrayal. -
My Lai Massacre
This was a horrific event initiated by American soldiers in which they essentially pillaged and slaughtered hundreds of men woman and children, despite their neutral involvement in the ongoing war around them. This was significant because later only one of the soldiers was actually found guilty of committing war crimes, and this was an extremely dark time in American history. -
Tet Offensive
This was a large number of attacks from North Vietnamese on the South Vietnamese to encourage riots and rebellions throughout the South Vietnam cities to turn citizens on each other, thus weakening the South as a whole. This was significant because it led to many rebellions and as a side effect weakened the relationship South Vietnam had with America. -
MLK Assassination
MLK was a large contributor and preacher during the civil rights movement. On April 4th he was assassinated which sent waves of terror and anger throughout African Americans. This was significant because, despite all the wins they had seen the years before, this act showed them that they still were not completely safe. -
Democratic National Convention
This convention actually had underlying negative tones associated with the riots and other forms of bloodshed. These riots were mostly in protest of the American involvement in Vietnam. This was incredibly significant because this event was meant to unify the Democratic party but actually did the contrary. This event divided the Democratic party into those that supported leaving the war and those that opposed it. -
Stonewall Riots
These riots occurred after a series of police officers raided a gay bar for essentially no real reason. These riots followed almost immediately after, and involved hundreds of witnesses opposing this terrible event. These riots were significant because it was not the first event that prompted the gay rights movement, however, this did result in a series of organizations to be formed. -
Nixon's actions in Cambodia
President Nixon launched a full-scale incursion in Cambodia as a preemptive way of stalling North Vietnamese attacks from Cambodia into South Vietnam. The significance was the U.S involved another country, which set off a large chain-reaction of anti-war protests. This furthered the disagreements within the U.S democracy. -
Kent State University Shooting
As a protest to the Vietnam war, an unfortunate event in crossfire as 4 University students were slaughtered by a nation divided by the Vietnam war. This was significant because it resonated with many more Americans as young people were slaughtered by their own people due to the intense opposition shown from some American individuals. -
Equal Rights Amendment
This was an amendment that actually came about from women protesting the discrimination based on sex. Many years later these women achieved their goal of getting this amendment passed to prohibit discrimination based on sex. This was significant as it was a large win for women's rights because it finally resulted in women's legal rights being protected. -
War Powers Act
Post American involvement in Vietnam, Congress passed this act to limit the presidents ability to interfere with military interactions internationally. This was caused by the previous unnecessary U.S involvement in Vietnam, where the U.S lost countless numbers of men for seemingly no reason. This was significant because it would add another layer to checks and balances, in which the President is no longer able to recreate Vietnam. -
Roe vs. Wade
This was a Supreme Court case revolving around a woman's right to have an abortion. Previously in the late 1800s, abortion was seen as criminal and illegal. This was significant because it overrode the previous way of thinking, and was a win for women's rights because it allowed for them to have control over their own bodies. -
Paris Peace Accords
This was the formal agreement from the U.S, South Vietnamese, Viet Cong, and the North Vietnamese to end all fighting. This was the resolution to the extremely unnecessary Vietnam war, after no significant progress was made to either side. However, this was significant because it allowed the U.S to fully be withdrawn and for the U.S to have restored the unity within the Democratic government. -
Fall of Saigon
After American soldiers were officially removed and prohibited to be involved in the Vietnam war, this was the seemingly immediate defeat of South Vietnam from the North. This occurred only two months after American troops officially stopping assisting in the war. This was significant because the North were supported by Communist China and the Soviet Union so this was a win for communism. -
Equal Pay Act
This law prevented gender-based wage discrimination. This was to prevent the wage gap from getting even greater than it already was, especially at this time. This act is even relevant and significant today. This act allows individuals to file a claim if they are being discriminated against and or sue.
