Chaoter 25 bolded terms

Sit-ins

A protest tactic where activists occupied segregated spaces like lunch counters and refused to leave until served or removed. Launched by four Black students in Greensboro, NC in February 1960; spread across the South and helped desegregate many public accommodations.

Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC)

An organization of young civil rights activists founded in 1960 out of a meeting called by Ella Baker, dedicated to empowering ordinary Black citizens to lead their own struggle for a "beloved community" of racial justice.

Freedom Rides

Integrated bus trips through the Lower South organized by CORE in 1961 to test compliance with court rulings banning segregation on interstate transportation. Riders faced firebombings and beatings but forced the desegregation of buses and terminals.

March on Washington

A massive 1963 demonstration of 250,000 people in the capital, organized by a coalition of civil rights, labor, and religious groups, pushing for civil rights legislation. Featured King's "I Have a Dream" speech.

Bay of Pigs invasion

A failed 1961 CIA-backed invasion of Cuba by anti-Castro exiles, authorized by Kennedy. The total failure pushed Cuba closer to the Soviet Union.

Cuban missile crisis

The October 1962 standoff after the U.S. discovered Soviet nuclear missiles in Cuba. Kennedy imposed a naval blockade; Khrushchev agreed to withdraw the missiles in exchange for a U.S. pledge not to invade Cuba.

Civil Rights Act

Landmark 1964 legislation banning discrimination in employment and public accommodations, and prohibiting discrimination based on sex as well as race. Passed after Kennedy's assassination under Johnson.

Voting Rights Act

1965 law allowing federal officials to register voters directly, passed after the violent "Bloody Sunday" attack on marchers in Selma, Alabama. Restored voting rights to Black Southerners.

Hart-Celler Act

The 1965 immigration law that abolished the national-origins quota system, replacing it with criteria based on family reunification and job skills. Led to a dramatic rise in immigration from Latin America, Asia, and the Caribbean.

Great Society

Johnson's sweeping 1965-1967 domestic agenda, the most ambitious expansion of government since the New Deal. Created Medicare, Medicaid, and new cabinet departments and agencies.

War on Poverty

The centerpiece of the Great Society, launched in 1964 to combat poverty through programs like Head Start, job training, and food stamps, run through the Office of Economic Opportunity.

Black Power

A slogan popularized by SNCC leader Stokely Carmichael in 1966, calling for Black political and economic self-determination rather than integration alone. Signaled a more militant turn in the civil rights movement.

New Left

A youth-driven radical movement of the 1960s that rejected both mainstream liberalism and the "Old Left" of the Communist Party, emphasizing alienation, authenticity, and "participatory democracy."

Students for a Democratic Society (SDS)

The leading New Left student organization, founded in 1962. Organized major campus protests and later became central to the antiwar movement.

Port Huron Statement

SDS's 1962 founding manifesto, which criticized American institutions and called for "participatory democracy," where individuals share in decisions affecting their lives.

Gulf of Tonkin resolution

A 1964 congressional resolution, passed after a disputed naval incident, granting Johnson broad authority to take military action in Vietnam without a formal declaration of war.

Counterculture

The broad youth rebellion against mainstream norms in dress, sexuality, drug use, and authority, epitomized by events like the 1969 Woodstock festival. Expanded freedom to mean personal and cultural liberation.

The Feminine Mystique

Betty Friedan's 1963 book that named "the problem that has no name," the unfulfillment of educated, middle-class housewives confined to domesticity. Credited with reigniting the feminist movement.

National Organization for Women (NOW)

Founded in 1966 with Friedan as president, modeled on civil rights organizations. Pushed for equal opportunity in jobs, education, and political life.

Stonewall Inn

A Greenwich Village gay bar raided by police in 1969; patrons fought back in five days of rioting generally seen as the birth of the modern gay liberation movement.

American Indian Movement (AIM)

Founded in 1968, this organization staged protests demanding tribal self-government and the return of treaty-guaranteed resources. Helped organize the 1969 occupation of Alcatraz Island.

Silent Spring

Rachel Carson's 1962 book exposing the ecological damage caused by the pesticide DDT. Credited with launching the modern environmental movement and led to bans on DDT.

Griswold v. Connecticut

A 1965 Supreme Court case that struck down a state law banning contraceptives, establishing for the first time a constitutional "right to privacy."

Roe v. Wade

The 1973 Supreme Court decision that established a constitutional right to abortion, striking down restrictive laws in 46 states.

Tet offensive

A coordinated surprise attack by North Vietnamese and Viet Cong forces on cities across South Vietnam in January 1968. A military failure for the Communists that shattered American confidence in the war effort.