Unit 9 American Dilemma Key Terms

These flashcards cover significant terms and events related to the American Dilemma from the mid-20th century.

26th Amendment

Ratified in July 1971, it lowered the voting age from 21 to 18, granting citizens aged 18 and older the right to vote in federal and state elections. This was intended to align with the same age at which an American citizen could be drafted into the military.

17th Parallel

Approximate line of latitude that served as the military demarcation line between North and South Vietnam following the Geneva Accords (1954).

Bay of Pigs

U.S.-supported invasion of Cuba in April 1961, intended to overthrow Castro, which turned into a fiasco.

Cuban Missile Crisis

Confrontation between the United States and the USSR resulting from a Soviet attempt to place nuclear missiles in Cuba in October 1962.

Dien Bien Phu

French fortress in northern Vietnam that surrendered in 1954 to the Viet Minh; the defeat caused the French to abandon Indochina and set the stage for the Geneva Conference, which divided the region and led to American involvement in South Vietnam

Domino Theory

Eisenhower's metaphor that if one country fell to communism, neighboring countries would also fall like dominoes.

Fidel Castro

Communist leader of Cuba who took power in 1959 after overthrowing the U.S.-backed dictator.

Gulf of Tonkin Resolution (1964)

an authorization by Congress empowering President Johnson "to take all necessary measures" to protect U.S. forces in Vietnam; it was issued following reported attacks on U.S. destroyers off the Vietnam coast. Congress later regretted this action as the Vietnam War escalated, and questions emerged about the legitimacy of the attacks

Henry Kissinger

Advisor to Presidents Nixon and Ford and architect of the Vietnam settlement.

Ho Chi Minh

Communist leader of North Vietnam; he and his Viet Minh/ Viet Cong allies fought French and American forces to a standstill in Vietnam, 1946-1973. Considered a nationalist by many, others viewed him as an agent of the Soviet Union and China.

Kent State Massacre

The tragic event that occurred on May 4, 1970, at Kent State University in Ohio, when the Ohio National Guard opened fire on a group of students protesting the U.S. invasion of Cambodia during the Vietnam War. The incident resulted in the deaths of four students, and the wounding of nine others. It sparked nationwide protests and intensified anti-war sentiments, becoming a symbol of the deep divisions in American society over the Vietnam War and the government's handling of dissent.

My Lai Massacre

The mass killing of unarmed South Vietnamese civilians, mostly women, children, and elderly people, by U.S. Army soldiers during the Vietnam War. The massacre was initially covered up by the U.S. military, but it was later exposed by investigative journalists, leading to widespread public outrage. The event became a symbol of the atrocities committed during the Vietnam War and fueled anti-war protests in the United States

Ngo Dinh Diem

American ally in South Vietnam from 1954 to 1963; his repressive regime caused the Communist Viet Cong to thrive in the South and required increasing American military aid to stop a Communist takeover. He was killed in a coup in 1963

Nikita Khrushchev

Soviet leader, 1954-1964; he was an aggressive revolutionary who hoped to spread Communism into Africa, Asia, and Latin America. Blame for the Cuban Missile Crisis eventually cost him his leadership position in the USSR.

Pentagon Papers

A classified government report detailing the United States' political and military involvement in Vietnam from 1945 to 1967. The report was leaked to the press in 1971 and revealed that successive U.S. administrations had misled the American public and Congress about the scale and progress of the Vietnam War, including secret bombings in neighboring countries and the lack of military success. The document’s publishing by The New York Times and other newspapers sparked a national debate about government transparency, the role of the press, and the ethics of U.S. involvement in Vietnam. The leak also led to a landmark Supreme Court ruling affirming the press's right to publish classified material in the public interest

Tet Offensive (January 1968)

a series of Communist attacks on 44 South Vietnamese cities; although the Viet Cong suffered a major defeat, the attacks ended the American view that the war was winnable and destroyed the nation's will to escalate the war further

Vietnamization

A U.S. policy introduced by President Richard Nixon in 1969 aimed at reducing American involvement in the Vietnam War by shifting the responsibility of combat to South Vietnamese forces while gradually withdrawing American troops. The policy faced challenges, as the South Vietnamese forces struggled to achieve military success on their own, and the war continued for several more years.

Bayard Rustin

Civil rights activist best known as the chief organizer of the March on Washington, where Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his famous "I Have a Dream" speech. Rustin faced challenges due to his openness about his homosexuality, which led some to question his leadership in the civil rights movement. Over time, however, his legacy as a key figure in the struggle for racial justice and equality has been increasingly recognized

Betty Friedan

author of The Feminine Mystique (1963), which raised the issue of a woman's place in society and how deadening suburban "happiness" could be for women; her ideas sparked the women's movement to life in the 1960s.

Black Power

Movement calling for black self-determination and empowerment during the 1960s and 1970s.

Brown v. Board of Education (1954)

Supreme Court decision that overturned the Plessy vs. Ferguson decision (1896); led by Chief Justice Earl Warren, the Court ruled that "separate but equal" schools for blacks were inherently unequal and thus unconstitutional. The decision energized the Civil Rights Movement in the 1950s and 196Os.

Equal Rights Amendment (ERA)

Proposed amendment to the Constitution passed by Congress and submitted to the states for ratification in 1971; outlawing discrimination based on gender, it was at first seen as a great victory by women's-rights groups. The amendment fell 3 states short of the 38 required for ratification. However, many states have adopted similar amendments to their state constitutions.

Fair Deal

Truman's legislative program; it was largely an extension of the New Deal of the 1930s, and Truman had little success convincing Congress to enact it

Fannie Lou Hamer

Civil rights activist and leader in the fight for voting rights and racial equality in the 1960s. She became a prominent figure in the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) and played a key role in organizing voter registration drives in the South, especially for African Americans who had been disenfranchised. She is perhaps best known for her emotional and powerful testimony at the 1964 Democratic National Convention, where she spoke out about the brutal treatment and oppression faced by Black people in the South. Her efforts were vital in the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965

Federal Highway Act (1956)

largest public works project in United States history; Eisenhower signed the law, which built over 40,000 miles of highways in the United States at a cost of $25 billion and created the interstate highway system.

Freedom rides

civil rights campaign of the Congress of Racial Equality in which protesters traveled by bus through the South to desegregate bus stations; white violence against them prompted the Kennedy administration to protect them and become more involved in civil rights

Hubert Humphrey

liberal senator from Minnesota and Lyndon Johnson's vice president who tried to unite the party after the tumultuous 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago; he narrowly lost the presidency to Richard Nixon that year.

John Kennedy

The youngest U.S. president, known for his progressive agenda and assassination in 1963.

John Lewis

Civil rights leader and U.S. Congressman who played a key role in the struggle for racial

equality in the 1960s. As a young leader of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC),

Lewis was one of the original organizers of the Freedom Rides, which challenged segregation in

interstate bus travel, and he also helped lead the historic March on Washington in 1963. Lewis was a

leader in the Selma to Montgomery marches in 1965, where he was famously beaten by state

troopers on "Bloody Sunday" while advocating for voting rights. His activism was instrumental in the

passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

Lyndon Johnson

President who created the Great Society but faced backlash over Vietnam.

Malcolm X

militant black leader associated with the Nation of Islam (Black Muslims); he

questioned Martin Luther King's strategy of nonviolence and called on blacks to make an aggressive

defense of their rights. He was assassinated by fellow Muslims in 1965

Martin Luther King, Jr.

America's greatest civil rights leader, 1955-1968; his nonviolent protests gained national attention and resulted in government protection of African American rights. He was assassinated in 1968 in Memphis, Tennessee

Richard Nixon

controversial vice president, 1953-1961, and president, 1969-1974, who made his

political reputation as an aggressive anticommunist crusader; his presidency ended with his

resignation during the Watergate scandal.

Robert Kennedy

John Kennedy's brother who served as attorney general and gradually embraced

growing civil rights reform; later, as senator from New York, he made a run for the Democratic

presidential nomination. An assassin ended his campaign on June 6, 1968.

Rosa Parks

NAACP member who initiated the Montgomery Bus Boycott in 1955 when she was

arrested for violating Jim Crow rules on a bus; her action and the long boycott that followed became

an icon of the quest for civil rights and focused national attention on boycott leader Martin Luther

King, Jr

Sit-ins

protests by black college students, 1960-1961, who took seats at "whites only" lunch counters

and refused to leave until served; in 1960 over 50,000 participated in sit-ins across the South. Their

success prompted the formation of the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee

Shirley Chisholm

First African American woman elected to the U.S. Congress representing New

York’s 12th Congressional District. She was a strong advocate for civil rights, women's rights, and

social justice. In 1972, she made history again by becoming the first African American woman to run

for a major party’s presidential nomination, campaigning as a Democrat.

Strom Thurmond

Democratic governor of South Carolina who headed the States' Rights Party

(Dixiecrats); he ran for president in 1948 against Truman and his mild civil rights proposals and

eventually joined the Republican Party

Taft-Hartley Act (1946)

anti-labor law passed over Truman's veto; it provided a "cooling off" period

wherein the president could force striking workers back to work for 80 days. It also outlawed closed

shops and allowed states to pass right-to-work laws.

Thomas Dewey

twice-defeated Republican candidate for president (1944,1948); his overconfidence

and lackadaisical effort in 1948 allowed Truman to overcome his large lead and pull off the greatest

political upset in American history