US history chapter 27

President John F Kennedy’s “New Frontier”____

was left unfulfilled during his presidency

"without the mandate necessary to achieve the ambitious agenda he would refer to as the New Frontier."

the ousting of dictator Fulgencio Batista by Fidel Castro was___

The result of a long-simmering revolutionary movement fueled by Batista's own oppressive rule and the socioeconomic conditions in Cuba.

batista first came to power in the___

1930s and was a former president. He seized power again in a military coup in 1952, just before what were expected to be free elections. This canceled the democratic process and established him as a US-backed dictator, alienating large segments of the Cuban populace.

cuba during batista’s rule was ___

dominated by American business interests (sugar, casinos, hotels) and a small, ultra-wealthy Cuban elite.

this left the majority of Cubans, especially in rural areas, in poverty. This vast inequality created a fertile ground for revolutionary ideas that promised land reform and economic justice.

the 1960s as the American Memory

A decade immortalized for its rhetoric of peace and love, the civil rights movement, and cultural activism, but also plagued by the Vietnam War, inner-city riots, and assassinations. It is remembered as a period of major social, cultural, and political upheaval where much changed, but much also did not.

john f kennedy

the Democratic candidate and winner of the 1960 election, who campaigned on using federal programs to strengthen the economy and address poverty (the "New Frontier"). He faced questions about his Catholic faith and experience.

richard nixon

The Republican candidate and incumbent Vice President in the 1960 election, who called for a reliance on private enterprise and reduced government spending to address the recession.

kennedy-nixon televised debate was the first_____

september 1960

televised presidential debates in American history. Kennedy's composed television performance gave him a significant advantage over Nixon, who appeared sweaty and defensive, highlighting the new importance of TV in politics.

new frontier

The ambitious domestic agenda of President John F. Kennedy, which he lacked a strong congressional mandate to enact fully after the 1960 election.

january 8, 1959

The date Fidel Castro and his revolutionary army ousted dictator Fulgencio Batista and entered Havana, initiating a new era in Cuban history.

fidel castro

The revolutionary leader who overthrew Cuban dictator Fulgencio Batista in 1959 and established a socialist government aligned with the Soviet Union, leading to the Bay of Pigs invasion and the Cuban Missile Crisis.

Fidel Castro, a young lawyer, first led a failed armed attack ___

on the Moncada Barracks on July 26, 1953. Though a military failure, his subsequent defense speech ("History Will Absolve Me") outlined his nationalist and reformist goals, creating a powerful political manifesto and making him a national figure.

the 26th july movement

Named after the Moncada attack, this became Castro's revolutionary organization.

guerrilla warfare

After being released from prison and exiled, Castro returned to Cuba in 1956 with a small band (including Che Guevara). They took to the Sierra Maestra mountains and waged a highly effective guerrilla war. This strategy:

• Wore down Batista's demoralized and often brutal army.

• Allowed Castro to control territory and build a parallel government.

• Captured the imagination of the Cuban people through clandestine radio broadcasts and a clear message of rebellion.

As the rebellion grew and Batista's brutality___

became an increasing embarrassment, the U.S. government under President Eisenhower withdrew its crucial military and political support in 1958, including an arms embargo. This was a fatal blow to Batista's regime.

On January 1, 1959

recognizing his situation was hopeless, Batista fled Cuba.

Castro's guerrilla forces then marched triumphantly across the island, entering Havana to massive popular acclaim on January 8, 1959

fulgencio batista

The corrupt Cuban president overthrown by Fidel Castro's revolution in 1959. His regime had been previously supported by the United States.

bay of pigs invasion

april 16, 1961

A failed invasion of Cuba by CIA-trained Cuban exiles aimed at overthrowing Castro. The quick defeat was a major embarrassment for the Kennedy administration and strengthened Castro's regime.

cuban missile crisis

october 14,28 1962

A 13-day confrontation when the U.S. discovered Soviet nuclear missiles in Cuba. It brought the world to the brink of nuclear war before a deal was struck for the removal of missiles from Cuba and Turkey, with a U.S. pledge not to invade Cuba.

The Cuban Missile Crisis was caused by ____

a dangerous escalation in Cold War tensions, rooted in the strategic interests of the Soviet Union, the defensive fears of Cuba, and the aggressive postures of the United States.

the cuban crisis began when ___

American spy planes discovered the construction of Soviet nuclear missile launch sites in Cuba on October 14, 1962.

This was a direct, clandestine attempt by the Soviet Union (under Nikita Khrushchev) to place medium-range and intermediate-range nuclear ballistic missiles just 90 miles from the U.S. coast, dramatically altering the strategic balance of power.

After the failed Bay of Pigs invasion (1961)___

Castro and Khrushchev believed another U.S. attack was inevitable. The missiles were meant as a deterrent, guaranteeing Cuba's defense by making an invasion tantamount to triggering nuclear war.

The U.S. had nuclear missiles stationed in____

Turkey and Italy, directly on the Soviet Union's borders. Placing missiles in Cuba was seen as a strategic counterbalance, allowing the USSR to threaten the U.S. homeland in a way that partially mirrored the American threat to the USSR.

President John F. Kennedy and his administration viewed the missile deployment ____

as an unacceptable and provocative act of aggression. They saw it not as a defensive move for Cuba, but as a fundamental shift in the nuclear threat to the United States.

Kennedy's decision to impose____

a naval "quarantine" (blockade) of Cuba and demand the immediate removal of the missiles brought the two superpowers to the brink of nuclear war for 13 days.

the cuban missile crisis was resolved ___

on October 28, 1962, when Khrushchev agreed to dismantle the missiles in exchange for:

1. A public U.S. pledge not to invade Cuba.

2. A secret agreement to remove U.S. Jupiter missiles from Turkey (which was carried out months later).

cuban adjustment act

1966

A law signed by President Lyndon B. Johnson that allowed Cuban refugees to become permanent legal residents of the United States, facilitating a major wave of Cuban immigration throughout the 1960s.

lyndon b johnson

The U.S. President who, after Kennedy's assassination, used his political skill to champion and pass landmark civil rights legislation, including the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965——- in 1965, brokered a deal with Castro to reunite separated Cuban families and who signed the Cuban Adjustment Act in 1966, enabling Cuban refugees to settle permanently in the U.S.

studen-led direct actions

1960s

A confrontational approach used by a new generation of civil rights activists in the 1960s, characterized by sit-ins, marches, boycotts, and protests aimed at achieving swifter desegregation in the South.

greesnboro sit-ins

1960

A series of nonviolent protests where African American students sat at a segregated Woolworth's lunch counter in North Carolina. Their defiance, willingness to be arrested, and the copycat demonstrations they inspired proved the effectiveness of student-led direct action.

freedom rides

1961

Interracial bus rides through the Deep South organized to test a Supreme Court ruling outlawing segregation on interstate buses. They met violent resistance from white mobs but led to the enforcement of integrated interstate travel by the Interstate Commerce Commission.

albany movement

1961

A coalition of civil rights groups (SNCC, SCLC, NAACP) that organized protests in Albany, Georgia. It was hindered by Police Chief Laurie Pritchett's strategy of mass arrests without public brutality, teaching activists the need for provocative confrontations to gain national attention.

james meredith and the battle of ole miss

october 1962

The violent riots that erupted when James Meredith became the first African American student to enroll at the University of Mississippi. President Kennedy sent U.S. Marshals and the National Guard, resulting in two deaths and highlighting intense white resistance to integration.

Birmingham campaign

april - may 1963

A broad SCLC campaign of boycotts, sit-ins, and marches to desegregate Birmingham, Alabama. Images of police using fire hoses and dogs on young protesters shocked the world. Martin Luther King Jr. wrote his famous "Letter from Birmingham Jail" here, and the campaign led to a desegregation agreement.

The civil rights movement of the 1960s was not____

sparked by a single event, but rather was the explosive continuation of a centuries-long struggle, accelerated by a powerful convergence of factors in the post-World War II era.

george wallace

The segregationist Governor of Alabama who famously declared "Segregation now, segregation tomorrow, segregation forever!" in his 1963 inaugural address. He symbolized southern white resistance, notably in his "Stand in the Schoolhouse Door" at the University of Alabama.

march on washington

august 28, 1963

A massive rally for civil and economic rights where Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his "I Have a Dream" speech. It pressured politicians to pass civil rights legislation and raised the movement's international profile.

civil rights act of 1964

A comprehensive law signed by President Lyndon B. Johnson that barred segregation in public accommodations and outlawed discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin. It is considered one of the most important U.S. civil rights laws.

freedom summer of 1964

A campaign in Mississippi led by SNCC and CORE to register African American voters and set up educational programs. It faced violent intimidation, highlighting the ongoing resistance to voting rights in the Deep South.

brown v board of education of 1954

The landmark Supreme Court decision that declared segregated public schools unconstitutional. It shattered the legal foundation of "separate but equal" and created a new sense of hope and possibility.

montgomery bus boycott of 1955-56

Sparked by Rosa Parks' arrest, this year-long protest, led by a young Martin Luther King Jr., demonstrated the power of nonviolent mass protest and resulted in a Supreme Court victory desegregating buses.

Selma to montgomery marches aka Bloody Sunday

march 1965

Protests for voting rights in Alabama where peaceful marchers were violently attacked by state troopers on the Edmund Pettus Bridge. The televised brutality of "Bloody Sunday" spurred President Johnson to propose the Voting Rights Act.

the little rock nine of 1957

The fight to integrate Central High School, which required federal troops, showed both intense white resistance and the potential for federal intervention.

voting rights act of 1965

A landmark federal law signed by President Lyndon B. Johnson that outlawed racial discrimination in voting, abolishing literacy tests and other barriers that had disenfranchised African Americans, particularly in the South.

the great society

President Lyndon B. Johnson's sweeping package of domestic reforms announced in 1964. Its goals were to end poverty and racial injustice, uplift disenfranchised Americans, and raise the overall quality of life through major federal legislation and social programs.

economic opportunity act of 1964

The cornerstone of Johnson's "War on Poverty." It created programs like Community Action, which mandated "maximum feasible participation" of the poor in administering anti-poverty programs, a significant shift from past approaches.

maximum feasible participation

The key principle of the Community Action Programs, which required that the poor themselves have a direct seat at the table in planning and executing the federal anti-poverty programs meant to benefit them.

watts riots

august 1965

A major race riot in Los Angeles that began days after the signing of the Voting Rights Act. It stemmed from African American frustrations with police brutality, racial profiling, and residential segregation, highlighting that racial injustice was a national, not just southern, issue.

white flight

The phenomenon of white residents moving from cities to suburbs, often resulting in resegregated metropolitan areas and concentrated urban poverty, which contributed to the unrest of the mid-1960s.

the domino theory

The Cold War foreign policy idea that if one nation in a region fell to communism, neighboring countries would quickly follow. This theory was a primary justification for U.S. involvement in Vietnam.

ho chi minh

The communist leader of the Viet Minh forces who fought for Vietnamese independence from France and later sought to reunify Vietnam under communist rule, leading the North during the Vietnam War.

gulf tonkin incident

august 2, 1964

A reported attack on a U.S. naval vessel by North Vietnamese forces. The controversial incident was used by the Johnson administration to secure the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution from Congress, authorizing major military escalation in Vietnam.

gulf of tonkin resolution of 1964

A congressional resolution passed after the Gulf of Tonkin Incident that granted President Lyndon B. Johnson broad authority to use military force in Vietnam without a formal declaration of war, leading to a massive troop buildup.

the counterculture of the 60s

A broad youth movement that rebelled against the conservative social norms of the 1950s. It emphasized individuality, personal freedom, rebellion, and experimentation with drugs, fashion, and music, and became mainstream during the decade.

summer of love 1967

A social phenomenon centered in San Francisco's Haight-Ashbury district, where as many as 100,000 youth gathered to celebrate countercultural ideals of peace, love, and communal living, epitomizing the hippie movement.

woodstock of 1969

A massive music festival in New York state that became the iconic symbol of the 1960s youth counterculture, representing its mixture of music, protest politics, and the pursuit of personal fulfillment.

malcolm x

A prominent minister for the Nation of Islam who advocated for black empowerment, self-defense, and freedom "by any means necessary." His militant ideology represented a radical alternative to Martin Luther King Jr.'s nonviolent, integrationist approach.

black power

A political slogan and movement that emerged in the mid-1960s, calling for racial pride, economic self-sufficiency, and the creation of black political and cultural institutions. It emphasized self-determination and was often more militant and separatist than the earlier civil rights movement.

stockely carmichael

A civil rights activist and chairman of SNCC who popularized the "Black Power" slogan in 1966. He pushed the movement away from interracial nonviolence and toward a focus on black political and economic autonomy.

black panther party 1966

A revolutionary socialist organization founded by Huey Newton and Bobby Seale in Oakland, California. It advocated for black self-defense, community empowerment through "survival programs," and confronted police brutality, representing the militant edge of the Black Power movement.

red power movement

An intertribal Native American activist movement that emerged in the 1960s, using direct action (like fish-ins and occupations) to draw attention to issues of sovereignty, treaty rights, and discrimination. Key groups included the National Indian Youth Council (NIYC) and the American Indian Movement (AIM).

moon landing of 1969

The Apollo 11 mission that landed the first humans (Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin) on the moon, fulfilling President Kennedy's 1961 goal. It was a landmark achievement in the Space Race but occurred during a period of deep social division and turmoil in the United States.

the first earth day

april 22 1970

A massive nationwide demonstration that marked the emergence of the modern environmental movement as a major social and political force, leading to the creation of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and key legislation.

silent spring of 1962

A seminal book by biologist Rachel Carson that exposed the dangers of pesticides like DDT to the environment and human health. It catalyzed the modern environmental movement and led to increased regulation and public awareness.

the personal is political was a ___

key slogan of second-wave feminism, originating from consciousness-raising groups. It argued that individual women's experiences of inequality, sexism, and oppression were rooted in systemic political and social structures, not personal failures.

occupation of alcatraz of 1969-1971

19-month protest where Native American activists occupied the abandoned Alcatraz Island in San Francisco Bay, citing treaty rights to claim unused federal land. It was a major symbolic action of the Red Power movement

chicano movement

The Mexican American civil rights movement of the 1960s-70s that fought against discrimination in education, politics, and labor. It reclaimed the term "Chicano," emphasized cultural pride, and was led by figures like Cesar Chavez and Rodolfo "Corky" Gonzales.

cesar chavez and dolores huerta

Labor leaders and civil rights activists who co-founded the National Farm Workers Association (later the United Farm Workers, UFW). They used nonviolent tactics like marches, boycotts, and hunger strikes to advocate for the rights of agricultural workers.

the feminine mystique of 1963

A groundbreaking book by Betty Friedan that identified the "problem that has no name"—the widespread dissatisfaction of educated, middle-class housewives. It helped ignite the second-wave feminist movement by framing personal discontent as a political issue.

women’s strike for equality of 1970

A nationwide demonstration organized by the National Organization for Women (NOW) on the 50th anniversary of women's suffrage. It protested gender inequality and demanded rights like equal pay, abortion access, and free childcare.