US History 11 Final

Harry S. Truman

• 33rd U.S. President

  • After FDR

  • (1945–1953)

• Approved the use of atomic bombs on Japan

• Created the Truman Doctrine to stop the spread of communism

  • Promised U.S. support to countries fighting communism (Greece and Turkey)

• Launched the Marshall Plan

  • U.S. gave billions to rebuild Western Europe so they wouldn’t turn to communism

• start of the Cold War and Korean War

• start NATO

  • NATO = North Atlantic Treaty Organization

Dwight D. Eisenhower

• 34th U.S. President

• containment

• brinkmanship

  • Willingness to push conflict to the edge of war

• Eisenhower Doctrine

  • help Middle Eastern countries resist communism

• Ended the Korean War through negotiations

Joseph McCarthy

• U.S. Senator from Wisconsin

• Led the Red Scare

  • accusing people of being communists

• Known for McCarthyism

  • The practice of making unfair communism accusations without real evidence

• Claimed there were communists in the U.S. government and military

•  lost credibility after televised Army-McCarthy hearings

• increased Cold War tensions and limited free speech

John F. Kennedy

• 35th U.S. President

• stopping the spread of communism and promoting U.S. leadership abroad

• Faced the Bay of Pigs Invasion (1961)

  • a failed attempt to overthrow Cuba’s communist leader

  • U.S.-backed Cuban exiles invaded Cuba but were quickly defeated

• Cuban Missile Crisis (1962)

  • Soviets put nuclear missiles in Cuba; JFK blockaded the island and avoided nuclear war through tense negotiations

• Alliance for Progress (1961)

  • Program to give aid to Latin America

• Increased U.S. involvement in Vietnam

• Assassinated in 1963 in Dallas, Texas

Lyndon B. Johnson

• 36th U.S. President

• containment

• expanded U.S. role in the Vietnam War

  • Sent hundreds of thousands of troops after the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution

• Gulf of Tonkin Resolution

  • Gave the president power to use military force in Vietnam without an official war declaration

•  the Great Society

  • set of programs to reduce poverty, improve education, and promote civil rights

• Chose not to run for re-election due to growing unpopularity over Vietnam

Richard Nixon

• President

  • Vice President under Eisenhower

• Vietnamization

  • gradually withdraw U.S. troops from Vietnam

• Opened diplomatic relations with China (1972)

  • First U.S. president to visit Communist China

  • Triangle method - if US befriends china, soviet needs to back down a little 

• Signed the Strategic Arms Limitation Talks (SALT I) treaty with the USSR

  • Agreed to limit nuclear weapons

• Ended U.S. involvement in Vietnam with the Paris Peace Accords

• Watergate scandal

  • Cover-up of a break-in at the Democratic National Committee headquarters led to loss of trust and his resignation

General MacArthur

• General

•  in charge of rebuilding Japan 

  • helped create a democratic government there

• Led U.N. troops in the Korean War

• early victory with the Inchon Landing, 

  • helped push North Korea back

• Wanted to attack China

  • President Truman said no — worried it would start WWIII

• MacArthur publicly criticized Truman, so Truman fired him

  • show the president is in charge of the military (not generals)

• Known as a brilliant but stubborn

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. 

• leader of the Civil Rights Movement

• nonviolent protest 

• Led the Montgomery Bus Boycott

  • Successful boycott that led to the desegregation of buses

• “I Have a Dream” speech during the March on Washington

• Helped push for the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Voting Rights Act of 1965

  • Banned segregation and protected Black Americans’ right to vote

• Won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964

• Assassinated in 1968 in Memphis, Tennessee;

Malcolm X

• Civil rights leader

  • Black Power

• Member of the Nation of Islam, 

  • believed in Black pride and separation from white society

• more militant tone than MLK

  • Believed in self-defense

• later took a pilgrimage to Mecca

  • changed his views when he saw people of all races praying together — became more open to working with other races

  • promoting unity and human rights globally

• Assassinated in New York City by members of the Nation of Islam (NOI)

Gerald Ford

• President after Nixon

• First president never elected

• Pardoned Nixon for any crimes related to Watergate

• Focused on restoring trust in gov

• inflation and unemployment (called "stagflation")

• détente

• Signed the Helsinki Accords (1975)

  • Agreement between the U.S., USSR, and others to respect human rights and borders in Europe

Jimmy Carter

• President ; 

  • former governor of Georgia

• Focused on human rights in foreign policy

  •  support freedom and fairness worldwide

• broker the Camp David Accords (1978)

  • Peace agreement between Egypt and Israel

• Iran Hostage Crisis (1979–1981)

  • Americans held hostage in Iran after the U.S. embassy was taken over during the Iranian Revolution

  • Hostages were released the day Carter left office

• Criticized for being too passive in foreign affairs

Ronald Reagan

• President'

•  anti-communist;

  •  wanted to win the Cold War, not just contain it

• Increased military spending and pushed the Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI)

  • Nicknamed “Star Wars,” it was a plan to build missile defense systems in space

• Reaganomics

  • Cut taxes, reduced government spending, and aimed to grow the economy through free-market policies

• tough stance against the Soviet Union, then built a relationship with Soviet leader Gorbachev

• INF Treaty (1987)

  • U.S. and USSR agreed toreduce nuclear weapons

Emmett Till

• 14-year-old Black boy from Chicago 

• murdered in Mississippi

  •  brutally beaten, and killed by two white men (they were later found not guilty by an all-white jury)

•  open-casket funeral to show what had been done to him

  • major spark for the Civil Rights Movement

Ngo Diem

• Leader of South Vietnam

• anti-communist 

• supported by the U.S. during the Cold War

• unpopular with many Vietnamese

  • His gov was corrupt and repressive, especially against Buddhists

• Refused to hold fair elections promised in the Geneva Accords (1954)

  • Feared communist leader Ho Chi Minh would win

• assassinated in a U.S.-supported coup

  • increased US involvement in viet

Ho Chi Minh

• Leader of North Vietnam 

• Founded the Indochinese Communist Party 

  •  led the fight against French colonial rule

• Viet Minh during the First Indochina War

  • After France’s defeat at Dien Bien Phu (1954), Vietnam was divided into North (communist) and South (non-communist) at the Geneva Accords

• supported the Viet Cong insurgency in South Vietnam during the Vietnam War

Mikhil Gorbachev

• Last leader of the Soviet Union 

• Introduced glasnost (openness) and perestroika (restructuring) to reform the USSR

  • Glasnost: more freedom of speech and transparency

  • Perestroika: economic and political reforms to modernize the Soviet system

• INF Treaty with Reagan

• Allowed countries to break away from Soviet control peacefully

• reforms unintentionally sped up the collapse of the Soviet Union

Containment

• foreign policy after WWII

• Goal: stop the spread of communism

Satellite Nations

• Countries in Eastern Europe controlled by the Soviet Union

• followed Soviet policies

• buffer zone between the USSR and the West

NATO

• North Atlantic Treaty Organization 

• alliance between the U.S., Canada, and Western European countries

• collective defense 

  •  if one member is attacked, all respond

•  stop the spread of communism

Warsaw Pact

• alliance formed in 1955 by the Soviet Union and its satellite nations

• Response to NATO

•  defend communist countries

McCarthyism

•  during the Red Scare

•  after Senator Joseph McCarthy

• accusing people of being communists without strong evidence

• Created fear, ruined reputations, and limited free speech

• lost public support after televised hearings

Blacklist

• list of people accused of being communists

• denied jobs or fired without proof

• Red Scare and McCarthyism

HUAC

• House Un-American Activities Committee

• gov group that investigated suspected communists

• public hearings and pressured people to name others

• part of the Red Scare and the rise of McCarthyism

Marshall Plan

• help rebuild Europe

•  stop the spread of communism by fixing economies

• Successful in strengthening U.S. allies

Truman Doctrine

• military and economic aid to countries fighting communism

  • used to help Greece and Turkey

• containment strategy

• EUROPEAN COUNTRIES

  • greece, turkey, Hungary, ect

Berlin Blockade

• Soviet Union blocked all land routes into West Berlin

• Goal: force Allies (U.S., Britain, France) out of Berlin

• Allies responded with the Berlin Airlift

  • Supplied West Berlin by air for almost a year

Berlin Airlift

• response to Berlin Blockade 

• Flew in food, fuel, and supplies to West Berlin by airplane

Berlin Wall

• Built by East Germany (soviet controlled)

  • to stop East Germans from fleeing to West Berlin

• Symbolized the Cold War division

• Made escaping from East to West very difficult

• was torn down during the fall of communism in Eastern Europe

Korean War

• Started in 1950 when North Korea (supported by China and the USSR) invaded South Korea

  • because Deim wouldn’t hold free elections

• U.S. and United Nations backed South Korea 

• General Douglas MacArthur led U.N. forces early in the war

  • Major battle: Inchon Landing helped push North Koreans back

• Ended with an armistice

  • no formal peace treaty

  • remains divided at the 38th parallel today

• key cities:

  • Seoul: Capital of South Korea; changed hands several times during the war

  • Inchon: Site of the famous U.N. amphibious landing led by MacArthur in 1950

  • Pusan (Busan): Southeastern port city; last major defensive line for South Korean and U.N. forces early in the war

  • Pyongyang: Capital of North Korea; captured by U.N. forces but later retaken by Chinese/North Korean troops

  • Kaesong: Near the 38th parallel; important during peace negotiations and fighting

Eisenhower Doctrine

• promised military and economic aid to Middle Eastern countries

• Aimed to limit Soviet influence in the Middle East

• broader containment policy - extending beyond Europe and Asia

• MIDDLE EASTERN

Bay of Pigs

• Failed U.S. invasion of Cuba

• during Kennedy’s presidency

• overthrow communist leader Fidel Castro

• Carried out by Cuban exiles

• supported by the CIA

• Embarrassed the U.S.

• CUBA

Cuban Missile Crisis

• Cold War confrontation between the U.S. and the Soviet Union

• Soviet Union secretly placed nuclear missiles in Cuba

• Discovered by U.S. spy planes

• Kennedy demanded removal and set a naval blockade around Cuba

• ended when USSR agreed to remove missiles in exchange for U.S. promise not to invade Cuba and secretly removing missiles from Turkey

Limited Test Ban Treaty

• Signed by the U.S., Soviet Union, and UK

• Banned nuclear weapon tests in the atmosphere, underwater, and in space

  • Allowed only underground nuclear tests

• First major arms control agreement during the Cold War

• eased tensions between superpowers

Hungarian Revolt of 1956

• uprising in Hungary against Soviet control and communist

• Started as student protests demanding political reforms

  • turned into a nationwide revolt

• Soviet forces invaded and crushed the revolt

• Hungary tried to leave the Warsaw Pact

• Showed limits of U.S. support for Eastern Europe

Role of the CIA in the Cold War

• Central Intelligence Agency

•  U.S. government’s main spy

• Gathered intelligence on Soviet and communist activities

• Supported anti-communist groups

• covert operations to influence or overthrow communism

• Helped shape U.S. foreign policy by providing secret info

Why was the Cold War fought?

• Capitalism vs. Communism

• Power struggle

• Mutual distrust

• Arms race

• Competition for allies/influence in Europe

How was the Cold War fought?

through proxy wars, espionage, propaganda, crises & diplomacy and nuclear threats

How did leaders escalate tensions?

• Joseph Stalin

  • spread communism

  • creating satellite nations

• Harry Truman

  • launched containment

  • Truman Doctrine

• John F. Kennedy

  • Bay of Pigs

  • Cuban Missile Crisis

• Lyndon B. Johnson

  • expanded involvement in the Vietnam War

• Ronald Reagan

  • took a tough stance against USSR at first

How did leaders deescalate tensions?

• Dwight D. Eisenhower

  • ended the Korean War

  • proposed arms control

• John F. Kennedy

  • negotiated with Khrushchev to end the Cuban Missile Crisis

• Richard Nixon

  • visited China and the USSR - beginning détente

• Jimmy Carter

  • signed SALT II with Brezhnev

• Ronald Reagan

  • worked with Mikhail Gorbachev to sign the INF Treaty

• Gorbachev’s

  • reforms (glasnost and perestroika)

What are the symbols of Cold War tensions?

• Berlin Wall –

  • Divided East and West Berlin;

  • symbol of communist oppression

• Iron Curtain –

  • Imaginary line dividing democratic Western Europe and communist Eastern Europe

• Nuclear weapons –

  • Represented threat of total destruction (arms race)

• Space Race –

  • Showed tech rivalry (e.g., Sputnik, U.S. moon landing)

• Propaganda posters –

  • Used to spread fear or pride in each side’s system

• Cuban Missile Crisis –

  • Symbolized how close the world came to nuclear war

What was the US policy regarding communism?

containment

SCLC

• Southern Christian Leadership Conference

• Founded in 1957 by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

• nonviolent protest to fight segregation and racism

  • Helped organize major events like the Montgomery Bus Boycott and March on Washington

• key role in the Civil Rights Movement through church-based activism

De Jure Segregation

• Segregation by law

• Common in the South

• Challenged by civil rights activists and court cases

  • Brown v. Board of Education

De Facto Segregation

• Segregation that happens in practice, not by law

• seen in Northern cities

• Resulted from economic, social, and cultural factors

• Harder to fight because it’s based on habits, not official rules

Montgomery Bus Boycott

• after Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat

• Black residents refused to ride city buses

• Led by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and the SCLC

• Resulted in the Supreme Court ruling that bus segregation was unconstitutional

• ALABAMA

The Black Panthers

• Founded in 1966 by Huey Newton and Bobby Seale in Oakland, CA

• Focused on Black power, self-defense, and community programs

• Armed patrols to monitor police

• Criticized for militant image but also praised for local activism

Freedom Summer

• MISSIPPI

• Organized by civil rights groups like SNCC and CORE

• Goal: register Black voters

• challenge racist voting laws

• violent resistance

•  national attention to voter suppression in the South

Voting Rights Act of 1965

• Signed by Lyndon B. Johnson

• Banned literacy tests and other barriers to Black voting

• Allowed federal officials to oversee voter registration

• increased Black voter turnout

CORE

•  Congress of Racial Equality

• Founded by Black and white activists

• nonviolent protest to fight segregation

• Key role in Freedom Rides, Freedom Summer, and March on Washington

• Worked closely with other civil rights groups

Selma Campaign

• movement to push for voting rights

• ALABAMA

• Led by Dr. MLK Jr., SCLC, and SNCC

• marches from Selma to Montgomery

• "Bloody Sunday" (March 7):

  • marchers attacked by police

•  outrage helped lead to the Voting Rights Act of 1965

Children’s March/Birmingham protest

• ALABAMA

• Organized by SCLC and Dr. King

  •  led by Rev. James Bevel

  • MLK didn’t want children involved

• school children marched to protest segregation

• Police used fire hoses and dogs on peaceful kids — caught on TV

March on Washington 

• WASHINGTON DC

• Organized by civil rights groups

• demand civil and economic rights for African Americans

• Dr. King gave his famous “I Have a Dream” speech

Roe v Wade

• 1973 Supreme Court case

• Legalized abortion nationwide

• right to privacy under the 14th Amendment

• Decision struck down many state laws

• major issue in debates over women’s rights

Brown v Board of Education

• 1954 Supreme Court case

• racial segregation in public schools was unconstitutional

• Overturned Plessy v. Ferguson’s “separate but equal” doctrine

• Led by Thurgood Marshall and the NAACP Legal Defense Fund

United Farm Workers and the grape boycott

• UFW founded by Cesar Chavez and Dolores Huerta

• Fought for better wages and working conditions for farmworkers

• nationwide grape boycott in the late 1960s

  • Urged Americans to stop buying grapes to support striking workers

  •  led to labor contracts for farmworkers

Effects of the Civil Rights Movement

• Ended legal segregation

• Passed major laws:

  • Civil Rights Act of 1964

  • Voting Rights Act of 1965

• Increased Black voter registration and political power

• Inspired other rights movements

• increased national awareness

Stonewall Riot

• NEW YORK CITY

  • stonewall in

• Police raided a gay bar

• Sparked days of riots and demonstrations

• beginning of the modern LGBTQ+ rights movement

Capitol Crawl

• WASHINGTON DC

• Disability rights activists left their wheelchairs and crawled up the Capitol steps

• Pressured Congress to pass the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)

SNCC

• Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee

• young Black activists and college students

• nonviolent protest and grassroots organizing

  •  sit-ins, Freedom Rides, and Freedom Summer

•  more radical in the late 1960s, promoting Black Power under leaders like Stokely Carmichael

Little Rock Nine

• Nine Black students integrated Central High School

• ARKANSAS

• Faced angry mobs

  • Arkansas governor sent the National Guard

• Eisenhower sent federal troops to protect the students

•  test of Brown v. Board of Education and federal vs. state authority

Sit-ins 

• Peaceful protests where Black students sat at segregated lunch counters and refused to leave

• NORTH CAROLINA

  • greensboro

• Faced harassment but stayed nonviolent

• helped desegregate public places

Urban riots

• (Watts Riot 1965, Detroit 1967)

• Caused by police brutality, poverty, and racial inequality

• involved violent clashes

• Showed frustration with slow progress of civil rights and deeper economic issues

• Led to Kerner Commission,

  • Showed that these riots weren't just random, but caused by the wage gap, economic issues, and poverty 

Kerner Commision

• warned of a “nation moving toward two societies, one Black, one white—separate and unequal”

• Response to urban riots

• government investigation

Feminine Mystique