unit 11 # 1

New Frontier

President John F Kennedy's campaign that promised ambitious domestic reform. Due to the large amount of Republicans and Conservatives in Congress, many of the plans outlined in this campaign were not able to be created. However tariff reductions and tax breaks for the wealthy were created from this campaign.

Warren Commission Report

A report on the assassination of John F Kennedy as well as the murder of Kennedy's assassin Lee Harvey Oswald. This report deemed that the two incidents were completely unrelated and that there was no conspiracy, but many Americans disagreed and still disagree about whether this report was conducted accurately.

The Great Society

A reform program created by President Lyndon B Johnson that won a great amount of support from congress. It was comparable to Kennedy's New Frontier Plan. This program was extremely effective within the United States, but also expensive.

Barry Goldwater

The republican candidate for presidency in the 1964 election that was unable to win the presidential election against President Lyndon B Johnson.

Medicare and Medicaid

A program enacted to provide federal aid to the elderly for medical expenses at first, but was later recreated by President Johnson to extend medical assistance to citizens on welfare or citizens who are extremely poor regardless of age.

Office of Economic Opportunity

An agency created by Presidents Kennedy and Johnson that created multiple educational, employment, housing, and health care programs that would alleviate poverty within the country. This agency did not accomplish its goal of eliminating poverty, but certain programs like Community Action helped poor minorities jump-start their careers and help better their lives.

Elementary and Secondary Education Act

A bill allowing the federal government to give money to public and parochial (religious) schools in order to help the economic conditions of students, not the schools themselves.

Greensboro Sit-ins

Black college students in North Carolina refused to leave a segregated lunch counter on the college campus. This forced many private merchants to integrate their businesses.

SNCC (Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee)

Peaceful protesters that were mostly comprised of young African American adults either enrolled in high school or college. They advocated for equal treatment in all facilities to improve racial equality.

SCLC (Southern Christian Leadership Conference)

A group of African Americans under the leadership of Martin Luther King Jr. that created citizen education programs and advocated ordinary African American citizens to protest against segregation, disenfranchisement, and discrimination.

Birmingham

One of the most segregated areas of the United States at the time where Martin Luther King and other civil rights leaders would protest against segregation. Many political figures in this town were averse to integration of any facilities and were forced multiple times by the National Guard to slowly allow integration to occur.

I Have a Dream

Martin Luther King's speech in Washington D.C. that became renowned nationwide for its eloquence and powerful demand for equal rights in a respectful and influential way. This speech becomes one of the most well known speeches in American history and helped millions of Americans support integration of African Americans into all areas of the United States, public or private.

Freedom Summer

A campaign created in order to register African American voters in many southern areas of the United States. This campaign elicited many violent acts from white racists in the South.

1964 Civil Rights Act

A piece of legislation that made segregation in public and private facilities illegal as well as protected minorities' rights to own property, work, and have equal opportunity.

Voting Rights Act

An act that provided government protection for African Americans attempting to use their right to vote. This act further improved the rights of African American citizens.

De Jure Segregation

Racial segregation created through laws. This type of segregation was mostly eradicated by the Civil Rights Act and the Voting Rights Act.

De Facto Segregation

Racial segregation resulting from personal beliefs and choices only. This type of segregation was more apparent after the Civil Rights and Voting Rights Acts were passed mainly because of white bigotry and racism. Many African Americans demanded that the complete opposite of this occurrence should occur in the United States because of past racial injustices.

Watts

A section of Los Angeles where a large race riot broke out occurring between African American citizens and white police officers. the riot lasted a week and killed 34 people.

Black Power

An ideology that advocated for African pride and nationalism. This idea created an increase of racial distinction and supported that the African race was superior to other races instead of the long term earlier belief that Africans were inferior to other races. This belief promoted violent measures to ensure civil rights for African Americans and formed radical Civil Rights Movements.

Black Panther Movement

A civil rights organization established in California that incorporated the idea of Black Power into all of their beliefs. Members of this group were willing to defend black rights through the use of violence and militant actions.

Black Muslims

A black nationalist group that made African Americans take responsibility for their own lives as well as reject help from whites. Malcolm X was a part of this group.

Malcolm X

A former drug addict and pimp that joined the Black Muslims and rebuilt his life by becoming a prominent speaker and advocate for black rights. He was extremely popular among the younger generation of African Americans because of his oratory skills and his stubborn positions that forced all of his opponents to submit to his demands. He often spoke of how African Americans have a right to defend themselves violently if needed which made many critics see him as violent.

Flexible Response

President Kennedy's plan to help liberate Third World countries from communist reign with the use of Special Forces and diplomatic solutions. This tactic was used mainly in Central American countries.

Peace Corps

Groups of young American volunteers that would travel worldwide to help solve problems in struggling areas.

The Bay of Pigs

An American attempt to train exiled Cuban forces in Central America and send them into Cuba to overthrow Fidel Castro and the communist regime. Kennedy saw that the plan was failing in the middle of the invasion and backed out allowing the Cuban anti-Castro soldiers to get easily killed by the Cuban military.

Nikita Khrushchev

Soviet premier that met with President Kennedy and threatened to wage war with the United States if they continued to support non-communist Berlin. He also ordered the Soviets to construct the Berlin Wall in order to separate East and West Berlin.

Berlin Wall

A barrier created by Soviets in East Berlin that prevented residents of East Berlin from fleeing to West Berlin. This tactic was the only option seen by Soviet premier Khrushchev (other than war with the United States) to protect communism from diminishing.

Cuban Missile Crisis

Soviets established nuclear weapons in Cuba to threaten the United States with nuclear warfare and counteract the nuclear weapons in Turkey placed by the United States. The United States then staged a naval blockade around Cuba and eventually an agreement between Khrushchev and Kennedy was reached where Cuban missiles would be removed if the United States would not invade Cuba.

The First Indochina War

A conflict arising between the French and Vietnamese nationalists that would decide whether Vietnam would become an independent nation or not. Vietnamese nationalists were fighting for independence after being subjugated by the Japanese, French, and Chinese while the French were hoping to reestablish their Vietnamese colony after it was taken from them in World War II. The French suffered horrible losses and lost the war fairly quickly despite the aid of United States weapons, troops, and financial assistance.

Vietminh

The nationalist group in Vietnam led by Ho Chi Minh that wanted Vietnam to become a sovereign nation.

Ho Chi Minh

Leader of the Vietminh and eventual communist leader of Vietnam that helped strategize all of North Vietnam's and the Vietcong's military advances in order to win the war against the French in the first Indochina war and the United States in the Second Indochina War.

Geneva Conference

A meeting made to discuss the end of the First Indochina War. This meeting prevented American military involvement and created North Vietnam with a communist government and South Vietnam with a pro-western government. This agreement helped end the First Indochina War, but also catalyzed the second Indochina War (Vietnam War) where Americans were directly involved in.

Ngo Dinh Diem

South Vietnamese leader who was very closely connected with the United States government. He was an extremely intelligent political leader that opposed reunification of Vietnam because he knew that the United Vietnam would succumb to the pressures of communist rule.

(NLF) National Liberation Front

A militant group of communist supporters in southern Vietnam that tried to overthrow the weak government of South Vietnam. They were often referred to as the Viet Cong.

Viet Cong

Communist forces in South Vietnam that fought for North Vietnam under the control of general Ho Chi Minh. This specific name was given to this group by American forces.

Gulf of Tonkin Resolution

An agreement made by Congress and the Senate that allowed President Johnson to take all necessary measures in order to protect American forces in Asia. This agreement allowed the United States to get much more involved in the Vietnam War than any previous time.

Robert McNamara

The United States Secretary of Defense that was mainly responsible for increasing America's involvement in the Vietnam War. Eventually this man just backed out of politics and government during the war because of the pointlessness of trying to win against North Vietnam.

Ho Chi Minh Trail

A series of roads, paths, and tunnels created by the North Vietnamese that allowed North Vietnam soldiers to move weapons and supplies as well as infiltrate South Vietnam.

Tet Offensive

On Vietnamese New Year, the Vietcong staged a large offensive attack on South Vietnamese strongholds including the capital of South Vietnam, Saigon. Communist forces in Southern Vietnam strongholds then held large scale executions for supporters of the South Vietnam government. After this event, American opposition to the war increased greatly.

James Earl Ray

The assassin of Martin Luther King Jr. who was apparently hired by an unidentified group to kill King Jr.

Robert Kennedy

A democratic candidate for the presidential campaign of 1968 that was extremely popular with African Americans, the poor, and opponents to the war efforts in Vietnam. He looked like he would become president, but got assassinated by a Palestinian nationalist who was outraged by his support to the Israeli nation.

Hubert Humphrey

The democratic nomination for president in 1968 that seemed to be getting a large amount of support from the nation until riots in Chicago between the police and supporters of this man were broadcasted around the nation. His popularity became nonexistent soon after and Richard Nixon was elected president.

George Wallace

A third party presidential candidate that was very popular in southern states because of his conservative manner and support of segregation. He gained a substantial amount of votes for a third party candidate.

Silent Majority

People of varying economic and political status that uphold traditional American values and are always an important part of the American whole needed to decide presidential elections. Richard Nixon was extremely effective in winning over this group which helped him win the 1968 election.

Richard Nixon

Republican president elected in 1968 that barely won against his democratic opponent Hubert Humphrey. His election as president showed that Americans were done with social change and war efforts and just wanted a return to stability and normalcy.