chapter 36 key terms

Civil Rights Act of 1964

1. Banned racial discrimination in public facilities

2. Strengthened federal government’s power to fight segregation in school

3. Empowered EEOC and barred employer from discriminating based on race

affirmative action

1. Term from executive ordered passed by LBJ

2. Take action against discrimination - both racial and gender

Great Society

1. LBJ’s domestic agenda

2. Focused on spreading postwar prosperity to all -- Through Civil Rights and fighting poverty

Tonkin Gulf Resolution

1. Passed in response to the Tonkin Gulf Incident

2. Congress didn’t respond with a formal declaration of war, but gave LBJ the check to use all necessary measures.

Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965

1. Abolished 1921 quota

2. Admission criteria was changed - based on immigrant’s skill and family ties with US citizens

3. Transformed America’s demographic profile

Freedom Summer

1. Voter registration drive in Mississippi lead by a coalition of civil rights groups.

2. African Americans joined hands with white civil rights workers and sang “We Shall Overcome”

Mississippi Freedom Democratic party

1. Political party formed by civil rights activist to challenge Mississippi delegation

2. Denied seats at the Democratic National Convention

3. Setback to civil rights activism in the South and continued the struggle for black voting rights.

Voting Rights Act of 1965

1. Passed by LBJ

2. Prohibited ballon-denying tactics

3. Successor to Civil Rights Act of 1964

Watts

1. A predominantly black neighbor in LA, California

2. Vicious riot erupted after word spreading of an act of police brutality against a black man.

3. Undermined King’s nonviolence policy and turned many activists to a violent approach

Black Panther party

1. Armed black militants in Oakland, CA in 1966 to protect black rights

2. Dissatisfied with the nonviolent wing of Civil Rights

Black Power

1. Militancy and separatism policy that rose in prominence

2. Rejected MLK’s pacifism

3. Promoted African heritage and militant position in defense of their rights

Six-Day War

1. Military conflict between Israel and Arab Nations (Egypt, Jordan, and Syria).

2. Israeli victory and territorial expansion

Tet Offensive

1. Surprise attacks by Viet Cong on 27 South Vietnamese Cities (including Saigon)

2. Military defeat, but political victory for Ho Chi Minh

3. In response, American military leaders requested more troops.

Stonewall Rebellion

1. Uprising in support of equal rights of gay people

2. Sparked by an assault of off-duty police officers at a gay bar in New York

3. Led to rise in activist and militancy with the gay community

4. Furthered the sexual revolution of the late 60s.

Students for a Democratic Society (SDS)

1. Campus-based political organization found by Tom Hayden

2. Emerged at the forefront of the civil rights, antipoverty, and antiwar movements during the 60s

Young Americans for Freedom (YAF)

1. Conservative counterpart to SDS

2. Helped propel Goldwater’s 1964 presidential candidacy and energized conservatism during the Reagan years.

Vietnamization

1. Military strategy launched by Nixon

2. Reduced number of American combat troops in Vietnam and left more of the righting to the South Vietnamese, who were supplied with American armor, tanks, and weaponry.

Nixon Doctrine

1. Nixon’s plan for peace with honor in Vietnam

2. Stated US would honor its existing defense commitments, but in the future countries would have to fight their own wars.

silent majority

1. Nixon’s term for law-abiding, middle-class Americans who supposed the Vietnam War and America’s institutions.

2. Made the distinction between believers in traditional values and the vocal minority who challenged the status quo.

My Lai

1. March 1968 - Vietnamese Village that was the scene of a military assault

2. American soldiers under the command of 2nd Lieutenant William Calley murdered hundreds of unarmed Vietnamese civillians (mostly women and children)

3. Produced outrage and reduced support for the war in America and around the world when details of an attempted cover up were revealed (November 1969).

Kent State University

1. Scene of massacre of 4 college students by National Guardsmen in Ohio

2. In response to Nixon’s announcement of expanding the war into Cambodia, college campuses exploded in in violence.

3. May 14 and May 15, students were protesting -- highway patrolmen fired into a student dormitory, killing two students.

Pentagon Papers

1. Secret US gov report detailing early planning and policy decision regarding the war under Kennedy and Johnson

2. Leaked to the New York Times in 1971

3. Revealed governmental secrecy, lies, and incompetence in the prosecution of the war.

détente

1. French for reduced tension

2. Period of Cold War - US and USSR negotiated reduced armament treaties under Nixon, Ford, and Carter

3. Ushered by Nixon’s visits, led to ABM, SALT, and freezing number of long-rage nuclear missile - departure from destruction and containment

Miranda warning

1. Came out of supreme court’s decision in Miranda v. Arizona

2. Declared that law enforcement officers must make sure suspects understand their constitutional rights - safeguard against forced confessions and self-implication

Philadelphia Plan

1. Established by Nixon

2. Require construction trade unions to work towards hiring more black apprentices.

3. Altered LBJ’s concept of affirmative action -- instead of focusing on groups, this plan focused on individuals

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)

1. Signed into law by Nixon in 1970

2. Designed to regulate pollution, emissions, and other factors that negatively influence the natural environment

3. Marked the newfound commitment of the gov to actively combat environmental risks

Earth Day

International day of celebration and awareness of global environmental issues launched by conservationists on April 22, 1970.

southern strategy

1. Nixon’s reelection campaign strategy

2. Designed to appeal to conservative whites in the historically Democratic South

3. Stressed law and order issues and remained noncommittal on civil rights

4. Typified the regional split between the two parties - White southerners began to be increasingly attracted to the Republican party in the aftermath of the Civil Rights movement.

primary elections

1. Required presidential hopefuls to run popular campaigns to garner party’s support -- as opposed to party leaders choosing candidates

2. Allowed newcomers more opportunities

War Powers Act

1. Limited president’s ability to wage war without congressional approval

2. Required Congress to notify Congress within 48 hrs of committing troops to a foreign conflict

3. Consequence of Vietnam War

All-Volunteer Force (AVF)

1. No more conscription - a highly selective force comprising more disciplined and more prepared force than the ones in place since WW2

2. Less expensive, easier to employ as an instrument of foreign policy, and more technologically enhanced.