Unit 10 KBAT

Termination Policy

during the 1940s and 1950s, a federal policy focused on ending the special status of Indigenous tribes and integrating Indigenous people into mainstream American culture

American Indian Movement

a movement formed in 1968 by Indigenous activists to protest unfair treatment

Occupation of Alcatraz

indigenous activists occupied this deserted island in San Francisco Bay to reclaim the land and demand that the government fund cultural and educational centers; US government rejected but was still deemd a success

Wounded Knee

town on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota, which was the site of an 1890 massacre that killed at least 150 Lakota (Sioux); FBI stormed it, killing two Indigenous protestors and severely injuring one federal marshal, after it was occupied by AIM protestors

César Chávez

farm labor organizer and principal leader in an effort to improve migrant workers’ lives; headed the United Farm Workers for many years before his death in 1993.

Dolores Huerta

founded the United Farm Workers with César Chávez and other labor activists in the late 1960s; became a powerful advocate for Latino, women, and workers’ rights

Chicano

a term used to identify people of Mexican descent born in the United States

Grape Strike

a five-year labor dispute, initiated by Filipino and Mexican farmworkers, that aimed to improve wages, working conditions, and secure union recognition for grape pickers by calling for a national boycott on non-union grapes

MAYO

a civil rights organization formed in 1967 in San Antonio, Texas, USA to fight for Mexican-American rights

La Raza Unida Party

a third party that emerged, aiming to increase political representation and power for Latinos; focused on local and state issues, particularly in South Texas, where Latinos often lacked political influence despite being the majority

The Brown Berets

modeled itself after the Black Panthers, working to improve housing and employment for Chicanos as well as to instill pride in Chicano culture

Harvey Milk

a pioneering LGBTQ+ rights activist and the first openly gay man elected to public office in the United States; his actions and tragic assassination significantly impacted the LGBTQ+ community and the broader social movements for equality

Stonewall Riots

customers of a gay bar in New York in response to a police raid; the clash marked the beginning of the gay rights movement; homosexuality was outlawed in New York at the time

Yuji Ichikoa

credited for coining the term "Asian American" and founding the Asian American Political Alliance to help unify different Asian ethnic groups under one shared identity

Asian American Political Alliance

united diverse Asian American groups to advocate for political and social change

Third World Liberation Front

a coalition of ethnic student organizations at San Francisco State College (now San Francisco State University) and the University of California, Berkeley, demanding recognition of the histories and contributions of BIPOC students

Mario Savio

leader of the Free Speech Movement at the University of California, Berkeley; became a symbol of the counterculture movement and a voice for student rights

Summer of Love

a pivotal period in US history when San Francisco's Haight-Ashbury district became a focal point for the burgeoning hippie counterculture; promised peace, love, and communal living; lead to a cultural shift that influenced music, fashion, art, and social attitudes

Woodstock

a three-day music festival that was held at a farm in upstate New York, was attended by 400,000 people, and helped popularize a new generation of rock performers

Ho Chi Minh

president of North Vietnam; fought for an independent, unified Vietnam; initially sought support from the United States, but his communist ideology aroused U.S. hostility; many considered him a well-intentioned “freedom fighter,” but he also ordered the killing of thousands of North Vietnamese landowners as “class enemies”

Vietminh

the Vietnamese movement led by Ho Chi Minh against foreign occupation, first against the Japanese during World War II and then against the French occupation

Indochina

the region of Southeast Asia encompassing present-day Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia, particularly during the period of French colonial rule and subsequent conflicts

Dien Bien Phu

key battle of the First Indochina War when Viet Minh troops attacked this French stronghold; Viet Minh overran and ended the battle, shattering French Morale and causing withdrawal of French troops from northern Vietnam

Geneva Accords

agreement between France and the Viet Minh to split Vietnam along the 17th parallel and to schedule national elections in 1956 to reunify Vietnam

17th Parallel

the temporary demarcation line between North and South Vietnam established by the 1954 Geneva Accords until national elections in 1956 to reunify Vietnam

Vietcong

communist insurgents in South Vietnam

Ngo Dinh Diem

anticommunist South Vietnamese leader put by US into power; built an army with assistance of Eisenhower; blocked the national vote, rejecting the Geneva Accords, and held elections only in the south; ruthlessly attacked opponents, jailing thousands of people without charging them with a crime or putting them on trial

Tonkin Gulf Resolution

congressional authorization passed in August 1964, granting President Lyndon B. Johnson broad power to take military action in Vietnam without a formal declaration of war; effectively escalated U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War

Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN)

the army of the government of South Vietnam

Ho Chi Minh Trail

a network of some 12,000 miles of trails; soldiers and supplies traveled the route on foot and by bicycle, oxcart, and truck; journey could take as long as three months

Hawks and Doves

_____ favored a more aggressive approach (including increased military action and escalation), while _____ advocated for a more cautious approach, including negotiation or a phased withdrawal of troops

Operation Rolling Thunder

a sustained aerial bombing campaign by the U.S. against North Vietnam to force North Vietnam to stop supporting the Viet Cong insurgency in South Vietnam and to weaken their ability to wage war

Americanization

dramatically increased military involvement in the Vietnam War

North Vietnamese Army (NVA)

the army of communist North Vietnam, which supported the Viet Cong in South Vietnam with troops and supplies

Agent Orange

an herbicide used by the U.S. military in Vietnam to kill foliage in an effort to deny cover to the enemy

Guerilla War

a type of unconventional warfare where small, irregular groups of combatants, often insurgents or rebels, employ hit-and-run tactics, ambushes, sabotage, and other unconventional methods to challenge a regular, larger military force

General Westmoreland

commanded U.S. forces during the Vietnam War and decided to fight a war of attrition (wearing down enemy’s strength)

War of Attrition

military campaign designed to wear down the enemy’s strength

Search and Destroy

a military strategy where U.S. troops would insert themselves into hostile territory, search for and engage the enemy, and then immediately withdraw to kill as many enemy soldiers as possible and disrupt their ability to operate

Pacification

a U.S. policy designed to promote security and stability in South Vietnam by catalyzing economic development in rural South Vietnam and by undermining the communist insurgency

Napalm

jellied gasoline dropped from U.S. planes during the Vietnam War as an incendiary bomb designed to burn forests and destroy enemy installations

Living Room War

highlights the extensive television coverage that brought images of the conflict directly into American homes; had a profound impact on public perception and fueled the anti-war movement

Credibility Gap

the difference between the reality of the Vietnam War and the Johnson administration's positive portrayal of it

Tinker v. Des Moines

Court established that students do not lose their First Amendment rights to freedom of speech when they enter school; started when suspended for wearing black armbands to school in protest of the Vietnam War

26th Amendment

the constitutional change ratified in 1971 lowering the voting age to 18

Students for a Democratic Society (SDS)

a significant student activist organization in the United States known for its opposition to the Vietnam War and its broader advocacy for social and economic justice; played a key role in the New Left movement, challenging the status quo and advocating for a more participatory democracy

Tet Offensive

a major offensive by Viet Cong and NVA soldiers that resulted in growing opposition among Americans to the war

Election of 1968

a leading candidate in the Democratic Party presidential primaries and a significant figure during the Vietnam War; didn't call for an immediate withdrawal of troops, he advocated for ending the conflict through strengthening South Vietnam and reducing corruption within its government, supporting a peace settlement

Democratic Convention

a backdrop for widespread anti-war demonstrations that escalated into clashes with police, severely dividing the party and the nation

Richard Nixon

promised to end the war in Vietnam; U.S. combat troops withdrew in 1973, and the South Vietnamese army began to lose ground to North Vietnam

Peace with Honor

a phrase coined by US President Richard Nixon to describe the agreement reached in the Paris Peace Accords, which aimed to end US involvement in the Vietnam War

Silent Majority

refers to those Americans who, while not publicly vocal about their views on the war, were believed to generally support Nixon's policies, including the "Vietnamization" strategy; phrase used to contrast them with the more vocal anti-war protestors and the counterculture movement of the time

Vietnamization

President Richard Nixon's policy of having the government of South Vietnam gradually take over the conduct of the war, especially ground combat

Cambodia-Vietnam War

a complex and protracted conflict, was primarily a result of Vietnam's intervention to overthrow the Khmer Rouge regime, which was perceived as a threat by the Socialist Republic of Vietnam

Madman Theory

a strategy employed by President Richard and involved intentionally presenting himself as unpredictable and potentially irrational to intimidate North Vietnam and the Soviet Union into making concessions during peace negotiations

My Lai Massacre

a massacre of hundreds of Vietnamese civilians; reports of the killings shocked Americans and increased opposition to the war

Antiwar Movement

widespread opposition to US involvement in the Vietnam war

Kent State Shootings

the killing of four protesters at Kent State University by National Guard troops; reports of the shootings led to increased antiwar protests

Pentagon Papers

a top-secret Pentagon study of the U.S. role in Vietnam that was leaked to the press, revealing that previous administrations had deceived Congress and the public about the war

War Powers Act

a resolution passed by Congress placing strict limits on a president's powers to use armed forces in hostilities without congressional approval

Prisoners of War (POWs)

U.S. service members captured by North Vietnamese forces and their allies

Paris Peace Accords

established the goal of "ending the war and restoring peace in Vietnam;” ordered a cease-fire and retained the dividing line between North and South Vietnam at the 17th parallel; also called for the withdrawal of all U.S. troops and the release of every U.S. prisoner of war

Khmer Rouge

a Cambodian communist military group that took power under the leadership of Pol Pot and ignited the Cambodian Genocide

Boat people

Vietnamese refugees who fled their country by sea, primarily in the aftermath of the Vietnam War and the subsequent establishment of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam