APUSH YAWP Chapter 27 Terms

John F. Kennedy

President from 1961 to 1963 who promoted civil rights and led the U.S. during early Cold War crises.

Richard Nixon

Vice President under Eisenhower, later President who expanded the Vietnam War before resigning due to the Watergate scandal.

Fidel Castro

Communist leader of Cuba who took power after the 1959 revolution and aligned Cuba with the Soviet Union.

Fulgencio Batista

U.S.-backed Cuban dictator overthrown by Fidel Castro during the Cuban Revolution.

Cuban Revolution

A 1959 uprising led by Fidel Castro that overthrew Batista and brought a communist government to power in Cuba.

Bay of Pigs Invasion

A failed 1961 U.S.-backed operation to overthrow Fidel Castro by landing Cuban exiles on the island.

Cuban Missile Crisis

A 1962 standoff between the U.S. and the USSR over Soviet missiles in Cuba, bringing the world close to nuclear war.

Nikita Khrushchev

Leader of the Soviet Union during the Cuban Missile Crisis and opponent of U.S. foreign policy.

Sit-In Movement

A form of peaceful protest started by Black college students in 1960 to desegregate lunch counters in the South.

Freedom Riders

Civil rights activists who rode interstate buses into the segregated South to challenge non-enforcement of desegregation laws.

SNCC (Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee)

A civil rights group of mostly young people that organized protests, sit-ins, and voter registration drives.

SCLC (Southern Christian Leadership Conference)

Civil rights organization led by Martin Luther King Jr. that focused on nonviolent protest.

Albany Movement

A failed civil rights campaign in Georgia that taught activists the importance of focused goals and media strategy.

James Meredith

The first Black student to integrate the University of Mississippi with federal protection in 1962.

Martin Luther King, Jr.

Civil rights leader who used nonviolent protest to fight segregation and led the March on Washington.

George Wallace

Segregationist governor of Alabama who opposed the civil rights movement and symbolized white resistance.

Massive Resistance

A movement by Southern white politicians to block school desegregation after Brown v. Board of Education.

March on Washington

A major 1963 civil rights rally where MLK delivered his "I Have a Dream" speech to push for racial equality.

Lyndon B. Johnson

President who passed major civil rights laws and launched the Great Society to fight poverty and inequality.

Escalation

The increase of U.S. military involvement in Vietnam under Johnson, especially after the Gulf of Tonkin incident.

Domino Theory

The Cold War belief that if one country fell to communism, nearby countries would fall too.

Limited Response

Kennedy’s Cold War strategy of using flexible military options rather than full-scale nuclear war.

Civil Rights Act of 1964

A landmark law that banned segregation in public places and discrimination in employment.

Voting Rights Act of 1965

Law that banned literacy tests and allowed federal oversight of elections to protect Black voters.

Great Society

Lyndon Johnson’s program aimed at ending poverty and racial injustice through social and economic reforms.

War on Poverty

A key part of the Great Society that created programs like Head Start and Job Corps to help poor Americans.

CORE (Congress of Racial Equality)

A civil rights group that organized Freedom Rides and worked for desegregation and voting rights.

Selma March and "Bloody Sunday"

A 1965 protest for voting rights violently attacked by police, helping lead to the Voting Rights Act.

Economic Opportunity Act

1964 law that created programs to fight poverty, such as Job Corps and community action agencies.

Medicare/Medicaid

Federal programs created in 1965 to provide health care to the elderly (Medicare) and the poor (Medicaid).

White Flight

The movement of white families from cities to suburbs to avoid integration and urban unrest.

Dien Bien Phu

A 1954 battle in which Vietnamese forces defeated the French, leading to U.S. involvement in Vietnam.

Vietnam Conflict

A Cold War military conflict in which the U.S. tried to stop the spread of communism in Vietnam.

Vietcong and NVA (Vietminh)

Vietcong were South Vietnamese communist fighters; NVA (or Vietminh) were the North Vietnamese army.

Ho Chi Minh

Communist leader of North Vietnam who fought for Vietnamese independence and unification.

Gulf of Tonkin Affair

A disputed 1964 incident that led Congress to give LBJ broad powers to wage war in Vietnam.

Robert McNamara

Secretary of Defense who helped plan U.S. military escalation in Vietnam.

Counterculture

A youth movement in the 1960s that rejected traditional values, supported peace, and embraced new lifestyles.

Black Nationalism

A movement that emphasized Black pride, self-sufficiency, and sometimes separation from white society.

Malcolm X

A civil rights leader who advocated for Black empowerment and self-defense, challenging nonviolence.

Stokely Carmichael and the Black Panthers

Carmichael coined 'Black Power,' and the Black Panthers demanded racial justice and defended Black communities.

Chicano Movement

A Mexican American civil rights movement focused on labor rights, education, and cultural pride.

Betty Friedan and The Feminine Mystique

Friedan’s book challenged traditional roles of women and helped start the modern feminist movement.

NOW (National Organization for Women)

A feminist group founded in 1966 to push for gender equality, including the Equal Rights Amendment.