Unit 9: Civil Rights Era & Vietnam War

Brown v Board of Education

Overturned the "separate but equal" principle, and decided that segregated schools violated the 14th Amendment's Equal Protection Clause, sparking the civil rights movement

Civil Rights Act of 1957

Law that established a federal Civil Rights Commission to investigate violations of civil rights

Rosa Parks

Refused to give up her seat to a white passenger, arrested. Led to the beginning of the Civil Rights Movement

Central High School

First HS that the Little Rock school board desegregated. Governor refused until Eisenhower had to go and send federal troops to ensure it's desegregated

SNCC

• Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee
  established by Ella baker
  Goal was to create a grass-roots movement (local community) which involves all classes of Blacks in the struggle to defeat white racism and obtain equality

MLK

Leader of MIA (montgomery improvement association)
Led the Montgomery bus boycott, and emphasized nonviolent resistance

james meridith

• Air Force veteran who sought to enroll at the all-white University of Mississippi
• Won a federal court case that ordered the university to segregate

March on Washington 1963

• 1963 demonstration in which more than 200,000 people rallied for economic equality and civil rights
• King delivered his famous "I Have A Dream" Speech

civil rights act of 1964**

outlawed discrimination in public places and employment based on race, religion, or national origin
Signed by President Johnson

How did the crisis in Little Rock spark a conflict between state and federal government?

Governor Faubus ignored federal authority even though the Brown decision stated that schools must be desegregated. This led to president Eisenhower to intervene and send troops to enforce the ruling.

How did students and other young people energize the civil rights movement in the early 1960s?

Started sit-ons, organized marches, boycotts, wade-ins, read-ins, and continued to protest even when facing resistance. Also established a new civil rights organization, the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee

How did the Civil Rights Act of 1964 try to end discrimination?**

Tried to end discrimination by banning segregation in public accommodations and gave the federal government the ability to compel state and local school boards to desegregate their schools. Also allowed the Justice Department to prosecute individuals who violated people's civil rights and outlawed discrimination in employment on account of race, color, sex, or national origin.

sweatt v painter

ruled that segregation in graduate education violated the equal protection clause

McLauren v. Oklahoma State Regents

ruled that racial separation in universities violated the 14th amendment's equal protection clause

selma al

location wher MLk and SCLC organized a major campaign to pressure the federal gov to enact voting rights legislation
john lewis

voting rights of 1965

law which banned literacy tests and empowered the federal gov to oversee vorer registration

24th amendment

constitutional amendment that banned the poll tax as a voting requirement

nation of islam

African American religious organization founded in 1930 that advocated separation of the races
Led by Elijah Muhammad

black power movement

Idea where African Americans should collectively use their economic and political muscle to gain equality

fair housing act of 1968

Banned discrimination in housing
however, their economic and social gap remained between Black and whites

lester maddox

Restaurant owner in Atlanta, Georgia gained national attention when he closed his business rather than comply with 1964 Civil Rights Act which banned discrimination against African Americans

affirmative action

policy that gives special consideration to women and minorities to make up for past discrimination

What effect did Malcolm X have on the Civil Rights movement?

He offered a different approach, where he preached a message of self-reliance and self-protection and called for black pride and spread the idea of black nationalism

the immigration and nationality act

Law that changed the America's quota system to limits of 170,000 immigrants per year from the Eastern Hemisphere and 120,000 per year from the Western Hemisphere

war on poverty

President Lyndon Johnson's programs aimed at aiding the country's poor through education, job training, proper health care, and nutrition

Medicare

Federal program created in 1965 to provide basic hospital insurance to most Americans over the age of 65

medicaid

Federal program created in 1965 to provide low-cost health insurance to poor Americans of any age

gideon v wainwright

Court decided that all accused criminals had the right to a lawyer whether or not they could pay for one

miranda v arizona

Court ruled that an accused criminal had to be informed of his or her Fifth and Sixth Amendment rights before being questioned

• 5th: No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury.
• 6th: In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury

the cuban missile crisis

1962 conflict between the US and the Soviet Union resulting from the Soviet installation of nuclear missiles in Cuba

domino theory

Idea that if a nation falls to communism, its closest neighbors will also fall under communist control

The Gulf of Tonkin Resolution

1954 congressional resolution that authorized President Johnson to commit US troops to South Vietnam to fight a war against North Vietnam

Rolling Thunder

• 1st sustained bombing campaign against North Vietnam
• Johnson hoped this strategy of intensive bombing would convince North Vietnam to stop reinforcing the Vietcong in South Vietnam

How did Kennedy attract support among African Americans in the South?

He attracted them since he showed he cared by his immediate response after MLK and a group of African Americans students were jailed during a protest. Compared to Nixon, he said nothing, which attracted more African Americans in the South

How did the Warren Court change the legal status of individual liberty in America?

• Expanded definition of free speech (Tinker v. Des Moines School District)
• Heightened concern for the constitutional rights of accused lawbreakers

Explain the slow creep of US involvement in the Vietnam War from JFK to LBJ

Overall, JFK escalated the Advisory role, guiding SV, whereas LBJ turned the conflict into a direct combat involvement following the 1964 Gulf of Tonkin Incident

kennedy won in what elecon against who?

won in 1960 against Nixon

Lyndon B Johnson's agenda…

Continued JFK's agenda mostly

Great society

LBJ's goal in health care, education, environment, discrimination, and poverty

who defeated goldwater conservatism

Lyndon B Johnson

the warren court…

Took the lead on controversial social, religious, and political issues

bay of pigs

JFK executed, attempted to overthrow Cuban Leader FIdel Castro by landing many Cuban exiles. Failed

Tet offensive

• Communist assault on a large number of South Vietnamese cities in early 1968
• Named after the Vietnamese lunar near
• Not successful
• Turning point in Vietnam war because psychologically, it proved the US wrong that we were close to winning

robert kennedy

Believed that the war had divided America and drained resources away from the fights against poverty and discrimination

The Chicago Democratic Convention

• Democrats met in Chicago to choose a presidential candidate to represent their party in the November election
• Debated placing an antiwar plank in the party platform, and chose Hubert Humphrey (Johnson's vice president) over Eugene McCarthy which sparked violence between police and protestors outside the convention

26th amendment

• Lowered the legal voting age from 21 to 18 years old
• Enforced due to the idea of "old enough to fight, old enough to vote"

Vietnamization

President Nixon's plan for gradual withdrawal of US forces as South Vietnamese troops assumed more combat duties. failed as SV quickly turned over to NV after US left

My Lai

Village in South Vietnam where in 1968 American forces opened fire on unarmed civilians

US soldiers killed between 400 and 500 Vietnamese

Pentagon papers

• government study that revealed that us had doubts that they'd win the war
• revealed that us escalated the conflict while saying to the public they were trying to avoid it

The War Powers Act

1973 law passed by Congress restricting the President's war-making powers; the law requires the President to consult with Congress before committing American forces to a foreign conflict

• Limits presidents ability to initiate/escalate military actions without congressional approval

Who was Richard Nixon's "Silent Majority"?

• The people who supported his policies and didn't participate in public protests
• Largely conservative, middleclass, blue collar voters who felt forgotten. Support military, president,

How did the My Lai Massacre and release of the Pentagon Papers turn sentiment against the war?

• They both exposed the brutal actions and systematic government deception
• This made the people view the war as unethical and fueled many anti-war protests

How did the Vietnam War affect US foreign policy until 1990?

• Affected the relationship between the legislative and executive branches of government (War Powers Act)
• Many deaths led to war fatigue among many Americans
• Weariness of war became a social factor that would be reflected in the US role in the world from the 1970s through 1930

president johnson left due to the..

tet offensive

what were president nixon plans for vietnam war?

• peace with honor
• vietnamization

1973

war ends for the u.s. by the paris peace accords. however, south and north vietnam were still in conflict

1975

when vietnam war ended. south vietnam fell to north vietnam