APUSH Period 8 Key Terms (Sections 10-14)

Freedom Riders

A 1961 effort by the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) and the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) to register African-American voters throughout the South. The violent backlash the activists encountered forced President Kennedy to take a stronger public stance on civil rights.

"I Have a Dream" speech

Often considered the greatest American speech of the twentieth century, it was given by Martin Luther King Jr. on August 28, 1963 at the Lincoln Memorial.

Civil Rights Act of 1964

A landmark civil rights law that outlawed discrimination on the basis of race, color, nationality, religion, and sex. It prohibited racial segregation.

Voting Rights Act of 1965

Made literacy tests illegal and prohibited states from denying any U.S. citizen the right to vote on the basis of race. The Selma to Montgomery marches contributed to its passage.

Malcolm X

Born ______ Little, he converted to Islam and took the name ___________. Initially associated with the Nation of Islam, he broke with it in 1964. Assassinated in 1965 by three members of the Nation of Islam. Best remembered for his emphasis on black self-determination and self-defense.

"The Ballot or the Bullet" speech

A 1964 speech given by Malcolm X. It stated that whites must either allow African Americans freedom at the ballot box or face an armed revolution later.

Black Panthers

A socialist, black nationalist organization founded in 1966. Famous for their uniforms and for openly carrying firearms. They organized a social safety net for impoverished African-Americans in Oakland. Succumbed to ideological schisms, government harassment, as well as the arrests and deaths of their major leaders by the mid-1970s.

Great Society

A series of domestic programs proposed by Lyndon Johnson, expanding on Kennedy's stalled New Frontier proposals. Aimed to expand civil rights and eliminate poverty. See: Medicare, Medicaid, and the Immigration Act of 1965.

Medicare

A federal health insurance for Americans 65 or older, along with some younger people with disabilities. See: Great Society.

Medicaid

A social safety net program that provides healthcare for low-income Americans. See: Great Society.

Immigration Act of 1965

Repealed the discriminatory practices of the Quota Acts of the 1920s and allowed millions of previously excluded peoples to immigrate to the United States.

National Organization for Women

Founded in 1966, NOW is an American feminist advocacy group. Among its co-founders was Betty Friedan. Supported the Equal Rights Amendment.

Equal Rights Amendment

Also known as the ERA. A proposed amendment to the U.S. Constitution that would have guaranteed equal rights regardless of sex. By 1977, it had been ratified by 35 of the 38 states necessary, but faced a backlash from the growing conservative movement. It failed to be ratified by a sufficient number of states by its 1982 deadline.

Detente

The act of easing hostility between two or more parties through diplomacy. Advocated during the Cold War by Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford. Contrast with brinksmanship.

Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty (SALT I)

The first round of arms control talks. Negotiations took place under the Johnson and Nixon administrations. The treaty was ratified in 1972. See: détente, SALT II.

Watergate

A political scandal sparked by Nixon operatives burglarizing the Democratic Party National Headquarters at the _______ Hotel on June 17, 1972. The burglars were arrested, and an ensuing investigation by Washington Post reporters Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein revealed a vast web of crimes and political corruption. With impeachment over the Watergate scandal certain, President Nixon resigned on August 9, 1974. See: Gerald Ford.

Jimmy Carter

Thirty-ninth President. Served 1977-1981. The former governor of Georgia, he ran as an outsider in the 1976 presidential election. Served one term. ______ pardoned Vietnam War draft dodgers, established the Departments of Energy and Education, and returned the Panama Canal to Panama. Internationally, he oversaw the Camp David Accords, ended détente in response to the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, and was dogged by the Iranian Hostage Crisis.

Ayatollah Khomeini

Founder of the Islamic Republic of Iran and its leader from 1979 to 1989. Gained infamy in the United States for supporting the taking of American diplomats as hostages. Dubbed the United States the "Great Satan." Died in June 1989.