Civil Rights Movement and Political Turmoil of the 1960s

Fragmentation of the Civil Rights Movement

As the Civil Rights Movement fractured over tactics and goals, younger activists grew frustrated with nonviolence and slow progress, leading to the rise of the more militant Black Power Movement that emphasized racial pride, self-defense, and autonomy.

Youth Revolt

This group led to the emergence of the New Left, focused on participatory democracy and social justice, and the counterculture, which rejected mainstream values in favor of peace, love, and personal freedom.

New Feminism

This emerged as women pushed for gender equality beyond voting rights, inspired by civil rights and antiwar activism. Leaders like Betty Friedan and Gloria Steinem advocated for reproductive rights, workplace equality, and challenging gender roles.

Long, Hot Summers

This refers to a series of urban riots in the mid-to-late 1960s sparked by racial injustice and poverty, symbolizing the growing frustration of African Americans with slow progress in civil rights.

Malcolm X

He was a Black Muslim leader who promoted Black nationalism, self-defense, and racial pride, contrasting with the nonviolent approach of the mainstream Civil Rights Movement.

Stokely Carmichael

A civil rights leader who popularized the term 'Black Power' and advocated for Black self-determination and a more militant stance in the fight for racial justice.

Black Panther Party

This was a revolutionary Black nationalist organization that aimed to combat police brutality, provide social services, and advocate for African American empowerment and self-defense.

Black Power Movement

This energized African American pride and identity but also caused divisions within the Civil Rights Movement due to its more militant rhetoric and rejection of integrationist goals.

Lorraine Motel (April 4, 1968)

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated at the ___, sparking nationwide riots and marking a turning point in the Civil Rights Movement.

SDS Students for Democratic Society

This was a key organization in the New Left that called for participatory democracy and opposed racism, poverty, and the Vietnam War.

Free Speech Movement

This began at the University of California, Berkeley, in 1964, as students protested restrictions on political activity, laying the foundation for wider student activism.

Antiwar Movement

This was a mass protest effort against U.S. involvement in Vietnam, fueled by rising casualties, the draft, and distrust of government leadership.

Counterculture

This was a youth movement in the 1960s that rejected traditional values, embraced peace, communal living, drug use, and alternative lifestyles, symbolized by slogans like 'Turn on, tune in, drop out.'

Timothy Leary

This Psychologist encouraged people to use psychedelic drugs to expand consciousness, reject societal norms, and pursue spiritual enlightenment.

The Feminine Mystique

This is a book by Betty Friedan that sparked the second wave of feminism by addressing the dissatisfaction of women in traditional roles.

The Feminine Mystique

A book written by Betty Friedan that criticized the limited roles of women as housewives and sparked the modern women's rights movement.

Gloria Steinem

A feminist leader and co-founder of Ms. magazine, a publication that promoted women's issues and helped mainstream feminist ideas in the 1970s.

1968 Miss America Beauty Pageant

Feminists protested the pageant in Atlantic City to challenge sexist beauty standards and draw attention to the objectification of women.

Nixon's election strategy

Nixon capitalized on public backlash against civil unrest and liberal policies by appealing to the 'silent majority' and using the Southern Strategy to attract white voters disillusioned with New Deal liberalism.

1968 Chicago Riots

The riots outside the Democratic National Convention highlighted political division and civil unrest, undermining the Democratic Party and helping Nixon present himself as the candidate of 'law and order.'

1968 election candidates

Richard Nixon (Republican), Hubert Humphrey (Democrat), and George Wallace (American Independent Party).

Outcome of the 1968 election

Nixon won the presidency by appealing to urban ethnic voters, blue-collar workers, and suburban whites, creating a new Republican coalition.

Nixon's Southern Strategy

A political strategy aimed at gaining support from white Southern voters by appealing to their opposition to civil rights legislation and liberal social policies.

Madman theory

Nixon aimed to make North Vietnam believe he was irrational and might use nuclear weapons, hoping to pressure them into negotiating peace.

Vietnamization

Nixon's policy to gradually withdraw U.S. troops and transfer combat responsibilities to the South Vietnamese military.

Henry Kissinger

Nixon's National Security Adviser who played a key role in foreign policy, including Vietnam peace talks and détente with the Soviet Union and China.

Kent State Massacre

In 1970, National Guard troops shot and killed four student protesters at Kent State University, intensifying antiwar sentiment.

Détente

A period of relaxed tensions during the Cold War, marked by cooperation and treaties like SALT I between the U.S. and the Soviet Union.

SALT I Treaty

A 1972 agreement between the U.S. and USSR to limit nuclear missiles and ban missile-defense systems, reinforcing the idea of mutual assured destruction.

Nixon's visit to China in 1972

It marked the beginning of formal U.S.-China diplomatic relations and opened trade and cooperation between the two nations.

Le Duc Tho

North Vietnam's chief negotiator in the Paris Peace Talks that led to the end of U.S. involvement in Vietnam.

CREEP

The Committee to Re-Elect the President, which was involved in illegal activities during the Watergate scandal, including money laundering and political espionage.

The Plumbers

A secret White House unit formed to prevent information leaks and spy on political opponents, involved in illegal activities linked to Watergate.

Pentagon Papers

Classified documents leaked by Daniel Ellsberg in 1971 revealing government deception about the Vietnam War, increasing public distrust.

Woodward and Bernstein

Journalists who played a key role in uncovering the Watergate scandal.

Watergate break-in

An investigation by The Washington Post that uncovered key details exposing the cover-up.

Mark Felt

A Deputy Director of the FBI, who served as a confidential informant for Woodward and Bernstein.

Saturday Night Massacre

On October 20, 1973, Nixon ordered the firing of special prosecutor Archibald Cox, leading to multiple resignations and increasing calls for impeachment.

Nixon's impeachment charges

(1) Obstruction of justice, (2) abuse of power, and (3) contempt of Congress for refusing to comply with subpoenas.

Nixon's resignation

Facing likely impeachment and conviction, Nixon resigned from the presidency on August 8, 1974.

George Wallace

He ran as a segregationist third-party candidate in 1968, won five Southern states, showing deep divisions in the country and influencing Nixon's Southern Strategy.

Kevin Phillips

A Nixon strategist who argued that a new Republican majority could be built by appealing to white voters in the South, West, and suburbs who had grown disillusioned with New Deal liberalism.

Strategic Arms Limitation Talks (SALT)

Aimed to curb the arms race by limiting the number of nuclear weapons and missile defense systems each superpower could have, encouraging détente.

Leonid Brezhnev

The Soviet leader who met with Nixon in 1972, leading to the signing of the SALT I treaty and improving U.S.-Soviet relations.

Nixon's foreign policy toward China

This ended decades of diplomatic isolation, opened trade, and helped drive a wedge between China and the USSR, reshaping Cold War dynamics.

Key officials in Watergate cover-up

Included H.R. Haldeman (Chief of Staff), John Ehrlichman (Domestic Advisor), and John Mitchell (Attorney General and head of CREEP).

Alexander Butterfield

Revealed the existence of a White House taping system, which became crucial evidence in proving Nixon's involvement in the cover-up.

John Dean

White House Counsel who testified against Nixon and other officials, providing key details about the cover-up.

Senate Watergate Committee

Investigated the scandal, chaired by Senator Sam Ervin (D-NC) with Senator Howard Baker (R-TN) as vice chair.

Public reaction to Saturday Night Massacre

The firing of Special Prosecutor Archibald Cox led to national outrage, protests, and accelerated the movement in Congress toward impeachment proceedings.

1968 - The Year of Fracture

A year of major division and unrest in the U.S., with assassinations, protests, the Vietnam War, and the Chicago riots, leading to a breakdown in national unity and helping Nixon win the election.

1968 Democratic National Convention

The violent clashes between police and antiwar protesters outside the convention in Chicago shocked the nation and contributed to public desire for law and order, benefiting Nixon's campaign.

Nixon's law and order message

Aimed to appeal to voters frustrated with protests, riots, and rising crime by promising to restore stability and traditional values.

Pentagon Papers impact

Revealed government lies about the Vietnam War, increasing public distrust in government leaders.