Civil Rights, Reform, and the Vietnam War Era

Flashcards covering the Civil Rights Movement, the Great Society, the Vietnam War, and 1960s social reform movements.

Black Panthers

A radical Black political organization founded in 1966 that advocated armed self-defense against police brutality and ran community programs like free breakfasts for children.

Brown v. Board of Education

A 1954 Supreme Court case that ruled segregated public schools were unconstitutional, overturning the "separate but equal" doctrine.

Civil Rights Act of 1964

A landmark law that banned discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin in public places and employment.

Emmett Till

A 14-year-old Black boy murdered in Mississippi in 1955; his open-casket funeral exposed the brutality of racism and fueled the civil rights movement.

Freedom Riders

Black and white activists who rode interstate buses into the Deep South in 1961 to challenge segregated bus terminals.

Freedom Summer

A 1964 campaign to register Black voters in Mississippi where the murder of three workers by the KKK exposed the dangers of voting rights work.

James Meredith

The first Black student to enroll at the University of Mississippi in 1962, requiring federal troops for protection during violent riots.

Little Rock 9

Nine Black students who integrated Little Rock Central High School in 1957 under the protection of federal troops ordered by President Eisenhower.

Malcolm X

A Black Muslim minister who advocated Black pride and self-reliance; he offered a more confrontational alternative to nonviolent protest before his assassination in 1965.

March on Selma

A 1965 series of marches for voting rights where the "Bloody Sunday" police attack on the Edmund Pettus Bridge helped lead to the Voting Rights Act.

Martin Luther King Jr.

The central leader of the Civil Rights Movement who advocated nonviolent protest, led the Montgomery Bus Boycott, and delivered the "I Have a Dream" speech.

Montgomery Bus Boycott

A 381-day protest (1955–56) where Black residents refused to ride city buses until the Supreme Court ruled bus segregation unconstitutional.

De Jure Segregation

Racial separation that is enforced by law, such as the Jim Crow laws of the South.

De Facto Segregation

Racial separation that exists in practice due to factors like housing discrimination and poverty rather than by law.

Sit-ins

A form of protest where activists sat at segregated lunch counters and refused to leave until served or arrested, famously starting in Greensboro, NC in 1960.

SNCC (Student Non-violent Coordinating Committee)

A youth-led civil rights organization founded in 1960 that organized direct-action protests like sit-ins and Freedom Rides.

Voting Rights Act of 1965

A federal law that banned literacy tests and allowed federal oversight of elections to prevent discrimination against Black voters.

American Indian Movement (AIM)

A Native American activist organization founded in 1968 to fight poverty, protect treaty rights, and combat police brutality.

Betty Friedan & The Feminine Mystique

Friedan's 1963 book argued that women were unfulfilled by limited housewife roles, launching second-wave feminism.

Cesar Chavez

A Mexican-American labor leader who co-founded the United Farm Workers union to improve wages and conditions for Latino farmworkers.

Equal Rights Amendment (ERA)

A proposed constitutional amendment guaranteeing rights regardless of sex; it passed Congress in 1972 but was never ratified by enough states.

Grape Boycott

A nationwide consumer boycott starting in 1965 led by the United Farm Workers to pressure growers into negotiating with laborers.

Griswold v. Connecticut

A 1965 Supreme Court case that struck down a law banning birth control for married couples, establishing a constitutional right to privacy.

Hippies

A 1960s–70s countercultural movement that rejected materialism and the Vietnam War, embracing peace, communal living, and rock music.

National Organization for Women (NOW)

A feminist organization co-founded by Betty Friedan in 1966 to lobby for equal pay, reproductive rights, and an end to gender discrimination.

Roe v. Wade

A 1973 Supreme Court ruling that legalized abortion nationwide, stating women have a constitutional right to privacy regarding that decision.

Woodstock

A 1969 music festival in New York attended by 400,000 people that became the defining symbol of the 1960s counterculture.

Head Start

A Great Society federal preschool program created in 1965 to provide education and nutrition services to low-income children.

John F. Kennedy (JFK)

The 35th US President (1961–1963) who navigated the Cuban Missile Crisis and proposed the Civil Rights Act before his assassination.

Bay of Pigs

A failed 1961 CIA-sponsored invasion of Cuba by Cuban exiles intended to overthrow Fidel Castro.

Cuban Missile Crisis

A 13-day standoff in October 1962 over Soviet nuclear missiles in Cuba, recognized as the closest the Cold War came to nuclear war.

Great Society

Lyndon B. Johnson's domestic agenda aimed at ending poverty and racial injustice, creating programs like Medicare and Medicaid.

Lyndon Baines Johnson (LBJ)

The 36th President who signed the Civil Rights Act and Voting Rights Act and expanded government programs through the Great Society.

Medicaid

A federal health insurance program created in 1965 that provides coverage to low-income Americans.

Medicare

A federal health insurance program created in 1965 that provides coverage to Americans aged 65 and older.

New Frontier

The name of JFK's domestic and foreign policy agenda focusing on economic growth, civil rights, and space exploration.

Robert F. Kennedy (RFK)

JFK's brother and Attorney General who was a strong civil rights supporter; he was assassinated in 1968 during his presidential campaign.

Warren Commission

The government investigation into JFK's assassination which concluded that Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone.

Agent Orange

A toxic herbicide sprayed during the Vietnam War to destroy jungle and crops, later linked to cancer and birth defects.

Napalm

A flammable gel dropped in bombs during the Vietnam War that burned everything it touched.

Dien Bien Phu

A 1954 battle where Vietnamese communists defeated the French colonial army, ending French rule in Indochina.

Domino Theory

The Cold War belief that if one country fell to communism, neighboring countries would follow like falling dominoes.

Draft

Military conscription used to require young men to serve in the Vietnam War, sparking massive protests and resentment over deferments.

Gulf of Tonkin Resolution

A 1964 law giving LBJ authority to use military force in Southeast Asia without a formal declaration of war.

Ho Chi Minh

The communist revolutionary leader of North Vietnam who led the fight for independence against France and the US-backed South.

Ho Chi Minh Trail

A supply network of jungle paths running from North Vietnam through Laos and Cambodia to aid communist fighters in the South.

Kent State

The site of a 1970 protest where National Guard soldiers killed four students, intensifying anti-war sentiment in the US.

My Lai Massacre

A 1968 incident where US soldiers killed hundreds of unarmed South Vietnamese civilians, turning many Americans against the war.

Ngo Dinh Diem

The first president of South Vietnam who was backed by the US but later assassinated in a 1963 military coup due to his corrupt government.

Operation Rolling Thunder

A massive US bombing campaign against North Vietnam (1965–1968) intended to break the enemy's will.

Search and Destroy Missions

A US military strategy in Vietnam that involved killing enemy fighters and then withdrawing, often measured by "body count."

Tet Offensive

A massive 1968 surprise attack by North Vietnamese and Viet Cong forces that shattered public belief that the US was winning the war.

Viet Cong

South Vietnamese communist guerrilla fighters who used jungle warfare tactics against the South Vietnamese government and US forces.

Vietnamization

Nixon's strategy of withdrawing US troops while training South Vietnamese forces to take over the combat role.

War Powers Act

A 1973 law requiring the president to notify Congress within 48 hours of deploying troops and limiting unauthorized military action to 60 days.

Miranda v. Arizona

A 1966 Supreme Court case that established the requirement for police to inform suspects of their rights before questioning.

Credibility Gap

The growing public distrust of government reports about the Vietnam War compared to the graphic footage shown on television.

Peace Corps

A program created by JFK to send volunteers to developing nations to provide educational and technical assistance.

SCLC (Southern Christian Leadership Conference)

An organization founded by Martin Luther King Jr. that focused on nonviolent protest and grassroots organizing.

Berlin Wall

A structure built by the Soviet Union in 1961 separating East and West Berlin to prevent East Germans from fleeing to the West.