pizzi

Emmett Till 1955

14 year old boy murdered in Mississippi after allegedly whistling at a white woman, his killers acquitted by an all white jury

Mother held an open casket funeral to show his horrible injuries —> photographs shocked the nation and helped spark the Civil Rights Movement in the 1950s

Till wasn’t even from the south/did not know their customs

Jim Crow Laws 1950s

Laws enforcing racial segregation in the South. Created separate schools, restaurants, transportation, etc.

Legalized segregation even under 14th and 15th Amendments

Montgomery Bus Boycott 1955-56

Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on the bus, the figurehead and jumpstart of a larger movement and a community who stood behind her

First major success of the Civil Rights Movement, in the end after the majority of the black community and supporters used other methods of transportation such as walking to boycott the bus system, who largely relied on this population (3/4 of all customers) for profit, a Supreme Court ruling said that bus segregation was unconstitutional

Made MLK a national leader

Demonstrated the success of nonviolent protest

NAACP

National Association for the Advancement of Colored People

Civil Rights organization who fought discrimination through the Court System

Won Brown v. Board of Education

Used legal challenges instead of direct protesting in the streets, helped end segregation

Brown v. Board of Education 1954

Supreme court ruling that separate schools are not actually equal. Overturns Plessy v. Ferguson (“separate but equal” ruling —> legal foundation for Jim Crow Laws)

Major legal victory for CRM

Encouraged activism elsewhere yet also increased resistance from many Southern states

Clark Doll Study

Black children asked to choose between black and white dolls. Many black children associated the white dolls with positive qualities and the black doll with negative ones.

Asked “and now which one looks like you” afterwards —> made children upset and damaged self esteem because “i’m not bad”

reality of situation and physiological segregation and used as evidence in Brown v. BOE

Nonviolence strategy

peaceful methods of protest to achieve social change (boycotts, marches, sit-ins)

Belief held by MLK that using violence would create more hatred while nonviolence exposes injustice

Won sympathy of the nation and put pressure on government officials to make a change

Civil Disobedience

Intentionally peacefully breaking unjust laws to force a change to be made (sit-ins, freedom riders, Rosa Parks)

Draws attention/awareness to discrimination

Central tactic of the movement

Civil Rights Movement 1950s

End segregation, achieve equal treatment

Led to major legal changes including the Civil Rights Act and Voting Rights Act

Demonstrated the power of organized protest

Cold War 1950s

period of tension between the US (capitalism) and Soviet Union (communism)

Only fought in proxy wars, never a direct war between the two superpowers

Space race

Dominated American foreign policy for nearly 50 years

Marshall Plan 1948

American economic aid program which gave billions of dollars to rebuild Europe after WWII

Prevent poverty and instability that could lead to communism

The US did not require any recipient action, yet by their donations it looks good for democracy

Offered aid to the SU who declined to prove they were not weak in communism and did not need democratic US aid. Soviet occupied countries who wanted aid and were in need of it had to refuse US aid

Made democracy/capitalism in the US look strong

Russia responded by creating the Molotov Plan to stop eastern European nations from accepting US aid.

Economic and financial aid

proactive

“No strings attached”

Truman Doctrine 1947

Policy promising American aid to nations resisting communism. More militarial and political and in recovery but also economics. To countries whose governments are under immediate threat of communism or Soviet pressure

First applied to Greece and Turkey

Beginning of containment

Containment

Stopping communism from spreading beyond where it already exists

Guided nearly all major cold war decisions including Vietnam

Iron Curtain

Term used by Winston Churchill describing the division between Communist Eastern Europe and Democratic Western Europe

Cold war tensions and divisions

Julius and Ethel Rosenburg

American couple convicted of spying/espionage for the Soviet Union

Turns out was true so increased fears irrationally

Strengthened support for anti-communism investigations

Julius was mainly the spy but they executed Ethel as well to make an example to rest of the Country: the danger of being a soviet sympathizer or association with communism, knowingly or not

They could not get her husband to confess so they used her as a method to try to do so

No one is safe

Senator Joseph McCarthy

Wisconsin senator claiming communist had infiltrated the government

206 names on the list but would not release

all a lie, he was not very popular so made this up to create fear and gained popularity

Accusations with little evidence

McCarthyism becomes synonymous with reckless accusations

HUAC 1950s

House Un-American Activities Committee

Investigates suspected communist influence

Targeted Hollywood actors and writers

Creates blacklists and increases anti-communism hysteria

Created fear, distrust, and paranoia along with blacklists

Mao Zedong

Leader of the Chinese Communist party

Est communist China in 1949

Major cold war victory for communism and increased American fears about communist expansion

Subversion

Attempting to undermine or overthrow a government from within

Fear of communism subversion fueled the Red Scare (fear and moral panic of the threat of communism)

Berlin Airlift 1948-49

Soviet Union blocked land access to West Berlin so the U.S and GB supplied food, coal, and other essentials to West Berlin via air.

In the end the Soviets ended the blockade

Successful example of containment

American resistance to Soviet pressures

Domino Theory

If one nation falls to communism the other neighboring countries will follow

Why the US entered Vietnam

Greensboro Sit in 1960

Four black college freshman sat a segregated counter at WoolWorths

Denied serving even after purchasing something from the other area

Spread nationwide, resparked the civil rights movement and showed the power of youth activism

Freedom rides 1961

Activists rode buses through the South to test desegregation laws

Even though the Supreme Court ruled segregated buses are illegal, especially in the south segregation was still enforced locally

Many riders were beaten and arrested

Federal government was forced to step in to enforce desegregation

Children’s March 1963

Thousands of children protested segregation in Birmingham peacefully

treated with violence by the local government: police used dogs and firehoses

The events were televised and shocked Americans nationwide

Increased support for civil rights

Bull connor - mayor, extreme resistance

Letter from Birmingham Jail 1963

MLK was arrested during protests and was a response to critics (of the Church) who thought the protests should wait and they should focus on legal action primarily

MLK defends civil disobedience

"Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere”

Civil Rights Act 1964

Signed by Lyndon B. Johnson

Ends segregation in public places

Bans employment based discrimination

SNCC

Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee

Organized student protests and voter registration drives

CORE

Congress of Racial Equality

Organized freedom riders

nonviolent protesting

SCLC

Southern Christian Leadership Conference

Led by MLK

Nonviolent protests

Malcolm X

Black nationalism, black pride, self defense

Less committed to nonviolence compared to MLK

Inspired the Black Power movement

Advocated for separatism instead of racial integration

Wanted Black Americans to have pride in themselves and establish their own independent institutions

JFK Assassination November 22, 1963

In Dallas, Texas, shocked the nation

Elevated Lyndon B. Johnson to presidency, who pushed major civil rights legislation

Vietnam War (cold war extension) 1960s — reasons for going

Containment, domino theory

Support south Vietnam

Fear of Communism

“Living Room” war

Vietnam War

First war widely televised

Americans watched the combat and casualties nightly, brutal so increased anti-war sentiment

Geneva Conference 1954

Divided Vietnam at the 17th parallel

not along ideological lines, just geographical so there is many people holding the opposing values of the area the live in

North Vietnam is communist

South Vietnam in anti-communist (however there are many communists living here)

Ho Chi Min

Communist leader of North Vietnam

Led Vietnam’s independence movement against France, won

Leader of the Viet Minh

JFK’s Foreign Policy

Containment

“Flexible response”

Peace Corps (American Volunteers would help developing countries) — Catch more bees with honey than vinegar

Bay of Pigs

Cuban Missile Crisis

Flexible Response

JFK’s policy of having multiple military options instead of relying only on nuclear warfare

Expands America’s ability to respond to Cold War conflicts

ex: Cuban Missile Crisis

Cuban Missile Crisis 1962

Soviets placed nuclear missiles in Cuba, 90 feet from the shore of the U.S.

JFK instituted a quarantine of Cuba in the form of a naval blockade as brinkmanship which in turn made Khrushchev back down

The US then secretly removed the missiles they had stationed in Turkey also

Bay of Pigs Invasion 1961

Failed CIA backed invasion of Cuba

Rich Cuban exiles were trained in Guatemala and invaded Cuba, massive fail, Cubans saw it coming and US was unorganized

Embarrassed the US and strengthened Castro’s position and relation to the SU

Fidel Castro

Communist leader of Cuba

Closest communist government to the US

Nikita Khrushchev

Leader of the Su and major cold war leader

involved in the Cuban Missile Crisis

Ngo Dinh Diem

Leader of South Vietnam

US supported because he was simply not a communist, he was not a good man

Christian leader who enforced his beliefs in a Buddhist land

His unpopular rule increased support for communist rebels

Lyndon B. Johnson foreign policy

escalation of the Vietnam war

Sent hundreds of troops to Vietnam despite personal doubts

Dien Bien Phu 1954

Battle where the Vietnamese forces defeated France, France leave Vietnam

Creation of the Geneva Accords which split Vietnam (temporarily) along the 17th parallel - elections were supposed to be held in two yeras

Vietcong

Communist guerrilla fighters in South Vietnam

Guerrilla warfare (unconventional warfare) was hard for the US to overcome

Operation Rolling Thunder 1965-68

Massive bombing campaign against North Vietnam

Failed to force North Vietnam to surrender

Gulf of Tonkin 1964

Allegedly the North Vietnamese attacked US destroyers

No US soldiers were killed, the attacks were false/exaggerated

Lead to the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution which allowed Lyndon B Johnson to expand the war/military powers (send more soldiers) without a formal declaration of war

26th Amendment 1971

Lowered voting age from 21 to 18

“Old enough to fight, old enough to vote”

Tet Offensive 1968

Surprise communist attack during the Vietnamese Tet holiday (supposed to be a ceasefire)

While the actual attack was not very successful militarily for North Vietnam, it changed opinions of Americans:

Psychological victory against the US that convinced many Americans the war was unwinnable for them

anti war movement

Increased pressure to end the Vietnam war

College students, activist, veterans

Woodstock

Great Society 1964-1968

Lyndon B. Johnson’s domestic program

Goals; end poverty, improve education, expand healthcare, promote civil rights

Kent State 1970

National guard shot at student protests of the Vietnam war, 4 students were killed

Growing division of the Vietnam war

Vietnamization 1969

Gradual withdrawal of US troops from Vietnam while the South Vietnamese took over the fighting

Little Rock Central High School 1957

Following Brown V. Board of Ed (1954) schools were forced to desegregate

9 Black students attempted to attend Little Rock (Little Rock Nine)

The Governor of Arkansas used the National Guard to try to stop them, however President Eisenhower sent federal troops to escort the students

Federal supremacy

Brown v. Board of Ed would need federal enforcement because of Southern Resistance

Rise of suburbia

After WWII millions of Americans moved to suburbs from the cities

GI Bill, affordable housing, highway construction

Middle class lifestyle

Levittowns

Discriminatory housing practices reinforce racial segregation

Suburbs = American dream

Baby boom 1946-64

Massive increase in birth rates following WWII

Increase demand for consumer goods and housing, fueled economic growth

NATO 1949

North Atlantic Treaty Organization

Military alliance between the US, Canada, and Western European nations

Defensive pact; an attack on one is an attack on all

First peacetime military alliance for the US

GI Bill 1944

Provided benefits to WWII veterans including:
college tuition, low interest home loans, job training

More educated people going to college, suburbs grow, prevented millions of returning veterans from immediately returning to the workforce

Television 1950s

main source of how people got their news

shared culture

Americans nationwide witnessed the Civil Rights Protests and the Vietnam War which heavily influenced public opinions

Appeasement

giving concessions to an aggressive nation to avoid conflict

Britain and France allow Hitler to take territory preceding WWII

Korean War 1950-1953

North Korea invaded South Korea

US wants to stop communist expansion

No winner, Korea remains divided at the 38th parallel

America fights to stop communism in proxy wars without formal declaration

Beat Generation 1950s

Writers and artists who rejected 1950s conformity

Criticized consumer culture

values of individuality and freedom

Inspiration of the 1960s counterculture movements

John Foster Dulles/Eisenhower Foreign Policy

Brinkmanship, threaten nuclear war to stop communist aggression; push a country to the brink of war, do not declare

Plessy v. Ferguson 1896

“Separate but equal” ruled constitutional by the Supreme court

Legal basis for jim crow

Overturned by Brown v. BOE

1950s Cold War policy

Containment, retaliation, brinkmanship

All for preventing the spread of communism

14th Amendment

Guarantees citizenship and equal protection under law for all citizens no matter race

Women in the 1950s

expected to marry young, raise, children, stay at home mom/domestic life focus

suburban housewife

Levittowns

mass produced suburban housing developments

homeownership affordability

excluded minorities

Federal highways 1956

Interstate highway system

President Eisenhower

Faster transportation, suburban growth, increase in car use, connects the nation

1960s election

JFK vs. Richard Nixon

First televised presidential debates

Kennedy won

Importance of tv in politics: those who watched the debate thought kennedy won but those who listened on the radio thought nixon won the debate

Vietnam Policy

JFK: increase military advisers

LBJ: escalate troop involvement

Nixon: Vietnamization and troop withdrawal

Agent Orange

Chemical defoliant used to destroy jungle cover and expose enemy positions in Vietnam

Caused serious health aspects for soldiers and civilians, very controversial

Napalm

Highly flammable incendiary weapon used to destroy enemy positions

Images of Napalm victims increased anti-war sentiment (through TV coverage)

Search and destroy

American troops searched for enemy forces who often were difficult to distinguish from civilians (Viet Cong vs civilians)

Challenges of guerrilla warfare

Nixon 1969-1974

Vietnamization - end the war

Watergate scandal

Controversial

Pentagon Papers 1971

Secret government documents about Vietnam revealing that the government had misled the public about the reality of Vietnam

Increase of distrust in the government

Peace Corps 1961

Created by JFK

Promote goodwill and fight poverty in countries of need

Counter communist influence

JRK’s effort to win the cold war without military force

MLK Civil Disobedience and Nonviolence

Peacefully breaking unjust laws (civil disobedience)

Peaceful protests (nonviolence)

Montgomery Bus Boycott

Birmingham Campaign

March on Washington

strategy won public sympathy, a moral approach, and encouraged federal action

The Feminine Mystique 1963

Betty Friedan

About suburban women who felt trapped and unfulfilled in their lifestyles