Unit 7 Review Guide: Civil Rights and the Vietnam War

Flashcards based on your Unit 7 Review Guide: Civil Rights and the Vietnam War.

Brown v. Board of Education

Segregation in public schools is unconstitutional; overturned Plessy v. Ferguson.

Civil Rights Act of 1964

Banned discrimination in public places and employment based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin.

Emmett Till

A 14-year-old Black boy whose murder in Mississippi helped spark the Civil Rights Movement.

Freedom Riders

Civil rights activists who rode interstate buses to challenge segregation in the South.

Freedom Summer

A 1964 campaign to register African American voters in Mississippi.

James Meredith

The first Black student to integrate the University of Mississippi.

Little Rock Nine

Nine Black students who integrated Little Rock Central High School in 1957.

Malcolm X

A Black nationalist leader who advocated for Black empowerment, often seen as a contrast to MLK.

Martin Luther King Jr.

A civil rights leader who promoted nonviolent protest to achieve racial equality.

Montgomery Bus Boycott

A protest led by MLK against bus segregation after Rosa Parks’ arrest.

Sit-ins

Nonviolent protests where activists sat at segregated lunch counters demanding service.

SNCC

Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee; organized sit-ins and freedom rides.

Voting Rights Act of 1965

Banned literacy tests and other barriers to Black voting rights.

AIM

American Indian Movement; fought for Native American rights and sovereignty.

Betty Friedan & The Feminine Mystique

Feminist author; her book inspired the modern women’s movement.

Black Panthers

A militant Black power organization advocating for self-defense and community programs.

Cesar Chavez & Grape Boycott

Labor leader who led a boycott for better wages and working conditions for farmworkers.

Counterculture movement

A youth movement rejecting traditional values; known for anti-war protests and alternative lifestyles.

Hippies

Members of the counterculture, advocating peace, love, and communal living.

NOW

National Organization for Women; pushed for gender equality.

Occupation of Alcatraz

A 1969 protest by Native American activists who took over Alcatraz Island to reclaim land.

Roe v. Wade

A 1973 Supreme Court case that legalized abortion nationwide.

Woodstock

A 1969 music festival symbolizing the peak of the counterculture movement.

Head Start

A program started under LBJ to promote school readiness for low-income children.

John F Kennedy (JFK)

President from 1961–1963; launched the New Frontier programs.

Bay of Pigs invasion

A failed CIA-backed attempt to overthrow Cuba’s Fidel Castro in 1961.

Cuban Missile Crisis

A 1962 standoff between the U.S. and USSR over Soviet missiles in Cuba.

Lyndon B. Johnson (LBJ)

Lyndon B. Johnson; succeeded JFK, launched the Great Society.

Medicare

Government health insurance for seniors, part of LBJ’s Great Society.

New Frontier

JFK’s domestic program focused on education, space, and civil rights.

Peace Corps

Volunteer program created by JFK to aid development in other countries.

Robert F. Kennedy

JFK’s brother, civil rights advocate, assassinated in 1968 while running for president.

Warren Commission

Government investigation that concluded Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone in JFK’s assassination.

Draft

A system that required young men to serve in the military.

Domino Theory

The idea that if one country fell to communism, nearby nations would follow.

Agent Orange and Napalm

Chemical weapons used by the U.S. to destroy jungle cover and enemy troops.

Fighting in Vietnam

Guerrilla warfare in jungles, ambushes, and unclear front lines.

Vietnamization

Nixon’s plan to gradually withdraw U.S. troops and let South Vietnamese take over.

Media in the Vietnam War

Graphic coverage shifted public opinion against the war.

Operation Rolling Thunder

A sustained bombing campaign against North Vietnam.

Search and Destroy Missions

U.S. operations to find and eliminate Vietcong forces.

Ho Chi Minh Trail

A supply route used by North Vietnam through Laos and Cambodia.

Types of troops in Vietnam

Mostly draftees and young soldiers, many from minority and low-income backgrounds.

Tonkin Gulf Resolution

Gave LBJ broad military powers in Vietnam after alleged attacks on U.S. ships.

War Powers Act

Limited the president’s ability to deploy troops without congressional approval.

Vietcong

Communist guerrillas in South Vietnam fighting against the U.S. and South Vietnamese forces.

France in Indochina

France colonized Vietnam and was defeated by the Viet Minh in 1954.

Pacification

U.S. efforts to win Vietnamese support and root out the Vietcong.

Tet Offensive

A major 1968 Vietcong attack that turned U.S. public opinion against the war.

Kent State

National Guard troops shot and killed 4 students during a Vietnam War protest in 1970.

Ho Chi Minh and Ngo Dinh Diem

Ho Chi Minh was the communist leader of North Vietnam; Diem was the U.S.-backed leader of South Vietnam, later assassinated.