American History FINAL EXAM
Part IV
•Dwight D. Eisenhower won over Adlai Stevenson
•Said he would get U.S out of Korea
•Promoted highway interstate system
•Wanted peace in the U.S
Chapter 30
Cold War
• 1945-1989
• Between U.S. and
Soviet Union
• War where no
missiles were
launched, but was
between sports,
spies, spaceships,
and technical
advances
• Fall of the Berlin wall
• First televised
debate
between
Kennedy and
Nixon
• Kennedy won
the election by
less than 1%
1960 Election
March on Washington
• The 1963 March on
Washington attracted an
estimated 250,000 people
for a peaceful
demonstration to promote
Civil Rights and economic
equality for African
Americans
• Martin Luther King Jr.
gave his famous speech “I
Have a Dream”
Malcolm X
• He believed in
black power and
the use of violence
to achieve goals of
African Americans
• He then switched
his ways to being
about peace but
was killed for it.
Black Power
• A movement in
support of rights
and political
power for black
people.
James Meredith - 1960s Ch. 32
• He attempted to become the first
African American to attend the
University of Mississippi
• He was rejected admission twice
• Meredith filed a complaint with
the district court on May 31, 1961
• Robert Kennedy sent federal
marshals to protect Meredith from
threats of being lynched
•He was rejected by the district
court because of the color of his
skin
Medgar Evers - 1960s Ch. 32
• Civil Rights activist
• In 1954, he became the first state
field secretary of the NAACP in
Mississippi
• Evers organized demonstrations,
voter-registration efforts, and
economic boycotts for discriminationpracticing companies
• He was shot in his driveway on
June 12, 1963
Robert Kennedy - 1960s Ch. 32
• He managed his brothers campaign
• Kennedy was appointed Attorney General
of the United States in 1960
• Fought organized crime and was a key
supporter of the civil rights movement
• Was elected to the U.S. Senate after
JFK’s assassination
• He represented New York
• RFK was assassinated on June 5, 1968
during the California Democratic
presidential primary
Desegregation – 1960s
Ch. 32
• Brown vs. BOE (Board of Education)
•Made racial-based segregation illegal
• Said all children can go to whatever
school they wanted to
• “Separate but Equal” – Plessy vs.
Ferguson
• Stated that segregation was legal
• Made African Americans and other
minorities treated like second class
citizens
• Jim Crow Laws –
made to keep blacks
and other minorities
as second class
citizens to whites
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr &
SCLC – 1960s
• Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
was the leader of the civil
rights movement in the
1960s after he lead the
Montgomery Bus Boycott
and Rosa Parks
• The SLCL-Southern
Christian Leadership
Council was founded as a
civil rights group by
Martin Luther King, Jr.
Little Rock Crisis – 1950s
• In Little Rock, Arkansas, a
white school refused to let
9 African American
students attend school; the
governor of Arkansas
called in the national guard
to make sure they wouldn’t
come in, but then the
president sent in the 101st
airborne to protect them as
they attended school.
Influence of TV – 1960s
• TV in the 1960s mainly
influenced people’s
opinion on politics,
specifically in the election
between Nixon and
Kennedy. The TV also
allowed regular civilians
to see what war was like,
in color, meaning they
saw the bloodied soldiers
in Vietnam.
Growth of Suburbia & Levittown
– 1950s Chapter 31
• After World War 2,
people wanted to
settle down, and
conformity began to
set in. Levittowns
were designed to all
be the same, and
affordable for war
veterans to settle
down with their
families.
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35th President of the
United States
President From 19611963
Assassinated in
Dallas, Texas on
November 22, 1963 by
Lee Harvey Oswald
President through
Cuban Missile Crisis
and Bay of Pigs
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The name for President
Kennedy’s
administration
Called for “a new
generation of
Americans” to rise up
Saw the creation of the
Peace Corps, raised
minimum wage,
increased social security
benefits, and the start of
the “Space Race”
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Economic theory based
on thoughts of John
Maynard Keynes
Said the government
should step in to the
economy and create a
circular flow of money
by increasing spending,
which would increase
wages
Sometimes thought of
as the best way to
ensure growth and
stability
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Started in the late 1950’s and
continued through the 1960’s
Between USSR and USA
Sputnik was the first satellite
launched into space by the
Russians in 1957
Russians then sent Yuri
Gargarin into space in 1961
United States sent Neil
Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and
Michael Collins to the moon
in 1969 on Apollo 11
Great Society- War on Poverty
• The Great Society was the
policy created by President
Johnson during the 60’s
• Great Society programs
affected the portion of
Americans living below the
poverty line. The poverty line
dropped from 22.2 percent to
12.6 percent
Civil Rights Act of 1964
•
The Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits discrimination on
the basis of race, color, religion, sex or national origin
• Passage of the Act ended the application of "Jim Crow"
laws
• The Civil Rights Act was eventually expanded by Congress to
strengthen enforcement of these fundamental civil rights
Voting Rights Act of 1965
• The National Voting Rights Act
of 1965 was a landmark piece
of civil rights legislative in the
US which outlawed literacy
testing because the practice
was being unfairly used to
deny African-Americans their
right to vote
•
Require the oversight of the
election practices LBJ signed it
Betty Friedman
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In 1963 wrote the book The Feminine Mystique
She was a FEMINIST leader
She wanted to do the same thing as the men
She was the mother of women's rights and a lot of women
looked up to her
Rachel Carson
She is the author of Silent Spring
in 1962.
She was a conservationist who
wrote about how pesticides were
ruining the environment.
Environmentalists, reformers, and
organic farmers agreed with her.
It made way for the upcoming
Green movement.
Silent Spring stills upsets
conservatives and inspires
environmentalists today.
Ho Chi Minh
Leader of North
Vietnam
Constant rebellions
against France and
Communist ideas led
to Vietnam War.
In 1975, takes over
Saigon and South
Vietnam.
Vietcong/Vietminh
Vietminh were the Nationalist party under
Ho Chi Minh who fought Japanese and
French. They stayed mostly in the north
during Vietnam War.
Vietcong were Vietnam Communists in
South Vietnam who used guerilla warfare.
Dien Bien Phu
Battle between
French and Vietminh.
Dien Bien Phu was an
important city in
northwestern
Vietnam.
Falls to the Vietminh
in 1954. This ends
French involvement in
Vietnam.
A 50-page draft peace agreement created
by Israeli politicians, who negotiated the
deal without the backing of the current
Israeli government, and senior Palestinian
representatives in October 2003.
 Focused on resolving the war between
French forces and those of the Democratic
Republic of Vietnam
 Leader: Ho Chi Minh
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Purpose was to approve and support the
determination of the president, as commander in
chief, in taking all necessary measures to fight off
any armed attack against the forces of the United
States and to prevent further aggression
This resolution of Congress dated August 7, 1964,
gave President Lyndon Johnson authority to
increase U.S. involvement in the war between North
and South Vietnam
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This was the name given to America’s sustained bombing
campaign against North Vietnam during the Vietnam War
It was started in an effort to disappoint the North Vietnamese
people and to undermine the capacity of the government in
North Vietnam to govern
Both attempts failed
President Johnson declared Operation Rolling Thunder to end
in 1969
Peace talks began in January 1969 just two months after
Johnson ordered the ending of Operation Rolling Thunder
Chapter 33
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Was a series of surprise attacks by the Vietcong
and North Vietnamese forces, on scores of cities,
towns, and hamlets throughout South Vietnam
Launched January 30th, 1968
Victory went to North Vietnam
Known as a turning point in
the Vietnam War
William
Westmoreland
Became permanent commander of MACV (Military Assistance Command,
Vietnam )---Given command of all U.S. troops in Vietnam
*This led him to call for troops to be pulled from South Vietnam causing the
TET Offensive*
Responded by defeating the Viet Cong
Reported everything was fine but the actions taken by North Vietnam proved
him wrong
Replaced by General Creighton Abrams in June 1968
Henry Kissinger
Appointed Nixon’s adviser on National Security
Affairs in 1969
Improved relations with both China and the Soviet
Union in the early 1970s.
Was put in charge of peace talks in 1972
As a result of bringing the Vietnam War to an end
Kissinger was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize
Vietnamization
A plan proposed by Richard Nixon
to withdraw US troops from
Vietnam
1969, Nixon announced the first of
the US troop withdrawals.
The 540,000 US troops were to be
reduced.
Nixon's advisers told him that they
feared that the gradual removal of
all US troops would end with North
Vietnam winning.
Richard Nixon
Elected the 37th president in 1969
Promised the American public that he
would reduce U.S. troop levels in
Vietnam
His presidency ended in dishonor and
shame
Nixon resigned in 1974 because of the
Watergate scandal.
War Power Resolution Act
• Limits the power of the President of the
United States to wage war without the
approval of congress
• Gives a 90 day limit
• Passed in 1973
Cambodia and Laos
• Americans during
Vietnam fought in
Cambodia and Laos
• Americans didn’t
support this
26th Amendment
• Lowered voting age from 21 to 18 years of age
• Unfortunately, the younger people didn’t vote at
first and the voting rate went down
Kent State Shooting
• May 4, 1970 members of the
Ohio National Guard fired and
wounded 9 students while
killing 4 students on the Kent
State University
• The students were protesting
the Vietnam War
• This was one of the events that
destroyed the Nixon
Aministration
Earth Day
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In the spring of 1970 Senator
Gaylord Nelson created Earth Day
because of all the toxic waste
infecting the air from factories.
20 Million Americans
demonstrated in different U.S
cities, that his idea worked.
In December 1970, Congress
authorized the creation of new
Federal Agency to tackle
environmental issues. Which is
known as the U.S Environmental
Protection Agency.
Earth Day is currently April 22nd
Equal Rights Amendment &
Women’s Movement
• First proposed in 1923, written
by Alice Paul.
• Letting women and men have
equal rights under the law.
• Passed out of congress in
1972.
• In 1972, ratified by 35 of the
necessary 28 states.
• Was passed by congress but
never ratified by the required
number of states.
Ronald Reagan
• 40th President of United States.
From January 20th, 1981January 20th, 1989
• 33rd Governor of California
• There was an attempted
assassination against him in
1981.
• Focused on Reaganomics
• Cutting taxes
• Decreasing spending
• Deregulation
• Started Star Wars (SDI)
Star Wars (SDI)
• Strategic Defense Initiative
• First initiated on March 29,
1983, under President Reagan
• Intent was to develop a
sophisticated anti-ballistic
missile system in order to
prevent missile attacks from
other countries.
• Eventually abandoned after a
few years since INF treaty was
signed.