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End of World War II
The end of WWII brought prosperity the nation and it began the period of civil rights. African Americans began to increase their fight against segregation after the war. -
Brown v. Board of Education decision
This case started in Topeka, Kansas, when a young girl was not allowed to go to the school that was in her neighborhood due to the color of her skin. It overturned the Plessy v. Ferguson case and it ended public segregation because the court ruled that segregation was a direct violation of the Equal Protection Clause. -
Rosa Parks Incident
Rosa Parks was on a bus one day when a white person requested for her to move so they could take her seat. It was the law in Montgomery that all African Americans were required to give their seats to whites if necessary or requested. Rosa Parks, however, refused to do so because she thought it was unfair and was arrested because of it. -
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Montgomery Bus Boycott
The Montgomery Bus Boycott all started with Rosa Parks. Some civil rights activists came together and came up with an idea to protest Rosa Parks' arrest and overall segregation. They planned a ony day boycott for all memebers of the black community in Montgomery. However, it ended up being a year long boycott. They decided they were boycott buses until there was a law against segregated buses. -
Little Rock Nine Incident
Central High School was the first school to start the plan of slowly desegregating school in Little Rock, Arkansas. Nine brave, African American students volunteered to enroll but were stopped by soldiers that the mayor had sent. President Eisenhower heard news of this and sent federal troops to guard the nine students, They escorted them for an entire year. The incident showed that desegregation was beginning and the President wouldn't tolerate defiance of Civil Rights Acts. -
Sputnik launched
The Sputnik 1 was a 184 pound, steel satellite. It had a small transmitter in it and was sent into space by the Soviet Union. Also in it was a dog to see how living creatures would react to being in space. It led to Congress creating NASA to get ahead in the international "space race." -
U-2 Incident
The Soviet Union shot down one of the U.S.A.'s U2 spy planes. The United States at first denied the whole thing until the Soviets told the United Stated they had the pilot, Francis Gary Powers, and he was still alive. The U.S. traded a spy of the Soviet Union to get Powers back. However, Eisenhower refused to apologize for the incident and this led to the desrtuction of the Four Power Paris Summit. -
Bay of Pigs Invasion
The Bay of Pigs invasion was the CIA's attempt at overthrowing Castro. The CIA got about 1,400 people who had been exiled from Cuba to invade Cuba. Only about 300 survived because the plan was rushed and porrly planned. It resulted in Castro gaining power and Kennedy losing the trust and support of many Americans. -
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Cuban Missile Crisis
The Cuban missile crisis was a threat against Kennedy's plans to stop communism. The Soviets began building nuclear missile in Cuba to protect Castro in case of another invasion. Kennedy said he had approved a plan to stop Cuba from finishing their sites for the missiles. He had been trying to come to an agreement with the Soviet Union by agreeing to remove the U.S.A.'s missiles in Turkey and Italy if they removed theirs in Cuba. The agreement was accepted and the crisis ended. -
Letter from Birmingham Jail
The letter from Birmingham jail was written by Martin Luther King, Jr. He was in jail for helping with the protest in Birmingham, Alabama. The letter talks about discrimination towards children. He says that maybe the people who don't know what segregation feels like don't understand. They don't understand how hard it is to have to explain to your child why he or she can't do something due to their skin color. The letter also explain why he and other activists couldn't just wait for reform. -
March on Washington
The March on Washington was a huge protest that took place at the Washington monument. It was organized by many groups such as the SNCC. It was peaceful and nonviolent and attracted over 200,000 people. Singers and celebrities preformed and people gave speeches. The March on Washington was where Martin Luther King, Jr., gave his "I Have a Dream" speech.
