-
President Eisenhower 1953-1961
Eisenhower was liberal when dealing and interacting with people, but very conservative when dealing with the economy and the government. He wanted to balance the federal budget and guard America from socialism. True to his small government philosophy, he supported the transfer of control over offshore oil fields from the federal government to the states. He was a very popular president being a World War II hero and ending the Korean War. http://www.whitehouse.gov/about/presidents/d -
Period: to
1954-1975 Timeline APUSH cy czook876
-
Brown vs Board of Education
The Supreme Court’s decision in Brown v. Board of Education was a turning point in America's racial history. On May 17, 1954, the Court stripped away constitutional sanctions for segregation by race, and ruled seperate but equal was unconstitutional in a unanimous vote. It provided an equal educational opportunity for African American and White children, although many in the south, such as Orval Faubus. http://www.americanhistory.si.edu/brown/ -
Rosa Parks arrest
Because Rosa Parksr efused to give up her seat to a white passenger, she was arrested for disobeying an Alabama law requiring black people to give up their seats to a white person when the bus was full. Her arrest sparked the Montgomery Bus Boycott, the Supreme Court decision banning segregated transportation, and so many other Civil Rights triumphs.
http://www.americaslibrary.gov/jb/modern/jb_modern_parks_1.html -
Montgomery Bus Boycott 1955-1956
Sparked from Rosa Parks arrest, the African Americans in Montgomery, Alabama refused to ride on the buses. They would either walk everywhere they needed to go or they would carpool. After a year of doing this transportation became integrated.
http://www.history.com/photos/martin-luther-king-jr/photo3 -
Interstate Highway Act of 1956
In 1956, the United States government passed the Interstate Highway Act. This legislation provided twenty-six billion dollars to build interstate highways, linking some of the major cities of the united States. Construction of the interstate highway system was the largest public works expenditure in United States history. The roads had an immediate impact on American life, contributing to the rise of suburbs. http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/publications/publicroads/06mar/07.cfm -
SCLC
The Southern Christian Leadership Conference is an organization of African American ministers, formed in January 1957, after the success of the Montgomery Bus Boycott. With Martin Luther King, Jr. as the president, they had civil disobedience campaigns in th South in towns such as Birmingham and Selma. http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/eyesontheprize/profiles/48_sclc.html -
Little Rock Nine
Arkansas Gov. Orval Faubus vowed "blood will run in the streets" if black students tried to enter Central High. On the first day of school, Faubus ordered the Arkansas National Guard to turn the students away. Two weeks went by and everyone wanted to see what Eisenhower would do. Eisenhower sent the 101st Airborne to escort five boys and four girls to high school. By the end of the week the school was integrated.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=14563865 -
National Defence and Education Act of 1958
Eisenhower signs the National Defense Education Act, providing loans for college students and funds to encourage young people to enter teaching careers. He felt that scientifically they were falling behind the USSR in the space race so he pushed for better education.
http://hitchcock.itc.virginia.edu/ViewingAmerica/roundtables/roundtable7/section2.html
(American Pageant 13th edition) -
John F Kennedy 1961-1963
John F. Kennedy became the youngest man ever to be elected president of the United States, narrowly beating Republican Vice President Richard Nixon, in 1961. He was also the first Catholic to become president. For the first time, presidential candidates engaged in televised debates. John F. Kennedy didn't get to finish his term however, because he was assassinated on November 22, 1963.
http://www.whitehouse.gov/about/presidents/johnfkennedy -
Operation Chopper
The first time US forces participated in major combat in the Vietnam War. This operation began a new age of air battle for the U.S. Army, which had been slowly growing as a concept since the Korean War.
http://www.thehistorychannelclub.com/articles/articletype/articleview/articleid/1497/operation-chopper (picture) http://lifemagazinevietnamedition.wordpress.com
(description) -
Steel Industry
Kennedy had campaigned on the theme of revitalizing the economy after the recessions of the Eisenhower years. To do this, the president tried to curb inflation. In 1962, he negotiated a noninflationary wage agreement with the steel industry. When the steel industry announced significant price increases, promoting inflation, President Kennedy erupted in wrath, causing the industry to lower its prices.
(American Pageant 13th edition)
http://cstl-cla.semo.edu/renka/ui320-75/presidents/kennedy/ -
Kennedy more involved in Civil Rights
In the spring of 1963, Martin Luther King, Jr. launched a campaign against discrimination in Birmingham, Alabama. Civil rights marchers were repelled by police with attack dogs and high-pressure water hoses. In shock, President Kennedy delivered a speech to the nation on June 11, 1963 where he dedicated himself to finding a solution to the racial problems.
http://www.jfklibrary.org/Exhibits/Permanent-Exhibits/The-Oval-Office.aspx -
March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom
In August 1963, Martin Luther King, Jr. led 200,000 black and white demonstrators on a peaceful "March on Washington" in support of the proposed new civil rights legislation. Different civil rights activists were giving speeches all day, but the most famous was Martin Luther KIng Jr.'s "I Have a Dream."
http://www.bbc.co.uk/1xtra/tx/galleries/3194/4/#gallery3194
(American Pageant 13th edition) -
President Lyndon B Johnson 1963-1969
Johnson was sworn in as President on Air Force One at Dallas Love Field in Dallas on November 22, 1963, two hours and eight minutes after President Kennedy was assassinated in Dealey Plaza in Dallas. He passed many domestic acts and programs such as the Great Society program, but all of that was overshadowed by the unpopular Vietnam War. The war was so unpopular as was he that in 1968 he announced he would not run for reelection.
http://www.whitehouse.gov/about/presidents/lyndonbjohnson -
24th Amendment
The 24th Amendment eliminates the use of a poll tax in national elections. In the South, African Americans had many restrictions that made it so it was harder for them to vote whether it be a test or a tax they had to pay. The 24th amendment made it so that more African Americans could vote.
http://american-voter.org/about/ -
Civil Rights Act 1964
The House of Representatives passed the final version of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 on July 2nd. It is the most significant civil rights legislation passed since the Reconstruction Era. It prohibites discrimination in public accommodations and state and municipal facilities. The bill also prohibited discrimination in hiring, employment, and created the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
http://history.house.gov/HistoricalHighlight/Detail/37133 -
Gulf of Tonkin Resolution
Johnson used the Gulf of Tonkin Incident to spur the congressional passing of the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution. It provided him with the "blank check", lawmakers virtually gave up their war-declaring powers. He could use the blank check to use further force in Southeast Asia.
(American Pageant 13th edition)
http://ows.edb.utexas.edu/site/lindseys-site/gulf-tonkin-background-information -
Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965
The Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965 abolished the quota system that had been in place since 1921. It doubled the number of immigrants allowed to enter the country per year. The sources of immigration shifted from Europe to Latin American and Asia. Conservatives charged that the problem of poverty could not be fixed with money spent by the Great Society.
http://www.david-sadler.org/pages/obx/bordertreason_p1.htm
(American Pageant 13th edition) -
Voting Rights Act 1965
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. led activists to urge the federal government to act to end the denial of voting rights to tens of thousands of African Americans across the South. When police violence resulted in the death of a demonstrator, Rev. James J. Reeb, President Lyndon Johnson provided federal protection for the marchers and proposed legislation that became the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
http://www.blackpast.org/?q=1965-president-lyndon-baines-johnson-voting-rights-act -
Tet Offensive
In January 1968, the Viet Cong attacked 27 key South Vietnamese cities, including Saigon. The Tet Offensive ended in a military defeat for the VC, but it caused the American public to demand an end to the war. Tet also led Lyndon Johnson to announce that he would not seek re-election.
http://vietnam-war.commemoration.gov.au/vietnamisation-pulling-out/ -
My Lai Massacre
On March 16, 1968, a unit of the Americal Division's 11th Infantry Brigade arrived in My Lai, the northern part of South Vietnam. They were on a “search and destroy” mission to find the 48th Viet Cong Battalion thought to be in the area. The My Lai Massacre strengthened the Antiwar sentiment in America and lowered the popularity of the war and Johnson even more.
http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/learning_history/vietnam/vietnam_mylai.cfm -
Martin Luther King Jr. Assassination
At 6:01 p.m. on April 4, 1968, civil rights leader and activist Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was hit by a sniper's bullet. He was standing on the balcony in front of his room at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee, when he was shot. The bullet stopped at his shoulder blade. He was immediately taken to a nearby hospital, but was pronounced dead at 7:05 p.m. http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-201_162-57552312/marthin-luther-king-jr-balcony-opens-to-public-for-1st-time-in-years/ -
President Richard Nixon 1969-1974
President Nixon brought to the White House his extensive knowledge and thoughtful expertise in foreign affairs. He dedicated himself to putting America's foreign-policy in order. President Nixon's used his policy called "Vietnamization." When conversations involving the Watergate scandal were discovered on tape, Nixon refused to hand them in. The Watergate Scandal overshdowed his foreign policy success and he resigned.
http://www.whitehouse.gov/about/presidents/richardnixon -
SNCC changed its name
The Student Non-violent Coordinating Commitee turned into the Student National Coordinating Committe. This change in name shows the shift in the Civil Rights movement. The people were tired of waiting, they wanted their equality and they wanted it immediately. They were tired of not being able to fight back.
http://www.core-online.org/History/Civil%20Rights%20Pins.htm
(American Pageant 13th edition) -
revised Philadelphia Plan 1969
THe Philadelphia Plan of 1969 required construction-trade unions working on the federal pay roll to establish "goals and timetables" for black employees. This plan changed the definition of "affirmative action" to include good treatment on groups, not individuals; the Supreme Court's ruling on Griggs v. Duke Power Co. (1971) upheld this.
http://explorepahistory.com/displayimage.php?imgId=1-2-168C
(American pageant 13th edition) -
Ho Chi Minh's Death
Ho Chi Minh was the Communist Leader of North Vietnam. Ho Chi Minh was in poor health from the mid-1960s and died September 2, 1969. When the Communists took the South Vietnamese capital, after the Americans backed out of the war, Saigon in 1975 they renamed it Ho Chi Minh City in his honour.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/ho_chi_minh.shtml -
Clean Air Act of 1970
The enactment of the Clean Air Act of 1970 resulted in a major shift in the federal government's role in air pollution control. This legislation authorized the development of federal and state regulations to limit emissions from both industrial sources and mobile sources.
(American Pageant 13th edition)
http://www.kcet.org/socal/departures/landofsunshine/laws-that-shaped-la/how-los-angeles-began-to-put-its-smoggy-days-behind.html -
President Gerald Ford 1974-1977
Gerald Ford was the first unelected president; his name had been submitted by Nixon as a vice-presidential candidate. All other previous vice presidents that became president had at least been supported as running mates of the president that had been elected. President Ford's popularity went down when he gave a full pardon of Nixon,setting off accusations of a "buddy deal."
http://www.whitehouse.gov/about/presidents/geraldford -
Pardoned Nixon
When Ford pardoned Nixon his own popularity went down. People thought he only did that because Nixon was his friend and his political career took the hit. The next election he ost to Carter.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,239043,00.html -
Helsinki Accord
President Ford signed the Helsinki Accords, officially recognizing the Soviet Unnion boundaries. It also helped ease tensions between the United States and the Soviet Union.
http://www.ford.utexas.edu/avproj/helsinki.htm
(American Pageant 13th edition)
