1954-1975 Timeline APUSH by TheBlackPanther

Dwight David Eisenhower

Jan 20, 1953

Eisenhower brought his presige as a comanding general in World War 2. He worked out a truce in North Korea in 1953 for the Korean War. He campaigned with the slogan "I like Ike" to win the election, and he tried to reduce the strains of the cold war.
Pic and Info Ike
Dwight David Eisenhower became president this day.

1954-1975

Period: Jan 20, 1953 to Dec 31, 1975

McCarthey

Mar 16, 1954

Eisenhower faced the problem of the anicommunist Joseph R. McCarthy. McCarthy accused many people of being commusist, but went too far when he accused the army of being communist. McCarthy showed the dangerous forces of unfairness and fear that can happen in a democratic society at its peril.
PicKennedy, David., et al. The American Pageant. Thirteenth edition. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2006

Geneva Conference

Apr 26, 1954

InfoThe world's powers (Untied States, China, France, Soviet Union, and Great Britain) met to try to resolve problems related to Asia. One concern was the battle between Vietnamese nationalist forces under Ho Chi Minh and the French. Vietnam would be temporarily divided at the 17th parallel.
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Kennedy, David., et al. The American Pageant. Thirteenth edition. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2006

Brown vs. Board of Education

May 17, 1954

Very epochal in declaring segregation in public schools was "inherently unequal", unconstitutional. Revised Plessy v. Ferguson that segregation was legal. The justices insisted that desegragation must happen.
Kennedy, David., et al. The American Pageant. Thirteenth edition. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2006
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Rosa Parks and Mongomery Bus Boycott

Dec 1, 1955

Rosa Parks was arrested this day for refusing to give up her seat on a bus to a white man. She sparked a yearlong black boycott of the city buses called the Montgomery Bus Boycott.
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Kennedy, David., et al. The American Pageant. Thirteenth edition. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2006

SCLC Formed

Jan 10, 1957

Blacks took the civil rights movement in their own hands. The Southern Christian Leadership Conference was formed by Martin Luther King, Jr., which aimed to mobilize the power of black churches to black rights.
Pic Kennedy, David., et al. The American Pageant. Thirteenth edition. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2006

Little Rock 9

Sep 4, 1957

Eisenhower was reluctant to promote integration, but was forced to act when Faubus mobilized the Naitional Guard to prevent nine black students from enrolling in Little Rock's Central High School. Eisenhower sent troops to escort the children to their classes.

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Kennedy, David., et al. The American Pageant. Thirteenth edition. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2006

Cultural Upheaval

Jan 1, 1960

In the 1960s, a negative attitude towards authority took hold. Many people did not like the war in vietnam and wanted freedom from traditional ways of racism, sexism, iperialism, and oppression. There were many demonstrations, such as anti-Vietnam and Gay Pride.
Pic Kennedy, David., et al. The American Pageant. Thirteenth edition. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2006

Sit-in

Feb 1, 1960

The "sit-in" movent was launched in Greensboro, North Carolina by four black college freshmen. The demanded service at a white only lunch counter but were denied. the next day, 85 students joined. The movement spread quickly in the South.
Pic Kennedy, David., et al. The American Pageant. Thirteenth edition. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2006

John Fitzgerald Kennedy

Jan 20, 1961

John F. Kennedy was the youngest elected president as well as the first catholic presidnt. He promised to eliminate racial discrimination and had his idea of a New Frontier with economic and social legislation.
Kennedy, David., et al. The American Pageant. Thirteenth edition. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2006
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Freedom Rides

May 4, 1961

The Congress of Racial Equality launched the Freedom Rides to draw attention to the segregation that was still happening in public facilities. The people were civil rights activists who would ride interstate buses into the segregated South
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Anti-Freedom Ride riots

May 21, 1961

Mobs sometimes awaited the arrival of the Freedom Riders. at the Greyhound station the bus was attacked with iron pipes and baseball bats. The buses tires were also slashed. This showed the violence in the south and the problems of racisms.
Info and PicRFK personal rep beaten unconcious
Kennedy, David., et al. The American Pageant. Thirteenth edition. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2006

James Meredith

Oct 21, 1962

James Meredith challenge the South and put the so called desegregation to the test. He attempted to register at the University of Mississippi but ecountered violent opposition. Kennedy was forced to send in 400 federal marshals and 3,000 troops to enroll Meredith.
Pic Kennedy, David., et al. The American Pageant. Thirteenth edition. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2006

Kennedy "Moral Issue"

Jun 10, 1963

Kennedy called the racial question situation a "moral issue" in a televised speech, and commited himself to finding a solution. He called for new civil rights legislation to protect black citizens.
PicKennedy, David., et al. The American Pageant. Thirteenth edition. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2006

March on Washington

Aug 28, 1963

Martin Luther King, Jr. led over 200,000 demonstrators in the "March on Washington". It was a peaceful march in support of the proposed legislation Kennedy called for. King delivered his I have a dream speech here.

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Kennedy, David., et al. The American Pageant. Thirteenth edition. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2006

16th Street Baptist Church

Sep 15, 1963

Violence continued to plague the nation. In September of 1963, and explosion killed four black girls at a Baptist church in Birmingham.
PicKennedy, David., et al. The American Pageant. Thirteenth edition. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2006

Lyndon Baines Johnson

Nov 22, 1963

Johnson took office after JFK was killed. He would continue to push through Kennedy's legislations through congress and push through more civil rights acts. He had to deal with the pressure of the Anti-war ideas of Vietnam.
Kennedy, David., et al. The American Pageant. Thirteenth edition. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2006
Pic and Info LBJ

JFK killed

Nov 22, 1963

Violence continued to be one of America's big problems. On November 22, 1963, President Kennedy was shot and killed, and Johnson was promptly sworn into the presidency.
PicKennedy, David., et al. The American Pageant. Thirteenth edition. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2006

24th amendment

Jan 23, 1964

The 24th amendment outlawed the poll tax as a requirement to vote in federal elections. Five states had poll taxes at the time, and the tax showed the "Jim Crow" laws of the South which were used to suppress blacks.
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Civil Rights Act of 1964

Jul 2, 1964

Congress finally passed the Act after Johnson became president. It banned racial discrimination in most of the private facilities that were open to the public like hospitals, theaters, and restaurants. The government also gained more power to end segregation in schools and other public places.
Pic Kennedy, David., et al. The American Pageant. Thirteenth edition. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2006

Voting Rights Act of 1965

Aug 6, 1965

When demonstrators who marched for voting rights were assulted by state troopers in Selma, Johnson confronted Congress. He pushed through the Voting Rights Act of 1965 that outlawed literacy tests and sent federal voter registrars into several southern states.
Pic Kennedy, David., et al. The American Pageant. Thirteenth edition. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2006

Tet Offensive

Jan 31, 1968

A vicious launch by the Viet Cong on twenty-seven key South Vietnamese cities known as the Tet offensive was a military defeat, but a political victory for them. It caused more Americans to demand an end to the war.
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Kennedy, David., et al. The American Pageant. Thirteenth edition. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2006

Richard Milhous Nixon

Jan 20, 1969

When elected, Nixon had to first quiet the public about the VIetnam war, so he started Vietnamization to withdraw the troops. He would later be involved in the Watergate Scandal, leading to his resignation.
Kennedy, David., et al. The American Pageant. Thirteenth edition. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2006
Pic and Info Nixon

Nixon Doctrine and Vietnamization

Jul 25, 1969

Nixon wished to draw American troops out of South Vietnam in a process called Vietnamization. The Nixon Doctrine claimed that the United States would honor existing defense comminments but in the future, Asians would have to fight their own wars.

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Kennedy, David., et al. The American Pageant. Thirteenth edition. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2006

Kent State

May 4, 1970

The Ohio National Guard killed four Kent State Students when they fired into a crowd of demonstrators at Kent State University. The impact triggered nation wide strikes and did not look good amidst the cold war.
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Watergate

Jun 17, 1972

President Nixon was suspected of being involved in the Watergate Scandal, where five men were arrested after an attempt to plant bugs in the Democratic party's headquarters.
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Kennedy, David., et al. The American Pageant. Thirteenth edition. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2006

Title IX of the Education Amendments

Jun 23, 1972

Women yearned to be equal under the law and society. Congress passes Title IX of the Education Amendments which prohibited sex discrimination in any federally assisted educational program or activity. It created more opportunities for women.
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Kennedy, David., et al. The American Pageant. Thirteenth edition. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2006

Paris Peace Accords

Jan 27, 1973

InfoKissinger, Nixon's national security adviser, met secretly on Nixon's behalf with North Vietnamese officials in Paris to negotiate an end to the war in Vietnam. They came up with the Paris Peace Accords which would allow a ceasefire to begin, and American troops to begin a 60 day withdrawl.
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Kennedy, David., et al. The American Pageant. Thirteenth edition. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2006

Gerald Rudolph Ford

Aug 9, 1974

Ford took over after Nixon resigned because of Watergate. He was the first person to be made president soley by Congress. He had inflation, the economy, and energy shortages to deal with. He also pardoned Nixon for any of his wrong doings.
Kennedy, David., et al. The American Pageant. Thirteenth edition. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2006
Pic and InfoFord

Nixon Resigns

Aug 9, 1974

After Watergate, Nixon's image was tarnished, or rather rusted from the harsh wave the public delivered. He decided to resign from the presidency.

PicKennedy, David., et al. The American Pageant. Thirteenth edition. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2006

Fall of Saigon

Apr 30, 1975

The Soth Vietnamese capital of Saigon was captured by the North Vietnamese and Viet Cong forces. The South had to surrender, finally bringing and end to the war. The United States had pulled out of the Vietnam War two years earlier with the Paris Peace Accords.
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