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Dwight Eisenhower
Dwight Eisenhower was a former U.S military General and became the president of the U.S in 1953. He was President during the Cold War era and promoted the building of Nuclear Weapons. During his time, he passed the Eisenhower Doctrine saying it will protect the Middle East against attacks from Communist nations as well as passed the Interstate Highway Act which led to the building of 41,000 miles of highway. -
Period: to
1954-1975 era
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Brown vs. Board of Education
In this historical case, segregation in public schools was over-ruled by the supreme court. This over-ruled the Plessy vs. Ferguson case in 1896. -
Rosa Parks Bus Seat Event
Rosa Parks was sitting in a bus when a White man told her to give up her seat. She refused and got arrested by the police. Her act sparked the Montgomery Bus Boycott. -
Montgomery Bus Boycott
Sparked by Rosa Parks, Martin Luther King Jr., organized a boycutt of all buses. He wanted all Black people to boycutt the buses. The boycott lasted 381 days and it was successful. Dec. 21, 1956, buses were desegregated. -
S.C.L.C
Martin Luther King Jr. establsihed the Southern Christian Leadership Conference in which he was elected to be the first President of it. This conference would organize many non-violent civil rights movements. MLK would lead many marches and give many speeches preeching non-violence and civil rights. -
Little Rock Nine
In Little Rock, Arkansas, nine African African kids enrolled in Little Rock Central High School. The governer of the town, denied them admission into the school. Well, due to the Brown vs. Board case, Eisenhower sent over military units to protect the nine students. Those kids were allowed into the school in Septmeber of 1957. The school was no longer all white -
John F. Kennedy
John F. Kennedy was the youngest president to ever be elected. He was shot dead by an assassin in November of 1963. He beat out Nixon in the election with his great control on television. He took blame for the Bay of Pigs invasion. He resolved the Cuban Missle Crisis. A direct line to the Russian leader was made. He started the Peace Corps. He was President during the Vietnam War, but only sent out 16,000 troops. The American people loved him -
S.N.C.C
The Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee was formed in responce to the Greensboro, N.C sit-in. In Greensboro, N.C, a group of kids organized a sit-in in Woolworth's resteraunt, Blacks were allowed to sit at the bar but not be served. This organization organized many sit-ins quite like this one all around, in many different locations -
Vietcong formed
The Vietcong was a militia among citizens that favored North Vietnam. They were the reason why the U.S backed out of the war. The Vietcong would fight with guerrila warfare. They would dig underground tunnels in the forest for protestion against bombs and enemies. They were scattered everywhere in Vietnam, and they would get supplies from North Vietnam through a secret trail running through Laos and Cambodia. -
Peace Corp
The Peace Corp was set up by John F. Kennedy in hopes of educating under-privilaged kids in 3rd world countries. American citizens, mostly with college degrees, would volunteer their time to spend some time helping the less fortunate. This program is still around today, is very strong, and has changed lots lives over the course of history -
Freedom Riders
Freedom Riders where White and Black activists in civil rights. They would ride buses all throughout the South preaching equality. Their motive was to help others and they felt they were helping the cause.Their job was to motive and add some motivation in peoples eyes towards the cause. They ignored the laws and the federal government didn't stop them. They started New Orleans and just rode all day long -
Birmingham Jail
Martin Luther King Jr. was arrested by the police in Birmingham during a peaceful protest. In jail, he wrote a speech on whatever he could find, napkins and newspapers. In his speech, he explained that men have the moral ability to disobey unjust laws. -
Medgar Evan's assassination
Medgar Evans was a very accomplished African American at the time, a real hero. He was the first field secretary for the NAACP, he helped set up new branches for the organization. He was killed outside of his home by Bryon Beckwith, a member on the White Citizens' counsil. Evans symbolized the African American dream of making out of poverty and being an educated man. His death sparked some fire into the civil rights movement. -
March on Washington
The March on Washington was one of the largest political rallies for human rights of all-time. MLK gave his most famous speech, I Have a Dream advocating racial harmony. The march was held in front of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C. Around 200,000 - 300,000 people showed up for the event, organized by many civil rights organizations and groups. An anniversary march is held every five years in its honor. -
Diem's Assassination
Diem and his brother were assassinated under Kennedy's term. a U.S fleet went on a mission to capture them and it was successful. They took them to a rebel camp and held them there. Diem and his brother surrendered, hoping they would let go free, but instead were killed. The assassination led to the assassination of Kennedy. -
Lyndon B. Johnson
Lyndon B. Johnson took office after JFK was assasinated. The next year he won the election for the Democratic Party. LBJ created the Great Society program which faught poverty, help civil rights, and created Medicare. He passed the Civil Rights Act of 1964 which banned discrimination in public facilites or employment. He also passed the Voting Rights Act of 1965 which allowed all Blacks to vote. LBJ escalated the Vietnam greatly. The country was divided on the war and LBJ no run for re-election -
Clean Air Act
The Clean Air Act was passed to enorce the rules set by the Environmental Protection Agency. They keep a close eye on air pollution such as acid rain. Nixon passed this and in doing so, he passed the first major environmental law United States to include a provision for citizen suits. -
Laws passes for Civil Rights
In 1964, the Civil Rights Act was passed in the LBJ era. This law ended discrimination of race, color, and religion. This was the most sweeping civil rights legislation since Reconstruction. Then, in 1965, Voting RIghts Act was passed giving the ability to vote to all Blacks. Then, the Civil Rights Act of 1968 ended discrimination in a sales, rental, and financial housing. -
Gulf of Tonkin Incident
The U.S.S Maddox encountered three North Vietnamese navy torpedo ships, and a battle drew out. Three N.V ships were destroyed and a few people died. No U.S casualties accured but this event was enough to get America on board enough to send out more troops. Another attack was reported two days later, but that seems to be a mystery still. -
Malcolm X Assassinated
Malcolm X was an African American activist but an extremist. He hated White people and wanted nothing to do with them. He was killed by White Supremists in New York City. Malcolm's death moved all his supporters onto Dr. King which helped his cause for equality. -
4 Little Girls Killed in Church
In Birmingham, Alabama four young girls were attending Sunday school in a church when a bomb went off, killing all four of them. These deaths inevitably led to massive riots everywhere, unfortunately leading to the death of two more children. These deaths changed the movement to a more aggressive approach. Violence broke out in movements now. -
Tet Offensive
The Tet Offensive were a series of attacks on military bases in a times where no attacks were supposed to be made. Both countries agreed to not attack because of the New Year, but the Vietcong had other plans. Thsi attack severly damaged America's morale. Once the public in America found out, support for anti-war protesters grew. This provided an image in the American mind of thinking the war will never end, the Vietcong have too many people. But the reality was they were close to breaking poin -
My Lai Massacre
A platoon led by Charlie Company, attacked a village of unarmed civilians in South Vietnam. Around 308 - 574 deaths were counted in the massacre. The soldiers were given orders to go in a shoot everything. Some women were raped and then murdered. This event severly damaged the public eye of the war and now anti-war protesters were more active in protesting. -
MLK Assassinated
Martin Luther King Jr. was giving a speech in Memphis, Tennesse when a sniper shot him to the ground. James Earl Ray was the name of the man that shot MLK. Conspiracy theories were made about James and the government but they were never proven. MLK didn't get to see the day Blacks get full equality, but he knew they would some day. -
Robert Kennedy Assassinated
Robert Kennedy's death showed how naive the country was at the time. Robert just finished giving a speech in Los Angeles when he was shot in the kitchen of the hotel. Robert had announced he was running for President and this was one of his campaign speeches. America was shocked at his death, and sad. They were sad because of the thought that the Kennedy legacy won't move on, and they loved JFK, -
Richard Nixon
Nixon was elected to be the 37th President of the U.S. in 1969. Nixon lightened tension between the U.S.S.R and us as well as he opened the door to China. He started Vietnaminization which got the U.S out of Vietnam. His presidency is remembered horribly because of the Watergate Scandel. He was caught hiring spies to get info on the Democratic strategy in the upcoming election. He claimed he didn't know anything about it, but he was caught, Nixon resigned from Presidency. -
Environmental Protection Agency
In hopes of preserving th eenvironment, Richard Nixon started this agency in hopes of protecting the people and the environment with laws passed by Congress. This program is run by an Administrator appointed by the President and has to be approved by Congress. They monitor radiation, toxic waste, and harmful animals with deadly poisons. -
Equal Rights Admendment
The proposed Equal Rights Admendment passed Congress in 1972. It stated equal rights can't be denied due to gender. But in order for it to become an admendment, 38 states had to pass it. 28 states did quickly, women were excited. The ERA failed in 1982, 3 states short of passing. During that time, divorce rates tripled, and the family life had weakened due to issues over abortion. -
Watergate Scandal
Spies broke into the Watergate Office Complex in Washington D.C to steal some information on the Democratic strategy in the upcoming election. Nobody knew who was begin dit until two reporters dug deep into the story and found out that Nixon was behind the whole shibang. He denied the rumors but evidence proves otherwise and he was caught. He had payed 25,000$ to spies to set up cameras in the complex. Nixon made an embarrassment of himself, but also the American Government. -
Whip Inflation
The Whip Inflation was Gerald Ford's stradegy of lowering the inlation. He succeed in doing so, but his plan back fired on him when unemployment rates went up to 9%. The American public was unhappy. Ford went around the country edging people to where pins promoting his Whip Inflation ideas. -
Gerald Ford
Gerald Ford became the 38th President of the U.S through Nixon's resignation. From 1965 to 1973, he was House Minority Leader. He pardoned the country for Nixon's actions. He lowered inflation but that caused unemployment to go up to 9%. In 1975, he ordered an airlift in Da Nang to take anticommunists out of there and into the U.S. He avoided 2 assasination attempts. He lost to Carter in the next election, but it was close.
