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Emmett Till was a young African America teen who was beaten, tortured, and killed by a group of white men. None was convicted in court and the the murder became a nation wide cry against injustice. -
The Geneva Conference of 1954 was a time of social unrest and imminent war. The intentions between the US and Russia were high and the war in Vietnam was incoming. At the conference there was a majority decision to declare North Vietnam a independent state. -
The Vietnam War was the result of the red scare in and the Cold War with Russia. Russia's spread of communism to the surrounding countries brought fear to the US government and the people. When North Vietnam declared itself as communist the US stepped in to protect South Vietnam. -
President Dwight D Eisenhower signed the Civil Rights Act of 1957 which prosecuted those who has stood in the way the right to vote. This allowed the black community to truly start to vote safely. -
Four black men sat in a diner where only whites were allowed to sit as a protest for the unjust segregation in restaurants. This was a cataclysm for sit ins all across the US which lead to the destruction of segregation in restaurants and public places. -
Agent Orange was a extremely strong herbicide which was introduced into the War in 1961. The herbicide was used to clear jungle which allowed the guerrilla fighters less cover and foliage. The chemical had long lasting negative on the Vietnamese people in the form of birth defects. -
MLK was speaking to a group on the balcony of a hotel he was staying at when he was shot in the face. Afterwards, violence erupted in 129 cities across the US from rioting African Americans. -
Malcolm X was a civil rights activist and Muslim minister who was shot in a ballroom in New York. Thousands paid respects to him during his funeral. -
The My Lai Massacre was a series of war crimes committed by US soldiers in Vietnam. The higher-ups in the Army received Intel that there were enemy insurgents in a village in Northern Vietnam and they were instructed to shoot on site. The soldiers killed over 500 men women and children. -
In 1970, President Richard Nixon announced the withdrawal of US troops from Vietnam. The withdrawal was scheduled to happen over the course of 12 months. This was the first major step towards ending the Vietnam War. -
The students at Kent State were protesting when they were fired on by the Ohio national guard killing 4 and wounding 9 others. These students were protesting the war in Vietnam and the presence of the National Guard at the University. The Guard had been increasing their security of the campus and houses around the campus over the weeks leading up to the shooting due to violent protests. -
The end of the Vietnam War was the result of the hundreds of protests pushing back against the war. The US cut the war short due to the significant loss of life and little to no progress. The social justice movement at the time also pushed for the end of the war.