Cold war timeline

Cultural Change in America from 1940s to 1990s

  • Smith V. Allwright

    Primary Elections must be open to voters of all races.
  • Animal Farm by George Orwell

    Animal Farm was a thinly veiled metaphor for communism. Orwell published his book and it became very popular in America where it stirred the pot of already rising tensions surrounding communism and the soviet union. Animal Farm showed Americans that the Russians had utterly divergent geopolitical interests from America.
  • Pinkerton V. United States

    If a defendant is in a conspiracy, all crimes committed to further the conspiracy can be charged to all Defendents as long as they were still in conspiracy when the crimes were committed.
  • 1984 by George Orwell

    1984 was Orwell's vision of what a totalitarian society would look like after decades of protracted war. A world of rationing, shortages, distorting the truth, and the killing of citizens. Orwell used his book to scorn the regimentation and impersonalization of life in the future and the destruction of the individual.
  • Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury

    Bradbury's novel spoke of a dystopian world where firefighters set fires in order to burn books. Bradbury used his book to inform people of the dangers in concealing knowledge.
  • Brown V. Board of Education

    Effectively ended racial segregation in public schools, however, many schools did stay segregated.
  • Civil Rights Act of 1957

    Eisenhower signs Civil Rights Act of 1957 to help protect voters rights by allowing for federal prosecution of those who suppress another's right to vote.
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    Outcomes of 1960s political Division

    1960s political division led to the rise of identity politics in 1970s, where the US stopped trying to unite under common goals and interests and instead began fighting for rights of their respective subgroups.
  • To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

    To Kill a Mockingbird was a controversial book about racism. The main plot of the book was surrounding Atticus Finch, who was a lawyer to a black man accused of sexually assaulting a white woman. Despite the inconsistent evidence proving his innocence, the black man, Tom Robinson, was convicted. This book made people face the reality of racism in America.
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    Freedom Rides

    Busses of African American civil rights activists travelled across the southern US to protest in white southern states. Protestors were met with heavy violence from whites. Gained needed publicity for black civil rights movement.
  • Engel V. Vitale

    Prohibited state-enforced prayer and bible-reading in a public school, strengthening divide between church and state.
  • March on Washington

    200,000 demonstrators marched on Washington D.C protesting segregation and inequality faced by African Americans, aswell as marching for other marginalized groups. March led to the passing of the civil rights act months later.
  • Civil Rights Act of 1964

    President LBJ signs Civil Rights Act of 1964, preventing employment discrimination on the basis of race, color, sex, religion, or national origin.
  • March from Selma to Montgomery

    Mass march protesting African American voting restrictions in the south. Faced setbacks from police brutality. Organization got national guard to protect them during march.
  • Loving V. Virginia

    Struck down laws that banned inter-racial marriages in 16 states, was later cited in same-sex marriage cases.
  • New York Abortion speak out

    Feminist group known as the Redstockings disrupted a court hearing over abortion, which was led entirely by men. The group demanded that legislators hear from women on abortion decisions. This further strengthened the prevalence of the feminist movement and would help in the passing of roe v. wade.
  • Stonewall Riots

    Police raided a secret gay bar intending on arresting the patrons, to which patrons fought back, forming a riot over the following day. This kickstarted the gay liberation front, who's more militant tactics found more success than those of the previous gay rights movements.
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    Occupation of Alcatraz

    Native American activists landed on the abandoned Alcatraz island/facility, protesting with intentions to turn it into a Native American cultural center. Hundreds would join them in protest. Established precedent for Native American activism.
  • Women's Strike for Equality

    A nationwide strike by women taking place in over 90 cities. Was done of the 50th anniversary of women's suffrage. Brought feminism into national attention.
  • Roe V. Wade

    Overruled any laws that made abortion illegal before a fetus was viable and made abortion a constitutional right.
  • San Antonio Independent School District V. Rodriguez

    Supreme Court ruled that there is no constitutional right to an equal education for all social classes.
  • Increased Normalization of Homosexuality

    American Psychological Association stopped classifying homosexuality as an illness.
  • The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton

    The Outsiders showed the vast difference between social classes, as well as the struggles of growing up. It was an image of what teenage culture was like as well.
  • Secretary of the Interior V. California

    Attempt by Reagan administration to majorly expand oil and gas exploration.
  • Crow Tribe of Indians V. State of Mont.

    State taxes on coal that the tribe mined were deemed to in- fringe on the tribe's right the self-govern- increasing awareness of Native rights.