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Korean War
The Korean War was a proxy war. It began when communist North Korea invaded South Korea which was being aided by the U.S. South Korea responded back by attacking the North. But China who was communist entered the war aiding North Korea to push the South Korean and U.S. troops back to their border that divided Korea. This demonstrates that the Soviet Union wanted to expand communism but the U.S. wanted to prevent it from spreading through containment.
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yxaegqvl4aE) -
Counterculture Movement
Feminists, hippies, and young people participated in this movement. (Key concept 8.3 II) People changed their attitudes towards social norms and traditional values. Such as women fighting for equality and ending gender roles. Feminist fought for their rights like in Roe v. Wade. This was important because it gave women the rights to abortion and privacy and established it unconstitutional for laws banning abortion. -
Desegregation
Black students were integrating into the University of Alabama. The governor George Wallace stood at the front door preventing integration in the school. However, in Brown v. Board of Education Supreme Court case, it declared that it was unconstitutional to segregate black and white public schools (key concept 8.2 I.). This overturned "separate but equal." Later on, JFK sent troops to enforce desegregation which shows gov't involvement in the public.
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YgbNc-9Di7k) -
Gulf of Tonkin Incident
In August, North Vietnamese had destroyed the American ships in the Gulf of Tonkin. This then led to America involving in Vietnam. President Johnson took action into passing the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution which would allow the president to take necessary measures in order to protect the country and people of U.S. This shows that it expanded the executive power and escalates into the Vietnam War. (Key concept 8.1 II) there were debates about the power of the executive branch on military policies. -
Vietnam War Draft
President Johnson proceeded Americanization of the Vietnam War. As the war continued the draft claimed more men and an opposition grew such as men ignoring their draft notices or fled to a different country to avoid military services. They did this because they were either against the war or feared of dying in the war.
(http://michiganintheworld.history.lsa.umich.edu/antivietnamwar/exhibits/show/exhibit/draft_protests/the-military-draft-during-the-) -
Black Panther Party
The Black Panther Party was made to unite African Americans and strengthen black power. Its purpose was for self-defense and to protect African Americans from police brutality. The party was founded in 1966 by Bobby Seale, Elbert Howard, and Huey P. Newton. This was important for fighting against racial discrimination by forming organizations to protest and to create a place to speak up on the matters of racism (key concept 8.2 I.).
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rNBPewOfL7o) -
Anti-War Protest
The Vietnam War inspired anti-war protests and the hippie movement. The hippies opposed the actions of sending troops into Vietnam and Cambodia. People were declaring for world peace because they believed that killing people at war to end more wars will not create peace but an ongoing violence. (Key concept 8.1 II.) As the war escalated the anti-war protest increased.
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uF2tQq-_BfE) -
The Vietnam War
President LBJ sent down troops to Vietnam and authorized bombings(Operation Rolling Thunder). The war began on Nov 1, 1955, and ended on Apr 30, 1975. The Cold War tensions between the U.S. and Soviets led to the Vietnam War (key concept 8.1 I.). The two bombs that dropped in North Vietnam were Agent Orange and Napalm which destroyed the jungles.
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j17cDGMRM1U) -
My Lai Massacre
After North Vietnam launched the Tet Offensive which was a series of attacks towards the U.S. American troops were sent to Vietnam and attacked the small village of My Lai. They murdered unarmed civilians. The soldiers abused and tortured innocent women, children, and the elderly. This took place under the presidency of Lyndon B. Johnson. The unspeakable horrors of the massacre had upset Americans and led to ant-war protests.
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OnvTyMptOt8) -
Earth Day
Earth Day is celebrated to create a clean environment for animals and living beings. The purpose of this is to protect nature and to remind people to minimize pollution. (Key concept 8.2 II) Environmental problems led to the environmental movement to push for legislation to protect natural resources. For example, there were problems with power plants releasing chemicals into the atmosphere, the establishment of EPA, and Clean Air Act.
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-r2UjMc-DqU) -
Watergate scandal
The Pentagon Papers held secret information regarding the U.S's involvement in Vietnam. Nixon attempted to prevent the papers from publishing because it might jeopardize his presidency. So he created a team of investigators that gathered information on Daniel Ellsberg (who leaked the papers). The same team had also broken into the Democratic Headquarters in Watergate and sabotaged the democratic campaign. This caused Nixon to resign.
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lzXL7C0JQDM) -
HIV/AIDS
In the 1980s, the outbreak of HIV/AIDS spread throughout the U.S. This especially impacted the LGBT community in which homosexual men were becoming infected by it. This became significant because people were protesting for the government to take serious action into this epidemic because millions of people have been infected with HIV and died from AIDS. They also advocated for more scientific research to find ways to cure it.
(https://www.vox.com/2015/12/1/9828348/ronald-reagan-hiv-aids)
