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U.S. History Project
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The Yalta Conference
Stalin, Churchill, and Roosevelt met the Soviet Union to discuss the occupation of Germany and the Soviet Union’s involvement in the Pacific theater. It was determined that Germany and Berlin would be split among the powers and that the Soviet Union would aid in the Pacific Union for control of Manchuria. -
The Bombing of Hiroshima
The United States launched an atomic bomb named “Little Boy” on the Japanese city of Hiroshima. The atomic bomb killed an approximate 150,000 Japanese people and destroyed the city of Hiroshima, demonstrating the power of the weapon and the United States’ willingness to use it. -
The Bombing of Nagasaki
The United States use the atomic bomb “Fat Man” on the Japanese city of Nagasaki. The use of a second atomic bomb further demonstrates the ability and willingness of the United States to use an atomic weapon against civilians. -
Berlin Blockade
Because the sections of Berlin controlled by Great Britain, France, and the United States were inside the Soviet Union controlled eastern Germany, the Soviet Union was able to cut off the democratic areas of Berlin from the rest of the world. To solve this, the United States and Great Britain flew over 200,000 planes carrying supplies into Berlin and the Soviet Union ended the Berlin Blockade. -
Executive Order 9981
"It is hereby declared to be the policy of the President that there shall be equality of treatment and opportunity for all persons in the armed services without regard to race, color, religion, or national origin." This order was the initial stance set by the federal government that the United States should be integrated. -
NATO
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization was created because individual democratic countries were too weak to contend with the spread of the Iron Curtain. After the Cold War ended and tensions diffused, NATO became a political organization. -
Soviet Union's atomic weapon
By September 1949, the Soviet Union had developed and tested its own nuclear weapon, putting the Soviet Union on par with the United States. Deterrence was a major cause of the Cold War and the reason that a nuclear war was not started. -
U.S. gives aid to French in the IndoChina war
The U.S. provides approximately 15 million dollars of aid to French in the Indo-China war. This sets the precedent for who the U.S. supports in this region and shows they are trying to contain communism. Russia and China provide support the Vietminh. -
Federal Civil Defense Administration
The FCDA was created because of fear that the Soviet Union launched a nuclear strike against the United States. The FCDA creates over 100,000 nuclear bunkers to be used in the event of a nuclear war. -
Brown vs. Board of Education
This Supreme Court Case ruled that separate was inherently unequal and that schools will be integrated. This instigated an eruption of disapproval from much of the public and gave birth to many conflicts such as the Little Rock Nine. However it de-segregated schools and was a major step towards equality. -
Geneva Convention
A two state solution is decided for Vietnam. The North will be communist and the South Democratic. It has a two year deadline to hold elections and then Vietnam will be unified under a common government, this is not carried out by the government and the people do not have their say as they were promised. -
Warsaw Pact
As the communist response to NATO, the Warsaw Pact was a communist military alliance to maintain communist power in Eastern Europe. The Warsaw Pact offered a stronger ground force than NATO, but NATO had far superior technology. -
Murder of Emmitt Till
In August 1955 a 14 year old African American boy named Emmitt Till was kidnapped, tortured, and murdered by two white men. These men are brought to court and acquitted of any crimes showing whites could do whatever they wished and get away with it do to the large prejudice during this time. -
Montgomery Bus Boycott
After Rosa Parks is arrested for not giving up her seat on a Montgomery Bus a bus Boycott lasts for over a year in Montgomery. This eventually forced the Montgomery busses to end segregation on their busses. -
President Diem refuses to hold elections in South Vietnam
This goes against what was promised in the Geneva Convention and the U.S. supported this decision in fear it would fall to communism and of the domino effect. -
Litttle Rock Nine
The Little Rock Nine were the first children to go to integrated schools in Arkansas. They were denied entry by orders or the governor of Arkansas and eventually President Eisenhower sent in 1000 troops to escort and follow the children around school to keep them safe. This showed the beginning of integration of schools and how difficult it would be to integrate schools across the nation. -
Sputnik I
The Soviet Union began the space race and the race to find a long range solution to delivering an atomic weapon by launching Sputnik I. Sputnik I was the first satellite launched into the orbit of the Earth and was a predecessor to spy and weapon satellites. -
Castro takes Cuba
In the early stages of the Cuban Revolution, the United States supported Fidel Castro. However, after taking power, Castro began to demonstrate communist tendencies and aligned himself with the Soviet Union, causing concern in the United States. -
Formation of the National Liberation Front (Vietcong)
This guerilla tactic fighting forced is created in 1960 to oppose Diem and throw a coup. They used the same guerrilla fighting tactics that ousted France from Indo-China, they opposed foreigners and the U.S. and the U.S. responded by sending in military advisors to help boost Diems power of the government. -
U-2 Incident
Francis Gary Powers’ U-2 spy plane was shot down over the Soviet Union as it was taking reconnaissance photographs. The incident occurred weeks before a summit with the Soviet Union and caused a deterioration of the United States’ relation with the Soviet Union. -
Bay of Pigs
The United States organized Cuban exiles in an attempt to retake Cuba and overthrow Castro without public involvement by the United States. The attempt failed and greatly increased tensions between the Soviet Union and the United States. -
Freedom RIdes
Over the summer of 1961, students began taking bus rides through the south to exercise their rights and raise awareness. However, many of these "freedom riders" were met with violence. -
Cuban Missile Crisis
In October of 1962, the Soviet Union began construction and development of a nuclear weapons base in Cuba. The Cuban Missile Crisis was a stressful time in United States history and was only solved through a quarantine of Cuba and the proposal of a “missile trade” between Cuba and Turkey. -
Protests start against Diem's dictatorship and regime
This showed that the people were sick of and fed up with the oppression and unfairness of Diem's regime. They were ready for the free elections they were promised and protested and even set themselves aflame to show the dislike and hatred they had to Diem's regime. Many of these people were buddhist as Diem oppressed and hated Buddhists and Buddhism. -
Protests in Birmingham
In Birmingham Alabama civil rights protesters are attacked by the police and are shot with fire hoses. They however, do not mind and keep sending more and more people eventually until the jails are filled up. This gained sympathy for the civil rights movement across the nation. -
Nuclear Test Ban Treaty
The Nuclear Test Ban Treaty was signed by the Soviet Union, the United States, and Great Britain and banned the testing of nuclear weapons in atmosphere, underwater, and in space. It was determined that the banning of nuclear weapons testing would be safer than the continued policy of deterrence. -
Abolition of the poll tax
The destruction of the poll tax allowed many more blacks to vote. In was originally instituted during reconstruction in order to make it more difficult for blacks to vote and the lifting of the tax gave more blacks the option to vote and gained them more rights and more ways to voice their opinion in society -
Civil Rights Act of 1964
The Civil RIghts Act of 1964 was a key piece of legislation. It banned segregation of all kinds and gave the government the power to enforce integration. -
Gulf of Tonkin Incident
This incident was described as three Vietnamese ships firing upon 2 American destroyers. This escalated American involvement in Vietnam as the destroyers sank the three ships. This was used as a reason to invade Vietnam. However many historians now believe it never happened and the president LBJ made it up to have a reason to invade Vietnam. -
Civil RIghts Workers Murdered
Three civil rights workers who were arrested on speeding charges. After being released into the hands of the Ku Klux Klan by the police, the three workers were murdered. -
U.S. begins bombing North Vietnam in operation "Rolling Thunder"
This lasted three days and was the U.S. first attacking Vietnam and putting up an offensive. It marked the beginning of the Vietnam war. -
Voting Rights Act of 1965
This legislation made it easier for southern blacks to vote. It outlawed literacy tests and poll taxes and was a step towards total equality. -
Executive Order 11246
Executive Order 11246 required the government to take "affirmative action" to achieve equal employment. It made it much easier for african americans to find jobs. -
Veterans Protest War in New York City
Veterans Gather and protest the Vietnam war in NYC. This shows the hatred and general dislike the public has for this war. To protest veterans burn their discharge and separation papers. -
Operation Cedar Falls
This was a massive operation of approximately 16,000 U.S. troops and 14,000 southern Cambodian troops with its goal to find and root out the Vietcong operations center in Saigon. The massive systems of tunnels and underground workings, the Vietcong's main base is discovered and is called: The Iron Triangle. -
Loving v. Virginia
In this court case, the Supreme Court of the United States ruled banning interracial marriage unconstitutional. This further increased equality between all citizens of the United States. -
American forces secretly chase NVA forces into Cambodia
This operation by the U.S. of chasing and fighting North Vietnamese forces in Cambodia was kept secret from the public and American society. Nobody knew of these operations as they were going on due to the uproar and protest of war currently happening. This showed it was difficult for the president and administration to carry on any warlike operations without the public going into upheaval due to protest of the war. -
The Tet offensive
The Tet offensive was an attack by communist forces that was on the Vietnamese New Year celebration. The forces took hundreds of towns and cities including the capital of South Vietnam, Saigon. Eventually the U.S. retook all the territory but the public eye saw it as a catastrophic U.S. loss. After Tet many Americans approval rating of the war drops 40 percent of the population now does not believe in the war while the other 40 percent does. The rest of the population is undetermined. -
My Lai Massacre
On March 16, 1968 when American forces reached the city of My Lai, they began slaughtering innocent people who lived in the village. This showed the toll the war was taking on the people who fought in it and caused an uproar of disapproval for the war and the soldiers fighting in it. -
Civil RIghts act of 1968
This act prevented discrimination in housing sales. No longer could houses and apartments only be sold to one race. This helped allow blacks mmore rights and the right to live and purchase housing wherever they wanted to. -
Nixon Secretly Bombs Cambodia
U.S. forces start to use widespread carpet bombing of targets in Cambodia. This is withheld and kept secret from the American public. -
Apollo 11
The Apollo program was successful and allowed the first men on the moon to be Americans. By beating the Soviet Union in the creation of a manned flight to the moon, the United States essentially won the Space Race and took a large step forward in the Cold War. -
Vietnamization announced and enacted
This policy was enacted and was described as taking the burden off the U.S. the war and placing it more on South Vietnam and Vietnamese forces. This marked the beginning of the end of the Vietnam war. -
Swann v. Charlotte-Mecklenburg
This legislation allowed for the continuation of federal busing plans to integrate schools. Although it was largely unwelcome, the busing plans did integrate school systems. -
Cease Fire Announced
A cease fire is announced in 1973. This is decided on in Paris and ends the conflict in Vietnam as troops are pulled out immediately afterward.
