Ch. 11 Terms Flashcards
Civil Rights Movement
Featured African Americans fighting for their constitutional rights
Brown vs Board of Education
The Supreme Court reversed the Plessy decision and ruled that racial segregation in public schools is unconstitutional
Rosa Parks
An African American woman who refused to give up her bus seat to a white passenger. The bus driver called the police who arrested her and took her to jail.
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
A young Baptist minister who lead the Montgomery Improvement Association in a boycott of city buses.
Montgomery Bus Boycott
A major victory for African Americans and served to make Martin Luther King Jr. a national figure.
Sit-Ins
Nonviolent protests in which blacks sat in segregated places until they were served or arrested
Freedom Rides
The congress of Racial Equality, CORE, organized these to test the supreme court’s decision that segregation was illegal in bust stations open to interstate travel.
March On Washington
MLK Jr. Stood before the Lincoln Memorial and addressed a crowd of more that 200000 civil rights supporters about his dream that the US would become a desegregated society
Malcom X
Preached that blacks should use “any means necessary” to secure their rights.
Black Power
A term that included pride in African heritage, separate black economic and political institutions, self-defense against white violence, and, sometimes, violent revolution.
Lyndon B. Johnson
The president following kennedy’s assassination who strongly urged congress to pass the new civil rights laws in honor of the late president.
Civil Rights Act of 1964
Prohibited segregation in public accommodations as well as discrimination in education and employment. It gave the president power to enforce the new law.
Twenty-Fourth Amendment
Served to protect blacks’ voting rights by making the poll tax illegal
Voting Rights Act of 1965
Authorized the president to suspend literacy tests for voter registration and to send federal officials to register voters in the event that county officials failed to do so.
Cold War
Across the globe and particularly in the underdeveloped nations of Africa, Asia, and Latin America, the US and the USSR tried to outmaneuver one another for influence and make allies of these nations.
Great Society
Consisted of various proposed social programs and centered greatly around Johnson’s declared “War on Poverty”
War on Poverty
Johnson’s idea to reduce poverty
Vietnam
France established this colony, but following WW2, fighting erupted as they began to want independence. This worried Eisenhower because of the nationalists’ ties to communism.
Gulf of Tonkin Resolution
Gave the president the authority to “take all necessary measures to repel any armed attack against the forces of the US…” Johnson was able to take military action in Vietnam.
Operation Rolling Thunder
Johnson ordered an intense bombing campaign against North Vietnam.
Tet Offensive
Produced heavy fighting even in the South Vietnamese and Viet Cong launched a major coordinated attack against the US and South Vietnamese forces
Anti-War Movement
Mass demonstrations against war took place.
Richard Nixon
Vowed to get the US out of Vietnam.
Paris Peace Accords
The US, South Vietnam, North Vietnam, and leaders met together in Paris, France. It officially ended US involvement in Vietnam.
Saigon
In the Spring of 1975 (after Nixon had left office), North Vietnamese finally surrounded this South Vietnamese capital
Kent State University
The protest turned violent. Guardsmen ended up killing four people and left nine others seriously injured.
Pentagon Papers
The New York Times published these. They were a study ordered by former Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara and documented the history of US involvement in Vietnam. They revealed that the Executive Branch had lied to congress concerning war.
Counterculture
Culture division that was taking hold in the US during this time period.
Students for a Democratic Society (USDS)
Launched large protests and called for many radical steps to deal with poverty, inequality, and ending the war in Vietnam.
United Farm Workers
Supported the rights of migrant farm workers, many of whom were poor Hispanic immigrants. Founded by Cesar Chavez.
Women’s Movement
Often referred to as “women’s liberation” or “women’s lib,” rejected traditional gender roles and advocated equality between men and women.
Equal Rights Amendment
The women’s movement led to a campaign to amend the constitution to make sexual discrimination illegal. It failed to be ratified.
Roe vs Wade
The Supreme Court ruled state laws restricting a woman’s right to an abortion during the first three months of pregnancy to be unconstitutional. It remains one of the most controversial decisions in US history.
Détente
President Nixon believed in this philosophy. Under this policy, Nixon sought to ease the tensions that existed between the US and these nations through diplomacy rather than intimidation or force.
New Federalism
A domestic set of policies launched by Nixon. He wanted to cut government programs and spending and give more power back to the states; he wanted to turn back the aggressive tide of civil rights legislation and advocated a “middle road” between instant integration and “segregation forever”.
School Busing
The practice of having students attend schools outside the boundaries of who might normally be their district in order to achieve racial integration.
Oil Embargo
In response to the US backing Israel during its war with Egypt and Syria, the Arab States comprising OPEC imposed this in which they refused to sell oil to the US.
Environmental movement
Citizens advocated conservation and government policies designed to preserve and protect the environment.
EPA
Environment Protection Agency; congress passed legislation to maintain clean air and water and the administration established this to be responsible for setting and enforcing national pollution-control standards.
