Unit 10: Important Events

Question 1

Civil Rights Act of 1964

Answer 1

Passed by LBJ, outlawed public segreg and discrim, forbade racial discrim in the workplace

Question 2

Tet Offensive

Answer 2

1968; National Liberation Front and North Vietnamese forces launched a huge attack on the Vietnamese New Year (Tet), which was defeated after a month of fighting and many thousands of casualties; major defeat for communism, but Americans reacted sharply, with declining approval of LBJ and more anti-war sentiment

Question 3

Pueblo Incident

Answer 3

In January 1968 during the Vietnam War the North Koreans seized the “Pueblo”, a U.S. intelligence ship, evidently in international waters. They imprisoned the crew of some eighty men for eleven months. This episode stirred American anger, but provoked no military response.

Question 4

China Recognition

Answer 4

America’s Recongnition of People’s Republic of China (PRC) in 1979

Question 5

Watergate Break-in

Answer 5

bungled burglary had occurred in the Democratic headquarters, located in the Watergate apartment-office complex in Washington. They were working for the Republican Committee for the Re-election of the President

Question 6

SALT & SALT II

Answer 6

Treaty signed in 1972 between the U.S. and the USSR. This agreement limited the number of missiles in each nation. SALT II on June 18, 1977 to cut back the weaponry of the U.S. and the U.S.S.R. because it was getting too competitive. Set limits on the numbers of weapons produced

Question 7

Iranian Revolution

Answer 7

(1978-1979) a revolution against the shah of Iran, which resulted in Iran becoming an Islamic republic, the revolution that transformed Iran from a monarchy under Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi to an Islamic republic under Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, Mullahs (religious leaders) overthrow the US backed Shah and establish a theocracy (religious government) that hated the US

Question 8

Watergate Scandal

Answer 8

A scandal which exposed lies and involvement in the Watergate case of burglary of the national Democratic party headquarters; wrapped up Nixon and the White House in a lot of scandals.

Question 9

War Powers Act

Answer 9

This act stated that the president must report to Congress within 2 days of putting troops in danger in a foreign country, and there would be a 60 to 90 day limit for over seas troop presence.

Question 10

Camp David Accords

Answer 10

The Camp David Accords were the peace accords signed by Menachem Begin and Anwar Sadat to finally end the Israeli-Egyptian disputes. The achievement by Carter is considered his greatest achievement in office.

Question 11

Mayaguez

Answer 11

Peace time military rescue operation conducted by US armed forces against Cambodia.

Question 12

1980 Olympic Boycott

Answer 12

As a result of the Afghanistan invasion in 1979, an American boycott was declared against the 1980 summer Olympics held in Moscow

Question 13

Grenada Invasion

Answer 13

Ronald Reagan dispatched a heavy- fire- power invasion force to the island of Grenada, where a military coup had killed the prime minister and brought Marxists to power —-Americans captured the island quickly demonstrating Reagan’s determination to assert the dominance of the US in the Carribbean

Question 14

Tiananmen Square

Answer 14

Was a suppression of Chinese democrats by the PLA. It caused much condemning from western nations including the U.S.

Question 15

Panama Invasion

Answer 15

Ordered by Bush in December 1989 to remove the autocratic General Manuel Noriega. The said purpose of the invasion was to stop Noriega from using the country as a “drug pipeline” to the US.

Question 16

Bakke V. Regents of the University of Cali

Answer 16

1978, reverse discrimination. US court case in which Bakke was denied to University of California Medical School twice to people less qualified based on race. Case determined that affirmative action is legal as long as filling quotas is not used.

Question 17

24th Amendment

Answer 17

1964
Poll tax abolished.
Congress has the power to enforce this via legislation.

Question 18

Tonkin Gulf Resolution

Answer 18

United States President Lyndon B. Johnson said that North Vietnamese forces had twice attacked American destroyers in the Gulf of Tonkin. Second attack never really happened or was exaggerated greatly

Question 19

Pentagon Papers

Answer 19

Top-secret documents, published by The New York Times in 1971, that showed the blunders and deceptions that led the United States into the Vietnam War.

Question 20

Operation Rolling Thunder

Answer 20

Aerial bombardment campaign conducted against the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (North Vietnam) from 2 March 1965 until 1 November 1968, during the Vietnam War.

Question 21

My Lai Massacre

Answer 21

1968, in which American troops had brutally massacred innocent women and children in the village of My Lai, also led to more opposition to the war.

Question 22

CREEP

Answer 22

Richard Nixon’s committee for re-electing the president. Found to have been engaged in a “dirty tricks” campaign against the democrats in 1972.

Question 23

October War

Answer 23

This was a war fought by Israel and neighboring Arab nations where the Arabs launched a surprise attack. U.S. support for Israel during the war led to OPEC boycotting the U.S., creating an energy crisis.

Question 24

Alaska Pipeline

Answer 24

Built in 1975 along the pipeline to Valdez, it was an above-ground pipe 4 feet in diameter used to pump oil from the vast oil fields of northern Alaska to the tanker station in Valdez Bay where the oil was put aboard ships for transport to refineries in the continental U.S.

Question 25

Kent State Killings

Answer 25

shooting of students(protesting invasion of cambodia) by members of the Ohio National Guard

Question 26

26th Amendment

Answer 26

Lowered the voting age from 21 to 18

Question 27

Roe vs. Wade

Answer 27

1973 All state laws prohibiting abortions were made unconstitutional based on a woman’s right to privacy

Question 28

USSR-Afghan War

Answer 28

(1979, Jimmy Carter); purpose-restore pro-Soviet regime; destroyed hopes of Detente and hardened the relations between the US and the Soviet Union; effect- US placed an embargo on the shipment of grain to the Soviet Union

Question 29

Balanced Budget Act

Answer 29

Balanced Budget Act tried to completely eliminate the defecit, ultimately passed, extended, and eventually failed

Question 30

ADA (disabilities)

Answer 30

Americans with Disabilities Act, prohibited discrimination of Americans with physical or mental disabilities, part of Bush’s work for a “kinder, gentler America”

Question 31

Berlin Wall Opening

Answer 31

The Berlin Wall was eventually chipped away, into smaller pieces (some the size of a coin and others in big slabs). The pieces have become collectibles and are stored in both homes and museums.

After the Berlin Wall came down, East and West Germany reunified into a single German state on October 3, 1990.

Question 32

Operations Desert Shield & Desert Storm (Kuwait)

Answer 32

Originally called Operation desert Shield. The operation changed to Operation Desert Storm when allies of the U.S. attacked Iraq with cruise missiles.

Question 33

Voting Rights Act

Answer 33

A law designed to help end formal and informal barriers to African American suffrage. Under the law, hundreds of thousands of African Americans were registered and the number of African American elected officials increased dramatically.

Question 34

Free Speech Movement

Answer 34

Led by Mario Savio it protested on behalf of students rights. It spread to colleges throughought the country discussing unpopular faculty tenure decisions, dress codes, dormitory regulations, and appearances by Johnson administration officials.

Question 35

1968 Democratic Convention

Answer 35

Held in a hotel in Chicago where delegates voted down a peace resolution and seemed ready to nominate John’s former vice, Hubert Humphrey, when protesters gathered for a rally outside. Police beat/arrested them to break up the crowd as the violence was caught on film. The Democrats still elected Humphrey.

Question 36

25th Amendment

Answer 36

If the president dies, resigns, or is impeached, the VP will become president.
If the VP office is vacant, the president will nominate a VP, who will take office after a majority vote in House and Senate.
If the president is disable, the VP will serve for him.
Procedure for disqualifying or requalifying president established.

Question 37

ABM Treaty

Answer 37

(anti-ballistic missile treaty) which limit each nation to 2 cluster of defensive missles and the SALT (Strategic Arms Limitation Talks) which freeze # of long-range missles for five years also lessened tension, but the U.S. also went ahead with its new MIRV (Multiple Independently-targeted Reentry Vehicles) missiles, which could overcome any defense by overwhelming it with a plethora of missiles; therefore, the U.S.S.R. did the same.

Question 38

Energy Crisis

Answer 38

when Carter entered office inflation soared, due to toe the increases in energy prices by OPEC. In the summer of 1979, instability in the Middle East produced a major fuel shortage in the US, and OPEC announced a major price increase. Facing pressure to act, Carter retreated to Camp David, the presidential retreat in the Maryland Mountains. Ten days later, Carter emerged with a speech including a series of proposals for resolving the energy crisis.

Question 39

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)

Answer 39

created to protect nature, as well as OSHA, or the Occupational Health and Safety Administration.

Question 40

Equal Rights Amendment (ERA)

Answer 40

declared full constitutional equality for women. Although it passed both houses of Congress in 1972, a concerted grassroots campaign by anti-feminists led by Phyllis Schlafly persuaded enough state legislatures to vote against ratification. The amendment failed to become part of the Constitution.

Question 41

Iranian Hostage Crisis

Answer 41

The 444 days in which American embassy workers were held captive by Iranian revolutionaries after young Muslim fundamentalists overthrew the oppressive regime of the American-backed shah, forcing him into exile. These revolutionaries triggered an energy crisis by cutting off Iranian oil. The crisis began when revolutionaries stormed the American embassy, demanding that the United States return the shah to Iran for trial. The episode was marked by botched diplomacy and failed rescue attempts by the Carter Administration. After permanently damaging relations between the two countries, the crisis ended with the hostage’s release the day Ronald Reagan became president

Question 42

Iran-Contra Affair

Answer 42

Scandal including arms sales to the Middle East in order to send money to help the Contras in Nicaragua even though Congress had objected.

Question 43

Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA)

Answer 43

The Drug Enforcement Administration was created by President Richard Nixon through an Executive Order in July 1973 in order to establish a single unified command to combat “an all-out global war on the drug menace.” At its outset, DEA had 1,470 Special Agents and a budget of less than $75 million. Today, the DEA has nearly 5,000 Special Agents and a budget of $2.02 billion.