US HISTORY – 1967-1975
1960’s Civil Rights & Vietnam
Individual and group activists started civil rights
Important People & Events
movements during this time. They protested, spoke,
wrote, boycotted and litigated in order to change the
thinking and laws that caused segregation and
discrimination among the races and sexes. There were
many movements: Black, Latino, Native American,
Women, and others.
Many historic amendments helped legally end segregation
and discrimination by 1965. The 13th amendment put an
end to slavery. The 14th amendment gave all citizens
equal protection under the law. The 15th gave all races
the right to vote and the 19th gave women the right to
vote as well.
John F. Kennedy (Democrat) became the president in
1960, barely winning over Richard Nixon (Republican).
Kennedy was good looking, young and vibrant, which
played a new role since the elections were televised. He
won by focusing on the poor and the economy instead of
civil rights since that was such a controversial subject.
Kennedy was assassinated in 1963 in Dallas, TX which led
to Lyndon B. Johnson becoming president. LBJ introduced
his “Great Society” with the domestic agenda of waging
war on poverty. He did this through political processes,
the Immigration Act of 1965, implementing
Medicare/Medicaid and creating Head Start preschool
programs. Barry Goldwater opposed LBJ’s attempts but
was beaten in the 1964 election.
The Vietnam War began when the nation fell to
communism and the countries were afraid that others
would follow so they needed to put a stop to it. Ho Chi
Minh, nationalist revolutionary, defeated the French. The
U.S. supported the French. The war ended in 1975, when
the North and Viet Cong beat the South. 58,000
Americans died. There were many protests against the
war and the draft.
The Vietnam War left the U.S. divided among its
generations. The 1969 moon landing (Apollo 11),
however, brought Americans back together and was a
turning point. It showed that extraordinary things could
be accomplished despite the flaws of a nation.
Mendez v. Westminster & Delgado v. Bastrop ISD-Mexican
students segregated violating 14th amendment
Executive Order 9981 (1948)- Desegregation of U.S. military
Sweatt v. Painter (1950)- separate black law school unequal
Hernandez v. Texas (1954)- jurors excluded based on race
Brown v. Board of Education (1954)- segregated schools
unequal
1957 Civil Rights Act- small commission on black civil rights
1964 Civil Rights Act- segregation illegal in public places and in
hiring
24th Amendment (1964)- stopped poll taxes in federal elections
1965 Voting Rights Act- banned unapproved procedures and
literacy tests and added election examiners
Thurgood Marshall- first African-American Supreme Court
Justice; won many civil rights cases
Rosa Parks- refused to give up bus seat and was arrested
Martin Luther King Jr.- Baptist minister who lead the boycott381 days of Montgomery Bus Boycott; assassinated in 1968
“Letter from Birmingham Jail”- King was jailed for peaceful
demonstrations and wrote this to increase support
The March on Washington- Over 200,000 people went to
Washington to hear MLK speak for civil rights
“I Have a Dream”- The speed MLK gave at the March
Orval Faubus- Arkansas governor who used state troops to stop
black students from entering Little Rock Central H.S. in 1957
George Wallace-In 1963, Alabama governor who believed in
segregation forever and won South’s electoral votes
Lester Maddox- restaurant owner who sold ax handles to show
resistance to civil rights
Ku Klux Klan- segregationists who threatened activists
Malcolm X- started Nation of Islam; saw whites as enemies
Black Panthers- violent, armed militant group for civil rights
1965 Watts riot- inner-city riot by blacks
LULAC- League of United Latin American Citizens for civil rights
MALDEF- Mexican-American Legal Defense and Education Fund
UFW- United Farm Workers union for rights
La Raza Unida- Mexican-American Texas political party
Betty Friedan (1963)- wrote The Feminine Mystique for
discontented housewives
NOW- National Organization for Women
Roe v. Wade (1973)- legalization of abortion
AIM- American Indian Movement protested and patrolled
Rachel Carson (1962)-wrote Silent Spring; movement against
harming the environment
Ralph Nader (1965)- wrote Unsafe at Any Speed and other
reports that led to safer traffic and vehicle laws
1969 Stonewall riot- homosexual club raid, fought police