1960s
Civil Rights
Movement
The Vietnam War
Civil Rights Movement 50s-60s
The US promised full equality to African
Americans after the Civil War.
BUT Jim Crow laws in the South, residential
segregation in the North, and periodic
violence throughout the country had kept
African Americans from achieving true
equality.
Civil Rights Movement
Jackie Robinson
became the 1st
African American
baseball player to
cross the “color
line” and join the
major leagues.
Civil Rights Movement
Brown v. Board of Education, 1954
• Reversed Plessy v. Ferguson (1896) that stated
that “separate but equal” is ok in public facilities
• NAACP argued that when an African American
student was denied entry into an all-white public
school near her home that segregated public
schools denied “equal protection under the law”
guaranteed under the 14th Amendment
• It outlawed discrimination & segregation in public
education and led the way for desegregation in
other areas.
Segregated Classroom
Civil Rights Movement
Little Rock High School
• Governor of Arkansas
denied 9 black students
admission to all-white
high school
• President Eisenhower
sent in federal troops to
ensure that the students
could attend
Civil Rights Movement
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Montgomery Bus Boycott, 1955-1956
Rosa Parks took a seat in the section of a bus reserved
for whites in Montgomery, Alabama
She was arrested for not giving up her seat to a white
passenger
Her arrest inspired Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. to begin
a 13-month boycott of Montgomery’s public buses.
50,000 African Americans in the city walked, used
bicycles, or joined car pools to avoid using city buses.
It achieved it’s goal in desegregating the buses and Dr.
King emerge as a leader
Rosa Parks
Civil Rights Movement
Freedom Rides in the South 1960-61
Interracial groups rode interstate and local
buses in Freedom Rides through the South
to help African Americans register to vote
Martin Luther King, Jr.
• 1957—formed the Southern Christian
Leadership Conference to mobilize
Southern churches on behalf of civil rights
• Believed that oppression could be overcome
through nonviolent resistance. By refusing
to obey unjust laws, the oppressed would
confront their oppressors with their own
injustice.
• 1960s—led lunch counter sit-ins aimed at
ending segregation in department stores
African American protestors being sprayed with fire hoses
Martin Luther King, Jr.
1963—he was arrested
while demonstrating in
Alabama. He issued
his “Letter from a
Birmingham Jail,” in
which he explained
that African Americans
could wait no longer in
demanding equality
Martin Luther King, Jr.
1963—led the March on Washington and
delivered his “I Have a Dream speech,”
where he outlined his vision of a future
America in which people of all races would
someday live together in brotherhood
Martin Luther King, Jr.
• Civil Rights Act of 1964 passed—prohibited
discrimination based on race, religion, or ethnic
origins in hotels, restaurants, and places of
employment doing business with the federal
government.
• 24th Amendment (1964) eliminated poll taxes in
federal elections
• 1965—focused on voting rights with a march from
Selma to Montgomery
• Voting Rights Act of 1965 passed—ended poll
taxes and literacy tests in all states
Affirmative Action 1965
• President Johnson signed an executive order
requiring employers with federal contracts
to raise the number of their minority and
female employees to correct past
imbalances.
• It also increased minority representation in
colleges and the professions.
Black Power
• In the North, African Americans faced segregation
based on where they lived—ghettos in the inner
cities
• When Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated in
1968, frustration erupted in a series of riots.
• Militants believed in “Black Power”—that
African Americans should have pride in
themselves, be compensated for past mistreatment,
and be in control of their own communities.
Black Power
Malcolm X believed
African Americans
should meet violence
with violence.
“Any means necessary”
1968 Olympics
Women’s Liberation Movement
• To achieve economic and social
equality for women
• Feminists like Betty Friedan
wrote about the frustration that
women felt at being limited to
homemaking and motherhood
• Many women had been active in
the Civil Rights Movement. Its
success inspired women to adopt
similar tactics to promote
women’s rights, such as
lobbying, sit-ins, and mass
demonstrations.
Women’s Liberation Movement
• Because of affirmative action, all-male
colleges became co-ed and hired women
professors.
• In 1963, the Equal Pay Act was passed
requiring companies to pay women the
same wages as men when performing the
same work.
• Feminists introduced the title Ms. To
replace Miss. or Mrs.
Hispanic Americans
• Cesar Chavez, a migrant farm worker,
helped organize fellow workers, most of
whom were Spanish-speaking.
• 1965—Chavez led California grape-pickers
in a 5 year strike.
• They formed the United Farm Workers of
America and won better conditions for
grape-pickers, lettuce growers and other
migrant farm workers.
Cesar Chavez
Cold War continued…
• In Latin America
• 1959 Cuba became
Communist led by
Fidel Castro
• Bay of Pigs—
American supported
assassination attempt
failed
Cuban Missile Crisis
• 1962—US discovered that the Soviets were
secretly building bases in Cuba to house nuclear
missiles aimed at the US (in retaliation to US
bases in Turkey)
• President Kennedy imposed a naval blockade
around Cuba
• During the Crisis, both sides threatened each other
with nuclear war.
• Khrushchev finally withdrew the missiles in return
for a promise never to invade Cuba
Soviet missile base in Cuba
Soviet ship bringing missiles to Cuba
Berlin Wall
• 1961—the Soviets built a wall to separate
Communist and nonCommunist Berlin
• It became a somber symbol of the Cold War
• It stopped the flow of East Germans to the
West and possible defection.
Building the Berlin Wall
Looking through the barbed wire over the Berlin Wall to
Brandenburg Gate
Berlin Wall: East Communist & West Democratic
Vietnam War
• 1954—Vietnamese win their independence from
France
• Geneva Conference divides Vietnam into 2
separate nations
• Vietnamese Communists, led by Ho Chi Minh,
were given control of the North.
• A non-Communist state was established in the
south
• Vietnam would be reunited after free elections
Ho Chi Minh
Vietnam War
Why America got involved?
President Kennedy and others believed that if
South Vietnam fell to Communism, other
Asian nations would soon follow, falling
like a row of dominoes. Based on this
Domino Theory, Kennedy sent military
advisors to help defend South Vietnam,
hoping it would develop into a democratic
nation.
Vietnam War
America’s Role Expands
• 1964—Congress gave President Johnson authority
to halt Vietnamese aggression in the Gulf of
Tonkin Resolution.
• Over the next 3 years, LBJ sent large numbers of
US troops to Vietnam.
• 1968—Vietcong launched attacks throughout
South Vietnam in the Tet Offensive, showing
Americans they were far from winning the war
LBJ visits Vietnam
Buddhist monks protested Diem’s regime (ruler of South
Vietnam) and American interference
American planes dump napalm on Vietnam to
burn away the forest to deter ambush and the
advantages of the Vietcong
Napalm girl—this village just had napalm dumped on it
This is why they tried to burn off all the foliage
Zippo Raid
To burn
suspected safe
houses for
Vietcong
Anti-War Demonstrations at Home
• Many young people challenged the materialism of
American society.
• They were shocked at their parents’ indifference to
poverty and racism.
• Many youths focused on US involvement in
Vietnam and the military draft.
• 26th Amendment passed—giving 18 years old the
right to vote, because people felt it was unfair to
draft young men to fight when they could not even
vote to support or oppose it.
Kent State Protest where students were fired on
Burning draft card
Hanoi Jane
Jane Fonda in protest of
the war went to North
Vietnam and had her
picture taken with
Vietcong soldiers
Vietnam War
• Richard Nixon campaigned for President in
1968, promising to bring “peace with
honor” in Vietnam.
• BUT the war dragged on for 5 more years
• Unable to achieve victory, Nixon began
withdrawing US forces
• 1973—the US reaches an agreement with
the North Vietnamese so the US withdrew
Vietnam War
• 1975—the last of our troops were pulled out
as Saigon, capital of South Vietnam, falls to
the Communist.
• We had all our troops out (except a # of
POWs) and as many South Vietnamese as
could be carried out (mainly because they
aided us and would be tortured by the
Communists)
Fall of Saigon--1975