Questions & Answers: U. S. History - Progress and Protest: 1948 - 1975

Explain the importance of Stokely Carmichael, Adam Clayton Powell, and Jesse Jackson’s influence on the Civil Rights Movement.
Stokely Carmichael—Carmichael invented the term “Black Power” and served as head of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee. He believed in black pride and black culture, and felt separate political and social institutions should be developed for blacks. Adam
Clayton Powell—chairman of the Coordinating Committee for Employment, he led rent strikes and other actions, as well as a bus boycott, to increase the hiring of blacks.
Jesse Jackson—Jackson was selected to head the Chicago Operation Breadbasket in 1966 by Martin Luther King, Jr., and went on to organize boycotts and other actions. He also had an unsuccessful run for President.

Explain the importance of Rosa Parks, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and Malcolm X’s influence on the Civil Rights Movement.
In the 1950s, post-war America was experiencing a rapid growth in prosperity. However, African Americans found themselves left behind. Following the lead of Mahatma Gandhi, who lead similar class struggles in India; African Americans began to demand equal rights.
Major figures in this struggle included:
Rosa Parks—often called the “mother of the Civil Rights Movement,” her refusal to give up her seat on the bus to a white man served as a seed from which the movement grew.
Martin Luther King, Jr.—the best-known leader of the movement, King drew on Gandhi’s beliefs and encouraged non-violent opposition. He led a march on Washington in 1963, received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1968, and was assassinated in 1968.
Malcolm X—espousing less peaceful means of change, Malcolm X became a Black Muslim, and supported black nationalism.

Review the importance of the Montgomery Bus Boycott, the Desegregation of Little Rock, and the Birmingham Campaign during the Civil Rights movement.
Major events from the Civil Rights Movement include:
Montgomery Bus Boycott—in 1955 Rosa Parks refused to give away her seat on a bus to a white man. As a result, she was tried and convicted of disorderly conduct and of violating local laws. A 381-day boycott came after the ruling on Parks.
Desegregation of Little Rock—in 1954 the Supreme Court ruled on Brown vs. Board of Education. The case said that “separate but equal” was unconstitutional. So, in 1957 the Arkansas school board voted to desegregate their schools. So, the governor brought in the National Guard to keep nine black students from entering Central High School in Little Rock. Then, President Eisenhower responded by making the National Guard a federal organization. So, he ordered the National Guard to assist in helping the black students walk into the school.
Birmingham Campaign—Protestors that wanted to raise national attention to the integration work in Birmingham. The protestors organized sit-ins and a march to launch a voting campaign. Then, the City of Birmingham banned the protests. So, the protestors did not stop and were arrested and jailed.

Review some of the key legislation passed as a result of the Civil Rights movement.
1. Brown vs. Board of Education (1954)—the Supreme Court declared that “separate but equal” accommodations and services were unconstitutional.
2. Civil Rights Act of 1964—declared discrimination illegal in employment, education, or public accommodation.
3. Voting Rights Act of 1965—ended various activities practiced, mostly in the South, to bar blacks from exercising their voting rights. These included poll taxes and literacy tests.

Review some key points of Dwight Eisenhower’s presidency.
Eisenhower carried out a middle-of-the-road foreign policy and brought about several steps forward in equal rights. He worked to minimize tensions during the Cold War, and negotiated a peace treaty with Russia after the death of Stalin. He enforced desegregation by sending troops to Little Rock, Arkansas when the schools there were desegregated, and also ordered the desegregation of the military. Organizations formed during his administration included the Department of Health, Education and Welfare, and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).

Review some key points of Harry S. Truman’s presidency.
Harry S. Truman took over the presidency from Franklin D. Roosevelt near the end of WW II. He made the final decision to drop atomic bombs on Japan, and he played a major role in the final decisions regarding treatment of post-war Germany.
On the domestic front, Truman initiated a 21-point plan known as the Fair Deal. This plan expanded Social Security, provided public housing, and made the Fair Employment Practices Act permanent. Truman helped support Greece and Turkey, under threat from the USSR, supported South Korea against communist North Korea, and helped with recovery in Western Europe. He also participated in the formation of NATO, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.

Give a brief overview of Kennedy’s presidency.
Although cut short by his assassination, during his term JFK instituted economic programs that led to a period of continuous expansion in the US unmatched since before WW II. He formed the Alliance for Progress and the Peace Corps, organizations intended to help developing nations. He also oversaw the passage of new civil rights legislation, and drafted plans to attack poverty and its causes, along with support of the arts. Kennedy’s presidency ended when he was assassinated by Lee Harvey Oswald in 1963.

Explain the Korean War.
The Korean War began in 1950 and ended in 1953. For the first time in history, a world organization—the United Nations—played a military role in a war. North Korea sent Communist troops into South Korea, seeking to bring the entire country under Communist control. The UN sent out a call to member nations, asking them to support South Korea. Truman sent troops, as did many other UN member nations. The war ended three years later with a truce rather than a peace treaty, and Korea remains divided at 38 degrees North Latitude, with Communist rule remaining in the North and a democratic government ruling the South.

Review some of the key points of Lyndon B. Johnson’s presidency.
Kennedy’s Vice President, Lyndon Johnson, assumed the presidency after Kennedy’s assassination. He supported civil rights bills, tax cuts, and other wide-reaching legislation that Kennedy had also supported. Johnson saw America as a “Great Society,” and enacted legislation to fight disease and poverty, renew urban areas, support education and environmental conservation. Medicare was instituted under his administration. He continued Kennedy’s supported of space exploration, and he is also known, although less positively, for his handling of the Vietnam War.

Give an overview of the Cuban Missile Crisis.
The Cuban Missile Crisis occurred in 1962, during John F. Kennedy’s presidency. Russian Premier Nikita Khrushchev decided to place nuclear missiles in Cuba to protect the island from invasion by the US. American U-2 planes flying over the island photographed the missile bases as they were being built. Tensions rose, with the US concerned about nuclear missiles so close to its shores, and the USSR concerned about American missiles that had been placed in Turkey. Eventually, the missile sites were removed, and a US naval blockade turned back Soviet ships carrying missiles to Cuba. During negotiations, the US agreed to remove their missiles from Turkey and agreed to sell surplus wheat to the USSR. A telephone hot line between Moscow and Washington was set up to allow instant communication between the two heads of state to prevent similar incidents in the future.

Give a brief overview of the Vietnam War.
After World War II, the US pledged, as part of its foreign policy, to come to the assistance of any country threatened by Communism. When Vietnam was divided into a Communist North and democratic South, much like Korea before it, the eventual attempts by the North to unify the country under Communist rule led to intervention by the US.
On the home front, the Vietnam War became more and more unpopular politically, with Americans growing increasingly discontent with the inability of the US to achieve the goals it had set for the Asian country. When President Richard Nixon took office in 1969, his escalation of the war led to protests at Kent State in Ohio, during which several students were killed by National Guard troops.
Protests continued, eventually resulting in the end of the compulsory draft in 1973. In that same year, the US departed Vietnam. In 1975, the south surrendered, and Vietnam became a unified country under Communist rule.

Give a brief overview of the Space Race.
The Space Race was a technological rivalry between the Soviet Union and the United Space on the subject of outer space travel and exploration. Each country aimed to achieve certain space exploration landmarks first, including sending the first unmanned satellite into space, sending the first human into space, and putting the first human beings on the moon. The technology for such endeavors advanced rapidly in each country’s efforts to win the “race.”
Both sides achieved substantial victories: the Soviet Union won the unmanned satellite race with Sputnik 1 on October 4, 1957 and the first man in space race with Yuri Gagarin on April 12, 1961, while the United States won the race to put a man on the moon with Apollo 11 and Neil Armstrong on July 21, 1969.