What Supreme Court decision made segregation legal?

Plessy v. Ferguson

What organization, founded by WEB Dubois, fought school segregation in the courts?

NAACP

Give an example of a Jim Crow Law.

separate facilities, curfews, separate workplaces

How did WWII serve as a catalyst for the Civil Rights

Movement?

blacks fought and died for U.S. then came home to

discrimination

Why was it such a big deal that Jackie Robinson played

baseball?

it was America’s past time, everybody paid attention

What decision reversed Plessy?

Brown vs. the Board of Ed. (Topeka, KS)

Who was chosen to lead the Montgomery Bus boycott?

What was the key principle of his strategy to end

segregation?

Martin Luther King Jr.non-violence/passive resistance

(from Gandhi & Thoreau)

What organization was founded by King & other ministers in

1957?

Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC)

How did President Eisenhower support the integration of

Central High School in Little Rock?

Sent in National Guard troops to keep the peace and protect

the students

What was SNCC? What was their first big action in the

movement?

The Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee, Sit

Ins at segregated lunch counters (1960)

What was the goal of the Freedom Riders (1961)? What

challenges did they face?

Integrate bus terminals and take the movement to the

deep South; faced bombings, beatings, arrests, etc.

Why was JFK reluctant to fully support the Freedom Riders?

He was afraid of America looking bad on the world scene (Cold War tension with the Soviets,

didn’t want bad publicity)

Why was Birmingham (AL) Police Commissioner Bull

Connor so infamous?

Symbol of white resistance and oppression; ordered use of police dogs & fire hoses on protestors in Birmingham

What did the SCLC do to expose Bull Connor’s tactics in 1963? What happened to MLK

there?

Marches in Birmingham, he was put in jail where he wrote “Letter from a Birmingham Jail” saying

he would be an “extremist in the cause of morality”

What was the purpose of the March on Washington in 1963? What famous speech was given

there?

pressure for Civil Rights Legislation, MLK’s “I Have a

Dream” speech

What legislation came out of this pressure?

Civil Rights Act of 1964, Voting Rights Act of 1965

What was the focus of the 1964 Mississippi Summer Project?

Was it successful?

increase # of black voters in Mississippi in order to boost political participation; yes

Give an example of a Black Separatist Organization. Where

was separatism & militancy more rampant among blacks?

Black Panthers, Nation of IslamMore rampant in Northern

Cities

What did Malcolm X say blacks should reject? Embrace?

self hatred imposed on them by white culture; the beauty and strength of their Black

culture

Name two demands of the Black Panthers.

full employment, self determination, blacks should not serve in Vietnam, decent

housing, better education

Who fled the inner cities for the suburbs after WWII? What did

they take with them?

middle class whites; tax dollars needed for social services –

which left inner cities in tough shape

Name two places riots broke out in response to poor conditions in the cities.

Watts (1965) Newark and Detroit (1967)

What was the SCLC’s final campaign under the direction

of MLK?

Poor People’s Campaign – focused on poverty and working conditions of poor (working on this when he was assassinated)

What was John Kennedy’s plan for America called? What were

two of its major goals?

New Frontier, reinvigorate the United States & continue the

triumph of capitalism Space Race (NASA, Peace Corps, Civil Rights)

What was Lyndon Johnson’s plan for the United States

called? What were two of its goals?

Great Society, eliminate poverty, improve civil rights & provide health care (we got Medicare,

Medicaid, Civil Rights Legislation and AFDC out of this)

What was AIM? What were two of their demands?

American Indian Movement; treaties upheld, original land back, better education, equal

rights

What was NOW? What were two issues they focused on?

National Organization for Women, equal pay, equal

rights, sexual discrimination in the work place

What union focused on improving wages and working

conditions for Latino farm workers? Who was it’s leader?

United Farm Workers (UFW); Cesar Chavez

Who did the Vietnamese originally fight for their

independence after WWII? Who led their fight for

independence and became leader of North Vietnam?

France; Ho Chi Minh

Who did the U.S. install as the leader of South Vietnam in the

late 1950s? How was he received by the South

Vietnamese?

Ngo Dinh Diem, poorly – much protest (monks immolating

themselves)

What theory proposed that if South Vietnam fell to

Communism, the rest of SE Asia would soon follow?

domino theory

What were the southern sympathizers of the communist North called? Were they easy

to identify?

Viet Cong or NLF; no – there was no sure way to identify

them

What act of Congress gave LBJ the power to “use any means

necessary” in Vietnam in 1964?

Gulf of Tonkin Resolution

Which president oversaw our escalation of the conflict?

Who’s policies was he following?

LBJ, JFK’s

What program was started to win over the hearts and minds of the South Vietnamese and

clear rural areas of VC?

Pacification

Why did the US decide to defoliate the jungles of

Vietnam? How did they do it?

To try and take away the guerilla warfare advantage

enjoyed by the VC; napalm & agent orange

List two ways combat conditions in Vietnam were unlike those soldiers had

prepared for.

jungle, traps & guerrilla tactics, heat & rain, unknown enemy

What impact did the 1968 Tet Offensive have on public

opinion about the war? Why?

turned many against it, showed that the VC and North

Vietnamese were still strong and willing to fight

Why were there huge anti-war protests at the 1968 Democratic National

Convention? What were the protest leaders called?

After Robert Kennedy was assassinated anti-war people feared the ongoing escalation

of the war; Chicago 7

What goal did Nixon claim to be pursuing in the Vietnam

War?

Peace with Honor

What was “vietnamization”?

Nixon’s plan for turning the war over to the South Vietnamese

Name one factor that made our involvement in Vietnam so

controversial.

Question of just cause, high cost ($ & lives), impatience with lack of progress, it was

all there on TV

What effect did the draft have on public support for the

Vietnam War? Name two ways people tried to avoid the draft.

The draft led to increased protest against the war; go to college,

start a family, self inflicted wound, act crazy, or flee to

Canada after you got drafted

What event immediately preceded the fall of South Vietnam? What

was the fate of many South Vietnamese families who

supported the U.S.?

full withdrawal of U.S. troops, became refugees

What was the name of the quiet group that wanted law &

order & supported the war?

silent majority

Who were the Hawks? Who were the Doves?

Americans who supported the war, Americans who opposed

it

What minority groups were over-represented in the troops

in Vietnam?

Blacks and Hispanics

What brought an end to draft deferments for students and

married people in 1969? How did this effect the war protest

movement?

draft lottery; ramped up protest movement

What documents, printed in the NY Times in 1971, exposed the truth about U.S. plans for

Vietnam?

Pentagon Papers

Why did the U.S. attack Cambodia and Laos in 1970? What was the response in the

United States?

there were bases for the VC and NVA, massive protests

(students killed at Kent State & Jackson State)

What did the 26th Amendment do? Who did this favor in the

election of 1972?

Lowered voting age to 18, George McGovern (he was an anti-war candidate favored by

the young)

What tactic did Nixon use to try and force the Vietnamese to

the bargaining table?

increased bombing, especially the Christmas bombings of

1972

What two powerful nations did Nixon visit to play against each

other in the early 1970s?

China and the USSR

What were the two main planks of Nixon’s platform in 1968?

law & order and an honorable peace in Vietnam

Who gets power returned to them under Nixon’s “New

Federalism”?

the states

What is détente?

the lessening of Cold War tensions between the U.S. &

Soviet Union in the 1970s

What product did we sell to the Soviets in an effort to improve

relations during the 1970s?

grain

What treaties between the U.S. & USSR helped reduce the number of ICBMs and other

strategic weapons?

SALT I & II

Who kept the Watergate story hot in the press during 1972

and increased public pressure for the investigation?

Woodward & Bernstein

What did Alexander Butterfield reveal to Ervin’s Senate

committee in 6/73?

that Nixon taped his conversations

What was the Saturday Night Massacre? How did it make

Nixon look?

Nixon fired two people in the justice department before he found one to fire Cox, guilty

Why did Nixon eventually decide to release transcripts of the tapes? How did they make

him look?

thought they would clear him, foul mouthed & evil

How did Watergate change the way Americans viewed the

Presidency?

lost faith in the office

Who took over for Spiro Agnew as Vice President? Why did

Agnew resign?

Gerald Ford, Agnew took bribes when he was governor of

Maryland

Which of Ford’s early actions shocked the nation?

pardon of Nixon for Watergate

What is OPEC? How did they start an energy crisis in the

U.S. in 1973?

Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, embargo

on oil (Arab-Israeli War)

What did the “Steel Belt” become in the late 1970s?

Why?

Rust Belt; plant closings, layoffs, towns shutting down

(U.S. economy did not respond well to oil shortages)

What is stagflation? When did it hit the U.S.?

a combination of inflation and a stagnant economy, late-1970s

What were two key attributes that helped Jimmy Carter get

elected President in 1976?

Open & honest, Washington outsider, humble background

Identify one way in which Carter tried to demonstrate he

was a man of the people.

walked down PA Ave after inauguration, no heat in White House, meet with all kinds of

Americans

What was Carter’s biggest foreign policy triumph?

Camp David Accords (1977 peace agreement between

Israel and Egypt)

Identify an action taken by Carter early in his Presidency that was controversial with

many Americans.

Gave amnesty to draft dodgers, turned canal back over to

Panama

Why did Iranian students take U.S. embassy personnel

hostage in 1979?

wanted Shah returned to Iran for trial

What did followers of the Ayatollah Khomeini call the

U.S.? Why?

the Great Satan, believed Western influence was

corrupting their nation (& Islam)

Identify two ways that Carter responded the the 1979 Soviet

Invasion of Afghanistan.

grain embargo, ended SALT talks, boycotted 1980 Olympics in Moscow

Identify three of the major problems Carter faced in his

effort to get re-elected in 1980.

Afghanistan, Iran Hostage Crisis, Bad Economy & Energy

Crisis

What 1980 presidential candidate promised to restore

pride and prestige to the presidency and the country?

Ronald Reagan

How did Reagan try to bring about the downfall of the

USSR?

huge military buildup – “spend the Soviets to their graves”

Who was favored by the policy of Reaganomics? How?

upper class Americans; they received tax cuts and then were

supposed to spend & invest more to benefit the whole economy

What were three of the major social crises of the 1980’s?

Decline of the inner-cities, crack cocaine, AIDS

What were the key issues dividing liberals and

conservatives in the 1980’s? Why did Reagan play these

issues up?

gun control, abortion, the death penalty, school prayer,

the ERA; to win votes from Evangelical Christians

What were some of the key characteristics of the U.S.’

economy through the 1980’s?

growing technology sector, corporate raiders/speculation

in real estate, junk bonds

What was congress’ position on funding the Nicaraguan Contras

(who fought the socialist government) in 1983?

against it

What was our gov’t hoping for help with from the Iranians in exchange

for selling them weapons in the early 1980s? Where did the

money go?

freeing our hostages in Lebanon; money went to fund

Contras

Who was the scapegoat for the Iran Contra Affair?

Oliver North – Marine colonel who took full blame

Which one of Pres. H.W. Bush’s supreme court nominees brought the issue of sexual harassment to

the country’s attention?

Clarence Thomas

Who was Manuel Noriega?

the drug dealing dictator of Panama that Bush had to

have captured and arrested

What was the Savings and Loan scandal of the late

1980’s?

several U.S. senators were protecting the interests of S&L

chiefs who were losing big bucks – gov’t had to bail them out

What was Pres. H.W. Bush’s biggest foreign policy

achievement? Why did some people criticize him for it?

Persian Gulf War, failure to completely remove Saddam

Hussein from power

What kinds of issues did Bill Clinton focus his campaign on in the 1992 election? What third party candidate helped him by

taking votes from Bush?

Economic (“It’s the economy, Stupid!”), Ross Perot

What were some of the big issues Clinton tried to take on

right from the start of his presidency? What was public

reaction?

Healthcare Reform and Gays in the Military; issues were controversial and public

opinion turned against him

What significant change took place in Congress after the 1994 Midterm Elections?

A “Republican Revolution” based on their “Contract With America” (backlash against

Clinton)

Identify two of the scandals Clinton faced during his

Presidency? What action did Congress take against him?

Whitewater, Paula Jones, Monica Lewinsky; House

Impeached him (Senate found him not guilty in 1999)

What two issues were hotly debated in CA during the 1990s (there were ballot props passed

on each of them)?

Illegal Immigration (187) and Affirmative Action (209)

What sector drove the booming economy of the late 1990s?

technology (initial growth of the internet – every one

thought internet commerce would explode)

How did the 2000 Presidential Election finally end?

The Supreme Court ordered an end to the Florida recounts,

which made W. Bush the winner of FL and therefore the election

Prior to 9/11/01, what were some of George W. Bush’s

priorities?

deregulation, education reform, tax cuts for upper classes &

corporations

Identify at least two of the major changes, other than War, that came about following 9/11.

Patriot Act (limits on civil liberties), TSA, Guantanamo

Prison

What was the primary reason for going to war in Afghanistan

after 9/11?

It was seen as the breeding ground for Islamic extremism and anti-American terrorists

Why did we go to war in Iraq in March, 2003?

Bush Administration was convinced they had a stockpile of WMDs they were prepared to use against the U.S., grew impatient with UN inspectors