US history 1302: Exam 4
Summarize what made the 1960 election between Richard Nixon and John Kennedy one of the more compelling in modern history. Identify Kennedy's New Frontier and his most significant legislative achievements.
- 1st ever presidential debate, most ppl thought Kennedy won on TV but that Nixon won on radio; JFK better looking than Nixon - JFK defeated Nixon in razor-tight race by popular vote -JFK: Democrat, Catholic, youngest president, sort of supported civil rights, endorsed MLK, pushed against discrimination - Nixon: lack of charisma, lack of Eisenhower support -New Frontier increased federal aid to education, medical insurance for the elderly, and anti-poverty initiatives
Critique Richard Nixon's actions in the 1968 presidential race. Evaluate the quality of the evidence for his violation of the Logan Act or purported treason, and whether his actions were beneficial or harmful to the U.S. in the long run.
- Actions in election: interfered with foreign relations as a private citizen. Nixon and Kissinger disrupted the three-way peace talks (U.S., South Vietnam and North Vietnam), telling the South and its leader President Thiệu through intermediary Madame Anna Chennault that, if they hung on until Nixon was president, they'd get a better deal. -Treason: was wiretapped by FBI and tapped S Vietnamese embassy in Washington, Nixon denied charges in phone call, Johnson decides not to publicize - Interfering with foreign relations as a private citizen is a felony under the Logan Act.
Explain the ways that Henry David Thoreau and Mahatma Gandhi influenced the philosophy of Martin Luther King, Jr.
- For inspiration MLK looked to Gandhi, who preached reliance on satyagraha, loosely translated as the "truth force." Using Non-violent protests. -American writer Henry David Thoreau advocated a similar approach a century earlier in Civil Disobedience. King distinguished his message from Gandhi's passive resistance. - Like Gandhi, King used activist speeches- transferred the moral burden of violence onto his oppressors for all to see. - Like Thoreau and Gandhi, Reverend King argued that some laws were worth breaking on behalf of a higher moral cause.
Identify the Great Society and contrast the legislative achievements of John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson. Which congressmen passed LBJ's landmark civil rights legislation?
- Kennedy: New Frontier agenda, win Space Race against soviets, lowered taxes, sent troops in South to integrate Mississippi Univ and Alabama; signed Equal Pay Act- outlawing sex discrimination in pay for equal work, Title IX- ensured girls and women could play sports - Johnson: Great Society, "war on poverty", expanded New Deal, added Medicare to Social Security, helped secure funds for low-income housing, refused to sign Southern Manifesto opposing integration, 1964 Civil Rights Act (outlawed discrimination in public), 1965 Voting Rights Act (outlawed poll tax),
Contrast Richard Nixon's strategy for attaining victory in Vietnam with Lyndon Johnson's. How were their strategies similar? How did they vary?
- Nixon: didn't want resolution to crisis before election, convinced Kissinger w/ promise of being in NSA(Security Agency), disrupted peace talks by saying better deal with Nixon; handed more responsibilities over to South Vietnamese Army, vietnamization -- troops dropping, transfer of fighting responsibilities; entice Chinese into stopping support of N Vietnam by linkage and detente strategies; didn't work so negotiated settlement that divided along 17 parallel; strategic bombings, SAME AS JOHNSON and lots of americans died; never fostered stable S Vietnamese gov't - Johnson: wanted to end war along terms similar to Korean, w/ country divided along 17th
Identify Barry Goldwater and analyze how the 1964 Election triggered a shift in voting patterns.
- Republican -Didn't support national intervention on racism or civil rights, but wasn't racist -got crushed in presidential election and led to most liberal era. -wanted Social Security to be optional and aggression against communism in containment -wanted nuclear weapons under pentagon -leader of Conservative Counter-Revolution: resisting the growth, role, and scale of the government
Describe Joseph McCarthy's role in American politics and evaluate recent attempts to revive his reputation.
- Senator who notoriously manipulated HUAC - committee started to push right wing KKK members and Nazis out of Government. -ACCUSED PEOPLE OF BEING COMMUNIST to destroy their career -Attacked non spies and spies for being on Left -Targeted Jews and homosexuals -No knowledge of Verona project(counter espionage intelligence) - Manipulated and exposed paranoid tendencies of anxious society - Went too far by investigating CIA and director Dulles and George Marshall (US Army Chief of Staff in WWII) - Public turned on him after investigation by Edward Murrow and after they saw him on TV -Recent attempts to revive his reputation as later revealed Soviets did have spies in US.
Summarize the importance of the Emmett Till case. What does it tell us about the importance of jury duty, media coverage, and sectional relations between North and South?
- The Court ruled jury duty as fundamental to equal protection under the law. Ethnic groups lacking that fundamental right were unlikely to experience anything approximating justice. -The Emmett Till case gave the TV-watching part of the American public an up-close reminder that, despite being a relative beacon of hope in a hostile world, the United States had some skeletons of its own in the closet. -The perpetrators admitted to kidnapping, torturing, and killing the boy but knew they were in no danger of being indicted since the jury was all white. Brought controversy when killers were acquitted. -Moreover, it testified to the lingering regional resentment from the Civil War and Reconstruction between the North and the South.
Evaluate the limitations and legacy of the 1960s counterculture (according to our textbook).
-"junior-grade hipsters": rejected the materialism, violence, and racism of mainstream culture; rejected work ethic -Individualism undermined group political action; some groups Students for Democratic Society advocated for progressive causes - FBI started a project called COINTELPRO, which undermined organized expressions of the counterculture and the Civil Rights movement. -Berkeley protests attracted lots of students to hippie movement -opposition to fighting war -Counterculture had a big cultural impact that outlasted the '60's, emboldening the sexual revolution, ushering in shaggier groovy dos and facial hair, reinvigorating popular music, popularizing recreational drug use, and contributed to "blue islands"- referring to liberal areas
Identify and describe the appeal of Richard Nixon's Law & Order campaign.
-1968 had been a rough year in America, with the assassinations of Martin Luther King, Jr. and Bobby Kennedy, setbacks in the Vietnam War, and rioting and crime in the streets. People thought the world was crashing down around them. Nixon promised to return "law and order" to American streets if elected in 1968 - Nixon narrowly won on fear and pessimism over Humphrey in '68.
Describe how, including the 24th Amendment, 1965 Immigration Act, Loving vs. Virginia (1967) case, and Fair Housing Act of 1968, the Civil Rights Movement changed the legal landscape regarding race in America.
-24th amendment: outlawed poll tax -Immigration: welcomed ppl from around the world by abolishing national origins quota system -Lovings v Virginia: outlawed banning interracial couples -Fair Housing: banning discriminatory practices in real estate(redlining and blockbusting) -OVERCAME EPIC FILIBUSTERS IN SENATE- A filibuster is a political procedure where one or more members of parliament or congress debate over a proposed piece of legislation so as to delay or entirely prevent a decision being made on the proposal.
Contrast the civil rights strategies of the early Southern, Christian-led movement and the Northern, Nation of Islam-oriented Black Power movement. Who were the primary leaders of the Black Power movement?
-Black Panthers: trained militarily, vowing to defend themselves if attacked by white police, keep black drug dealers off the streets -Nation of Islam: followers endorsed same segregationist policies as white oppressors, turned traditional racism around -embraced African culture and ethnic pride -never resulted in substantive political changes of non-violent movement led by MLK -impacted society and popular culture -Primary leaders of Black Power movement were, Huey P. Newton, Bobby Seale, Malcolm X, Stokely Carmichael.
Explain how voting rights legislation affected the Houston Astrodome bond issue.
-Blacks could vote and wanted to go to astrodome, ALLOWED BLACKS TO ATTEND EVENTS THERE -Judy Garland and Supremes double billing
Identify the Conservative Counter-Revolution and George Wallace and trace their rise in popularity over the course of the 1960s.
-Conservative Counter-revolution opposed liberals, and the Counterculture -Alabama Governor attacked civil rights legislation and movement towards racial integration -ran for president in 1968 and 1972 -hated hippies and Blacks -became governor of Alabama again in 1980s supporting blacks
Analyze what can we learn about conspiracy theories in general from the conspiracy theories surrounding the Kennedy assassination. Why does it present a problem if more than one sounds convincing?
-Conspiracy theories teach us that individually they seem plausible but when you look at other theories they contradict each other. -The problem is how compelling various freestanding theories can sound in isolation. If we know that, at the least, all of them are wrong but one, since they conflict with each other, then collectively they show how right theories that are wrong can sound.
Describe what went wrong for the Democratic Party in the 1968 election.
-Democrats divided; S Whites over desegregation and northern liberals over Vietnam. -Turned on Johnson bc of escalation of Vietnam -Sirhan Sirhan shot Robert Kennedy the night he won CA primary -young crowd rioted in Chicago over Vietnam war; embarrassed Democrats
Explain how the mid-20th century black Civil Rights movement incorporated strategies pioneered by early civil rights leaders.
-Du Bois: wanted courts to beef up 14th and 15th amendments to secure basic rights of citizenship and voting; Niagara Movement; co founder of NAACP; advocated for Pan-Africanism globally -Washington: more gradualist approach advocating that Blacks get up to speed in segregated vocational colleges before pushing for full equality; Atlanta Compromise; promoting education -Marcus Garvey: promoted black business ownership
Summarize how the U.S. got involved in Vietnam between World War II and 1963. Identify the importance of the: Atlantic Charter, NSC-68, Relations With France & Japan, Domino Theory.
-Eisenhower sent Ngo Dinh Diem to take over South Vietnam and US aided but couldn't organize effective gov't, no elections -Viet Cong (Minh supporters) started to assassinate village leaders that supported Diem -civil war btwn S Vietnam and National Liberation Front (NLF), Viet Cong, Viet Minh, People's Army of N Vietnam (backed by China and USSR to lesser extent) -Franklin Roosevelt and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill vowed in their 1941 ATLANTIC CHARTER to support decolonization, or independence movements, in the postwar world. -NSC-68 declared that US would fight communism anywhere and everywhere on the Eurasian continent. -Japanese invaded France territories(during WWII) for tin and rubber. Led US to question trading partnership with Japan bc could threaten US oil in Indonesia. FDR cut off oil and steel exports to Japan setting stage. US helped China and England liberate Vietnamese from Japanese control, but France couldn't regain control. -France worried if Vietnam became communist rest of region would "fall like dominoes" to communism
Discuss the politics of America's highways. Who pays for them? Why did America choose roads over passenger/commuter rail? What's the purpose of the 4-lane interstates?
-Eisenhower signed Interstate Highway Act of 1956 Four-lane interstate was seen as efficient for military purposes. Armed convoys could move around on the interstate. Overpasses were/are at least 17-ft high so that nuclear warheads can pass underneath. -PA pioneered 4 lane system w/ Turnpike, created so vehicles didn't have to stop at every light in every town their highway bisected, and could pass each other safely in between. -Open-access free roads funded by gov't, in between are state or country-funded roads and farm-to-market roads. -Excise taxes on oil, vehicles, tires went toward road construction in "self-fueling system"; charged to wholesalers rather than retailers but mostly passed to consumers.
Briefly summarize the origins of the Internet.
-Fairchild researched and created silicon transistors. Today chips don't run just computer systems and phones, they run cars, planes, satellites, medical devices, weapons, robots, etc. Government-subsidized chip foundries and Fairchild led to the creation of big companies seen today, such as Apple, Google, Hewlett-Packard, Cisco, eBay, Adobe, Yahoo, Facebook, Netflix, LinkedIn, etc.
Explain why Eisenhower and the U.S. didn't want to sign the 1954 Geneva Convention or honor the convention's call for country-wide elections.
-Geneva Accords: called for dividing Vietnam along 17 Parallel w/ independent N and French held S; communists wanted to unify whole country -Eisenhower, meanwhile, felt that even fully participating in the Geneva talks sanctioned the communists' takeover in the north. -While the U.S. sent a representative to Geneva, it didn't sign the agreement, mainly because they knew the wrong guy would win a unified election: Ho Chi Minh. -Neither side really trusted the other enough for verifiable elections. Voting requires political stability.
Evaluate the ways that the techniques and concerns of the Black Civil Rights Movement carried over, or were shared, by other groups Hispanics, American Indians, LGBT, Elderly:
-Hispanics fought in large numbers, Black and Hispanic civil rights reinforced each other used vote to gain control over local councils and school boards -sued in courts -non violent protest (e.g. Chavez and Huerta boycotted grapes) -March from Delano to Sacramento CA by Chavez -worked with cooperative white politicians like RFK -American Indians: sit-ins, fish-ins -Gay and Lesbian: riots (Stonewall), used right to create and support families -Gray Panthers: elderly, The 1965 Older Americans Act and other legislation also banned age discrimination in hiring, which has proven difficult to enforce, and provided subsidies for disease prevention and nutritional charities like Meals On Wheels.
Describe how the Civil Rights movement connected to public education, both K-12 and colleges.
-In 1954, the Court integrated all U.S. public schools in the Brown v. Board case. -Ike took a stand against the Arkansas National Guard being used to keep black students out of Little Rock's Central High School in 1957. -At the University of Alabama, similar rioting ensued and Governor George Wallace (D) took advantage of the media exposure. -Public schools that allowed Blacks too much access incurred the wrath of politicians.
Explain how the Rodney King and O.J. Simpson trials in Los Angeles exemplified and/or caused racial tension in America circa 1990s.
-In 1991, a passerby videotaped white cops beating up black, unarmed drunk driver Rodney King with batons. The police were acquitted by an all-white jury increasing racial tensions. -a mostly-black jury acquitted "the Juice" despite DNA evidence implicating him in the death of his wife, Nicole, and Ron Goldman (both white). The jury in O.J.'s trial didn't really think he was innocent, they were just balancing out the scale of justice, in their view, for years of racism on the part of the LAPD. -bookends
Identify White Flight and analyze how race and class played into urban expansion and freeway construction in the postwar period. As a case study, how did Austin encourage racial segregation?
-Interstate Act rough on ghettos -Gov't has right to eminent domain = right to expel residents while paying them full market value; poorer the neighborhood, easier to match market value -Segregation = key to real estate development; homes affordable to commoners -curvilinear roads provided maze that discourage outsiders from going through, gave peace and quiet -Banks and VA agents denied benefits to black veterans -White flight from inner cities --> develop of suburbs -Covenants promised never to re-sell property to Blacks, Hispanics or Jews. -Gov't redlined all-white areas on maps and awarded lower-rate mortgages; sub prime interest rate loans, (denied all minorities financial services, like banking and insurance) -donut effect: donut holes of poverty and rubble in the center surrounded by prosperity in white suburbs -gentrification - reviving inner city homes and driving up tax rates on existing minority homeowners(renovating poor neighborhoods in turn increases land rent and drives out poorer people previously living there) -Austin: I-35 separated east and west Austin, using interstate as physical barrier to affirm segregation; reinforced 1928 city plan for "negro district", realtors agreed to never re-sell anything in W Austin to Blacks or Hispanics hoping to segregate completely, city didn't provide water/electricity for minorities w/ homes outside Eastside districts
Discuss how and why the Tet offensive was a turning point in Americans' attitudes toward the Vietnam War. Analyze why its interpretation among journalists, historians, the Pentagon, and the public remain controversial.
-Johnson rallied US forces to defend Khe Sanh (air base) and launched B-52 raids in hills surrounding base's perimeter -VC surprised US by simultaneously attacking 55 cities on Tet (Chinese New Year's holiday), snuck weapons in everyday items; caught military and public back home off guard -public was confused as to how the communists could've launched such an attack, just after the authorities were telling the public that victory was imminent. -The growing tension between the Pentagon and media was important because Vietnam was the first war with footage and body counts featured nightly on the evening news. -widened credibility gap and reduced public's trust. Decreased public's support for the war.
Describe how violence and protests in Alabama and the 1963 March on Washington impacted civil rights legislation.
-Kennedy was an incrementalist that didn't want to push too fast, fearing that would endanger the movement. -LBJ (Kennedy's VP) refused to sign the aforementioned Southern Manifesto to resist school integration in 1956. -When JFK died, President Johnson pressured the FBI to crack down on the KKK rather than King. -LBJ became committed to promoting civil rights for all minorities. -Led to Civil Rights Act and Voting Rights Act
Analyze and assess the theory that Hollywood radicals were trying to dismantle the American system. What did Hollywood do to leftist Actors?
-MPA Blacklist never had any formal legal authority but damaged careers and included people who weren't communists. -Violated SPIRIT of free speech. -Some of Hollywood Ten fired people from the industry that really were active communists -Committee for First Amendment formed in response to blacklisting leftists -In the end, 50 directors signed to blacklist anyone who wouldn't submit to interrogation before HUAC
Summarize how [Ralph] Nader's Raiders changed peoples' everyday lives.
-Nader's Raiders were a group of lobbyist consumer advocates; pushed against GM(General Motor) about lack of seatbelt and instability of Chevy Corvair -Nader sued GM(General Motor) for entrapment and bought full-time lobbyists with settlement --> outlawed firing employees before pensions kick in, ingredients on food products, credit scores available, optional seatbelt offered
Summarize the ways that World War II helped trigger the modern (mid-20th c.) Civil Rights Movement.
-Not only did minority troops fight in combat (nothing new), but Americans also looked hard-core racism in the eye when fighting Japan and Germany and didn't like what they saw. Japan's racially justified brutalization of other Asians and the horrific Jewish Holocaust made some, not all, Americans rethink their own racism. -Minorities began to fight back against segregationist policies.
Describe how the Kennedy administration struggled to control the escalating civil war in South Vietnam.
-Politically and militarily, one problem was figuring out whose side everyone was on, especially when many people were just caught in the crossfire and didn't necessarily favor either side. -Kennedy's administration tried to segregate the VC(Viet Cong) and VC(Viet Cong) sympathizers from others by relocating villagers in the Strategic Hamlet Program. But people didn't want to move away. -(Viet Cong was North Vietnam Army and Liberation Front.)
Describe how China's communist revolution influenced American politics.
-Public sided with General MacArthur in fight over whether US should have conquered China during Korean War; Truman blamed for "losing China". -East Asian linguists fired by State Department (no one in gov't who spoke Korean or Vietnamese). -Truman instituted loyalty oaths and revived House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) in response. -New enemy within was on the left, Red Scare occurred. -Spectacle of political backstabbing and paranoia, fanned communist flames.
Analyze how broader American culture mirrored the government's attempts to ferret out communists.
-Red Scare against Communism: second in US history after post WWI outbreak; widespread fear by society about a potential rise of communism, anarchism, or radical leftism. -Hollywood blacklisting of leftist actors
Identify policies the textbook mentions as helping cities cope with race-based police brutality.
-Some cities improved things by putting more black and minority police on the streets in inner-city neighborhoods. -One constructive step forward is police wearing body cameras.
Identify the Dixiecrats (States' Rights Party) and integrate their story with our earlier analysis of the Democrats in the 1920s and 30's.
-The Dixiecrats were a short-lived segregationist political party in the United States of mainly Southern Democrats. The Party opposed racial integration and wanted to retain Jim Crow laws and white supremacy in the face of possible federal intervention. -Their party was united under legislating racial rights, but they were also divided among left and right ideas. Some Dixiecrats supported the new deal and some didn't.
Evaluate the successes, failures, and challenges of Harry Truman's Fair Deal. Identify the Old Guard, and explain their importance.
-The Fair Deal supported civil rights legislation, universal health insurance, expansion of Social Security benefits, and repeal of the Taft-Hartley Act that weakened labor the year before. -Pros: strong unions and prosperous working class, big housing and consumer economy, low interest rates, lasting impact, small increase in min wage, expansion of Social Security to include Cost Of Living Allowances, helped cement the New Deal. -Cons: didn't add much to New deal liberalism, defeated on health insurance by AMA.(Medical Association) -The "Old Guard" was a coalition of northern Republicans and southern Democrats that mostly blocked the Fair Deal. They blocked civil rights legislation, supporting black voting rights and prohibiting lynching.
Summarize the military strategy the U.S. employed in Vietnam. How far was the U.S. willing to go to keep communism out of South Vietnam, and why wasn't it willing to exert its full capacity for warfare on the North Vietnamese?
-The U.S. hoped to eliminate the VC (Viet Cong) from South Vietnam, but they didn't want things to escalate into a major war with China or the USSR, so they never invaded the North directly other than an aerial bombing campaign called Operation Rolling Thunder. The three-year campaign was the biggest sustained air battle of the Cold War, but never accomplished its goal of fully destroying the North Vietnamese economy. -They didn't exert full capacity of warfare because they didn't want escalation into a major war with China or the USSR.
From Short Video: Analyze how the la Drang battle symbolized the Vietnam conflict. How did it exemplify the strategic problems the U.S. faced fighting in South Vietnam?
-The battle was extremely important because it was the first significant contact between U.S. troops and North Vietnamese forces. The action demonstrated that the North Vietnamese were prepared to stand and fight major battles even though they might take serious casualties. Senior American military leaders concluded that U.S. forces could wreak significant damage on the communists in such battles--this tactic lead to a war of attrition as the U.S. forces tried to wear the communists down. -The North Vietnamese also learned a valuable lesson during the battle: by keeping their combat troops physically close to U.S. positions, U.S. troops could not use artillery or air strikes without risking injury to American troops. This style of fighting became the North Vietnamese practice for the rest of the war.
Identify Colin Powell and three main points of the Powell Doctrine.
-The most influential Vietnam veteran (secretary of state) in terms of shaping future policy. His Doctrine built on the lessons of Vietnam by suggesting these future guidelines: -1. Never engage in any war the public doesn't back. -2. Use overwhelming air power up front, destroying the enemy's air force, then proceed on the ground. -3. Always have both a clear plan of attack and a viable exit strategy.
Evaluate the idea that public/government spending can only be a drag on the economy. How well does that notion stand up against American history during the Cold War?
-The public notion that government spending is bad for the economy is extremely Contradictory. -Military spending during the Cold War was an example of how government-funded research and cooperation with private investors spurred the economy. - Cold War arms race spurred post war boom - military-industrial complex shaped modern economy - e.g. silicon transistors, integrated circuits, computers
Explain why relations were so contentious between labor and management in the immediate aftermath of World War II. Identify the key legislation that affected labor.
-The relations between labor and management were so contentious because Management wanted the 1935 Wagner Act repealed, the Wagner Act compelled management to negotiate with unions, supply minimum wage, and guaranteed basic worker rights. Labor wanted to hang on to their gains and underscored their determination with a series of (connected) secondary strikes in railroads, coal, steel, and autos in 1946. -Taft-Hartley Act of 1947 outlawed communism among labor leaders, union political contributions, Businesses requiring union membership, and boycotts
Analyze and describe the pros and cons of Affirmative Action. How, in some cases, do Whites benefit from Affirmative Action?
-The traditional argument against any demand for equality is that particular groups shouldn't get special treatment. -The flaw in that is asking for any special treatment; they're asking for equal treatment as measured by whatever privileges a given society affords the dominant group. -Another complication with Affirmative Action is that its beneficiaries might feel their achievements are devalued. -Without caps, Asians might be majority at many leading colleges. -Affirmative action benefits Whites over superior Asians and Women -Pros: restrict discrimination against equally or better-qualified minorities -Cons: seen as going too far (e.g. inferior applicants getting preferential treatment and discriminating against Whites), beneficiaries might feel achievements devalued
Identify the My Lai Massacre and explain how the liberation policy backfired.
-The worst recorded atrocity was at Song Mỹ village — My Lai and My Khe or "Pinkville" to the U.S. since it was a Viet Cong stronghold. In March 1968, some mentally drained U.S. troops lost control there, raping, dismembering, and massacring between 350 and 500 civilians for four hours. -The liberation campaigns didn't win over the hearts and minds of many neutral converts. Likewise, the My Lai photos didn't win over the hearts and minds of many Americans back home.
Evaluate and critique the successes and failures of the Great Society's war on poverty and racism.
-Under President Lyndon B. Johnson -Great Society lowered the rate of black poverty and malnutrition for pennies on the dollar (despite taxpayer's complaints), creating a black middle class and empowering millions through the 1964-68 legislation. Overall poverty rates dropped. -But most African Americans remained mired in poverty, with underfunded public schools and poor municipal sanitation. The historic legacy of redlining, subprime mortgages, segregation, and neighborhood covenants was still in place even after the Fair Housing Act, creating residual, institutional, or "structural racism."
Explain how and why NSC-68 trumped the Atlantic Charter as far as America's role in Vietnam. Distinguish between Truman's narrower "rotten apples in a barrel" policy (LO 13:2) toward key areas and the broader "domino theory" applied to the entire Eurasian landmass.
-Under Truman, the U.S. was dedicated to preventing the spread of communism, especially after NSC-68 (1950) declared that they would fight communism anywhere and everywhere on the Eurasian continent. Trumped Atlantic Charter and led to U.S. involvement in Vietnam War. -US needed both Japanese and French alliances; France worried if Vietnam became communist rest of region would "fall like dominoes" to communism -The U.S. supported countries gaining their independence from Europeans(Atlantic Charter), but not if the new, independent country was a communist dictatorship or even a socialist democracy. Vietnam appeared headed for a communist dictatorship.
Analyze how the 1964 presidential election changed the Vietnam situation for the U.S. Identify the Gulf of Tonkin incident and how LBJ's retaliation after Pleiku helped muster Soviet support for North Vietnam.
-When President Lyndon Johnson (LBJ) ran against Barry Goldwater in 1964, Goldwater wanted to use at least tactical nuclear bombs to end the war. LBJ feared that might mean WWIII with the Soviets, but also wanted to look moderately tough during the election. -Gulf of Tonkin: N Vietnamese torpedo fired on USS Maddox in Gulf of Tonkin; only caused one bullet hole -2nd and 3rd attacks from Gulf of Tonkin didn't happen, exaggerated to push public toward intervention -LBJ retaliated: US sent troops to demilitarized zone (N saw as act of aggression), Gulf of Tonkin Resolution getting funding -N attacked US helicopter base in Pleiku; Johnson bombed N Vietnam in retaliation during Soviet Premier visit convincing USSR to have military alliance with N. Vietnam, Chinese backed Minh in turn
Identify the Constitutional argument plaintiffs used in Obergefell v. Hodges (2015). Describe how opponents of same-sex marriage have shifted tactics in recent years.
-ambiguity of 14th amendment's due process clause: should outlaw banning same-sex marriage bc some ppl find it confining -14th amendment's equal protection under the law; opens up question of polygamous marriage -Gave right to same-sex marriage -Court sometimes takes public opinion into account
Briefly describe some of the engineering challenges confronting the American space program in the 1960s. Based on what you've read in previous chapters, why were the U.S. and USSR so intent on exploring the moon.
-traditional mainframe computers were too large to take into space. Circuits were a new thing at the time. -landing systems were difficult to engineer -The U.S. and USSR both wanted to prove their technological superiority over the other.
Identify and describe the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Voting Rights Act of 1965.
Civil Rights Act of 1964: -March on Washington contributed to legislation outlawing racism in public establishments -beefed up 14th Amendment considerably to outlaw formal racism anywhere -also reaffirmed equal pay act for women (S. Democrats put in hoping that N. democrats would vote against whole bill) Voting Rights Act of 1965: -outlawed all the various excuses states used to keep Blacks and Hispanics from voting including literacy tests and poll taxes
