Unit 9 The Cold War, 1945-1991 Conflict between the US and the Soviet Union over ideology (communism v. democracy/ capitalism) No direct fighting between the Superpowers - wars fought by proxies Both powers had nuclear weapons - so the stakes were high
General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade 1947 international agreement that sought to expand trade by the reduction of tariffs worldwide
United Nations International Organization established in 1945 Most countries of the world would eventually join Based on the idea that an international peacekeeping organization was needed to settle disputes without war.
War time Conferences Teheran - November/December 1943. First Big three conference. Britain and the US commit to opening a second front against Germany. Yalta - February 1945. The Big Three Allied leaders (FDR, Churchill and Stalin) meet to plan for postwar Europe. It is agreed that Germany would be divided into occupation zones and Stalin promises to allow free elections in Eastern Europe Potsdam - July 1945. The last wartime meeting of the Big Three Allied leaders to plan for post-war Europe. Stalin refuses to hold elections in Eastern Europe.
US Policy during the Cold War was containment. Containment was the policy of preventing the spread of communism. This was based on the domino theory - that if one country fell to communism, others would also fall
Truman Doctrine The US policy of supporting any country that resisted the spread of communism Examples include the US support of Greece and Turkey in 1947 and 1950, and
The Marshall Plan - US policy of giving money to rebuild Western Europe as a way of preventing the spread of communism
Divided Europe After 1945 Europe became divided into an Eastern (communist) block and a Western (democratic) block. This division was called the Iron Curtain Germany was divided into West and East Germany Its capital, Berlin, which was in East Germany, was also divided
Berlin Airlift In 1948, Stalin closed the roads to West Berlin The US and Britain responded by flying food and supplies into Berlin for almost a year until the Soviets gave in This is another example of containment
Two opposing military alliances were formed in Europe - NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization - US, Canada, Western Europe) and the Warsaw Pact (USSR and E. Europe. NATO s goal was containment. Other military alliances whose goal was to stop the Spread of communism included the South East Asian Treaty Organization or SEATO
Both were examples of containment policy The Korean and Vietnam Wars The Korean war was in response to communist North Korea s invasion of South Korea in 1950. This effort succeeded. The Vietnam War was fought to prevent the takeover of South Vietnam by communist North Vietnam. Congress gave President Johnson approval to send troops in the Tonkin Gulf Resolution of 1964 It failed despite President Johnson s escalation (increase) of US involvement to 500,000 troops by 1967. This war provoked many anti-war protests. The Tet offensive of 1968 led many Americans to believe that the government had lied to them when it said we were winning the war
U2 Incident In 1960, Francis Garry Powers was shot down in a U2 spy plane over the Soviet Union. This soured relations between the two countries
Cuban Missile Crisis In October 1962, US spy planes discovered the Soviets were building nuclear missile bases in Cuba The United States threatened war if the Soviets did not withdraw the missiles. This was the closest the US and Soviet Union came to war. The Soviets backed down
The Cold War at Home Many Americans in the late 40s and 50s feared that Communists were trying to take over America. This period is called the second Red Scare.
Taft Hartley Act Implemented reforms that favored big business over unions Truman sought to limit the power of unions to strike when national security was at stake. Note - The Taft Hartly Act had nothing to do with M&Ms (not even the red ones)
McCarthy/McCarthyism Joseph McCarthy - Senator from Wisconsin who claimed communists had infiltrated the US government. His accusation ruined lives and careers. McCarthyism is the name given to the wrongful persecution of individuals as a result of fear.
The House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) This was part of the Red Scare Investigated the influence of communism in Hollywood by requiring people to testify to before the committee Hollywood executives blacklisted (refused to hire) people rumored to have communist ties. Again, lives and careers were ruined.
Cold War Spy Cases Alger Hiss - Accused of spying for the Soviets. Evidence later proved he was guilty. Julius and Ethel Rosenberg - Accused and convicted of passing nuclear secrets to the Soviets. They were the first civilians executed for espionage.
Richard Nixon, President from 1969-1974 In 1972 President Nixon became the first US President to visit communist China
Watergate In 1972, men employed by The Committee to Re-elect the President (Nixon) were caught burglarizing the offices of the Democratic party. The Nixon Administration tried to cover up their connection to the crime. Eventually the scandal forced Nixon to become the only President ever to resign.
Ronald Reagan President from 1981-1989 Cut taxes and spending on social programs Increased military spending. Some say this increase led to the collapse of the Soviet Union and the end of the Cold War.
Unit 10 Impact of technology Increases in technology were the single most significant factor contributing to economic growth and changing employment trends in the US during the 20th century. First American to Orbit the Earth- John Glenn, 1962 First American on the Moon - Neil Armstrong 1969
The Rust Belt During the last half of the twentieth century many American factories in the Northeast closed due to foreign competition. Many jobs were lost in these regions as a result.
Decline in Family Farms The second half of the twentieth century saw a decline in family farms as the agricultural industry shifted from family owned to corporate farms.
Vaccines In the 1950s many new vaccines were developed that greatly decreased death by many diseases. Perhaps the most significant was the smallpox vaccine which eliminated death by smallpox world wide. Another important vaccine was the polio vaccine developed by Jonas Salk
Television Became widely available in the 1950s (after WWII) Transformed popular culture and expanded the audience for professional sports.
Changes in Immigration Law The immigration law of 1924 established strict quotas on immigration that favored people from Northern Europe. The immigration act of 1965 ended these quotas and opened US immigration to non- European immigrants.
Affirmative Action A set of policies designed to open opportunities in business and education for members of groups that had historically suffered from discrimination (African Americans, Latinos, Women) Allowed race and sex to be preferential factors included in decisions to hire, award contracts or admit students to higher education programs. Many colleges and most companies that did business with the federal government adopted these policies Controversial because some thought it was reverse discrimination
UC Regents v. Bakke, 1978 Ruled the race based quotas for college admission were unconstitutional
Lyndon Johnson s Great Society Series of programs started by the Johnson administration that declared unconditional war on poverty. Included Medicare (health insurance for the elderly) and Medicaid (Health insurance for the impoverished)
Tomorrow s Test... Will be the same test you took last Friday You will be completing either the even or odd questions (45 total) You will have 40 minutes Will be closed notes Will count as a regular test in this class. Bonus s for improvement will be added to the score your test score, of you are eligible Study those terms you didn t know last week and use the notes this week as a review tool!
12. Civil Rights Movement Period from 1954 to the 1970s where African Americans fought for civil rights and an end to segregation. This movement later grew to include Hispanics, Native Americans and women.
Plessey v. Ferguson 1896 Supreme Court ruling that established the idea of separate but equal thus making segregation legal.
A. Phillip Randolph Threatened a march on Washington to protest discrimination in war industries in 1941 This led to an executive order banning discrimination in defense industries
Brown v. Board of Education, 1954 Outlawed school segregation Overturned Plessy Generated opposition by southerners who wanted to maintain segregation
Crisis in Little Rock Many southern school districts resisted desegregation One of those was Little Rock, Arkansas In 1957 governor Orval Faubus ordered the State national guard to keep black students from attending Central High School (the students were dubbed the Little Rock 9 ) President Eisenhower nationalized the state guard and had the students escorted to school under armed guard
Rosa Parks and the Montgomery Bus Boycott In 1955 Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat to a white man on a Montgomery city bus. As a result, she was arrested This sparked a 381 day boycott of the busses In 1956, the Supreme Court outlawed bus segregation
Martin Luther King Jr. The Minister who led the Montgomery Bus boycott Founded the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) which coordinated non-violent protests against segregation. Gave the famous I have a Dream speech in Washington in 1963 Assassinated in Memphis in 1968
Sit-ins The Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) was formed in 1960 to organize non-violent protests against segregation. SNCC coordinated sit-ins at segregated lunch counters in Greensboro NC, Memphis TN and 9 other Southern cities. The sit-ins demonstrated the ugly face of segregation to a national audience that watched on TV
Freedom Riders In 1961, The Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) organized a bus ride through the South to protest segregation on interstate busses In Alabama the busses were attacked by white mobs and many of the riders were severely beaten This violence was shown to a national audience that watched on TV
Civil Rights Act of 1964 Outlawed discrimination in public accommodations, housing and jobs Increased power of the federal government to prosecute civil rights abuses.
Voting Rights Act of 1965 Ended the practices of requiring literacy tests for voting in the South. Permitted the federal government to monitor voter registration in the South
Malcolm X Civil Rights leader who offered an alternative message to Dr. King Member of the separatist Nation of Islam group Advocated armed self defense for African Americans - This began the Black Power movement Assassinated by member of the Nation of Islam in 1965
Black Power/ Black Panthers Stokely Carmichael - Broke with King and called for Blacks to begin to define their own goals... and lead their own organizations Carmichael called for the SNCC to stop recruiting whites - the movement now moved in a separatist and radical direction Black Panthers formed in August 1966 By Huey Newton and Bobby Seale. The Panthers advocated self sufficiency and self defense. They engaged in several shootouts with law enforcement
Mexican Immigration Mexican Immigration in the second half of the twentieth century led to a great increase in the number of American Roman Catholics Mexican immigrants became the largest single source of farm labor in the US during the second half of the twentieth century. Farm workers had a hard time unionizing because the National Labor Relations act did not include agricultural laborers in its protections of the right to unionize. Caesar Chavez and Delores Huerta founded the United Farm Workers union in 1965 to fight for better wages and safer working conditions (especially with regard to pesticides). It was organized by Hispanic Americans although membership was open to anyone
American Indian Movement (AIM) American Indian movement that fought for equal rights for native Americans. Often militant - for example, AIM members took over of Alcatraz in late 1960s