US Civil Rights Movement

Civil Rights Movement

• Brown v. Board of Education: Supreme Court case that ruled segregation of public schools based on race was unconstitutional, overturning Plessy vs. Ferguson and "separate but equal" doctrine.
• Civil Rights Act of 1964: prohibited discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, or national origin.
• Voting Rights Act of 1965: prohibited racial discrimination in voting.

Key Events

• Montgomery Bus Boycott: organized by leaders of the local black community after Rosa Parks' arrest in 1955, it began the day she was convicted of violating segregation laws.
• Freedom Riders: teams of African American and white volunteers who protested segregated bus terminals in the South by boarding buses in Washington D.C. in 1960.
• Birmingham: site of Martin Luther King Jr.'s famous letter written while in jail, arguing that "there are two types of laws: just and unjust..."
• Little Rock 9: nine African American teenagers who integrated Little Rock's Central High School in 1957.

Key Figures

• Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.: prominent civil rights leader.
• Warren Court: ended racial segregation in U.S. public schools and expanded civil liberties through landmark rulings.

Presidential Initiatives

• New Frontier: Kennedy's domestic agenda aimed at changing life at home.
• Great Society: Warren Court's efforts to expand civil liberties and address racial discrimination, rights of the accused, and religious freedom.

The 1930s

• Hoover, the 30th President of the United States, attempted to pull America out of the Great Depression but became unpopular due to his approach of limited government intervention.
• Speculation, or high-risk investments, contributed to the Great Depression.
• The 1930s saw a focus on relief (immediate aid to the jobless), recovery (aid to banks, businesses, farmers, and workers), and reform (long-term economic changes).

FDR's New Deal

• FDR's New Deal consisted of programs and legislation aimed at economic recovery and social reform.
• The Stock Market Crash of 1929 caused the Great Depression, resulting in significant financial losses for investors and businesses.

Agricultural Adjustment Act and FDR's 100 Days

• The Agricultural Adjustment Act paid farmers to reduce crop production, increasing prices.
• FDR's first 100 days (March to June 1933) were crucial for addressing the Great Depression, with the implementation of New Deal programs focusing on economic stabilization, relief for the unemployed, and recovery efforts.

Civilian Conservation Corps

• The Civilian Conservation Corps provided jobs for young men, aged 18-21, in areas such as tree planting, bridge building, park development, and flood control projects.

WWII

Appeasement and Racial Equality

• Appeasement involved pacifying an aggrieved country through negotiation to prevent war.
• Executive Order #9066, signed by FDR, aimed to eliminate racial discrimination and segregation within the U.S. military.

Japanese-American Experience

• Nisei referred to second-generation Japanese Americans.
• The Korematsu v. United States case involved the internment of American citizens of Japanese descent and the removal of their constitutional protections.

Pacific War and Strategies

• Island Hopping involved seizing select Japanese-held islands in the Pacific while bypassing others.
• The Pacific Strategy focused on attaining positions for a full-scale offense against the Japanese homeland.
• The Atlantic Strategy aimed to starve Britain into submission by destroying merchant ships and their cargoes faster than they could be replaced.

Turning Points

• The Battle of Midway was a turning point in the Pacific, as the United States destroyed Japan's first-line carrier strength and most of its best-trained naval pilots.
• The turning point in the Atlantic was the shift in Germany's warships and submarines (U-boats) from focusing on sinking merchant shipping to reducing supplies reaching the UK and other European Allies.

Holocaust and US Generals

• The Holocaust was the Nazi attempt to kill all Jews under their control.
• Notable US generals during WWII included George Marshall, Dwight D. Eisenhower, Douglas MacArthur, and Omar Bradley.

Cold War

Truman Doctrine and NATO

• The Truman Doctrine stated that the United States would provide political, military, and economic assistance to democratic nations under threat from external or internal authoritarian forces.
• NATO focused on collective defense and protecting its members from potential threats from the Soviet Union.

Communism and Marshall Plan

• Communism involves a communist state administered from the center, with control of the economy and society strictly in the hands of the Communist Party-led government.
• The Marshall Plan was an American initiative to aid Western Europe, providing over $13 billion in economic assistance to rebuild Western European economies after WWII.