1960s

1960s Notes and Questions

Some of the terms to spend more time on studying:
 * Miranda, Baker, Griswold, Engel - court cases
 * Bay of Pigs/Cuban Missile Crisis
 * Vietnam
 * Civil Rights Movement
 * Civil Rights Act

I. Elections a. 1960 – Kennedy v. Nixon i. First televised debate – viewers felt Kennedy was the better candidate, while those that listened on the radio felt Nixon was better ii. Kennedy’s inaugural address //1.// [|//http://www.history.com/videos/inaugural-address-john-f-kennedy#inaugural-address-john-f-kennedy//] iii. Shot in dallas, conspiracy, by Lee Harvey Oswald à then shot publicly by Jack Ruby b. 1964 – Lyndon B. Johnson v. Barry Goldwater i. Goldwater was a staunch conservative – wanted to end most federal aid 1. AUH20464 ii. Johnson wins with 61% of popular vote, plus Dems achieve a 2/3 majority in the House and Senate iii. Great Society – Medicare, Medicaid, Department of Housing and Development, Dept of Transportation, Elementary and Secondary Education Act, Funding for higher education, funding for public housing and crime prevention – almost 200 new laws c. 1968 – Richard Nixon v. Hubert Humphrey v. George Wallace (Independent, AL) i. Nixon wins, he is a “hawk” on the Vietnam war – believed the Vietnam war was an act of Soviet-backed communist aggression against South Vietnam ii. This election marks the diminishing role of a liberal social agenda in the government 1. Wallace and Nixon took almost 60% of the popular vote, very few wanted to keep liberalism around (Humphrey was the Liberal of this election) d. Warren Court Focused on Individual Rights i. Supreme Court began protecting individual rights ii. Miranda v. Arizona (1966) required the police to inform an arrested person of his/her right to remain silent and the right to have a lawyer while being questioned 1. Built upon Mapp v Ohio (1961) about illegally seized evidence, Gideon v. Wainwright (63) provide attorney for poor, and Escobedo v. Illinois (64) right to remain silent. iii. Baker v. Carr (1962) – one man, one vote, all citizens must have equal representation 1. State legislatures had been drawing district lines to favor rural areas //a.// //Divide the class into three districts (groups)// //i.// //Each district receives 2 votes.// //ii.// //One state (of four students) is one district.// //iii.// //Two states (6-8) is a second district.// //iv.// //The remaining district is the rest of the students.// iv. Three Cases that extended civil rights mentioned in the 1st amendment 1. Yates v. United States (57) – 1st amendment protected speech (even by Communists) unless it was a “clear and present danger” to our country. //(Schenck v. US)// 2. Engel v. Vitale (62) – state laws requiring Bible readings and prayer violated the separation of church and state 3. Griswold v. Connecticuit (65) – state cannot prohibit the use of contraceptives by adults I. Foreign Policy of the 1960s a. Peace Corps – sent young Americans across the world to aide struggling people b. Bay of Pigs (1961) i. JFK authorized a plan hatched under Eisenhower that the CIA would train Cuban exiles to overthrow Fidel Castro’s regime in Cuba. The invasion failed miserably, and JFK refused to send in US Marines to help. 1. Castro used this to strengthen his hold over Cuba and get more aid from USSR c. Berlin Wall is officially constructed (1961) i. Khruschev’s attempt to keep East Berliners from fleeing to the West (East & West were divided Soviets & Westerners) 1. US and USSR tanks faced off, but we did not attempt to stop the construction of the wall. d. Cuban Missile Crisis (1962) i. US Reconnaisance planes found that the Soviets were aiding construction of underground sites capable of launching missile that could reach the US in minutes. ii. JFK set up a naval blockade of Cuba, ordered Khruschev to remove the weapons iii. Soviet ships did not challenge the blockade, and K and JFK agreed to remove the weapons from Cuba, and we would remove weapons from Turkey iv. Found out after that it was actually much more threatening than it appeared – there were already nuclear weapons armed in Cuba that they were ordered to launch if the US had invaded. e. Southeast Asia & Flexible Response i. “Flexible Response” defense capabilities – moving away from massive nuclear weapons and spending more on conventional arms and mobile military forces à Green Berets sent to South Vietnam ii. Sent green berets, social scientists, and economic experts to aide South Vietnam iii. Did not oppose replacing Diem, but then SV killed him, which we were not aware was going to happen. f. Vietnam i. Gulf of Tonkin Resolution – Johnson gives the military a “blank check” to prevent communism from spreading in Southeast Asia after the USS Maddox believes it narrowly misses a failed torpedo attack off the coast of North Vietnam ii. Living Room War – televised the action, initially depicted positively, but then began to be depicted by reporters in a negative light iii. Tet Offensive 1968 – North invaded South on their new year and demoralized the US 1. We ultimately pushed them back and decimated them but people were growing tired of the war by now. I. Domestic Policy of the 1960s a. Policy Making during the Early 1960s i. Encouraged tax cuts and deductions for businesses would help the overall economy b. Civil Rights Movement 60-63 i. “sit in” movements became prominent, organized by the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) ii. Birmingham was an example of racial violence as police unleashed hoses and dogs on blacks iii. 200,000 people marched to Washington D.C. where MLK had his “I have a dream speech” //1.// //Show clip of the speech// c. Friedan’s //The Feminine Mystique// relit the flame for feminism – discussed the widespread unhappiness of women in the 1950s and early 1960s i. men, who insisted on stories and articles that showed women as either happy housewives or unhappy, neurotic careerists, thus creating the "feminine mystique"—the idea that women were naturally fulfilled by devoting their lives to being housewives and mothers. d. Civil Rights Act of 1964 i. Made it illegal to segregate any public facility – restaurants, hotels, and schools. ii. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) iii. Freedom Summer – campaign to register black voters, eliminate a poll tax (24th amendment), and literacy tests à ending Jim Crow laws e. Counterculture – mostly college aged – expand minds, rock music, LSD i. Beat movement, environmentalism, “hippies” f. Africa American Movements i. Selma, Alabama ii. Watts Riot – white police and black motorist iii. Malcolm X – endorsed black self-defense by “any means necessary” 1. His ideas led Stokely Carmichael to form the Black Panthers g. Assassinations 1968 i. MLK was shot by James Early Ray à violent protests in more than 100 cities. ii. Robert Kennedy is assassinated after winning the democratic nomination in CA (sirhan sirhan)