Notes Part 2: Vietnam & Civil Rights

Vietnam war

U.S. gets involved “The battle against communism must be joined…with strength and tradition.” -Lyndon B. Johnson LBJ escalates the war Sends majority of troops Money

U.S. gets involved Gulf of Tonkin Resolution LBJ announces North Vietnamese have fired on 2 American destroyers in the Gulf of Tonkin Immediately orders American aircraft to attack North Vietnamese ships

U.S. gets involved The Gulf of Tonkin Resolution justified LBJ’s escalation of troops in Vietnam Congress to LBJ: “take all necessary measures to repel any armed attack against the forces of the United States and to prevent further aggression”

Strategies: America Superior firepower Search and destroy missions Blockades

Strategies: America Napalm-jellied gasoline that explodes on contact A U.S. riverboat (Zippo monitor) deploying napalm during the Vietnam War

Strategies: America Agent Orange- chemical that strips leaves from trees and shrubs; exposed the enemy

Strategies: Vietcong Ambush (blended in with others) Booby traps Underground Tunnels Not fighting to win, fighting to prolong

Strategies This is significant because it showed superior military technology does NOT guarantee victory!

TET Offensive Vietcong and North Vietnamese launch a massive surprise attack Attacked airbases in South Vietnam and most of the South’s major cities

TET Offensive Turning point in Vietnam War U.S. military loses confidence LBJ decides not to run for reelection

Anti-War Movement 1. Public support began to drop as the war waged on

Anti-War Movement 2. Vietnam is the 1st televised war Combat footage shown on the nightly news 3. Brought the brutality of the war into living room

Vietnamization President Nixon started policy of Vietnamization: gradual withdrawal of U.S. troops while the South Vietnamese assumed fighting

Civil Rights movement

Court Cases Plessy vs. Ferguson established “separate but equal.” Nicknamed “Jim Crow” laws Legalized racial segregation

1954-case involving Linda Brown Court Cases 1954-case involving Linda Brown Denied admission to her neighborhood school in Topeka, Kansas because of her race Told to attend an all-black school across town Linda Brown Smith, 9, is shown in this 1952 photo. Smith was a 3rd grader when her father started a class-action suit in 1951 of the Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kan., which led to the U.S. Supreme Court's 1954 landmark decision against school segregation. (AP Photo)

Brown vs Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas (1954) Court Cases Brown vs Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas (1954) Reversed Plessy vs. Ferguson “separate educational facilities are inherently unequal” AKA integration! Linda Brown Smith, 9, is shown in this 1952 photo. Smith was a 3rd grader when her father started a class-action suit in 1951 of the Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kan., which led to the U.S. Supreme Court's 1954 landmark decision against school segregation. (AP Photo)

Little Rock nINE School board in Little Rock, Arkansas agreed to admit 9 African American students to Central High School

Governor of Arkansas favored segregation Little Rock nINE Governor of Arkansas favored segregation Posted the Arkansas National Guard at Central High to prevent nine African- American students from entering the building

Central High Little Rock Nine

Little Rock nINE President Eisenhower placed the National Guard under Federal command to protect the students “to protect the authority of the Supreme Court.” -- -President Eisenhower Significance: Government will enforce court decisions on integration

Martin Luther King, Jr. Believed in nonviolent passive resistance Drew upon philosophy and techniques of Gandhi delivered the speech “I Have a Dream.” racial segregation be replaced with an integrated society

Thurgood marshall Appointed the first African American Judge of SCOTUS by President Johnson in 1967.

James L. Farmer, Jr. Civil rights leader who founded C.O.R.E. which promoted nonviolent ways to protest for civil rights and equality.

Hector P. Garcia Founded the American G.I. Forum of Texas which advocates on behalf of Hispanic veterans.

Lulu belle Madison white Civil Rights activist who selected the plaintiff for the Sweatt v. Painter case (origins to Brown v Board; UT law school)