1. Civil rights movement
Black veterans found conditions post wwii to be unchanged
Truman outlawed discrimination in hiring federal employees and ended segregation in military
Jackie Robinson first black to join major league baseball-had to be perfect rep & was
White schools were getting 80-85% of funding in many southern cities
BROWN V. Board of Education 1954: Oliver Brown from Topeka, KS sued school district bc daughter had to walk by all white school to get to all black school on other side of town
Argued by Thurgood Marshall at supreme court
Separate but equal deemed unconstitutional

2. Montgomery bus Boycott 1955: Rosa Parks, secretary for NAACP refuse to give up seat for white man & was arrested
Not the first to refuse seat: Claudette Colvin, 9 months before parks; plaintiff in Browder v. Gayle which helped overturn bus segregation in Montgomery
Martin Luther King Jr.: key leader during bus boycott & founded Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), taught violence could never be used to achieve goals
1960 Student Nonviolent Coordinating committee (SNCC) from & demanded immediate change; black and white members many students from colleges in North
Sit-ins: effective technique used by many in early 60s; helped integrate many stores in south
Freedom Rides: supreme court ruled bus stations & waiting rooms to be integrated; black & white volunteers started in D.C. and rode through south on buses to see if being upheld
Colvin became pregnant around time of arrest, NAACP thought she didn’t fit image they were looking for; labeled as trouble-maker by community
Sit-ins-blacks could purchase merchandise but weren’t allowed to sit at counters of stores

3. George Wallace: 1962 “segregation now, segregation tomorrow and segregation forever”. 4 time governor of Alabama & presidential candidate; 1963 stand-in at the school house door keeping black students from enrolling at University of Alabama
March on Washington: 1963 more than 200K people MLK jr made famous “I have a dream” speech
Civil Rights Act 1964: Lyndon Johnson presented congress with bill (JFK worked on before assassination)
Same standards for black & white voters
No racial discrimination in work place
Discrimination illegal in all public locations
Kerner Commission: riots broke out in northern cities bc many black belived civil rights movement was doing little for them (LA, Chicago, Newark, Detroit) commission decided case was black poverty and lack of hope in urban communities were causes. 2 societies: white & rich and black & poor
Nation of Islam/black Muslims: Malcolm X most famous representative; opposed integration; used any means necessary to improve plight of blacks, believed whites wouldn’t help blacks. Stokely Carmichael urged blacks to take up arms and removed whites from SNCC and to support black power-to have pride in black history and create own society apart from white society.
Black Panthers: most visible group supporting black power. Formed by Bobby Seale and huey newton. Several members died after gun battles with police. Also started food programs for poorest in San Fran and estb. Schools to teach black history & culture. But damaged by its violent rep.

4. Cold war under Eisenhower
Sputnik launched by soviet in 1957; first earth-orbiting satellite
Eisenhower established NASA
Congress passed the National Defense Education Act: expanded federal aid to education by funding math, foreign language, and science programs
Egypt seized Suez Canal
Castro gained control over Cuba
Soviet Union shot down American U-2 spy plane
Senate formally condemns Senator Joseph McCarthy for “conduct unbecoming a member”
NASA: national aeronautics and space administration

5. Camelot

6. the great society New Deal Great Society
1960 election debates first to be televised
JFK youngest elected president & Roman Catholic
Worked on Civil Rights Act with MLK Jr.
Used federal gov’t to increase social welfare
Used education & job training to help overcome cycle of poverty
Achievements: Civil Rights Act 1964, Voting Rights Act Medicare & Medicaid, War on Poverty, Education aid
New Deal
Great Society
Both used gov’t to enhance social welfare
Both included: gov’t sponsored employment programs, gov’t support for the arts, fed. Programs to encourage housing construction, fed. Legislation to help the elderly
Preschool education was innovative
Included federal legislation protecting civil rights of African americans