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Federal Highway Act of 1956
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Definition
| Eisenhower wanted to be more like Germany: no traffic signals, intersections, or railroad crossings. "Largest public works program ever" at $25 billion, 20 years, and 40K miles. Paid for by new taxes on gas, cars, etc. Americans willing to pay and support the government because if they didn't they were Communist/UnAmerican. The new roads were supposed to double as landing strips and roads to flee cities. Everything was about or tied to the Cold War. |
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Federal Highway Act of 1956
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| More jobs, more economy, more affluence. Economy as it was didn’t need help; it was an extra boost. Good way to spend money. Boost to ancillary economy- everything that was linked to it: fast food industries, gasoline/oil, motels/hotel/campers/RVs, and automobiles (steel, glass, rubber). Federal government was subsidizing ancillary industries. Took an already great economy to an even better level. |
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Brown v. Board of Education (1954)
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| In the early 1950s, the South had almost completely segregated public schools. Black citizens were paying the same amount of taxes but their kids had to go to crappy schools. In Topeka, a group of black families decide to fight. Oliver Brown, the leader of the group, had a daughter that had to go a school that was miles away. He gets a lawyer, sues, case ends up at the Supreme Court. Their decision shocks American people. Banned racial segregation in public schools. Repeals Plessy v. Ferguson; no such thing as separate but equal". Separate is inherently unequal. Huge steppingstone for other changes. White parents don't want their innocent children to socialize with black kids and vice versa. Even if you could make everything perfectly equal, it wouldn't be good enough. When you tell one group that they can't be with the other you create a sense of inferiority. Black kids being raised to hate themselves. |
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Brown v. Board of Education (1954)
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| Stepping stone that lead to other legislation and Civil Rights movement. Federal government changes course, back on black Americans side. Giving them the support they hadn't received since the Reconstruction era. |
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Definition
| Central High School in Little Rock. September 1957, 9 kids decide to go to white school and integrate on their own. Rumors spread and the governor intervenes. He orders the National Guard to prevent any blacks from entering. The kids are turned away at gunpoint, but they keep coming back while the white mob gets bigger. There's a standoff for weeks. Lawyers, activists, etc get involved and go to President Eisenhower. He decides to remove the National Guard troops. He announces that the SC decision will be upheld and sends in troops to the South (1st time since the Reconstruction) to aide and abet African Americans. By October the Little Rock Nine were enrolled. 10K soldiers sent, then 100s stay for years. |
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| Executive branch and military joins Supreme Court in movement. Not just a paper, now it has teeth. Leads to resistance of some White Southerners and pro-segregation rallies and groups. |
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Sixteenth Street Baptist Church
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| Church in downtown Birmingham, Alabama. Centerpoint or headquarters of Alabama's civil rights movement and symbol of civil rights activism. On September 15, 1963 4 Alabama KKK members place dynamite underneath church and set it to detonate in the middle of Sunday morning mass. Many are injured and four little girls die. Gains a lot of national attention and the American people are galvanized. |
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Sixteenth Street Baptist Church
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| US Congress takes action for the first time since the Reconstruction by passing the Civil Rights Act of 1964. It makes racial discrimination illegal everywhere (schools, parks, jobs, etc). America is finally a modern society. It enraged many activists which lead to the dismissal of nonviolent movement. Turning point for many, especially young black men. A bill won't change things in the South. What we need is "black power". Leads to the formation of the Black Panthers. Support for violent resistance grows. |
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Term
Gulf of Tonkin Resolution
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| Lyndon B. Johnson needs a justification to escalate conflict/involvement in Vietnam. In the summer, the USS Maddox is hanging out in the Gulf and reports that it is under attack. Captain is ordered to defend itself and fight back. He ends up blowing up three small fishing ships. Turns out that what they heard was thunder, not shots. LBJ orders immediate air strike in North Vietnam without asking Congress or the American people for permission. Congress convenes special session and passes legendary resolution. It gives the Commander in Chief (LBJ) authority to "take all necessary measures to repel an armed attack against the forces of the US and to prevent further aggression". |
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Gulf of Tonkin Resolution
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| President no longer needs Constitutional approval. Congress forfeits its constitutional right/check. Didn't go against him because didn't want to come off as Communist. Gave the President a "blank check" and led to the Vietnam fiasco. Presidents become imperial, allowed to do whatever they want which leads to the escalation of the Vietnam War. |
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| In June 1972 there was a burglary at the Watergate Hotel in DC in a room rented by the Democratic Party. The burglars were stealing information on the Democratic candidates. All burglars were members of the CRP (had checks on them from CRP). Nixon lies about all of it. |
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Definition
| Event dramatically increases Americans' distrust for the government. Eventually Congress will take some of its power back from the President. It promotes gross political apathy- not good for a democratic country. Loss of faith in the government that still exists today. Failure of democracy and of President. |
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Definition
What GHWB called voodoo economics. Reagan said he would slash taxes by 25% leaving more money for people to spend on what they need. He would also slash social welfare spending- education, law enforcement, infrastructure, healthcare, etc.
The problem was that he also promised to win the Cold War. He increased spending by 100%+, the country went into major debt, driving the country to the ground in order to defeat the Soviet Union.
1. 1981 Economic Recovery and Tax Act- cut taxes 25%, affects negatively in the long run because of decreased social spending
2. massive increase in the defense spending- "Star Wars", satellites, shield
3. dismantles Progressive Era reforms, he believed regulation = strangulation |
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Definition
Legacy of Reagonomics
1980 top 1% owned 10% of US wealth
2010 top 1% owned 25% of US wealth
1980 CEO made 30x more than worker
2010 CEO made 350x more than worker
big business wins big time
American middle class under attack
Rise of Walmart, increased immigration, & jobs going overseas. We were at near full employment but low paying, low skill/status, under benefitted jobs |
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Definition
| In NYC, 2 planes crash into the WTC towers. Another crashes into the Pentagon, and one aimed at the Capitol, crashed in Pennsylvania. More than 2700 are killed, most in NYC. It was an enormous shock to Americans who were blissfully ignorant before and thought that they were safe from terrorism. President Bush goes to Ground Zero and promises vengeance. Congress passes joint resolution giving Bush authority to use all necessary and appropriate force, his "blank check". He declares global war on terrorism. Within 1 month, American forces invade Afghanistan. Looking for Bin Laden, Al-Qaeda, Taliban. Leads to war on terrorism. Awakens Americans from sleep/slumber. |
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| It increases patriotism and nationalism. The rules of war change. America's overreaction- terrorist were a threat but not an existential threat (to democracy). Bush will run economy to the ground and invade a nation that had nothing to do with 9/11 with the complete support of Congress and Americans. Believed there were weapons of mass destruction in Iraq with no evidence. |
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