Questions 11-16

11) 1968 was a turning point in both Civil Rights and national politics. The assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. caused a major setback in civil rights and stirred massive public outcry in the black community. Riots broke out, sit-in demonstrations rose, and protests were rife throughout the country as people were outraged. However, it didn’t lose pace as it continued to progress and make advancements. The movement spread to other parts of the country as well, such as the urban north. The movement achieved integration with the ruling of the Swann c. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education. In this case, busing programs were changed to promote integration within schools. Kids from different towns would be bused to schools, thus making the schools more racially balanced. Americans were also growing frustrated over Vietnam. Johnson had promised that the war would be resolved in six months, however it continued longer. The Tet Offensive also destroyed hopes in millions of Americans. After the North Koreans launched the Tet Offensive, they succeeded in capturing some of the US posts. This appeared alarming to the American public, as the general understanding was that America was winning the war. Now that it appeared that America was not going to win the war, people became anti-war. 12) The Vietnam War affected many aspects of America. Nixon’s involvement in the Watergate scandal also hurt the reputation and dignity of the Presidency. The taping system in the White House reveals his involvement and his refusal to turn over the tapes further sparks controversy. The Presidency was looked upon with contempt during this period. People were shocked when the Pentagon Papers were published. The Papers revealed the dishonesty within the Presidency and its administration. The power of the Presidency is also limited with the passage of the War Powers Act, which cut down on the President’s ability to commit troops. This represents a major setback for the Presidency because in the previous era, the President was very powerful (FDR, Truman). Also, each successive President during this era took over a country that was in a worse state than the start of the previous Presidency. Johnson’s failure to meet his promise to end the Vietnam War in six months also made the people uneasy and even more negative towards the Presidency. Cold War diplomacy was also affected by the Vietnam War. The US had to handle the situation in Vietnam very carefully now, as it would affect the nation’s pride and credibility in handling international affair and combating communism. Nixon also issued the Nixon Doctrine, which announced that nation’s had to take responsibility in defending their own areas of the globe. Cold War diplomacy also shifted as Johnson took up a policy of détente, which lessened the tensions between the US and communist nations. Nixon would also take up this policy, as he visited China and the USSR. Despite these acts of kind diplomacy, Nixon affected Cold war diplomacy again by issuing bombing runs on North Vietnam by B-52 bombers. 13) The US’s foreign policy of containment affected many regions of the world and experienced both success and failure. In East and Southeast Asia, containment of communism experienced mixed success. Containment failed at the loss of China to the hands of the Communist revolutionists led by Mao Zedong. However, the US continued to voice support for the government in Taiwan, refusing t at first to recognize the government in Beijing as the legitimate government of China. The Korean War showed the success of containment in Asia. Communist North Korea, in an attempt to unify Korea, invaded democratic South Korea. The North Koreans managed to push through most of South Korea until the US intervened and not only contained the Koreans at the original border but also managed to push them back almost to the Chinese border. Although the intervention of China pushed back the battlefront of the war, the ending result was that the border was established at the 38th parallel, thus containing communism in North Korea. Containment was also used in Vietnam, as US forces intervened to try to keep the communist North Vietnamese from intervening. Containment of communism in the region was justified by the Domino theory. However, that failed as the popular opposition to the war forced the US out and the North Vietnamese ended up conquering and unifying all of Vietnam. The policy of containment experienced a new strategy and success when Nixon initiated his policy of détente. His diplomatic missions to China and Russia eased tensions and helped form the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty with Russia. Containment was also experienced partial success in Latin America. To promote containment and peace in the region, the US instigated the formation of the Organization of American States. The US also managed to overthrow the communist influence military dictatorship in Guatemala, with the help of the CIA. An anti-communist military dictatorship ended up taking power. The biggest failure for containment came in Cuba. In Cuba, Fidel Castro ended up taking power and establishing a communist rule on the country. Following the containment policy, the US tried to eliminate Castro. The US invaded but failed, and the incident was known as the Bay of Pigs fiasco. The failure of the mission’s consequences brought terror to the US, as Russia sent over missiles to Cuba in the Cuban Missile Crisis to help protect Cuba. T 14) In 1820 to 1860, many people from north and Western Europe migrated to the US. They were drawn to the US by economic prosperity, freedom, and in the case of Ireland, a potato famine. The Irish did not integrate well into American society, as they were Catholics and Americans were Protestants. Unfortunately, the Irish worked in factories and sometimes, without knowing, were strikebreakers. This caused further contempt towards them by the Americans. Germans had a better time integrating as they shared the same religious views as Americans. The responses by the American people towards the immigrants were nativist. The formation of the Know-Nothing Party accurately represents sentiments towards immigrants as the Know-Nothings were very nativist and supported anti-immigration. From 1880 to 1924, immigrants began pouring in from other parts of Europe, such as eastern and southern Europe. Immigrants also began coming in large numbers from Asia. These immigrants were driven by similar motivations as the immigrants from 1820 to 1860. Also, they were similar in the fact that they also were targeted by Nativist groups. However, differences between the immigration trends of the two periods lies in the fact that for the group between 1880 and 1924, there were many groups that formed to help them assimilate. Immigrants were generally poor so there were many groups that provided services for them. Urban reform helped to improve the living conditions in which the immigrants lived in. Asians faced discrimination on the west coast, as the Chinese Exclusion Act was passed to keep Chinese immigrants out. Japanese also faced negative sentiments and were subject to long and arduous examinations of health. Mexicans also began immigrating to the US in large numbers. Like most other ethnic groups, they faced discrimination and could find only low-paying jobs. In both time periods, immigrants were always met with prejudice. The National Origins Act of 1924 restricted immigration to 150,000 people a year total across all countries. No legislation was ever passed from 1820 to 1860 that restricted immigration rates. 15) The new women’s movement set out to accomplish different goals than the previous one. The previous women’s movement had successfully fought for gender equality for things such as voting rights, property rights, and marital rights. The new women’s movement focused more on reproductive rights and equality in the workplace. The introduction of the birth pill helped give women greater control over their reproductive status. Many groups sprang up during this movement. There was the National Organization for Women that had similar views with the Democratic Party, groups formed based on ethnicity, for example, African American women formed organizations that focused on cultural and ethnic identity, and there were lesbian groups forming. Women made “consciousness-raising” sessions to discuss issues and share viewpoints on situations. These sessions promoted to the ideas of political power and personal power being hand in hand. They also focused on making the job market more equal. The women’s workplace always had “glass ceilings” that inhibited their advancement on the corporate ladder. Child care expenses also came down on women unequally. Another big issue to resolve was sexual harassment. Women were being harassed at the workplace and elsewhere by males. Thus, the Supreme Court ruled that sexual harassment was outlawed in the Civil Rights Act. This proved a major victory for women at the time. 16) The New Right was a conservatism group that formed in the mid 1970s. The group consisted of many kinds of people: those who supported anticommunism, anti-domestic spending, and many social/cultural issues such as the Equal Rights Amendment. Neoconservatists also joined as they sought to reinvigorate an anticommunist foreign policy in America. The New Right’s Agenda consisted of many aspects. On the political side of things, the New Right focused on lobbying in Congress and backing Conservative politicians. The New Right was very conservative and traditional in its social and cultural agendas. Conservatists upheld family values and denounced the degrading lifestyles brought on by the feminists and homosexuals. They said that homosexuality was not about personal freedom, but a “question of morality”. In the education system, the New Right opposed the fact that schools were teaching evolution, feminism, and multiculturalism because they said that these facts were being forced upon students, even though the contradicted their religious and cultural ideals. The New Right also expressed disapproval over the ideas of being politically correct in order to keep from insulting the various cultures in America, and instead, advocated traditional cultural values.