FDR’s first 100 days in office were incredibly productive as he pushed through Congress several new programs
Some New Deal programs discriminated initially against African Americans who needed their benefits, FDR passed an executive order outlawing discrimination in New Deal programs
Arguable if New Deal programs actually fixed the Great Depression
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World War II
(1939-1945)
Germany, Japan, and Italy formed the Axis powers and began expanding into neighboring regions
The rest of Europe declared war on Germany in 1939, with the Allied powers consisting of Britain, France, and the Soviet Union after 1940
The US joined the war after Japan attacked the naval base in Pearl Harbor in Dec. 1941
Island hopping: tactic used in the war in the Pacific, advancing closer and closer to Japan and establishing a supply chain through the islands
In Europe, Allies first invaded through Italy
Opened a second front on D-Day, June 6, 1944
Berlin fell in May 1945
Japan surrendered in September 1945 after the US dropped two atomic bombs on the cities of Nagasaki and Hiroshima
Japanese internment for duration of the war back home
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Cold War
(1945-1990)
The US and the Soviet Union emerged from WWII as two dominant superpowers
Eastern Europe was made of communist puppet governments controlled by the Soviets
Western Europe were NATO members allied with the United States
Truman Doctrine: if you are fighting communism somewhere in the world, the US will come to your aid
Led to war in Korea when communist North Korea invaded South Korea in 1950
Containment policy: have to contain communism to where it exists already, not allow it to spread
Korean War ended in 1953 with Korea still being divided along the 38th parallel, and North Korea still communist
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Vietnam War
(1955-1973)
US initially just sent advisors to help the French regain control of Vietnam as their colony, and then to help the South Vietnamese once Vietnam was divided along the 17th parallel and North Vietnam became communist
After the Gulf of Tonkin incident in 1964, Johnson will ramp up US involvement in the war
Tet Offensive: 1968 surprise attack on 100 South Vietnamese cities, US had thought the communists were nearly beaten and the war was almost over
War became very unpopular back home as it dragged on, made even more unpopular by the release of the Pentagon Papers in 1971
In 1973, Nixon signed a peace deal with North Vietnam and pulled Americans out
By 1975, South Vietnam had fallen to the North, Vietnam reunited as a single communist country
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Civil Rights Movement
Begins in 1954 with the Supreme Court’s decision to desegregate schools in Brown v. Board of Education, and in 1955 when Rosa Parks refuses to give up her seat to a white man on a Montgomery bus
Movement led by Martin Luther King Jr. and others like A. Philip Randolph and the SCLC
Very active on college campuses and college students who were members of the SNCC played a large role in organizing lunch counter sit-ins and freedom rides
Non-violent protests broadcast on TV were effective at winning sympathy and putting pressure on Congress to act
Civil Rights Act of 1964: outlawed discrimination in hiring and public facilities
Voting Rights Act of 1965: outlawed literacy tests and other means of stopping black people from voting
MLK assassinated in 1968
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Other social movements
Rachel Carson wrote a book Silent Spring about the harm on the environment being done
Led to the EPA being founded, and Earth Day declared a national holiday
Cesar Chavez: founded the United Farm Workers and fought for rights for the mostly Hispanic migrant farm workers
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1970s
Watergate scandal: Nixon’s reelection team caught attempting to spy on the Democrats, two year long investigation led to Nixon resigning from the presidency, later pardoned by Ford, his VP who became president
Camp David Accords: Jimmy Carter’s successful negotiation of a peace deal between Egypt and Israel
Iranian hostage crisis: revolution in Iran led to a new government that did not like the US, raided the US embassy in Tehran and took over 300 Americans there hostage, held for over a year
Carter’s failure to bring back the hostages contributed to his loss to Ronald Reagan in the election of 1980
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1980s/1990s
Reaganomics: also called supply-side economics, believed in lowering taxes and lowering regulations on business
President Reagan began modernizing U.S. forces and contemplating a new anti-ballistic missile shield called the Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI), which was sometimes referred to as "Star Wars."
This build up in arms is one of the contributing factors to the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1990, whose economic development had slowed and could no longer keep up with the US
Clinton’s impeachment trial: 1998, impeached for committing perjury and obstruction of justice, Senate did not get the necessary ⅔ vote to remove from office
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2000s/2010s
Election of 2000: George W. Bush won the election despite losing the popular vote after a very controversial recount in Florida
9/11: attacks on NYC and the Pentagon by Al-Qaeda terrorists, led to an invasion of Afghanistan, as we believed the Taliban government had aided Al-Qaeda
Operation Iraqi Freedom: invasion of Iraq in 2003, because we believed Saddam Hussein was developing weapons of mass destruction
Patriot Act: law that allowed the US government to hold foreign citizens suspected of terrorism, tap phones of Americans suspected of contact with terrorists without a warrant
Election of 2008: Barack Obama beat John McCain and became the first black man elected president