Notes
The civil rights movement
- ***Brown v. Board* (1954) overturned "separate but equal" in schools. The Montgomery Bus Boycott and Little Rock Nine** tested desegregation.
- Nonviolent protest grew: sit-ins, Freedom Rides, Birmingham and the March on Washington (1963).
- Major laws: the Civil Rights Act (1964), 24th Amendment (1964), Voting Rights Act (1965) and Fair Housing Act (1968).
- Malcolm X and Black Power stressed pride and self-defense. King was assassinated in 1968.
Kennedy, Johnson and Vietnam
- JFK faced the Bay of Pigs and the Cuban Missile Crisis (1962). LBJ's Great Society created Medicare and Medicaid and ended immigration quotas.
- The domino theory and Gulf of Tonkin Resolution led to escalation in Vietnam. The Tet Offensive turned opinion; the antiwar movement grew.
- Nixon's Vietnamization led to U.S. withdrawal (1973); Saigon fell in 1975. The War Powers Act and 26th Amendment followed.
Other rights movements
- Women's movement: The Feminine Mystique, NOW, Title IX, the debate over the ERA and Roe v. Wade.
- César Chávez and Dolores Huerta (farmworkers), AIM (Native Americans) and the environmental movement (Silent Spring, EPA).
Watergate and the 1970s
- Nixon pursued détente with China and the Soviet Union. The Watergate cover-up led to his resignation in 1974.
- Carter brokered the Camp David Accords but struggled with stagflation and the Iran hostage crisis.
Topics in this unit
Each topic has its own short notes and practice.
Practice
Montgomery began in 1955; the March was in 1963; the acts were passed in 1964 and 1965.
King answered critics who called him an "outsider" in Birmingham.
The Voting Rights Act sharply increased Black voter registration in the South.
LBJ used it to greatly expand U.S. involvement.
Supporters said it would guarantee equality; opponents like Phyllis Schlafly argued it would harm women's legal protections.
Congress investigated, the courts ordered the tapes released and Nixon resigned.
Free response
Write your answer first, then open the scoring guide.
Free-response question
Between 1954 and 1968, the civil rights movement brought major changes to American law and society.
(a) Describe ONE Supreme Court decision and ONE protest that challenged segregation.
Show the answer and scoring guide
In Brown v. Board of Education (1954), the Court ruled school segregation unconstitutional. In the Montgomery Bus Boycott, Black residents refused to ride city buses for over a year after Rosa Parks's arrest, until bus segregation was ended.
Check off the points you earned:
(b) Explain how nonviolent protest helped win new civil rights laws.
Show the answer and scoring guide
Nonviolent marches and sit-ins drew violent responses, like police dogs and fire hoses in Birmingham and beatings at Selma. Television brought these images to the nation, building public pressure that helped pass the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
Check off the points you earned:
(c) Explain how the civil rights movement influenced ONE other rights movement of the 1960s or 1970s.
Show the answer and scoring guide
The women's movement borrowed civil rights methods and goals. NOW organized to push for equal pay and opportunity, and the Civil Rights Act's ban on sex discrimination in jobs and later Title IX gave women new legal tools.
Check off the points you earned: