1. American History Tour 1960s-1990s “Four decades in a flash” Here we go…

2. The 1960s The Civil Rights Movement America was still very racist at this point in history The movement for equal rights for minorities (esp. African Americans) picked up steam in the 1950s In 1955, Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on a Montgomery, AL bus Her arrest inspired many African-Amer. to begin protesting more boldly in order to stop discrimination

3. The 1960s Brown vs. Board of Education In 1954 (before Rosa Parks’ bus), the Supreme Court heard a case that challenged public schools’ right to segregate schools In 1896, the Plessy vs. Ferguson case said that “separate but equal” was acceptable However, the Court in 1954 found that they weren’t equal and they said schools could no longer be segregated However, the Court did not really set a timeline on how quickly they had to de- segregate Some schools took years longer than others to do so

4. The 1960s Montgomery Bus Boycott Rosa Parks inspired Af. Americans in Montgomery to protest discrimination there Rather than violently protest, MLK and other leaders organized a boycott of the buses as a non-violent protest Af.-Americans refused to ride the buses for 13 months, instead riding bikes, in car pools, or walking This caused much controversy but more importantly cost the bus company money In 1956, the Supreme Court ruled that segregated busing was also illegal and MLK became more famous (but others got mad such as the KKK, etc.…) Youtube

5. The 1960s Little Rock Nine After the Brown vs. Board case, Little Rock Central High (Arkansas) began plans to integrate their school by having 9 Af.-Amer. Students enroll there in 1957 The Governor ordered the Natl. Guard to deny the 9 to enter Death threats, angry mobs, etc. made it very tense for 3 weeks One girl, Elizabeth Eckford, tried to enter and the crowd called for her to by lynched even Pres. Eisenhower finally ordered the military to step in and the Little Rock 9 rode under armed escort and entered Central High School Youtube Youtube HBO promo Youtube Youtube intro clip

6. The 1960s The Cold War continues Cuba became Communist under the leadership of Fidel Castro In 1961, President Kennedy had Cuban rebels (supported by the USA) invade Cuba’s Bay of Pigs It was a disaster as Cuban troops easily stopped the rebels and the USA was greatly embarrassed on the world’s stage (USSR loved it!) Tensions in Berlin got hot enough that the Soviets helped to build the Berlin Wall to keep people from fleeing communist Berlin This became a symbol of the division in Europe between democracies and communism

7. The 1960s The Cuban Missile Crisis Cuba continued to be a “thorn in the side” for American in the 60s In 1962 an American U-2 spy plane found evidence that the USSR had nuclear missiles in Cuba (90 miles from the USA!) The USA had to act and President Kennedy told Kruschev that they weapons needed to be removed. Kruschev “called his bluff” and sent ships with more nukes toward Cuba (testing Pres. Kennedy) American ships met the Soviet ships in the Atlantic Ocean and we told the USSR we’d fire if they didn’t turn around…(nukes?)

8. So what if we did go to nuclear war? Good clip putting together different movies, etc. of what it might look like youtube

9. The 1960s The Cuban Missile Crisis If we had fired, it’s believed that nuclear war would have happened We were pretty much 30 sec. away from all out nuclear war However, thankfully, the USSR turned around their ships and Kennedy had proven himself This continued to raise American fears of the Soviets and the spread of communism This fear helped add to our involvement in a conflict in Vietnam between North Vietnam (communist) and South Vietnam. More on this later… Youtube Youtube 13 Days Trailer Youtube Youtube clip from 13 Days (“the moment”)

11. The 1960s Birmingham Protests Non-violent protests (sit-ins, etc) continued in the 1960s to protest segregation, discrimination, etc One of the “hotbeds” of this was Birmingham, AL in the deep South Non-violent marches in 1963 were not well received and tensions rose Police used firehoses, dogs, etc. on the marchers and it horrified people watching on TV nationally MLK was arrested while he was there, as were many others Birmingham’s white leaders finally agreed to desegregate the city and change their employment policies to hire more Afr. Amer. in downtown stores, etc. YoutubeYoutube 25 sec clip

12. The 1960s The March on Washington In 1963 Civil Rights organizers called for a gathering to show support for equal rights laws On August 28, 1963 about 250,000 people marched and gathered at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, DC It was here that MLK gave his famous “I have a dream” speech & more supported Civil Rights after this event Even Pres. Kennedy promised more support for the cause (but his situation would change soon unfortunately…) Youtube Youtube (highlights)

13. The 1960s Kennedy Assassination On Nov. 22nd, 1963 Kennedy went to Dallas, TX to campaign for re- election He, his wife, and Texas’ governor rode in a convertible for a parade in front of thousands of people Suddenly, shots rang out and people soon realized that the President had been shot In the chaos that followed, the shooter was found in a movie theatre that afternoon in Dallas His name: Lee Harvey Oswald Next slide… map of the site

15. The 1960s Kennedy Assassination Oswald was formerly in the U.S. Marines and had since lived in Russia and married a Russian wife Two days after his arrest, he was shot by Jack Ruby Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson had taken over for Kennedy as America mourned the loss of a leader Lots of stress and angst in America now as we had Vietnam, Civil Rights protests, and the Cold War on our plate Conspiracy theories (next slide)

16. Conspiracy Theories There’s many conspiracy theories on who “really” killed JFK Some think the mafia did it, some think the Russians did it, some probably think aliens did it One great source of bad information (but an entertaining one) was the 1990s movie “JFK” by Oliver Stone. The “magic bullet” theory was one of many in the film that people believed (next slide)

17. JFK Movie “magic bullet” theory (not true!!!)

18. “Magic Bullet” theory: arguments against it ABC news produced an in-depth special on the conspiracy theories surrounding JFK’s assassination. The next slide shows an animated reconstruction of events that gives some evidence that seems to disprove the “magic bullet” theory. What do you think??

20. Popular Culture The mystery surrounding the assassination caught America’s attention and continues to do so today. In the 1990s, the very popular show “Seinfeld” even joined in on the fun. The next slide shows a clip where the show kind of mocks the whole JFK phenomenon.

21. Seinfeld show “magic loogie” clip (making fun of JFK movie)

22. The 1960s Divisions within the Civil Rights Movement Some felt that the non-violent protests of the movement were not enough and it was time to get more aggressive In the late 1960s there was still plenty of racism and discrimination in the US and race riots broke out in cities Calls for “black power” and more aggressive protests came from the Nation of Islam, and branch of Islam founded in the US, led by Elijah Muhammad A popular personality in this group was Malcolm X (born in Omaha, NE)

23. The 1960s Gulf of Tonkin & Vietnam The situation in Vietnam had pretty much turned into a civil war between communist North Vietnam (Viet Cong) and South Vietnam. Pres. Johnson (LBJ) did not want to lose Vietnam to communism After the U.S. destroyer Maddox was attacked in the Gulf of Tonkin (it was debated whether or not it had been attacked a second time), LBJ was given authority to begin using military force Bombing of North Vietnam began in 1965 we had 184,000 military troops there by the end of 1965 More on Vietnam later…

24. The 1960s Divisions within the Civil Rights Movement Malcolm X represented a more aggressive, fiery alternative to MLK and his non-violent ways Youtube of a speech of hisYoutube Malcolm X left the Nation of Islam in the 1960s Soon after his trip to Mecca in Saudi Arabia, he was shot by members of the Nation of Islam Yet another assassination in America… Isn’t there any good news?

25. The 1960s Beatle-mania! In 1964, the “British Invasion” hit America with the arrival of The Beatles A music group of great appeal to America, they took America by storm with not only their sound, but their look (hairstyle, dress, etc) Strangely enough, one of their members John Lennon was assassinated in New York in 1980 (but at least it wasn’t in the 60s!) Youtube of the Beatles liveYoutube

26. The 1960s Tet Offensive in Vietnam On Jan. 30 & 31, 1968 on what was supposed to be a “holiday” for the Vietnamese new year, called “Tet”, there was a surprise attack by the Viet Cong. It was attack on U.S. military bases and towns in South Vietnam Weapons and soldiers were smuggled in on buses, food trucks, etc. and no one knew due to all the traffic coming in for the new year Although it was a defeat for the Viet Cong (no cities were taken over and they lost 45,000 soldiers), the attack stunned Americans and caused doubt on whether or not the U.S. could “win” the war This was a turning point in the war

27. The 1960s Martin Luther King, Jr. Assassinated America was hit with another major death on April 4, 1968 Martin Luther King, Jr. was in Memphis, TN and was shot on the balcony of the hotel he was staying in His assassin was James Earl Ray, a former Army member Evidence pointed to Ray as the assassin, yet he claimed he wasn’t the one who fired a shot Some felt that there may be a conspiracy by someone to silence Dr. King and his message (the gov’t, KKK, etc.???) Youtube summary ORYoutube See MLK last days clip (next slide)

29. The 1960s Vietnam War Struggles Why was the Vietnam war such a struggle for the USA? 1) we fought with “rules” in order to avoid pulling China into the conflict while the enemy did not - example: Ho Chi Minh trail 2) young and inexperienced soldiers and short tours of duty, plus many were drafted & thus forced to fight 3) identifying the enemy was very tough, guerilla warfare tactics, & great determination of the enemy 4) the land & climate made fighting extremely tough (jungles, rain, etc)

30. The 1960s Vietnam War Combat, etc. The jungle needed to be “stripped” so we used napalm to burn it out and Agent Orange to kill the plants Both processes helped, but also harmed innocent villages & our own soldiers (skin diseases & cancers) “Search and Destroy” missions led to the destruction of villages in search of Viet Cong but turned possible village supporters against the US Youtube of a village bombing runYoutube South Vietnamese soldiers did not fight or support as much as we needed Without the South Vietnamese support, it made it that much harder for our troops to fight in such a war History RocksHistory Rocks: Vietnam Soldier

31. The 1960s Vietnam War Combat continued The United States also tried many air bombing runs by B-52 and other bombers to combat the Viet Cong This tactic was somewhat effective, but the bombs also hit innocents in villages, etc. and eroded support Some search and destroy missions, combined with the frustration of U.S. troops, led to some poor decisions An example: In March 1968, a U.S. platoon of troops rounded up and shot between 175 and 500 unarmed civilians including women and children in the Mai Lai massacre. Support continued to decline…

32. The 1960s A New President in 1968 LBJ announced that he would not run for President again President Nixon (Republican) ran against Hubert Humphrey (Democrat) in the 1968 Presidential election Humphrey was LBJ’s Vice President and Nixon ran on a promise of ending the war in Vietnam “honorably” The election was marred by: 1) the assassination of candidate Robert F. Kennedy (JFK’s brother) in June 2) riots and protests in Chicago at the Democratic National Convention in Aug In the end, Nixon won 55% of the electoral vote and 43% of the popular

33. The 1960s Man on the Moon! Finally, some very good news for Americans on July 20, 1969. Commander Neil Armstrong became the first man on the moon as a member of the Apollo 11 mission. He said the historic words, "One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.” A camera in the Lunar Module provided live television coverage as he climbed down the ladder to the surface of the moon. A U.S. flag was planted there and millions of Americans watched and celebrated our Space Race victory

34. The 1970s The 1960s brought some influential and controversial times: Civil Rights Movement issues Vietnam War issues Assassinations of influential people Would the 1970s bring more calm?

35. The 1970s Vietnam War Comes to an End Support for the war in the USA eroded very quickly and many protests happened, showing a “divided” America In May 1970, 4 students were killed and 9 injured by Ohio National Guard troops during a protest at Kent State University, increasing tensions Nixon secretly started bombings on the Ho Chi Minh trail in Cambodia while promising a withdrawal of troops, angering many and causing distrust On March 29, 1973 the United States pulled their last troops from Vietnam In 1975, Communist forces overtook South Vietnam, ending the war

36. The 1970s Legacy of the Vietnam War More than 1.2 million North and South Vietnamese died in the conflict Much destruction & suffering in Vietnam due to bombings, etc. leaving their economy in terrible shape also Around 58,000 U.S. troops died and more than 300,000 wounded Most of the public did not give the ones who returned a hero’s welcome either The 26th Amendment passed in 1971, lowering the voting age to 18 from 21 Many Americans lost their faith in their government and leaders and the country had “lost” a war for the first time, hurting U.S. confidence

37. The 1970s The Economy Sours The government was spending large sums of money on programs to aid the poor and to fund the Vietnam war, but didn’t raise taxes enough to pay for it When the economy went into a recession, less production happened (less products) With less products to buy, yet a large supply of gov’t money, inflation became a big problem in the 1970s Due to inflation, the U.S. dollar was able to buy less items, causing the value to drop Oil shipments from the Middle East were cut to the US also & gas prices quadrupled This poor economy continued through most of the 1970s

38. The 1970s Watergate takes down Nixon After Pres. Nixon traveled to China in 1972, relations between the U.S., China, and even the U.S.S.R. improved a bit However, in June of 1972 five men were caught breaking into Democratic Party headquarters in the Watergate office complex in Washington, D.C. They were basically trying to “spy” on the Democrats with cameras and phone taps Nixon tried to cover up any connection between the White House and the group in charge of the Watergate burglary Nixon’s attempts to cover up included lies and other illegal activity & when it was exposed, he faced probable impeachment He resigned on August 9, 1974

39. The 1970s The Gerald Ford & Jimmy Carter years (not on the FIB notes page, just listen) Vice President Gerald Ford took over for Nixon and pardoned him of criminal charges, hurting his popularity This, combined with the economy’s troubles helped lead to his defeat in the 1976 election to Democrat Jimmy Carter In 1977, America faced an oil and natural gas shortage leading to long lines for gas and the closing of schools and businesses Carter did have success with the Camp David Accords, arranging for a peace agreement between Israel and Egypt, ending 30 years of conflict The environmentalism movement started in the 1970s and attempts were made to clean up pollution, etc. in America

40. The 1970s The Iran Hostage Crisis of 1979 In 1979, Muslim leaders in Iran overthrew the U.S. supported Shah (king) of Iran Pres. Carter allowed the Shah to come to the U.S. for medical treatment, angering Muslims in Iran They overtook the U.S. Embassy in Tehran and took 52 hostages Carter tried negotiating a release and also tried a military rescue, but both failed This, combined with the economy helped lead to Carter losing the 1980 Presidential election to Ronald Reagan, then Gov. of California and former movie star The hostages were released on January 20, 1981, the day Reagan took office

41. The 1980s The 1970s started with continuing the tensions of the 1960s Now, as the 1970s close, Vietnam is over and a new President takes over The economy is still bad and the Cold War is still going on What happens in the 1980s???

42. The 1980s President Reagan Shot: When leaving after a speech in D.C. in March of 1981, Pres. Reagan and three others were shot by John Hinckley, Jr. Reagan had a punctured lung but survived the attack, despite his age Hinckley was found not guilty by reason of insanity (he’s in a psychiatric facility still) He said he was trying to impress actress Jodi Foster Youtube of the event & aftermathYoutube “Not impressed”

43. The 1980s AIDS identified The first report of AIDS was published in the June 5, 1981, in a publication of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. By the end of 1982, CDC officials concluded the cause was a new infection spread through sexual contact. It was learned that the HIV virus was the cause of AIDS & had no known cure. More was learned about the disease in time and it was found to be transferred through other means as well (tainted blood transfusions, etc)

44. The 1980s Macintosh Arrives Personal computers were just beginning to show up in some homes during the 1980s In 1984, a famous commercial brought America into the world of Macintosh Youtube of the Super Bowl commercialYoutube Many more computers would show up in households across America after this The operating system also helped with the development of Windows type applications

45. The 1980s Space Shuttle Disaster Americans were very proud of their new Space Shuttle program in the 80s In 1986, there was extra excitement as the “Challenger” mission was to be taking Christa McAuliffe with them as the first teacher in space Students did all sorts of projects, etc. in anticipation of the event. On January 26, 1986 thousands of school students and others watched on live TV to see the historic event. Youtube of what happenedYoutube All seven crew members died as Americans mourned the loss

46. The 1980s Iran Contra Affair In 1986, Americans learned that the U.S. had sold weapons to Iran (remember the Iran hostage crisis, etc from the 70s?) in order to free American hostages The money went to rebels (Contras) in Nicaragua who were against Communism This action violated a law that banned the U.S. government to fund the rebels Reagan claimed he didn’t know about the deal, but investigators said that if he didn’t know about it, he should have Probably the darkest spot on Reagan’s terms as President

47. The 1980s Glasnost, Gorbachev, and Reagan President Reagan and the Soviet’s new leader, Mikhail Gorbachev began getting along better in the 1980s Reagan was spending tons of money on nuclear weapons and defense and the Soviets were having a hard time keeping up economically Gorbachev was promoting the idea of glasnost in the USSR, which was a more open, cooperative government

48. The 1980s The 1988 Election Ronald Reagan’s two terms were over and a new President would be elected Reagan’s Vice President, George H.W. Bush (Republican) ran against Michael Dukakis (Democrat) Bush rode the popularity of Reagan and Dukakis made some political mistakes, leading to Bush winning the election by a solid margin

49. The 1980s Fall of the Berlin Wall Throughout 1989, the Berlin Wall began “falling” - first in Hungary and continuing on into Dec. of 1989 Celebrations to commemorate the fall of the Wall (and really of Communism) in Germany were on the news everywhere Germany ended up being reunited and was no longer split into West and East Germany Communism was beginning to lose it’s grip on Europe Youtube of David Hasselhoff songYoutube History Rocks video

50. The 1990s The 1980s overall were more “calm” than the 1960s and 1970s There was still some tension, etc. but overall it was seen as a “good decade” for America What would the 1990s hold in store?

51. The 1990s The End of the USSR Boris Yeltsin’s reform party took over Gorbachev’s rule in the USSR in 1991. Gorbachev gets credit for helping “thaw” the Cold War and Yeltsin went even further with change One by one, Soviet republics declared independence and became their own countries The breakup of the Soviet Union was the final stage in the end of the Cold War Youtube of funny ol’ Boris (next slide)Youtube

53. The 1990s Persian Gulf War The Iraq War of the 2000s was not the first time we went to war in Iraq In 1990, Iraq and Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait, a major oil supplier The United Nations organized a group of 39 countries (but mainly the United States) to free Kuwait In January 1991, we began bombing Iraq with amazing efficiency in the air Within a month our ground forces invaded Kuwait and forced Iraq out The war was over in basically a month and Bush was very popular Youtube summary (see next slide)Youtube

55. The 1990s The 1992 Presidential Election Pres. Bush looked like a lock to win the 1992 election after the Persian Gulf War However, the economy soured and unemployment rose to 7% This, combined with the style and political savvy of Bill Clinton of Arkansas as the Democratic candidate led to a new President being elected in 1992 After 12 years of Republican rule in the White House, the Democrats finally had control of the Presidency

56. Let’s pretend for a bit… You have been selected to serve on a jury in Los Angeles, California in 1992 You are judging a case of basically whether police officers used excessive force Watch the following video and see what your verdict would be based solely upon the video

58. The 1990s The 1992 Los Angeles Riots A well publicized video and trial regarding police brutality in Los Angeles brought violence to California A police video of the beating of Rodney King led to the trial (previous slide has the video of it) Youtube of the video of the eventYoutube In the trial, the jury found the police officers not guilty of excessive force This greatly angered the African- Amer. community in Los Angeles, leading to riots and much destruction (next slide has some video) Youtube of coverageYoutube

60. The 1990s 1993 World Trade Center attack The Sept. 11th attacks were NOT the first time the World Trade Center faced terrorism In Feb. 1993 a large truck bomb was exploded in the North Tower lower level The plan was to knock the North tower into the South Tower and kill thousands of people (didn’t work) It did kill 6 people and injured over 1000, but could have been much worse Ramzi Yousef, a Muslim militant, was convicted of masterminding the bombing with other helpers Youtube of news coverage (next slide)Youtube

62. The 1990s The 1994-95 O.J. Simpson trial O.J. Simpson, former NFL running back and movie star, was charged with the double murder of his former wife her boyfriend O.J.’s actions before his arrest and strong physical evidence linking him to the murders made many believe he was guilty Youtube of the Bronco chase (next slide)Youtube The trial was televised and captured America’s attention as it played out for months on TV (youtube of “the glove”) (next slide)youtube At the close of the trial, OJ was found not guilty by the jury (youtube verdict) (next slide)youtube Some celebrated while many others seemed to lose faith in the justice system

66. The 1990s Terror in the Heartland On April 19, 1995 a bomb exploded just oustide a Federal Gov’t building in Oklahoma City, OK A large fertilizer bomb had been placed inside a Ryder moving van and detonated at 9:00am 168 died and around 800 were wounded in the worst domestic terrorist attack here ever Timothy McVeigh, former member in the U.S. Army, and his accomplice, Terry Nichols, were arrested for the planning of and detonation of the bomb. McVeigh was executed by lethal injection in 2001 and Nichols was sentenced to life in prison. CBS news website review of the eventCBS

67. The 1990s Dolly Cloned Dolly was the name of a female sheep that had been cloned She was cloned from a cell from an adult sheep’s mammary gland Dolly was “born” on July 5, 1996 Thus ushered in an era of enhanced cell research, cloning, etc. And also new discussions of how far cloning could go (pets?, humans?, Hitler?, etc?)

68. The 1990s President Clinton Impeached Pres. Clinton had battled with the Republican Congress over many issues, winning some & losing some In 1998 accusations that of an improper relationship with a White House intern named Monica Lewinsky arose During the investigation, Clinton denied the relationship and he was later charged with perjury (lying under oath) Pres. Clinton later admitted to the relationship, but denied lying under oath In Dec. 1998, the House of Rep. voted to impeach Clinton The Senate in 1999 acquitted him and he stayed in office

69. The 1990s The “Millennium Bug” Scare A major worry in the United States for whether computers, etc would crash, etc. when the year 2000 started The fear rested in computers thinking it was 1900 instead and throwing off all sorts of programs, etc A very large amount of money, time, etc. was spent to make sure that computers were “Y2K” ready In the end, there were virtually no problems when 2000 came (either to the preparations or there not being a need in the first place)

70. The 1990s A New Century A new millenium had arrived and America was ready to move forward. A very close 2000 Presidential election between George W. Bush and Vice President Al Gore had to be settled by Florida’s vote (and the Supreme Court) Soon after Bush’s election victory, he would be tested severely by the September 11th attacks in New York That ushered in a new war on terror and the Iraq War. The new decade proved to have its own shares of triumphs and challenges, just like the decades before it.