The Great Society
Essential Questions
- How did Kennedy respond to the continuing challenges of the Cold War?
- What were the goals of Kennedy's New Frontier?
- How did Johnson's Great Society programs change life for most Americans?
- How did African Americans challenge segregation after WWII?
- Why was Brown v. Board of Education important?
- Why did Eisenhower send federal troops to Little Rock, Arkansas?
- What role did Parks and King play in the Montgomery bus boycott?
- How did the civil rights movement gain ground in the 1960s?
- How did the Civil Rights Act of 1964 try to end discrimination?
- What successes and challenges faced the civil rights movement after 1964?
- What impact did the protests in Selma, Alabama have on the nation?
- What impact did Malcolm X have on the civil rights movement?
- What gains did the movement make by the early 1970s?
Learning Objectives
You will learn:
- How the assassination of President John Kennedy and the transition of power to a new president impacted American society and the political fortunes of a nation
- How and to what extent President Lyndon Johnson’s Great Society and “War on Poverty” transformed American culture and its economic and political systems
- How and why the adoption of the 14th Amendment to the United States Constitution and its interpretation impacted the equality of various groups during the 19th 20, and 21st Century
- How and to what extent United States involvement in world wars influenced the development of the late 20th Century African American civil rights movement
- How southern de jure segregation differed from northern de facto segregation
- How and why the African American civil rights movement developed over the 20th Century and how it impacted the onset of other movements for equality as well as American political and economic systems
- How the African American civil rights movement of the 20th Century was led by a variety of individuals and organizations with different strategies
- How women and young people influenced the direction and outcome of specific events within the African American civil rights movement of the 20th Century
- How and to what extent various civil rights events and movements successfully tested segregation and gained greater equality for different groups of Americans
- How executive, legislative and judicial decisions of the federal government impacted the direction and outcome of the African American civil rights movement
- How the rulings of the United States Supreme Court under Chief Justice Earl Warren altered the traditional legal position on racial equality and the rights of the criminally accused
- How and why President Lyndon Johnson addressed issues of social and racial injustice through direct government intervention and the programs of the Great Society and the effects of such intervention on American politics and economics
- How federal legislation and executive decisions in support of civil rights led to state’s rights debates and conflict between the federal and state governments
Key Terms
Assignments and Readings
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klansville_usa.pdf |
Slideshows
Videos
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Digital History Textbook
America in Ferment: The Tumultuous 1960s
This chapter examines the Civil Rights struggle against segregation and racial inequality; the feminist fight for equal educational and employment opportunity; the Mexican American battle against discrimination in voting, education, and employment; the Native American campaign for tribal sovereignty and land rights; the gay and lesbian drive to end discrimination based on sexual preference; and the environmentalist campaign to reduce pollution and promote conservation.
Thurgood Marshall
Simple Justice
The Mother of the Civil Rights Movement
Eisenhower and Civil Rights
Little Rock
The State of Black America in 1960
Freedom Now
To the Heart of Dixie
Bombingham
Kennedy Finally Acts
The March on Washington
The Civil Rights Act of 1964
Voting Rights
Black Nationalism and Black Power
The Civil Rights Movement Moves North
The Great Society and the Drive for Black Equality
White Backlash
The Struggle Continues
The Youth Revolt
The New Left
The Making and Unmaking of a Counterculture
Women's Liberation
Sources of Discontent
Feminism Reborn
Radical Feminism
The Growth of Feminist Ideology
The Supreme Court and Sex Discrimination
The Equal Rights Amendment
Impact of the Women's Liberation Movement
Viva La Raza!
The Native American Power Movement
Gay and Lesbian Liberation
The Earth First
Ralph Nader and the Consumer Movement
This chapter examines the Civil Rights struggle against segregation and racial inequality; the feminist fight for equal educational and employment opportunity; the Mexican American battle against discrimination in voting, education, and employment; the Native American campaign for tribal sovereignty and land rights; the gay and lesbian drive to end discrimination based on sexual preference; and the environmentalist campaign to reduce pollution and promote conservation.
Thurgood Marshall
Simple Justice
The Mother of the Civil Rights Movement
Eisenhower and Civil Rights
Little Rock
The State of Black America in 1960
Freedom Now
To the Heart of Dixie
Bombingham
Kennedy Finally Acts
The March on Washington
The Civil Rights Act of 1964
Voting Rights
Black Nationalism and Black Power
The Civil Rights Movement Moves North
The Great Society and the Drive for Black Equality
White Backlash
The Struggle Continues
The Youth Revolt
The New Left
The Making and Unmaking of a Counterculture
Women's Liberation
Sources of Discontent
Feminism Reborn
Radical Feminism
The Growth of Feminist Ideology
The Supreme Court and Sex Discrimination
The Equal Rights Amendment
Impact of the Women's Liberation Movement
Viva La Raza!
The Native American Power Movement
Gay and Lesbian Liberation
The Earth First
Ralph Nader and the Consumer Movement