- affirmative action
-
policies, programs and procedures that give preference to minorities and
women in job hiring, admission to institutions of higher
education, awarding of government contracts, and other allocations of social
benefits. Affirmative action was originally undertaken by President Lyndon
Johnson's administration in order to improve opportunities for African Americans while
civil rights legislation dismantled the legal basis for discrimination
against them. The federal government began to institute affirmative action
policies under the Civil Rights Act of 1964. -"affirmative
action" Britannica Online.
-
Agent Orange
- mixture of herbicides that U.S. military forces sprayed in Vietnam from 1962 to 1971 during
the Vietnam War for the dual purposes of (1) defoliating forest areas that might conceal Viet
Cong and North Vietnamese forces and (2) destroying crops that might feed the enemy. The
defoliant, sprayed from low-flying aircraft, is toxic even in minute quantities. About 50
million liters (13 million gallons) of Agent Orange--containing about 170 kg (375 pounds)
of dioxin--were dropped on Vietnam. Among the Vietnamese, exposure to Agent
Orange is considered to be the cause of an
abnormally high incidence of miscarriages, skin diseases, cancers, birth defects, and
congenital malformations (often extreme and grotesque) from the 1970s to the '90s.
Many U.S., Australian, and New Zealand servicemen who suffered long exposure to Agent
Orange in Vietnam later developed a number of cancers and other health
disorders. -"agent orange" Britannica
Online.
-
Spiro Agnew
- thirty-ninth vice president of the United States (1968-1973), elected in 1968 and 1972 on the
Republican ticket headed by Richard M. Nixon.
Although he was little known to the American public at the time of his
nomination for the vice presidency in 1968, Agnew won national recognition soon after his
election to office for his speeches attacking Vietnam War protesters and network television
news coverage. In the summer of 1973
Agnew was accused of extortion, bribery, and income-tax violations relating
chiefly to his tenure
as governor of Maryland. On October 10, 1973, faced with federal indictments,
he
resigned the vice presidency. -"Agnew, Spiro T."
Britannica Online.
- air raid
- an attack by armed airplanes on a surface target.
-
Muhammad Ali
-
American professional boxer, born Cassius Marcellus Clay, the first boxer to win the heavyweight championship three
separate times. In 1964 he joined the Nation of Islam (Black Muslims)--adopting a Muslim
name--and in 1967 he refused, on religious grounds, to submit to induction into the armed
forces. He was subsequently convicted of violating the Selective Service Act and in
consequence barred from the ring and stripped of his title, although the conviction was
ultimately reversed by the U.S. Supreme Court in
1971. -"Ali, Muhammad" Britannica
Online.
-
Allied Powers
-
the alliance of France, England, and Russia formed during the
Second World War and later extended to include the United States and other
countries.
- AP, Associated Press
- the oldest and largest cooperative wire service in the United
States. AP, UPI (United Press International) and other wire services sell news stories and
photographs to newspapers, magazines and other news outlets
worldwide.
-
Arab-Israeli Conflict
- the establishment of the state of Israel in 1948 was followed by
tension and periodic outbreaks of war with the surrounding Arab
countries. In early 1967 Syrian bombardments of Israeli villages had been
intensified. When the Israeli Air Force shot down six Syrian MiG planes in reprisal,
Egypt mobilized its forces near the Sinai border. The clash of Arab and Israeli
forces from June 5-10, 1967 came to be
called the Six-Day War. During this war Israel established air
superiority over the Egyptian air force and occupied the Old City of
Jerusalem, the Sinai and the Gaza Strip, the Jordanian territory west of the Jordan River
known as the West Bank, and the Golan Heights, on the Israeli-Syrian border.
-"Arab-Israeli wars" Britannica Online.
-
Armed Forces Network
- military operated radio station that broadcasts American radio to troops
overseas.
-
Neil Armstrong
- American astronaut, the first man to
set foot on the Moon.
On July 16, 1969, Armstrong, along with Edwin E. Aldrin, Jr., and Michael Collins,
blasted off in the Apollo 11 vehicle toward the Moon. Four days later, at 4:18 PM, U.S.
Eastern Daylight Time (EDT), the "Eagle" lunar landing module, guided manually by
Armstrong, touched down on a plain near the southwestern edge of the Sea of Tranquillity
(Mare Tranquillitatis). At 10:56 PM EDT, July 20, 1969, Armstrong stepped from the
"Eagle" onto the Moon's dusty surface with the words, "That's one small
step for a man,
one giant leap for mankind." -"Armstrong, Neil [Alden]"
Britannica Online.
- the
Apollo 11 twenty-fifth anniversary page features pictures and sound clips
from the first staffed mission to the moon.
-
atom bomb
- also called ATOMIC BOMB, weapon with great explosive power that results
from the sudden release of energy upon the splitting or fission of the
nuclei of such heavy elements as plutonium or uranium. Detonation of an atomic bomb
releases enormous amounts of thermal energy, achieving temperatures of several
million degrees in the exploding bomb itself. The heat of the
resulting fireball can ignite ground fires that can incinerate an entire small
city. Materials vaporized in the fireball condense to fine
particles, and this radioactive debris, referred to as fallout, is carried by the
winds in the troposphere or stratosphere. The radioactive contaminants
can have lethal effects for years after
the explosion.
The first atomic bomb to be used in warfare
was dropped by the United States on Hiroshima, Japan, on August 6, 1945. The explosion,
which had the force of more than 15,000 tons of TNT, instantly and completely devastated
10 square km (4 square miles) of the heart of this city of 343,000 inhabitants. Of this
number, 66,000 were killed immediately and 69,000 were injured; more than 67 percent of
the city's structures were destroyed or damaged.
-"atomic bomb" Britannica Online.
-
AWOL
- "absent without official leave"; unauthorized departure from or abandonment of a military duty station.
-
Axis Powers
- the alliance of Germany and Italy formed before and during the Second World
War; later the alliance was extended to include Japan.
-
Joan Baez
-
American folk singer and political
activist who interested young audiences in folk music during the 1960s.
She was in the forefront of the 1960s folk song revival, popularizing
traditional songs through her performances in coffeehouses, at music
festivals and on television. An active
participant in the 1960s protest movement, Baez made free concert
appearances for civil rights organizations and anti-Vietnam War rallies. In
1964, she refused to pay federal taxes that went toward War expenses and
she was jailed twice in 1967. -"Baez, Joan" Britannica Online.
-
The Beatles
- British rock and roll band that started the "British Invasion" in the early
1960s. The band included John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and
Ringo Starr. The Beatles released "The Beatles (white album)" on
November 22, 1968.
-
bellbottoms
- pants with a marked flare below the knee - very popular in the
fashions of the Sixties and early Seventies.
-
birth control
- natural or artificial methods of avoiding pregnancy. The
introduction of "the Pill," an oral contraceptive, to U.S. markets in the mid 1960s opened the
way for the sexual revolution of the period.
- http://gynpages.com/ultimate/
-
Black Panthers
- originally the BLACK PANTHER PARTY FOR SELF-DEFENSE, founded in 1966 in Oakland, California,
by Huey Newton and Bobby
Seale. The party's original purpose was to patrol African American
neighborhoods to protect residents from
acts of police brutality. The Panthers eventually developed into a revolutionary group
that called for the arming of all blacks, the exemption of blacks from the draft and from all
sanctions of white America, the release of all blacks from jail, and the payment of
compensation to blacks for centuries of exploitation by white Americans. At its peak in the
late 1960s, Panther membership exceeded 2,000 and the organization operated chapters in
several major cities. -"Black Panther Party."
Britannica Online.
-
black power
- a movement of African Americans to unite in actively resisting
discrimination, often calling for an independent course of action from
movements that included whites. Black power emphasized self-defense tactics,
self-determination, political and economic power, and racial pride.
-
black power salute
- a raised tightened fist used by African Americans as a gesture of
pride and solidarity.
-
boot camp
- a training facility for new soldiers where they are introduced to
military discipline and prepared for the physical and mental rigors of
combat.
-
boycott
- the collective and organized withholding of patronage, labor, or
social involvement to protest practices that are regarded as unfair. Dr.
Martin Luther King, Jr. effectively used boycotts of stores,
restaurants, and city services that discriminated against African Americans.
-
David Brinkley
- anchor, with Chet Huntley, of NBC television's "Huntley-Brinkley
Report," a major news program of the 1950s and 1960s.
-
Brown v. Board of
Education
-
on May 17, 1954, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled unanimously, in the case of
Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas, that
racial segregation in public schools violated the Fourteenth Amendment to
the Constitution, which says that no state may deny equal protection of the
laws to any person within its jurisdiction. The 1954 decision declared
that separate educational facilities were inherently unequal. Based on a
series of Supreme Court cases argued between 1938 and 1950,
Brown v.
Board of Education of Topeka completed the reversal of an earlier Supreme Court
ruling (Plessy v. Ferguson, 1896) that permitted "separate
but equal" public school facilities. The 1954 decision was limited to the
public schools, but it was believed to imply that racial segregation was
not permissible in other public facilities. -"Brown v. Board of Education
of Topeka" Britannica Online.
-
H. Rap Brown
- political activist and black power leader, a director of the Student
Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), and member of
the Black Panther Party.
-
McGeorge Bundy
- American public official and educator, one of the main architects
of U.S. foreign policy in the administrations of presidents John F. Kennedy
and Lyndon B. Johnson. Under Johnson, Bundy was a forceful advocate of
expanding the United States' involvement in the Vietnam
War. In February 1965, after visiting South Vietnam, he wrote a crucial memorandum
calling for a policy of "sustained reprisal," including air strikes, against North Vietnam if it
did not end its guerrilla war against the South Vietnamese government. Later, however, after
he had left government service, he advised Johnson
against further escalation of the War. -"Bundy,
McGeorge" Britannica Online.
-
C-rations
- canned field rations of the U.S. Army.
-
Cambodia
- country in Southeast Asia bordered by Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, and
the Gulf of Thailand. Although Cambodia had remained neutral in the war
between North and South Vietnam, the existence of North Vietnamese staging
areas in Cambodia was used to justify a campaign of massive and
indiscriminate bombing by the U.S. in 1969 and 1970, followed by invasion
by U.S. and South Vietnamese troops. - "Cambodia" Britannica
Online.
- CIA
World Factbook entry for Cambodia
-
Stokely Carmichael
- original name of KWAME TOURE,
West-Indian-born civil rights activist, leader of black nationalism
in the United States in the 1960s and originator of its rallying
slogan, "black power." In 1961 Carmichael was one of several Freedom
Riders who traveled through the South challenging segregation laws in
interstate transportation. Initially, Carmichael and others associated
with the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC)
supported the nonviolent approach to desegregation espoused by
Martin Luther King, Jr., but Carmichael was becoming increasingly
frustrated, having witnessed beatings and murders of several
civil rights activists. In 1966 he became the chairman of SNCC, and
during a march in Mississippi he rallied demonstrators in founding
the black power movement.
Before leaving SNCC in 1968, Carmichael traveled abroad and throughout
the U.S., speaking out
against political and economic repression and denouncing U.S.
involvement in the Vietnam War.-"Carmichael, Stokely" Britannica
Online.
-
Chicago Seven
- seven activists put on trial in 1969 for activities contributing to
the disruption of the 1968 Democratic Convention.
-
civil rights
- the rights to political and social equality regardless of
race, gender, or religion. Recent legislation extends the protections of
the Civil Rights
Act to those discriminated against because of
sexual preference, physical disabilities, age, etc.
-
Civil Rights Act
- comprehensive U.S. legislation intended to end discrimination based on race,
color, religion, or national origin. Title I of the act guarantees equal voting rights by
removing registration requirements and procedures biased against minorities and the
underprivileged. Title II prohibits segregation or discrimination in places of public
accommodation involved in interstate commerce. Title VII bans discrimination by trade
unions, schools, or employers involved in interstate commerce or doing business with the
federal government. The latter section also applies to discrimination on the basis of sex and
established a government agency, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC),
to enforce these provisions. The act also calls for the desegregation of public schools (Title
IV), broadens the duties of the Civil Rights Commission (Title V), and assures
nondiscrimination in the distribution of funds under federally assisted programs (Title VI).
The Civil Rights Act was passed with the
urging of President Lyndon B. Johnson, who signed the bill into law on July
2, 1964, following one of the longest debates in Senate history. -"Civil Rights Act"
Britannica Online.
- http://www.senate.gov/curator/qtvr_tour/civright.htm
-
claymore
- anti-personnel land mine widely used in the Vietnam War; when
discharged, it projects sharp steel fragments (like its namesake, the
Scottish sword).
-
Clean for Gene
- a movement of the young supporters of Eugene McCarthy to take on a "clean-cut" look in order to
help in his campaign.
-
Bill Clinton
- William Jefferson Clinton, forty-second president of the United
States (1993- ).
Clinton graduated from Georgetown University in Washington,
DC in 1968, and left the U.S. in the fall as a Rhodes
Scholar to study in Oxford, England. Clinton was not drafted
and did not serve in the
military during the Vietnam War.
- http://www.whitehouse.gov/WH/EOP/html/principals.html
- Cold War
- the rivalry between the United States and the Soviet Union and their
respective allies that dominated world affairs from the end of
World War II to the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991.
The Cold War was waged on political,
economic, propaganda, and espionage fronts and had only limited recourse to
weapons, though the threat of nuclear war was always present and
occasionally came near to realization--especially during the
Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962.
-
cold water flat
- an inexpensive apartment of relatively small size (originally an apartment
that only had cold water service).
-
commune
- living arrangements where work and goods are shared within the
group. Communes were popular among hippies and other counter-cultural
groups.
-
communism
- a theory of revolutionary socialism propounded by
Karl Marx and Friedrich
Engels, advocating a social and economic organization in which workers rather than
financial investors (capitalists) control the means of production and
distribution of goods. The utopian goal of this theory is a classless
society to which all members contribute by their labor. Attempts to
implement such a system by the Soviet Union, China, and other countries
were also termed communist, although "in none of these countries had a
communist society fully been established," ["communism" Britannica
Online] and most have resulted in
totalitarian states. Fear of the expansion and influence of these
states and of communist ideas motivated U.S. foreign policy during the
Cold War.
-
John Connally
- governor of Texas from 1963 to 1969. Connally was injured as he
rode in the limousine with John F. Kennedy when Kennedy was assassinated.
He left the Democratic Party in 1970, served as secretary of
the treasury under Richard Nixon, and sought the Republican presidential nomination
in 1980.
-
conscientious objector
- a person who refuses to participate in military combat on religious, moral, or
ethical grounds. When drafted, conscientious objectors are given
non-combatant positions in the
service.
- Constitution
- the written framework for the government of the United States.
-
Count Basie
- popular big band jazz musician of the 1940s and '50s.
-
counter-culture
- groups of young people that adopt an unconventional lifestyle as
an alternative to the perceived hypocrisy and inequity of the dominant
cultural norm. In the 1960s the counter-culture was characterized by
casual clothing and hair styles, rock and roll
music, sexual freedom, experimentation with drugs, and opposition to the Vietnam War.
-
counter-demonstration
- a demonstration to express opposition to the cause of another
demonstration. During the Vietnam War, supporters of the war effort
staged counter-demonstrations to oppose antiwar demonstrations.
-
Cuban Missile Crisis
- in October 1962, when President John F. Kennedy learned that Soviet
nuclear missiles were being based in Cuba,
he ordered a naval quarantine and demanded that the Soviet
Union remove all their offensive weapons from the island. This
confrontation
brought the U.S. and the Soviet Union to the brink of nuclear
war. The crisis ended when the
Soviets dismantled their missile installations in exchange for a U.S.
agreement to discontinue efforts to overthrow Fidel Castro.
- http://tqd.advanced.org/11046/
-
Cuban Revolution
- Fidel Castro and a small band of revolutionary guerrillas
defeated Cuban government troops in 1959. Castro
expropriated American businesses and agricultural holdings, and
obtained trade agreements and military support from the Soviet Union.
The U.S. broke diplomatic relations with Cuba in 1961 and shortly
thereafter attempted to overthrow Castro's government by a clandestine
invasion at the Bay of Pigs.
-
Czechoslovakia
- a country in central Europe that was dominated by the Soviet Union after
World War II. In 1968 liberal reforms implemented by the Czech Communist
Party (the Prague Spring) were suppressed by a Soviet invasion. Since
the dismantling of the Soviet Union in 1991, Czechoslovakia has become
two countries, the Czech Republic and Slovakia.
-
Richard Daley
- mayor of Chicago from
1955 until his death in 1976; he was reelected every fourth year through 1975.
Daley was called "the
last of the big-city bosses" because of his tight control of Chicago politics through
widespread job patronage. He attained great power in the Democratic
Party, but his administration was criticized for its reluctance to check racial segregation
in housing and in the public schools and for its measures taken against
demonstrators during the
Democratic National Convention in 1968. -"Daley,
Richard" Britannica Online.
- Daley's
biography at the Chicago Public Library web site.
-
Danang
- city in northern South Vietnam approximately 400 miles north of
Saigon (Ho Chi Minh
City) where there was a heavy concentration of American
troops.
-
deferment
- a postponement of enlistment date after being drafted. During the
Vietnam War, deferments for college students resulted in unequal
imposition of the obligation of military service on less privileged
young men. The draft law was changed in 1971 to limit student
deferments. See Selective Service.
-
The Dells
- 1950s doo-wop group.
-
desegregation
- the reversal of a policy of exclusion of African Americans from institutions
and neighborhoods. In the 1960s, as a result of court rulings (Brown v.
Board of Education of Topeka) and legislation (Civil Rights Act),
desegregation of public schools was undertaken, often by busing students
from one racially homogeneous neighborhood to another.
-
DI, drill instructor
- the sergeant who trains new troops at boot camp.
-
DMZ
- demilitarized zone; a region where military activity is prohibited. The 1954 Geneva
Accords ending French occupation of Vietnam established a boundary
between North and South Vietnam near the 17th parallel with a
demilitarized zone extending for three miles on either side.
-
domino theory
- the belief that events, once set in motion, have an inevitable
conclusion, symbolized by the effect of one toppling domino in a row of
dominoes. U.S. foreign policy in Southeast Asia in the 1950s and '60s
was motivated by the theory that if one country became communist the
other countries would inevitably follow in quick succession.
-
doo-wop
- an a cappella singing style popularized
in the 1950s.
-
The Doors
- psychedelic rock and roll band of the 1960s fronted by Jim Morrison
and very popular among American GIs in Vietnam.
- http://www.doors.com
-
draft
- a call to required military service. See Selective Service.
-
Draft Board
- committee that selects and classifies young men for required military
service. See Selective Service.
-
draft dodging
- evading the draft by moving to another country or concealing one's
identity.
-
duck and cover
- a drill practiced in schools in the 1950s and '60s,
administered under the assumption that the children would be protected from a
nuclear blast if they ducked under a desk and covered their heads.
-
John Foster Dulles
- U.S.
secretary of state (1953-59) under President Dwight D. Eisenhower. He was the architect of
many major elements of U.S. foreign policy in the Cold War
with the Soviet Union after World War II. -"Dulles, John F(oster)"
Britannica Online.
-
Bob Dylan
- singer/songwriter who spoke out for social justice and opposed the U.S. presence in Vietnam.
Famous for protest songs such as The Times they are
A-Changin' (1964), Dylan released John Wesley Harding on the eve
of 1968, and Nashville Skyline in 1969.
-
Ed Sullivan Show
- television variety show during the 1950s and 1960s. Appearance on
the "Ed Sullivan Show" provided national exposure and recognition to
musicians like Elvis Presley and the Beatles.
-
Dwight David Eisenhower
- thirty-fourth president of the United States (1953-61) and former
general and Commander of the Allied Armies in World War II.
- http://sunsite.unc.edu/lia/president/pressites/
-
enlist
- enroll in the military.
-
enlisted man
- a soldier or sailor below the rank of officer.
-
exemption
- release from the obligation of military service. Before 1971,
exemptions (or deferments) were granted to clergy, people in
critical occupations (teachers, doctors, scientists), and people with certain
medical conditions. See Selective Service.
-
fallout shelter
- an underground living space
designed to protect the occupants from the effects of a nuclear
explosion.
-
FBI
- Federal Bureau of Investigation; U.S. federal law enforcement department
concentrating mostly on domestic investigation.
- http://www.fbi.gov
-
feminism
- advocacy of women's rights and equality.
-
The Flamingos
- popular doo-wop group from the 1950s and 1960s.
-
flower children
- a term for hippies that emphasizes romantic,
utopian, antiwar aspects of their counter-culture.
-
Jane Fonda
- American
motion-picture actress who was also noted for her political activism.
In the 1970s and '80s Fonda was active on behalf of left-wing political causes. She was an
outspoken opponent of the Vietnam War who journeyed to Hanoi in 1972 to denounce the
U.S. bombing campaigns there. -"Fonda, Jane"
Britannica Online
-
Gerald Ford
- thirty-eighth president of the United States. President Ford
assumed office in 1974 after the resignation of Richard M. Nixon. He
established a program to provide clemency to Vietnam War draft resisters.
- The Ford Presidential
Library
-
President Ford's official White House biography
-
fragging
- assassination of a commanding officer by soldiers.
-
free love
- sexual relations without any commitments
by either partner.
-
Freedom of Information
Act
- a law that gives the public the right to obtain more
information
from agencies of the federal government.
- The ACLU's FOIA guide
-
Friends of SNCC
- white supporters of the Student Non-violent Coordinating
Committee.
-
Geiger counter
- instrument for measuring the intensity of radiation.
-
generation gap
- a difference of outlook or lifestyle between people of different
generations.
-
GI Bill
- bill providing benefits to U.S. military veterans, including housing
loans, education grants, and health care, among others.
-
John Glenn
- the
first U.S. astronaut to orbit the Earth. On February 20, 1962, Glenn's space capsule,
"Friendship 7," was launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida.
Glenn retired from the space program and the Marine Corps in 1964 to enter private
business and to pursue his interest in politics. He was
elected U.S. senator from Ohio in 1974 and was reelected in 1980. In
October 1998, at the age of 77, Glenn returned to space on a nine-day shuttle mission
with six other crew members.
-"Glenn, John H(erschel), Jr." Britannica Online.
-
Barry Goldwater
- U.S. senator from Arizona (1953-64, 1969-87) and
Republican presidential candidate in 1964 opposing the incumbent
president, Lyndon B. Johnson. National prosperity worked in Johnson's
favor, and Goldwater was considered an extreme
anticommunist who might carry the country into war with the Soviet Union. Goldwater
was decisively defeated in that election.
In 1968 Goldwater was reelected as senator from Arizona and held that
office until he retired
in 1987. He led the delegation of senior Republican politicians who on August 7, 1974,
persuaded President Richard M. Nixon to resign from office.
-"Goldwater, Barry M." Britannica Online.
-
Grant Park
- Chicago park where the protests against the Democratic Convention of 1968 started.
-
Great Society
- President Lyndon Johnson's sweeping program of domestic reform in health care,
education, civil rights, and housing, including the Civil Rights Act of
1964 and the establishment of Medicare, a health care plan for the
elderly.
-
Gulf of Tonkin
- gulf off the coast of northern Vietnam that connects to the South China
Sea. On August 5, 1964, President Lyndon Johnson brought a resolution
before Congress requesting authorization to use military force
in reaction to
two allegedly unprovoked attacks by North Vietnamese on two
boats of U.S. Seventh Fleet in the Gulf of Tonkin on August 2 and 4. Its
stated purpose was to approve and support the determination of the
President, as Commander in Chief, in taking all necessary measures to repel
any armed attack against the forces of the United States and to prevent
further aggression. It also declared that
peace in Southeast Asia was vital to American interests and to
world peace. The resolution served as the principal constitutional
authorization for the subsequent escalation of the United States'
military involvement in the Vietnam War. Several years later, as the
American public became increasingly disillusioned with the Vietnam War,
many congressmen came to see the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution as having given
the president a
blanket power to wage war, and the resolution was repealed in 1970. -"Gulf
of Tonkin Resolution" Britannica Online.
-
Hanoi
- capital of North Vietnam and headquarters for the
North Vietnam Army during the Vietnam War.
-
Hanoi Hilton
- term used by American soldiers and journalists for the prison in Hanoi where prisoners
of war were kept.
-
Jimi Hendrix
- byname of JAMES MARSHALL HENDRIX (b. November 27, 1942, Seattle,
Washington--d.
September 18, 1970, London, England), American blues and rock guitarist known for his innovative
playing (and occasional cremation) of the electric guitar. Hendrix was a symbol of the
1960s youth counter-culture. -Hendrix, Jimi
Britannica Online.
- hippie
- a young person who drops out of school or conventional work to join
the counter-culture. In the 1960s, hippie styles included long hair,
beads, and psychedelic rock music.
-
Hmong
- a member of a mountain-dwelling people inhabiting southeastern China and
the northern parts of Vietnam, Laos, and Thailand. The Hmong people
of Laos fought for the CIA and the U.S. military in the secret war
against Laotian and North Vietnamese communists in the 1960s. They
suffered serious losses in combat and in reprisals and migrations
that followed the U.S. withdrawal from Southeast Asia. Thousands of
Hmong have now settled in the U.S.
- WWW Hmong
Homepage
-
Ho Chi Minh
- president of North Vietnam from 1945 to 1969. As the leader of the
Vietnamese nationalist movement for nearly three decades, Ho was one of
the prime movers of the post-World War II anticolonial movement in Asia
and one of the most influential communist leaders of the twentieth
century. - Ho Chi Minh Britannica Online.
- Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon)
- formerly (until 1976) SAIGON, Vietnamese THANH PHO HO CHI MINH, largest city in
Vietnam; it was the former capital of the French protectorate of Cochinchina (1862-1954) and
of South Vietnam (1954-75). The city lies along the Saigon River (Song Sai Gon) to the
north of the Mekong River delta, about 50 miles (80 km) from the South China Sea. The
commercial center of Cho Lon lies immediately west of Ho Chi Minh City. During the
Second Indochina War, or Vietnam War, of the 1960s and early '70s,
Saigon was the headquarters of U.S. military operations. Parts of the city were destroyed by
fighting in 1968.
On April 30, 1975, North Vietnamese troops captured Saigon, and the city was subsequently
renamed Ho Chi Minh City.
Ho Chi Minh City retains the look of a European city, with its many Western-style
buildings dating from the period of French colonial rule. Most of the
brothels and restaurants that
thrived in Saigon during the Vietnam War have closed their doors.
-"Ho Chi Minh City" Britannica Online.
-
Ho Chi Minh Trail
- elaborate system of mountain and jungle paths and trails used by North Vietnam to infiltrate
troops and supplies into South Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos during the Vietnam War. The
trail was put into operation beginning in 1959, after the North Vietnamese leadership decided
to use revolutionary warfare to reunify South with North Vietnam.
Traffic on the trail was little affected by repeated American B-52 bombing
raids. The trail was maintained and improved and by the late 1960s could accommodate heavy
trucks in some sections and was supplying the needs of several hundred thousand regular
North Vietnamese troops active in South Vietnam. The Ho Chi Minh Trail
was the major supply route for the North Vietnamese forces that successfully invaded and
overran South Vietnam in 1975.
-"Ho Chi Minh Trail" Britannica Online.
-
Abbie Hoffman
- American political activist and founder of the Youth International
Party (Yippies).
Hoffman was active in the American civil rights
movement before turning his energies to organizing the Yippies (1968), who were dedicated
to protesting the Vietnam War and the American economic and political system. He gained
widespread media attention for his exploits, most notably for his courtroom antics as a
defendant in the so-called Chicago Seven trial (1969), in which Hoffman was convicted of
crossing state lines with intent to riot at the Democratic Party's national convention in
Chicago in 1968; the conviction was later overturned.
After he was arrested on charges of selling cocaine (1973), Hoffman went underground,
underwent plastic surgery, assumed the alias Barry Freed, and worked as an environmental
activist in New York state. He resurfaced in 1980 and served a year in prison before
resuming his environmental efforts. Hoffman died in 1989. -"Abbie
Hoffman" Britannica Online.
-
Holocaust
- the mass slaughter of 6 million European civilians, especially Jews,
as part of a systematic "final solution" by the Nazis
during World War II.
-
honorable discharge
- a release from military duty with good standing.
-
hooch
- dwelling constructed primarily for short-term occupancy, made from canvas,
used to house soldiers in the fields of Vietnam.
-
Hubert Humphrey
- thirty-eighth vice president of the United States (1965-1969, under
President Lyndon Johnson). Humphrey's political career was established
during his service as senator from Minnesota (1949-1965 and 1971-1978).
He was an influential liberal leader who built his political base
on a Democrat-Farmer-Labor coalition reminiscent of the Populist
movement. Following President Johnson's withdrawal from active politics
in 1968, Humphrey was nominated as the Democratic presidential candidate. But,
with his party divided over the Vietnam War, he was narrowly defeated by
Republican Richard M. Nixon. - "Humphrey, Hubert H[oratio]"
Britannica Online
-
Chet Huntley
- co-host, with David Brinkley, of NBC television's "Huntley-Brinkley
Report," a major news program of the 1950s and 1960s.
-
Lyndon B. Johnson
- thirty-sixth president of the United States. Lyndon Baines Johnson took office upon JFK's
assassination in 1963, and won election in 1964. He implemented major
programs of domestic social reform (the Great Society), but faced increasing
opposition from the American left because of continued U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War. In 1968
he announced that he would not seek re-election.
- The LBJ presidential library
- The
official White House biography of LBJ
-
John F. Kennedy
- thirty-fifth president of the United States (1961-63). Kennedy was a WWII
hero, senator from Massachusetts, and the youngest person ever
elected president. He was assassinated in Dallas in 1963. JFK's youth
and idealistic pronouncements created an optimistic mood
of liberalism
throughout the country and the world, despite the continuation and
escalation of
traditional Cold War policies against countries like Cuba and Vietnam.
- The Kennedy
Presidential Library
- The
official White House biography of JFK
-
Edward Kennedy
- U.S. senator from Massachusetts, first elected in 1962. He is the
last surviving brother of John F. Kennedy. Kennedy has long been a prominent
figure in the Democratic Party and in liberal politics, serving as a
prominent spokesman for social reform legislation.-"Kennedy, Edward
M" Britannica Online.
-
-
Robert F. Kennedy
- U.S. attorney general and adviser during the administration of
his brother, President John F. Kennedy; later U.S. senator from New
York. RFK was assassinated in 1968 while campaigning for the presidential
nomination. - "Kennedy, Robert F." Britannica Online
-
Kent State University
- a public, coeducational university in Kent, Ohio.
In May 1970, the Ohio National Guard fired upon students in reaction to campus protests against the war in
Vietnam. Four students were killed, sparking outrage and demonstrations at many American universities.
-"Kent State University" Britannica Online.
-
Khe Sanh
- site of a major standoff between U.S. Marines and North Vietnamese
soldiers. See also Vietnam.
-
Martin Luther King, Jr.
- eloquent African American Baptist minister who led the civil rights movement
from the mid-1950s until his death by assassination in 1968. His
leadership was fundamental to that movement's success in ending the
legal segregation of African Americans in the South and other portions of the U.S.
Dr. King rose to national prominence through the organization of the
Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), promoting nonviolent
tactics such as the massive March on Washington (1963) to achieve civil
rights. He was awarded the Nobel Prize for Peace in 1964. - "King,
Martin Luther, Jr." Britannica Online
- http://www-leland.stanford.edu/group/King/
-
Henry Kissinger
- U.S. political scientist. As advisor for
national security affairs and secretary of state, Kissinger was a major influence in
the shaping of foreign policy from 1969 to 1976 under Presidents Richard
M. Nixon and Gerald R. Ford. Although he originally advocated a hardline
policy in Vietnam and helped engineer the U.S. bombing of Cambodia
(1969-70), in 1972 Kissinger negotiated (at the Paris Peace Talks) a cease-fire agreement that
provided for the withdrawal of U.S. troops and outlined the machinery for a
peace settlement between the two Vietnams. For this apparent
resolution, Kissinger shared the 1973 Nobel Prize with the North
Vietnamese negotiator, Le Duc Tho. -"Kissinger, Henry A(lfred)"
Britannica Online.
-
Life Magazine
- popular American periodical that features photo-journalism.
-
LSD, "acid"
- lysergic acid
diethylamide, a potent synthetic hallucinogenic drug that
produces profoundly altered states of consciousness.
In the 1960s LSD was proposed for use in the treatment of neuroses
by the psychologist Timothy Leary,
though no claims of its psychotherapeutic effectiveness have yet been substantiated.
In the United States,
manufacture, possession, sale, transfer, and use of LSD came under the restrictions of the
Drug Abuse Control Amendment of 1965.
-"LSD" Britannica Online.
-
M-16
- a .223 caliber (5.56 mm.) gas-operated magazine-fed rifle for semiautomatic
or automatic operation used by U.S.troops since the mid-1960s.
-
Michael Mansfield
- Democratic Party majority leader
in the U.S. Senate (1961-77) and U.S. ambassador to Japan from 1977 to
1988. In 1952 Mansfield won a seat in the Senate, despite the accusation
of Senator Joseph R. McCarthy that he was "soft on communism." Mansfield
succeeded Lyndon Johnson as Senate majority leader when Johnson became vice
president in 1961. Throughout the 1960s Mansfield became increasingly
vocal in his criticism of U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War. In 1971
he sponsored a bill calling for a cease-fire and phased withdrawal of U.S.
troops from Vietnam. -"Mansfield, Michael J(oseph)" Britannica
Online.
-
marijuana
- an illegal drug, made from dried
hemp and usually ingested by smoking. Marijuana, also called "pot" or "grass," was popular in the
counter-culture and among GIs in Vietnam.
-
Marxism
- the political and economic theories of Karl Marx, predicting the
revolutionary
overthrow of capitalism by the proletariat and the eventual attainment
of a classless communist society.
-
Eugene McCarthy
-
U.S.
senator from Minnesota whose entry into the 1968 race for the Democratic presidential
nomination ultimately led President Lyndon B. Johnson to drop his bid for
reelection. Although he had supported the Gulf
of Tonkin Resolution in 1964 (which gave the president broad powers to wage the
Vietnam War), by 1967 McCarthy had become an outspoken critic of the war.
After McCarthy
captured twenty of the twenty-four delegates of the March 1968 New
Hampshire primary,
Johnson made the dramatic announcement of his withdrawal from the race.
Following the assassination of Robert F.Kennedy, McCarthy lost the
nomination at the convention in Chicago to Vice President Hubert
Humphrey. -"McCarthy, Eugene" Britannica Online
-
George McGovern
- U.S. senator from South Dakota who was an unsuccessful reformist
Democratic candidate for the presidency in 1972. He campaigned on a platform advocating
an immediate end to the Vietnam War and liberal
reforms at home.
As chairman of a Commission on Party Structure and Delegate Selection prior to the
Democratic National Convention in 1972, McGovern helped enact party reforms that gave
increased representation to minority groups at the
convention. However, McGovern was unable to unify the party sufficiently to offer an effective
challenge to the incumbent Republican president, Richard M. Nixon, who defeated him by
an overwhelming margin. -"McGovern, George"
Britannica Online.
-
Robert McNamara
- U.S. secretary of defense from 1961 to
1968 who revamped Pentagon operations and who played a major role in the nation's
military involvement in Vietnam.
On visits to South Vietnam in 1962, 1964, and 1966, the secretary publicly
expressed optimism that the National Liberation Front and its North Vietnamese allies would
soon abandon their attempt to overthrow the U.S.-backed Saigon regime. He became the
government's chief spokesman for the day-to-day operations
of the war and acted as
President Lyndon B. Johnson's principal deputy in the
war's prosecution.
By 1966, however, McNamara had begun to question the wisdom of U.S. military
involvement in Vietnam, and by 1967 he was openly seeking a way to launch peace
negotiations. He initiated a full-scale investigation of the American commitment to Vietnam
(later published as the Pentagon Papers), came out in opposition to continued bombing of
North Vietnam (for which he lost influence in the Johnson administration), and in February
1968 left the Pentagon to become president of the World
Bank. "McNamara, Robert S(trange)" Britannica
Online.
-
mess hall
- dining room for soldiers in camps or at military bases.
-
MIA
- missing in action; a soldier reported to be missing in action--not
among those known to be dead or prisoners of war.
-
MiG
- Russian fighter jet.
-
MOBE
- National Mobilization Committee to End the War in Vietnam; organization that
brought together a broad range of antiwar groups and
staged marches and demonstrations in Washington, DC and on college campuses, as well
as the rally in Chicago during the Democratic national convention in
August 1968.
-
Monroe Doctrine
- declaration (in 1823) by President James Monroe that further
European colonization in the Western Hemisphere would be taken as a
hostile act against the United States. In the twentieth century, an
interpretation of the Doctrine has been used to justify U.S.
interference
in the internal affairs of Latin American countries. "Monroe Doctrine"
Britannica Online.
-
Motown
- term for the
automobile-manufacturing city of Detroit, Michigan ("motor town"). The
Motown Record Corp., founded in 1959 by Berry Gordy, Jr., was the first and
most successful African American-owned music company. The distinctive
sound and style of Motown musicians characterized much popular music of
the 1960s. -"Motown" Britannica Online.
-
NAACP
- National Association for the Advancement of Colored People; an interracial
organization created to work for the abolition
of segregation and discrimination in housing, education, employment,
voting, and transportation; to oppose racism; and to ensure African Americans their
constitutional rights. It was the NAACP's legal counsel that carried to
the Supreme Court the case Brown v.
Board of Education of Topeka
that resulted in the landmark 1954 school desegregation
decision. -"National Association for the Advancement of Colored People"
Britannica Online.
- The NAACP's web page
-
napalm
- jellied gasoline used extensively in incendiary bombs during the Vietnam
War.
-
Narragansett Indians
- tribe of Native Americans living in the area of Narragansett Bay,
Rhode Island.
-
New Left
- a political movement originating especially among students in the 1960s,
that favored confrontational tactics and often broke with older leftist
ideologies. Concerned especially with antiwar, antinuclear, feminist, and
environmental issues.
-
New Republic
-
weekly journal of opinion that was one of the most influential
liberal magazines in the United
States from its founding in 1914. The journal reflected the progressive movement and sought
reforms in American society.
The New Republic adhered to its
liberal orientation from the 1950s through the '70s, but in the 1980s the magazine began
displaying an array of editorial opinion and commentary that reflected the resurgence of
conservatism in American political thought. The New Republic has remained an
influential journal of political commentary and analysis.
-"New Republic, The" Britannica Online.
-
Newsweek
- weekly American magazine concerned primarily with national issues.
-
Huey Newton
- American political activist, cofounder (with Bobby
Seale) of the Black Panthers
in Oakland, California in 1966. -"Newton, Huey P." Britannica
Online.
-
Richard M. Nixon
- (1913-1994) thirty-seventh president of the United States. Nixon
rose to prominence in Congress in the 1940s through his participation in the House
Un-American Activities Committee investigating suspected communists in
government (Red Scare). He served two terms as vice president under Dwight
Eisenhower, but was defeated in the 1960 presidential election by John
F. Kennedy. Nixon was elected president in 1968 and embarked on a
"Vietnamization" policy which was supposed to
reduce the U.S. combat role in Vietnam by providing military and
economic support to South Vietnamese troops and escalating U.S. air
attacks against North Vietnam. He then ordered secret bombing
campaigns against North Vietnamese supply centers in the neutral
nations of Laos and Cambodia. In 1973, Nixon's secretary of state
Henry Kissinger negotiated an accord with North Vietnam ending U.S.
military involvement in Southeast Asia.
- Nixon's other major foreign policy accomplishment was to reduce tensions with
China and the Soviet Union. He resigned in 1974 when faced with
almost certain impeachment for covering up his administration's
involvement in the break-in at the Democratic Party headquarters in
the Watergate during the 1972 election campaign.
-
The Nixon Presidential library
- Nixon's White House biography
-
NOW
- National Organization for Women; American activist organization (founded 1966) that promotes equal rights for
women. The National Organization for Women was established to
actively challenge sex discrimination in all areas of American
society,
particularly in employment. Among the issues that NOW has addressed by means of lobbying and
litigation are child care,
pregnancy leave, abortion rights and pension rights. Its major concern during the 1970s was
passage of a national equal rights amendment to the Constitution; the amendment failed to
gain ratification in 1982. NOW also campaigned for such issues as passage of state equal
rights amendments and comparable-worth legislation (equal pay for work of comparable
value) and met with greater success on the state
level. -"National Organization for Women"
Britannica Online.
- http://www.now.org/
-
Paris Peace Talks
- secret talks held in October 1972 between Henry Kissinger and North
Vietnam's Le Duc Tho resulting in an agreement on a cease-fire, the
release of prisoners of war, evacuation of remaining U.S. forces within
60 days, and political negotiations among all Vietnamese parties. The
cease-fire went into effect on January 23, 1973, and the last American
soldiers departed on March 9. - "20th-Century International Relations:
Total Cold War and the diffusion: Nixon, Kissinger, and the Detente
Experiment: End of the Vietnam War" Britannica Online.
-
Rosa Parks
- African American civil rights hero whose refusal to give up her
seat on a public bus to a white man precipitated the Montgomery, Alabama
bus boycott, recognized as the spark that ignited the U.S. Civil
Rights Movement. -"Parks, Rosa" Britannica Online.
-
http://www.wmich.edu/politics/mlk/mont3.html_
-
John O. Pastore
- influential U.S. senator from Rhode Island, 1950-1976.
-
Peace Corps
- U.S. government agency of volunteers, created by the Peace Corps Act of 1961. It
was initiated by President John F. Kennedy, and its first director was Kennedy's
brother-in-law R. Sargent Shriver.
The purpose of the Peace Corps is to assist other countries in their development efforts by
providing skilled workers in the fields of education, agriculture, health, trade, technology,
and community development.
The Peace Corps grew from 900 volunteers serving 16 countries in 1961 to a peak of
15,556 volunteers serving 52 countries in 1966. "Peace
Corps" Britannica Online.
-
Pentagon
- official headquarters of the United States military.
-
Pentagon Papers
- a classified report on the U.S. role in Vietnam commissioned in 1967
by secretary of defense Robert McNamara. The Pentagon Papers were made
available to newspapers by Daniel Ellsberg in 1971 and revealed the long
history of covert U.S. military and political involvement in Vietnamese
affairs. President Nixon reacted to those revelations by authorizing
unlawful efforts to discredit Ellsberg that came to light
during the Watergate scandal. - "Pentagon Papers" Britannica
Online
-
PFC
- military rank of private first-class.
-
The Pill
- a birth control pill; any of several oral contraceptives for women introduced in the
United States in the mid 1960s.
-
POW
- prisoner of war; a person captured or interned by a belligerent power during war. The
Geneva Convention of 1949 established standards for the protection and
humane treatment of prisoners of war and broadened the term to include guerrillas
or civilians who openly take up arms against an
enemy, and noncombatants, such as war correspondents, who
accompany armed forces without actually being members.
-"prisoner of war" Britannica Online
-
Elvis Presley
- rock and roll singer whose enormous success changed the shape of
American popular culture.
Presley's intensely charismatic personal style--the sexy
hip shaking that earned him the nickname "Elvis the Pelvis," the ducktail haircut, and the
characteristic sneer combined with an aura of vulnerability--excited young fans, especially
females, to wild adulation.
Because of the sexual
suggestiveness of his gyrations, he was originally shown on television only from the waist up.
Presley's popularity extended to country, pop, and rhythm and blues audiences. He
released 14 consecutive million-selling records before being drafted into the U.S. Army in
1958. Presley resumed his recording and acting career after being discharged in 1960. Though he remained
popular and hugely successful
financially, he suffered a personal decline, battling
public pressures, middle-age weight gain, and dependence on drugs. Hundreds of thousands of fans
mourned Presley outside the gates of his estate, Graceland, after his
sudden death in 1977. -"Presley, Elvis" Britannica
Online.
-
Quantico
- U.S. Marine Corps training facility in Quantico, Virginia.
-
Quonset hut
- a prefabricated shelter set on a foundation of bolted steel
trusses
and built of a semicircular arching roof of corrugated metal insulated
with wood fiber.
-
R&R
- rest and relaxation, military term for leave away from a war zone.
-
radical
- promoting extreme change in existing views, habits,
conditions, or institutions; an individual who favors such changes.
-
Red Cross
- international organization bringing relief to victims of war and natural
disater.
- http://www.redcross.org/
-
Red Scare
- a political
tactic of the Cold War era in which excessive
fear of communism was fed by unsupported allegations by Senator Joseph
McCarthy, Richard Nixon, and others that
ruined the lives, careers, or reputations of thousands of Americans in
government, the military, the arts, and education. -"The United States of
America: History: The United States Since 1945: The Peak Cold War Years,
1945-60: The Red Scare" Britannica Online
-
ROTC
- Reserve Officers Training Corps; programs conducted by the U.S. armed services
on high school and college campuses to recruit and train students to become officers in the
military.
-
SAM
- surface to air missile; an anti-aircraft weapon used to destroy enemy aircraft from the
ground.
-
SDS
- Students for a
Democratic Society; American student organization that flourished in the mid-to-late 1960s
and was known for its activism against the Vietnam War. Initially, SDS
chapters throughout the nation were involved in the Civil Rights
Movement. SDS organized a national march on
Washington D.C. in April 1965, and from about that period SDS grew
increasingly militant, especially about issues relating to the war, such
as the drafting of students. -"Students for a Democratic Society"
Britannica Online.
-
Seabees
- the naval construction
battalions that speedily built docks, housing, and airstrips in combat zones during World
War II and the Vietnam War.
-
Bobby Seale
- (b. Oct. 22, 1936, Dallas, Texas) African American
political activist, Seale, along with Huey Newton, founded the
Black Panther
Party and was
its national chairman. Seale was one of a generation
of American
radicals who
broke away from the traditionally nonviolent Civil Rights Movement to preach a doctrine of
militant black empowerment. -"Seale, Bobby"
Britannica Online.
- Bobby Seale's Home Page
-
SEALS
- Sea Air and Land teams, the US naval special forces.
-
segregation
- the separation or isolation of a race, class, or ethnic group by enforced
or voluntary residence in a restricted area, by barriers to social
intercourse, by separate educational facilities, or by other discriminatory means.
In the U.S., the Civil Rights Act of 1964 addresses both
de jure
segregation (segregation imposed by law, such as the 'Jim Crow'
legislation in the South) and de facto segregation (segregation
condoned by racist practices of exclusion in housing and education).
-
Selective Service
- the U.S. military draft. Until the
later years of the
Vietnam War, young men between the ages of 18 and 26 without a
deferment or professional or medical exemption from the draft were
eligible to be called into military service at any time. A lottery
system was introduced in 1969 and other changes to the Selective
Service System were made in 1971 that effectively narrowed the period of liability
to the draft, limited deferments,
and made the draft more equitable.
- http://www.sss.gov/
-
Alan Shepard
- first U.S.
astronaut to travel in space. On May 5, 1961, he made a 15-minute suborbital flight in
Freedom 7, which reached an altitude of 115 miles (185 km). The flight came 23 days after
Major Yuri Gagarin of the Soviet Union became the first
man to orbit the Earth. -"Shepard, Alan"
Britannica Online.
-
sit-in
- tactic of nonviolent civil disobedience. The demonstrators enter a business or a public place
and remain seated until forcibly evicted or until their grievances are answered. Attempts to
terminate the essentially passive sit-in are sometimes brutal, thus
calling attention to the problem and gaining support for the
demonstrators among moderates and noninvolved individuals. The sit-in was adopted
as a major tactic in the
Civil Rights Movement; the first prominent sit-in occurred at a Greensboro
(North Carolina) lunch counter in 1960. Student activists adopted the tactic later in the decade
in demonstrations against the Vietnam War.
-"sit-in"Britannica Online.
-
SNCC
- Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee; a civil rights group founded in 1960 that
engaged in sit-ins and other nonviolent methods to
oppose segregation. In 1966, SNCC adopted a
policy of African American self-determination by advocating exclusion of whites
from active roles in the organization.
-
socialism
- any of various economic and political theories advocating collective or
governmental ownership and administration of the means of production and
distribution of goods; a system of society or group living in which there
is no private property; a system or condition of society in which the means
of production are owned and controlled by the state.
-
tarmac
- a road construction technique which involves spreading tar over
layers of crushed stone and then rolling the surface smooth.
-
teach-in
- an informal
lecture or discussion among college students and faculty, held with the
aim of raising awareness and understanding of political or social
issues.
-
Tet Offensive
- on January 30, 1968, the North Vietnamese and Viet Cong (National
Liberation Front, NLF) launched a massive surprise offensive during the
Tet (lunar new year) festival. Fighting was especially fierce in Saigon
and Hué. Although the general uprising that the NLF expected did
not materialize, the offensive had an important strategic effect because
it convinced a number of Americans that, contrary to their government's
claims, the insurgency in South Vietnam could not be crushed and the
war would continue for years to come. - "Vietnam War" Britannica
Online
-
Norman Thomas
- pacifist and social reformer who ran for
president of the U.S. on the Socialist Party ticket in six successive
elections, beginning in 1928.
-
Tiananmen Square
- a huge public square in Beijing, China, site of a series of student-led prodemocracy
demonstrations in 1989. The initially peaceful memorial demonstrations
were suppressed by the Chinese army -- hundreds of demonstrators were
killed, thousands injured. Following
the violence, the government conducted widespread arrests, summary trials,
and executions of students and workers.
-
tie-dye
- a method of producing colorful swirled patterns on cloth by tying it
with string, rubberbands,
etc. to shield parts of the fabric from the dye. Tie-dyed clothing was
popular with the counter-culture because it was home-made and
individualistic, rather than commercial and mass-produced.
-
Urban League
- originally NATIONAL URBAN LEAGUE, American voluntary service agency tracing
its origin to 1911 and dedicated to eliminating racial segregation and
discrimination. The primary task of helping migrants gradually
evolved over the years into larger concerns. The League emerged as one of
the strongest forces in the civil rights struggle. "National
Urban League" Britannica Online.
-
Viet Cong
- term (used by the South Vietnamese government and U.S. military and
journalists) for South Vietnamese fighters who were trained and armed in North
Vietnam to use guerrilla tactics against the South Vietnamese army (Army of
the Republic of Vietnam, ARVN) and the U.S. military. The political
organization comprising the Viet Cong and South Vietnamese civilians who
supported the unification of Vietnam was the National Liberation Front
(NLF).
-
Vietnam
- country in Southeast Asia, situated along the eastern coast of the
Indochinese Peninsula. Vietnam is bordered by China, Laos, Cambodia,
and the Gulf of Tonkin and the South China Sea. French colonial control
was resisted by nationalists and communists led by Ho Chi Minh, who
defeated the French at Dien Bien Phu in 1954. Vietnam was divided at the
17th parallel into a northern portion in which nationalists and
communists had a strong base of popular support and a southern portion
backed by the U.S. The U.S.
engaged in a long and costly war with the North
Vietnamese and Viet Cong, justified on the grounds that all
of East Asia would become communist if Vietnam became communist
(Domino Theory). Prosecution of the Vietnam War caused serious
political division and social unrest in the U.S., and U.S. troops were
finally withdrawn in March 1973. In 1975 Vietnam was re-unified as the
Socialist Republic of Vietnam. The U.S. maintained a trade embargo
against Vietnam until 1994. In 1995 trade and diplomatic relations
with Vietnam were normalized.
- CIA
World Factbook Entry on Vietnam (with map)
- http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/amex/vietnam/111ts.html
- http://www.lbjlib.utexas.edu/shwv/shwvhome.html
- http://servercc.oakton.edu/~wittman/
-
George C. Wallace
- governor of Alabama from 1962-1966, 1970-1978, and 1982-1986.
George Wallace became a nationwide symbol of intransigence toward racial
integration in schools when he stood in the schoolhouse door
at the University of Alabama in an attempt to prevent African American students
from enrolling (1963). In the 1980s, Wallace renounced his segregationist
ideology and won election as governor with support from African
American voters. -"Wallace, George C." Britannica Online.
-
Warren Commission
- formally PRESIDENT'S COMMISSION ON THE ASSASSINATION OF PRESIDENT
JOHN F. KENNEDY, commission appointed by U.S. president Lyndon B. Johnson on
November 29, 1963, to investigate the circumstances surrounding the assassination of his
predecessor, John F. Kennedy, in Dallas, Texas, on November 22, 1963, and the shooting of Lee
Harvey Oswald, the alleged assassin, two days later. The chairman of the
commission was the chief justice of the United States, Earl Warren.
After months of investigation the commission reported
that it had found no evidence that either Oswald or Jack Ruby, a Dallas nightclub operator
charged with Oswald's murder, was part of any conspiracy, foreign or domestic, to
assassinate President Kennedy. This conclusion of the commission was later questioned in a
number of books and articles and in a special congressional
committee report in 1979.-"Warren Commission"
Britannica Online.
-
watershed
- a crucial period of transition.
-
Watts
- a predominantly African American district of Los Angeles,
California. In August 1965 Watts erupted in a riot that lasted several
days. Homes and businesses were burned, shops were looted, and 35
people were killed. The Watts riot was the first of a series of riots
in a number of US cities in the next two years, stemming from anger and
hopelessness about conditions and prospects for blacks in America.
-
Woodstock
- the Woodstock Art and Music Fair was a rock festival held near
Bethel, New York, on August 15-16, 1969. About 450,000 rock fans
camped and cooperated in a spontaneous community for two days of
non-stop music by the most popular musicians of the '60s. -"Woodstock"
Britannica Online
-
Malcolm X
- original name MALCOLM LITTLE, Muslim name EL-HAJJ MALIK EL-SHABAZZ (b.
May 19, 1925, Omaha, Nebraska--d. February 21, 1965, New York, N.Y.), African American
leader who articulated concepts of race pride and black nationalism in the early 1960s.
In
1946, while in prison for burglary, he was converted to the Black Muslim faith (Nation of
Islam); this sect professed the superiority of people of color and the inherent evil of whites.
Released from prison in 1952, he embraced the rigorous asceticism of
the Nation of Islam, headquartered in Chicago. He changed
his last name to "X," a custom among Nation of Islam followers who
rejected family names that originated with white slaveholders.
Malcolm X derided the Civil Rights Movement and rejected both integration and
racial equality, calling
instead for African American separatism, black pride and self-reliance. Because he advocated
the use of violence (for self-protection) and appeared to many to be a fanatic, his leadership
was rejected by most civil rights leaders, who emphasized nonviolent resistance to racial
injustice.
In March 1964
Malcolm X left the Nation of Islam and announced the formation of his own religious
organization. As a result of a pilgrimage he took to Mecca in April 1964, he modified his
views of black separatism, declaring that he no longer believed whites to be innately evil and
acknowledging his vision of the possibility of world brotherhood.
Growing hostility between Malcolm's followers and the rival Black Muslims manifested
itself in violence and threats against his life. He was shot to death at a rally of
his followers in
a Harlem ballroom. Three Black Muslims were convicted
of the murder. -"Malcolm X" Britannica
Online.
-
Young Communist
- in Russian, "Komsomolskaya Pravda,"
"Young Communist League Truth," daily newspaper published in
Moscow that was the official voice of the Central Council of the Komsomol, or
Communist youth league for young people aged 14 to 28. Founded in 1925,
Komsomolskaya Pravda historically had its main offices in Moscow, with those of
Pravda, the Communist Party daily newspaper, but with
its own editorial staff. -"Komsomolskaya Pravda"
Britannica Online.
-
Zippo
- brand name of a type of cigarette lighter carried by many U.S. GIs
in Vietnam, frequently engraved.