Events and people from the 2nd part of the Cold War

The Bay of Pigs, and the Cuban missile crisis.

In 1956, Fidel Castro led the Cuban Revolution. Castro became prime minister of Cuba early in 1957 and, at first, had
American support. However, when he allied himself with the Soviet Union, suspended all elections, and named himself
president for life, the United States turned against Castro. The existence of a communist nation allied with the Soviet
Union 90 miles off the coast of the United States jeopardized the U.S. containment strategy. In 1961, 1,500 Cuban
exiles, armed and trained by the CIA, tried to stage an invasion at Cuba’s Bay of Pigs. The small force was crushed by
Castro after President Kennedy refused to involve the U.S. armed forces. Twelve hundred invaders were captured,
and the United States was forced to give $53 million worth of food and supplies to Cuba for release of the captives.

The Soviets believed that, because Kennedy refused to involve the American military in Cuban affairs, he would not
interfere if the Soviets built military missile launch sites in Cuba, so they installed missiles. The Soviet plan was for
Cuba to use these missiles to prevent another U.S.-planned invasion. When an American spy plane took photos of a
Soviet nuclear missile site being built in Cuba, Kennedy immediately began planning a response. Enemy missiles
positioned so close to America’s coastline posed a serious threat to U.S. national security. Kennedy completely
blockaded Cuba and threatened to invade unless the Soviets promised to withdraw from Cuba. Finally, the Soviets
agreed to remove their missiles if the United States would remove its nuclear missiles installed near the Soviet Union
in Turkey. The two nations removed their missiles in what is now known as the Cuban missile crisis.

Vietnam War, the Tet Offensive, and growing opposition to the war

The Vietnam War was a struggle for control of Vietnam. While the conflict originally began during the French colonial
rule in the region, the United States became involved in the 1950s by providing economic and limited military aid.
Following French withdrawal in 1954, Vietnam was divided, with communist forces in the North and a pro-Western
regime in control of the South. Then, in the early 1960s, U.S. involvement began to increase; it lasted until the early
1970s. The democratic government of South Vietnam, supported by the United States, battled communist North
Vietnam and a military organization called the Vietcong. U.S. policymakers believed that if Vietnam came under
communist rule, communism would spread throughout Southeast Asia and perhaps beyond. The Vietcong continually
frustrated U.S. forces with its ability to use the region’s thick jungles to conduct guerrilla warfare. In 1968 when the
Vietcong and North Vietnamese army started the eight-month-long Tet Offensive. This attack coincided with the first
day of the Tet (Vietnamese New Year), it was a surprise attack on South Vietnamese cities, notably Saigon. Even
though it was put down after its initial successes, the attack shook US confidence and accelerated the withdrawal of
U.S. forces.

Ultimately, the Tet Offensive failed to achieve its goal of driving the Americans out of Vietnam, but it did lead many
people in the United States to question why Johnson had told them America was winning the war. This led many
Americans to lose trust in the U.S. government, and raise their voices to protest against the war. Many college
campuses were home to groups formed to protest American involvement in Vietnam, end the draft and removing all
American troops from Vietnam.

Television Changes
The first regular television broadcasts began in 1949, providing just two hours a week of news and entertainment to a
very small area on the East Coast. By 1956, over 500 stations were broadcasting all over America, bringing news and
entertainment into the living rooms of most Americans.
In the 1960 national election campaign, the Kennedy/Nixon presidential debates were the first ones ever shown on
TV. Seventy million people tuned in. Although Nixon was more knowledgeable about foreign policy and other topics,
Kennedy looked and spoke more forcefully because he had been coached by television producers. Kennedy’s
performance in the debate helped him win the presidency. The Kennedy/Nixon debates changed the shape of
American politics.
TV newscasts also changed the shape of American culture. Americans who might never have attended a civil rights
demonstration saw and heard them on their TVs in the 1960s. In 1963, TV reports showed helmeted police officers
from Birmingham, Alabama, using high-pressure fire hoses to spray African American children who had been walking
in a protest march. The reports also showed the officers setting police dogs to attack them, and then clubbing them.
TV news coverage of the civil rights movement helped many Americans turn their sympathies toward ending racial
segregation and persuaded Kennedy that new laws were the only ways to end the racial violence and to give African
Americans the civil rights they were demanding.

Television coverage of the Vietnam War had a huge impact in America. This was the first televised war. Seeing dead
and wounded Americans was a real shock for the American people. This was the first-time images like this were
released to the public. As a result, the Vietnam War became very unpopular with American citizens, which led to social
unrest.

Martin Luther King, Jr.’s Letter from a Birmingham Jail and his I Have a Dream Speech.

1963––Martin Luther King Jr. was arrested in Birmingham, Alabama, while demonstrating against racial segregation.
In jail he wrote his “Letter from Birmingham Jail” to address fears white religious leaders had that he was moving too
fast toward desegregation. In his letter, King explained why victims of segregation, violent attacks, and murder found
it difficult to wait for those injustices to end. Later the same year, King delivered his most famous speech, “I Have a
Dream,” to over 250,000 people at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. In this speech, King asked for peace and
racial harmony.

The Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

1964––The Civil Rights Act of 1964 was signed into law by President Lyndon Johnson. This law prohibited
discrimination based on race, religion, national origin, and gender. It allowed all citizens the right to enter any park,
restroom, library, theater, and public building in the United States. One factor that prompted this law was the long
struggle for civil rights undertaken by America’s African American population. Another factor was King’s famous “I
Have a Dream” speech; its moving words helped create widespread support for this law. Other factors included
previous presidential actions that combated civil rights violations, such as Truman’s in 1948 and Eisenhower’s in 1954,
and Kennedy’s sending federal troops to Mississippi (1962) and Alabama (1963) to force the integration of public
universities.

1965––The Voting Rights Act of 1965 outlawed the requirement for would-be voters in the United States to take
literacy tests to register to vote, because this requirement was judged as unfair to minorities. The act provided money
to pay for programs to register voters in areas with large numbers of unregistered minorities, and it gave the
Department of Justice the right to oversee the voting laws in certain districts that had used tactics such as literacy
tests or poll taxes to limit voting.

Cesar Chavez and the United Farm Workers’ movement.

Latinos also protested to gain civil rights in the 1960s. Their leader was César Chávez, an American of Mexican descent,
grew up as a migrant worker picking crops in California with his family. As founder of the United Farm Workers’
movement, Chávez believed in nonviolent methods to achieve his goals. In 1965, he started a nationwide boycott of
California grapes, forcing grape growers to negotiate a contract with the United Farm Workers in 1970. This contract
gave farmworkers higher wages and other benefits for which they had been protesting through the sixties.
 Important terms, concepts, events, or people - 2nd Cold War part 2

1. Explain the Cuba Missile Crisis and how was it resolved? The Cuban Missile Crisis was a
standoff between the US and USSR resolved through negotiations, where Soviets removed
missiles from Cuba in exchange for US assurance not to invade Cuba and to remove missiles
from Turkey.

2. What was the Bay of Pigs? The Bay of Pigs was a failed invasion of Cuba by Cuban
exiles backed by the US government in 1961.

3. What escalated the war in Vietnam?The Vietnam War escalated due to Cold War
tensions, the spread of communism, and the Gulf of Tonkin incident in 1964.

4. How did the Tet Offensive influence U.S. citizens’ perception of the Vietnam War? The
Tet Offensive in 1968 shocked Americans, revealing the grim reality of the Vietnam War and
fueling anti-war sentiment.

5. Explain the impact of TV on the election of 1960 and on politics forever? The 1960
election saw the power of TV in politics, with Kennedy's charismatic televised debates shaping
public opinion.

6. How did TV newscasts shape American culture? TV newscasts in the 1960s brought
national and international events into American homes, shaping culture and journalism.

7. How did television coverage of the Vietnam War impact Americans’ perception of the
war? TV coverage of the Vietnam War depicted its brutality, contributing to growing
opposition and the anti-war movement.

8. Explain the impact of TV on the civil rights movement? Television coverage boosted
support for the civil rights movement by broadcasting protests and highlighting racial
injustices.

9. What message did MLK sent from the Birmingham City Jail to his critics/followers on
April 16, 1963? MLK's "Letter from Birmingham Jail" defended nonviolent resistance and urged
perseverance in the fight for racial equality.
10. What is the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and what influenced its passage?The Civil Rights
Act of 1964 outlawed discrimination based on race, religion, sex, and national origin, influenced
by the civil rights movement.

11. What is the Voting Rights Act of 1965, and what influenced its passage?The Voting
Rights Act of 1965 aimed to combat racial discrimination in voting, responding to public outrage
and civil rights activism.

12. What strategies/tactics did civil rights groups use during the Civil Rights Movement?Civil
rights groups used nonviolent protests, boycotts, and legal challenges to challenge racial
injustice during the Civil Rights Movement.

13. Who was Cesar Chavez and how did he influence labor laws in the framing industry?
Cesar Chavez, through the United Farm Workers, advocated for farmworkers' rights, leading
strikes and boycotts that improved labor laws in the farming industry.