"We stand today on the edge of a new frontier -- the frontier of the 1960s, a frontier of unknown opportunities and perils, a frontier of unfulfilled hopes and threats. The new frontier of which I speak is not a set of promises -- it is a set of challenges."
--John F. Kennedy
A nation in grief, growing poverty, space and arms show down with superpower, and an expanding conflict threatening to tip off a fall of communist dominoes in Southeast Asia; these are some of the challenges confronting Lyndon B. Johnson as he takes the oath of office for the Presidency aboard Air Force One. The sixties is a decade marked by domestic and international confrontations. Students protesting the draft earn the right to vote. The Great Society increases the federal government's involvement in education while the Tet Offensive expanse the U.S. involvement in Vietnam. From Woodstock to the 1968 Democratic Convention, a vocal group of Americans demonstrated their frustration with traditional cultural practices. TV brings war to living rooms in graphic detail. The decade ends with NASA meeting Kennedy's challenge by landing man on the moon.
What to know for the EOC
- Explain the significance of the following years as turning points: 1968-1969 (Martin Luther King Jr. assassination and U.S. lands on the moon)
- Identify the major eras in U.S. history from 1877 to the present and describe their defining characteristics
- Explain reasons and outcomes for U.S. involvement in foreign countries and their relationship to the Domino Theory, including the Vietnam War
- Analyze the major issues and events of the Vietnam War such as the Tet Offensive, the escalation of forces, Vietnamization, and the fall of Saigon
- Describe the responses to the Vietnam War such as the draft, the 26th Amendment, the role of the media, the credibility gap, the silent majority, and the anti-war movement
- Describe the economic impact of defense spending on the business cycle and education priorities from 1945 to the 1990s
- Identify actions of government and the private sector such as the Great Society to create economic opportunities for citizens and analyze the unintended consequences of each
- Explain constitutional issues raised by federal government policy changes during times of significant events, including the 1960s
- Describe the impact of events, such as the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution and the War Powers Act on the relationship between the legislative and executive branches of government
- Analyze the effects of landmark U.S. Supreme Court decisions, such as Tinker v. Des Moines
- Discuss historical reasons why the constitution has been amended
- Identify and analyze methods of expanding the right to participate in the democratic process, including lobbying, non-violent protesting, litigation, and amendments to the U.S. Constitution
- Evaluate various means of achieving equality of political rights including the 24th and 26th amendments
- Evaluate the contributions of significant political and social leaders in the United States such as Barry Goldwater
- Describe how the characteristics and issues in U.S. history have been reflected in various genres of art, music, film and literature
- Discuss the importance of Congressional Medal of Honor recipients, including individuals of all races and genders such as Roy Benavidez
- Explain how specific needs result in scientific discoveries and technological innovations in the military, and medicine, including vaccines
Resources
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