High School 3/26 Civil Rights and the Vietnam Era Begins (1955-1969),

1955  Martin Luther King, Jr. organizes boycott of the Montgomery, Alabama bus system.
1957  The Supreme Court ordered Montgomery, Alabama to desegregate its bus system.
1957  The Little Rock Nine
1958  Alaska was admitted into the union as the 49th state. 
1959  Hawaii entered the union as the 50th state.
1960  John F. Kennedy elected President of the US  
1961  The Freedom Riders

1961  Bay of Pigs 
1962-1963  Engel vs. Vitale and Abington School District vs. Schempp 

1962  Cuban Missile Crisis

1963  March on Washington and MLK’s “I Have a Dream” speech (August 28th)
1963  President John F. Kennedy was assassinated (November 22)

1963  Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson, LBJ, is sworn in as President after the death of JFK.

1964  LBJ wins next presidential election (Great Society) 

1964  The 1964 Civil Rights Act (Ku Klux Klan and Black Panthers)
1964  Muhammad Ali reigned as the Undisputed Heavyweight Boxing Champion 

1964  US Involvement in the Congo and Dr. Paul Carson killed

1965  US sends troops to Vietnam
1966  Miranda vs. Arizona 
1967 Thurgood Marshall becomes first African-American Supreme Court Justice 
1968  MLK assassination

1969  The Draft Lottery and Draft Dodgers

Quotes

"I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed, 'We hold these truths to be self evident, that all men are created equal.'

… I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character."

--Martin Luther King, Jr., August 28, 1963, at the Lincoln Memorial, Washington, D.C.

“And so, my fellow Americans: ask not what your country can do for you — ask what you can do for your country. My fellow citizens of the world: ask not what America will do for you, but what together we can do for the freedom of man.”  

--From the Inaugural address of John F. Kennedy, January 20, 1961

Homework

Please write or type your answers to the following questions. You will be turning these in to me and you will share what you learned with the class. I can’t wait to see what you learn and what you think about these parts of our history!

Homework for everyone: Read MLK’s speech and answer the following questions: (I highly recommend getting permission from your parents to watch the video of his speech online!)

What are civil rights? What is discrimination? 

According to the speech, to whom did the Emancipation Proclamation give hope?

How is the Emancipation Proclamation connected to the I Have a Dream Speech?

What other founding American documents did Martin Luther King reference

within his speech? 

What is the significance of using these documents as examples/references within the I Have a Dream Speech?

Identify the goal of the Civil Rights movement as outlined by King.

Answer the group of questions below that you were assigned in class:

 #1: Who was Ruby Bridges? Tell me about her. Tell me what she experienced and overcame during the Civil Rights movement. What can we learn from her, from her parents, and from her teacher, Mrs. Henry?

#2:Who was Madalyn Murray O’Hair? What effect did she have on our nation? What are the positive and negative effects of her actions on followers of Christ? What life changing thing happened to her first son William Murray?

#3: What was the Cold War? When did it start and when did it end? How are the Cuban Missile Crisis and Vietnam related to the Cold War? How is the Space Race related to the Cold War? Why did the Cold War end?

#4: Before his death, Dr. Carlson said, “In this century, more people have died for their witness for Christ than died in the early centuries, which we think of as the days of the martyrs.”

Who was Dr. Paul Carlson? Do some research about his quote. How do you think our freedoms in America affect our awareness of the persecution of our fellow Christ followers around the world? How do our freedoms positively or negatively affect how we live out our faith in Christ?