The Century America’s Time Poisoned Dreams (1960-1964)

(Chapter 38)

The first few years of the 1960s promised a greater, stronger, and more unified America than ever. America, as the undisputed leader of the free world, straddled the globe like Colossus. But within a few years the optimism of the first years of the decade would vanish, only to be replaced by the uncertainty of a new and unfamiliar world, and the national mourning of a fallen leader. This episode covers the years 1960-1963, and examines the events of the era such as the lunch counter sit-ins at Greensboro, North Carolina, the Kennedy years, the Cuban Missile Crisis and America’s increasing involvement in Vietnam. The episode ends with the assassination of Kennedy and the loss of American innocence.

  1. 1964; Greensboro, North Carolina - why were those blacks kids arrested?

______

  1. The 1960 election:

Kennedy (the ______) vs. Nixon (the ______)

saw the first televised ______in history. On Radio ______won, on TV

______won.

  1. At his inauguration Kennedy told Americans to “Ask not what your country can do for you, ______

______”

  1. He was the first president who seemed like a ______to Americans.
  1. Who was Yuri Gagarin? ______

Alan Shepard? ______

  1. JFK promised that America would ______by the end of the decade.
  1. What was the “Bay of Pigs”? ______

______

______

  1. What was the Berlin Wall a symbol of? ______
  1. The Cuban Missile Crisis saw ______trying to move ships to Cuba.

Kennedy said ‘no’. It was a tense time that lasted ______hours. It ended when ______

______.

  1. James Baldwin said to be black in America “was to be ______”.
  1. What was a freedom ride? ______

______

  1. What was SNCC? The ______
  1. What was George Wallace’s (The governor of Alabama) opinion about segregation? ______

______

  1. Who was Bull Connor? ______

How did he treat black protestors? ______

  1. At a famous speech in Washington, D.C., King told Americans that he had ______.
  1. The ______sought young volunteers to help poor people throughout the world.
  1. What was the domino theory of Communist expansion? ______

______

This caused us to send ______(how many) advisors to ______.

  1. The assassination of JFK seemed to say to us that we are all ______.
  1. The entire country mourned the death of Kennedy.

______died

______died

______died