Week of May 23-27

Monday-

The Vietnam Conflict- 1950-1975
- What do you know about the Vietnam War?
- What were the goals of the United States in this war?
- What was the goal of the communist North Vietnamese?
- Beginnings
  - Ho Chi Minh
    - Wealthy man that dressed like a peasent
    - Enemy in the Vietnam War but helped in WWII
  - Geneva Conference
    - Was held to help unify the country
  - Who fought?
    - The United States armed forces
    - The Army of the Republic of Vietnam
    - VS
    - The NLF, a group of South Vietnamese guerrilla fighters(Viet Cong)
    - The people's army of Vietnam
  - Escalation
    - Started with the deployment of military advisers to the South Vietnamese army
    - Then started using special forces(Green berets)for commando-style operations
    - Then regular troops were sent for defensive purposes only
  - Tet Offensive
    - President Johnson and General William Westmoreland kept saying that with more troops we will win the war
    - Most American's tended to believe this at first
    - January 30, 1968
    - Named after the lunar year festival which is the most important Vietnamese holiday in South Vietnam
    - Dozens of attacks in the South
  - Anti-War
    - Why were people against this war?
      - Tet Offensive
      - Pentagon Papers
        a leak that someone in the U.S. government that was sent to the media and printed in the New York times
        showed what was really going on in the Vietnam War
      - Injuring/killing innocent people(My Lai Massacre)
        Hard to tell who was in the Viet Cong
        US soldiers killed 504 Vietnamese civilians
        The dead civilians included fifty age 3 or younger, 69 between 4 and 7, and 27 in their 70's or higher
      - Supporting a bad government in the South
        Diem vs. the Buddhists
      - The power of the press
        Showing people what was going on
        Effective pictures
      - Kent St.
        College protest
      - How did people get out of serving?
        Went to Canada or Sweden
        Went to college(student deferment)
        Got married
        Medically unfit for service
        Joined the National Guard or Peace Corps
        Claimed to be homosexuals
        Being rich
      - Nixon and Vietnam
        Nixon called for the "Vietnamization" of the war
        "Peace with Honor"
        Gradually pull US troops out to let the Vietnamese fight their own war
      - Paris Peace Accords
        The end of the war
        Signed on January 27, 1973
      - Peace??
        The peace agreement didn't last
        In March 1975, the North invaded the South
        Vietnam is still communist today
        The Socialist Republic of Vietnam was formed on July 2, 1976

Tuesday-80s

Presidential Elections
- ?? Went to fast
Major Pushes
- Immigration Reform and Control Act
- Pushes for gay rights began
- Plyer v. Doe
Major Events
- Reagan Attempted Assassination-1981
  - John Hinckley Jr.
    - .22 Revolver
    - Exploding bullets
    - Horrible shot
    - Missed Reagan
- "Star Wars"-1981
  - Missile Defense System
- Challenger Explosion-1986
  - 7 crew members died
  - Many malfunctions
- DNA-1987
Scandals
- Iran-Contra
  - Not supposed to give help to Iran
  - Reagan wanted to supply Iran so the relationship between the two was stronger and wanted to trade for hostages
- Operation ill wind
  - three year investigation started in 1986
  - government officials and many more were convicted of crimes
- Wedtech Scandal
  - originally manufactured baby carriages
  - claimed a minority owned business but a non-minority actually owned it

2000's

Scandals
- Tiger Woods 15 confirmed affairs
  - He filled out a paper for 120 affairs
- Britney Spears shaves her head 2007
- Michael Jackson died at age 50
Presidential Elections
- George w. Bush vs. Al Gore
  - one of the closest elections in US history
- George W. Bush vs. John Kerry
  - Osama Bin Laden helped Bush win with a video
- Barack Obama vs. John McCain
  - first African-american president
- Barack Obama vs. Mitt Romney
- Hanging Chads
  - 2000 election
  - Florida Recount
  - 1,784 votes
    - all the votes Bush won by
- Bush Doctrine
  - Bush policies under Obama
    - Guantanamo
    - Surveillance
    - Drones
    - Drug wars
    - Overseas contingency operations/war on terror
Gay Rights
- 2003- Vermont was the first state in the country
  - couldn't get married but had the same rights as their spouse
- 2004- same-sex marriage become legal in MA
- 2005- Civil umions in Connecticut
- 2006- Civil unions in D
- 2009- Obama allowed the federal employees to receive benefits but not full health coverage
- Harvey Milk was the first man to be elected into federal office
- 2010- Don't Ask Don't Tell military policy
- 2011- New York passed a low for same-sex marriage
- 2012- Washington and Maryland became the 7th and 8th state of same-sex marriage
- 2012- Barack Obama signs endorsement
- 2013- Rhode Island legalizes
- 2014- Oregon legalizes
  - U.S. Supreme Court denies a request from Kansas
- 2015- the U.S. supreme court ruled, 5-4, in Obergefell v. Hodges that same-sex couples have the fundamental right to marry adn that states cannot say that marriage is reserved for heterosexual couples
Women's Rights
- Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act
  - Signed on January 29,2009
Hurricane Katrina
- August 29, 2005
- Gulf of Mexico
ObamaCare
- First signed into law and upheld
- Benefits
  - large business can't deny coverage
  - children can stay on their parent's plan til age 26
  - goal: to provide affordable health insurance for everyone
Sandy Hook
- December 14, 2012
  - Adam Lanza- 20 years old
  - Newtown, Connecticut
  - 20 students dead- age 6 or 7
  - 6 adults dead
No Child Left Behind Act
- part of Lyndon B. Johnson's great society
- held schools responsible for the academic progress of the students
- focused on:
  - english-language learners
  - students in special-education
Boston Marathon Bombing
- April 15, 2013
  - Two bombs near end of finish line
  - Killed 3
Michael Brown Case
- Caused many riots, "Hands up, Don't Shoot"
- New hatred against Police Officers
Women in combat operations
- January 2, 2016
9/11 War On Terror
- Al Queda
- One plane in the pentagon
- One headed towards the white house but crashed in a field
- Both World Trade center towers hit by planes
- Result:
  - War on Terror in Afghanistan

Blogs

Week of May 23-27

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