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13th Amendment
The Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution abolished slavery and involuntary servitude, except as punishment for a crime. Senate passed in 1864, and House in 1865 -
14th Amendment
All persons born or naturalized in the United States and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or communities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws. -
15th amendment
The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude. -
Plessy vs Ferguson
It upheld the constitutionality of racial segregation laws for public facilities as long as the segregated facilities were equal in quality – a doctrine that came to be known as "separate but equal". -
Mendez vs. Westminster School District of Orange County
A federal court case that challenged Mexican remedial schools in Orange County, California. -
Korean War
North Korea teams up with the Soviets, trying to invade South Korea in order to spread Communism. This failed as the US started backing up the south. -
Brown vs. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas
The Court declared state laws establishing separate public schools for black and white students to be unconstitutional. -
Warsaw Pact
Establishes a mutual defense treaty subscribed to by eight communist states in Eastern Europe -
Vietnam War
Americans helped the Southern Vietnamese fight the North as they wanted to spread Communism. -
Space Race
Soviets launch Sputnik, and the "space race" begins -
Bay of Pigs Invasion
The CIA trains Cuban exiles who fail to overthrow Fidel Castro's communist government. -
Cuban Missile Crisis
The closest nuclear confrontation involving the U.S. and USSR. -
Atomic Test Ban Treaty
Prohibited all test detonations of nuclear weapons except for those conducted underground. -
Civil Rights Act of 1964
Outlaws major forms of discrimination against blacks and women, and ended racial segregation in the United States. -
Vietnamization
The policy of the Richard Nixon administration to end U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War through a program to "expand, equip, and train South Vietnamese forces. -
First man walks on the moon
In the Space Race with the Soviets, Americans were the first to set foot on the Moon. This was possible by the Apollo 11 mission, by Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin.