Question 1
During the Vietnam War, the U.S deeply involved itself in the 1960s because it desired to ensure that the developing countries are modernized as democratic and capitalist. This involvement started with the social and economic support from the South of Vietnam. However, throughout the leadership of Presidents Lyndon Johnson and John F. Kennedy, the idea of modernizing South Vietnamese became possible after the military implemented it. Moreover, it was clear that despite the effort made by the U.S towards Vietnam, its defeat was inevitable. In this question, we will address how the Korean and Vietnam War and the McCarthy’s trials contributed to the cold war.
The Vietnam War
For generations, the United States knew Vietnam through books, legends, and movies. It was, therefore, hard to imagine how America stumbled during the war. This was because in the past, it was discovered that 63 percent of Americans never paid attention to the country to the point that it named Vietnam ‘the puissant country.’ This is why leaders failed to make choices whether Vietnam could fight or whether they were communists that strategized for regional or global domination. However, the leaders in America became nervous because of how they were unable to face their political consequences even though the North Vietnamese were considered the strongest when it came to military war. The Cold War, in this case, emerged through phases like ‘the Domino Theory’, including the belief that criticized that South Vietnam was spreading communism all over Southeast Asia.
The Korean War
In the late 1950s, the war between the United States and the Soviet Union intensified because of the hysteria that perceived threats embraced by the communists known as the Red Scare. This group took several actions that had an enduring and profound effect on the U.S society and government. Due to this, the public was concerned about the rise of communism to the international levels. In one of the major army units of America, for instance, the theft in the barracks ruined trust and loyalty among the comrades who were believed to rely on each other while in the battle fields. This eventually corroded the morale which indicated that they were not fit to fight. In 1950, the Korean War began and engaged all the U.S troops in battle to fight against communism. The Korean War became the first major proxy battle of the Cold War, in which the Soviet Union and the United States chose sides in a civil conflict.
McCarthy Trials
Senator Joseph McCarthy marked the first apex and finale of the Red Scare. In February 1950, McCarthy delivered a speech that charged 205 known communist had infiltrated in the U.S. State Department. Selected as a Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, he investigated and questioned several suspected officials. Although McCarthy failed to identify communists in government or give any proof, he was able to gain major attention and become one of the most feared communist hunters. In early 1954, McCarthy launched an investigation against the U.S. Army that was nationally televised. Support for him plummeted after people realized he was overstepping his boundaries and was abusing his authority.
Question 2
The Civil and women’s rights movement had a lot in common but also portrayed several differences. These movements not only were developed differently but also had the same vision of fighting for equality. In America, justice was a virtue that was always embraced in America. Between the years 1950s to 1960’s the civil rights movement was created to promote equality and end segregation within America. At the same, the civil rights were developed because of the struggles of the African Americans and how they wanted to achieve the social and political even though the movement grew beyond their community. However, according to Betty Friedan, the mystique of feminine fulfillment was embraced fifteen years after the Second World War after the American Culture cherished and self-perpetuated the theme. The civil rights movement also had a fundamental impact on women right from their gender conformity to the campaign of opportunity and equality which took place in the 1970s. The civil rights influenced both movements in this case with the aim of achieving balance. In this section, we will address the similarities of the women’s and civil rights movement, their achievement and limitations to attain equality in America.
The Second Wave Feminism
This event began in the 1950s when women won the right to votes thirty years before and during the Second World War with the aim of achieving the economic independence during the factory’s employment. When men returned from the war, their wives were made to go to the suburban kitchens to be mothers and wives. Even though the sitcoms of the era depicted that they were happy, most of them were not as content as they were portrayed. By 1963, Betty Friedan later published the Feminine Mystique to show how the suburban culture was harming and oppressing women based on the psychological well-being as well as their personal and economic agency. The Feminine Mystique targeted a specific audience: college-educated, middle-class women who were working for wages but felt trapped by their domestic routines. At this point, women desired to be independent, but they could not manage due to the American culture. This was when the activism of the Second Wave Feminism took place in the 1970s which were meant to improve the success of women through economic independence and education.
The Civil Rights and the Feminist Movement
Both the movements had similar tactics that were established in the 1960s to develop a protest that would make them achieve their goals. The civil rights movements, for instance, came up with the idea that change was needed to remove oppression in the country for it was not acceptable. It was also vital that women especially blacks led all the organizations. The women’s rights movement, on the other hand, developed several ideologies, methodologies, and tactics to prove why they can be successful in the civil rights movement. These women protested and boycotted using civil disobedience, non-violence and tried to connect themselves to the Cold War issues. During this time, America decided to broadcast about the freedom of their leader to battle Soviet Communism.
Since America never managed to acquire the freedom it needed, the Women activists used similar methods by making it more salient through the gender ideologies that were designed to progress in the USSR. However, in 1961, President Kennedy developed the Presidential Commission on the Status of Women, which protected the status of women. After the Civil Rights Act was enacted in 1964, the presidential commission later advised women concerning their issue which then prohibited their discrimination based on race and sex. These movements also crafted the Equal Pay Act to assist end gender quality and the wage gap in workplaces. During the leadership of John F. Kennedy, he signed the law when creating the New Frontier Program.
The civil rights movement, on the other hand, managed to enact the right civil acts which acted as a landmark dedicated to equalizing all races in women. In 1964, the bill was previously known as the Title VII, and its role was to ensure that the Civil Rights laws are passed. The bill also prohibited workplace discrimination associated with other interracial marriages. As a result of this, it also brought the landmark cases which embraced legal victories after the second wave feminist movement. The Connecticut and Griswold cases were good examples that marked the claims in the United States where the Supreme Court decided that the constitution and the Bill of Rights are essential to the right of privacy.