US History Review Sheet -Black Power, Eisenhower's foreign policy and the Battle of Gettysburg

Disintegration of the Civil Rights Movement: 

• Post 1965 nonviolence became less popular
• separatism is a popular belief amongst African Americans
• Alliances between different civil rights group are split -- NAACP doesn’t want to ally with SNCC and the Black Panthers
• The Black Panthers made MLK seem “not radical enough”
• The black & white alliance is pretty much over by the end of the movement with the uprising of the black panthers.

19. In what ways did the foreign policy of the United States change during the Eisenhower administration?

• Eisenhower was elected on the idea that he would do a better job with the cold war.
• When elected, Eisenhower had to question how he would go about winning the cold war without military expansion.
• Eisenhower turned to the CIA / Development of nuclear weaponry / Brinkmanship.

WHAT THE CIA DID:

• had foreign leaders on its payroll --> foreign leaders would make policies that were beneficial to the USA.
• Financially supporting anti-communist labor unions, newspapers and political parties overseas.
• Hired US journalists and academics to make contact with foreign student leaders.
• Co-opt business executives who worked overseas to report back on economic circumstances and vulnerabilities.
• American propaganda through use of radio and newspapers overseas.
• training foreign military officers in counterrevolutionary methods.
• conducted covert operations to overthrow regimes hostile to the United States.

CIA IN GUATEMALA (under Eisenhower): 

• shift in US foreign policy --> using the CIA more
• In 1950 Jacabo Arbenz was elected president, with communist allies.
• Arbenz sought to modernize Guatemalan society.
• Monolithic Communism --> Communism always coming from Russia.
• Arbenz’s nationalization --> government was going to take the land over but pay the US what the land was worth. (United Fruit didn’t want to give up land --> they lost money when Arbenz nationalized.
• out of a fear of increasing communism in Guatemala, Eisenhower gave the Okay to Dulles ( head of CIA ) to overthrow “communist intervention in the western hemisphere” --> seemingly monolithic communist actions in Guatemala scared the US
• CIA operation mobilized peasants and exiles into action -- terror campaign
• CIA made it seem as though civil war had erupted in Guatemala.
• Neo-Colonialism --> protecting US ability to tell Guatemala what to do.

Domino Theory:

• “ Finally, you have broader considerations that might follow what you would call the “falling domino” principle. You have a row of dominoes set up, you knock over the first one, and what will happen to the last one is the certainty that it will go over very quickly. So you could have a beginning of a disintegration that would have the most profound influences.”  
• Idea that if one country turns to communism, the rest would in effect become communist.

Bay of Pigs -- Cuban Revolution

• CIA invasion of Cuba -- attempt to get Castro out of power (domino theory in mind / containment)
• He only thought up the plan to lead the invasion, but it was carried out by Kennedy.
• * invasion failed under Kennedy.

New Look Policy:  

• Focused on nuclear weapon development.
• effort to threaten “massive retaliation” against the USSR (intensifying the policy of containment to include nuclear weaponry)
• decrease the spending of the war --> reduce military spending through cheaper weapons

Dien Bien Phu :

• French fell to Ho Chi Minh in 1954
• Eisenhower told French that the US would assist France economically.
• Domino theory applied to US relations with Ho Chi Minh
• Similar to containment --> paying for countries like Turkey to not fall to communism.

6. The battle of Gettysburg was the turning point of the United States Civil War. To what extent do you agree with this statement?

- I would agree.

• 1863 --> General Lee defeated Union Forces at Chancellorsville. He continued to lead his army north in aim to reach Pennsylvania
• On July 1st, Union and Confederate troops clashed at Gettysburg.
• The battle of Gettysburg would decide whether or not  France and Britain would intervene in the war, and help the South.
• During the battle, both sides lost thousands of soldiers, with the South losing nearly ⅔ of their men.
• It was clear by the outcome of the war (with the South with more casualties and deaths) that France and Britain would not intervene in the war.
• The Southern morale plummeted.
• The battle of Gettysburg determined that the South had slim chances of winning the war because of their drop in morale and loss of soldiers. Also because Britain and France wouldn’t support them, mainly because they weren’t convinced that the South could actually win the war.
• Because of the lack of faith from overseas in the South, it was essentially determined that the South would not win the war.
• The South appears wear during and after the battle. After the battle the South retreats back to Virginia with the plans to hold a Confederate victory on Northern soil defeated.
• The Northern victory at Gettysburg was also significant in giving Abraham Lincoln the power and confidence that would help him in forming his plan of Total War.
• Total war was the idea that all parts of the country would contribute to the war.
• The idea of total war was recognized by the Union as an effort to completely destroy the South. The purpose of this tactic was to eliminate food and supplies that were vital to Southern soldiers -- and to decrease Southern Morale.