American History - 12 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

American History - 12 - Essay Example The Civil Rights constitute (1968) banned racial discrimination and desegregation. The Voting Rights Act (1965) banned discriminatory methods of denying suffrage to African Americans Medicare was created to offset the costs of health care for the nations elderly. The Fair Housing Act (1968) provided funds to construct low-income housing The Elementary and Secondary Education Act provided major funding for American public schools. The matter Endowment for the Arts and Humanities used public money to fund artists and galleries. relation back tightened environmental controls with stronger Air and Water Quality Acts. Johnson secured several gains before Conservatives gained control of Congress. 2. _ Roe vs. Wade (1973) ______ past Supreme Court decision on abortion in the USA. Struck down an 1857 Texas statute that do abortion il judicial except where the life of the mother was in danger. The Court ruled that the right to brush off a p regnancy is part of a womans constitutional right to privacy under the Fourteenth Amendment. The put up cannot regulate the right to abortion during the first trimester of pregnancy. All abortions to be performed only by licensed physicians under medically safe conditions. In the second trimester abortions are subject to State regulations regarding qualifications and licenses of the physicians. In third trimester, abortions legal only to save the health and life of the mother. Rejected contention that life is present from conception. Defined the rights of the fetus as emerging when it can survive independently outside the womb. Set the terms of the abortion deliberate for decades to come. 3. ____Equal Rights Amendment_____ Holds that Equality of rights under the law shall not be abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex. First proposed in Congress by the National Womens companionship in 1923. Approved by the House in 1970. Approved by the Senate in 1972. Opposed by social conservatives, such as Phyllis Schlafly, envisioning a threat to traditional family structure. Support spearheaded by the National Organization for Women. Ratified by thirty-five of the necessary thirty-eight states by 1977. Granted extension by Congress until June 30, 1982 Reintroduced in Congress in July 1982. The ERA is still not a part of the US constitution 4. __The Vietnam War________ Theater of the Cold War and the longest contend in American history. US supports the anti-communist administration of South Vietnam, led by the unpopular Ngo Dinh Diem. The communist Viet Cong, supported by the Norths Ho Chi Minh, unleashes guerilla war in the South. Diem is overthrown by a military coup in 1963, and assassinated with tacit US approval. The Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, passed in 1964, escalates the war and the involvement of US troops. Despite decades of hostilities, billions of dollars, and or so 60,000 American casualties, the United Sta tes fails to achieve its objectives. Mounting casualties and media reports turn American public opinion decisively against the war The Paris Peace Accords of 1972 end the Vietnam War President Nixon signs a ceasefire in January 1973 that formally ends the hostilities. In 1975, Ho Chih Minhs communist forces from the north overrun the south and unify the nation. 5. National Organiza