Directions

Welcome to the interactive viewing guide for The Century: America's Time - Poisoned Dreams (1960-1964). This documentary explores the early 1960s, a decade that began with youthful optimism and the "New Frontier" but was soon tested by the harrowing struggle for Civil Rights and the high-stakes brinkmanship of the Cold War.

Instructions:

Complete the Identity Panel above to unlock the assignment.
Watch the documentary via the link in the sidebar.
Answer the 15 multiple-choice questions spread across three sections.
Click "FINISHED" at the end of Part III to grade and save your final report.

Part I: The New Frontier (1960-1961)

1. The 1960 election between John F. Kennedy and Richard Nixon featured the first ever _______, which many believe swayed the election in JFK's favor.

Radio-only addresses Televised presidential debate National whistle-stop tour Direct primary vote

2. In his inaugural address, Kennedy famously challenged Americans to "ask not what your country can do for you, ask..."

"...how you can profit from your liberty." "...when the Cold War will end." "...what you can do for your country." "...where the new frontier leads."

3. What was the name of Kennedy's domestic program that aimed to expand space exploration, improve education, and provide medical care for the elderly?

The Great Society The New Frontier The Fair Deal The Square Deal

4. What 1961 event, aimed at overthrowing Fidel Castro, ended in a disastrous military defeat and international embarrassment for the Kennedy administration?

Operation Mongoose The Bay of Pigs Invasion The Gulf of Tonkin Incident The Cuban Airlift

5. Following the 1961 Vienna Summit, the Soviet Union began construction of what structure to stop citizens from fleeing to the West?

The Iron Curtain The Checkpoint Charlie Gate The Berlin Wall The Moscow Barrier

Part II: Breaking Jim Crow (1961-1963)

6. Who were the civil rights activists who rode interstate buses into the segregated Southern United States to challenge the non-enforcement of Supreme Court decisions?

The Little Rock Nine The Freedom Riders The Black Panthers The Greensboro Four

7. In 1963, Police Commissioner "Bull" Connor used fire hoses and attack dogs against peaceful protesters in which city, horrifying the nation via television?

Selma, AL Birmingham, AL Montgomery, AL Jackson, MS

8. During the massive March on Washington in August 1963, Martin Luther King Jr. delivered which iconic speech from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial?

"The Great Society Speech" "I Have a Dream" "Letter from Birmingham Jail" "The Ballot or the Bullet"

9. Which project, championed by JFK, sent young American volunteers to developing nations to help with education, health, and agriculture?

AmeriCorps The Peace Corps Vista Volunteers The Job Corps

10. What 13-day October 1962 event was the closest the world ever came to a full-scale nuclear exchange between the US and the USSR?

The Berlin Blockade The U-2 Incident The Cuban Missile Crisis The SALT Treaty Crisis

Part III: Tragedy & Legacy (1963-1964)

11. On November 22, 1963, President Kennedy was assassinated while riding in a motorcade in which city?

Houston, TX Austin, TX Dallas, TX San Antonio, TX

12. Who was the Vice President who was sworn in as President aboard Air Force One immediately following JFK's death?

Richard Nixon Hubert Humphrey Lyndon B. Johnson Robert Kennedy

13. The Warren Commission, appointed to investigate the assassination, concluded that the shots were fired by a lone gunman named:

Jack Ruby Lee Harvey Oswald James Earl Ray Sirhan Sirhan

14. What major civil rights legislation, originally proposed by JFK, was finally passed by LBJ in 1964 to end segregation in public places?

The Voting Rights Act The Civil Rights Act of 1964 The Emancipation Proclamation The Fair Housing Act

15. The "Poisoned Dreams" of the early 60s represented a shift from the _______ of the 1950s to the disillusionment of the late 1960s.

Economic depression Cold War isolation Suburban optimism and innocence Military build-up