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America in the 1960s
The 1960s in American history proves to be the period in which most activities took place that would later result in a better America of today. The period is recorded to have seen significant movements that have shaped the social sector in America today. Such movements are the civil rights movement, the anti-Vietnam movements, the student movement, the women’s movement, the environmental movement, and the gay rights movement. Each of these movements changed the government policy, and how almost every American lives today. This article seeks to show that these movements were part of the more extensive and more extended process of change that had been occurring for decades.
First, these protests that climaxed in the 1960s had their roots from the 1930s, when the role of the federal government had increased, and people increasingly looked to the federal government to solve their problems. Also, after World War II in 1945, America had emerged as a global power that competed with the USSR, and this competition became a moral and political crusade to convince people that western democracy was superior to the Communist system acquired by the USSR. Again, the period of relative economic prosperity took place in the 1950s and early 1960s. Therefore, the economic disparity in the United States was apparent. These are the events that made movements in the 1960s to shoot up.
The civil rights movements were the first among the social changes in the 1960s but traced its roots to the 1950s. It was because of the racial discrimination and segregation of the black Americans that these movements took effect. In the movie “The 1960s in America: Crash Course US History”, the narrator, John Green, states that the civil rights movements began in the 1950s, if not before, but many of its key moments happened in the 1960s.
In conclusion, many are the social events that took place in America, and almost all of them have contributed to today’s America. But these changes had long started and only climaxed in the ’60s.
Works cited
Thomas, Nick. “Protests against the Vietnam War in 1960s Britain: the relationship between protesters and the press.” Contemporary British History 22.3 (2008): 335-354.
John Green, narrator, “The 1960s in America: Crash Course US History”, movie, 2014