1950s Vs 1960s

1678 Words7 Pages
The 1950s and the 1960s are chalk full of events that changed the United States. Each time period is unique in their own special way. The 1950s according to historians, is portrayed as a time full of prosperity, conformity, and consensus. On the other hand, historians see the 1960s as a decade of turbulence, protest, and disillusionment. The combination of popularity of televisions (TV), events such as the Montgomery Bus Boycott, and the fact that segregation was ruled illegal all contributed to the 1950s as a decade of achievement. The 1960s was packed with protests and negative events such as the Vietnam War, the women’s rights movement, and the debate on abortion which caused controversy in the United States during the 1960s. It wasn’t…show more content…
households. TV made it possible to spread information rapidly which was necessary to keep people informed. It allowed presidents and news crews to speak directly to the people. Although TV was becoming more and more popular, the information being broad casted had a much larger positive impact. In 1955, a women that went by the name of Rosa Parks, refused to give up her seat and move to the back of the bus in Montgomery, Alabama. This news was broadcasted to the nation. Once the news traveled to the right ears immediate action was taken. Martin Luther King, a civil rights activist who fought for the civil rights of African Americans heard the news and knew that change was needed. Following Rosa Parks’ arrest, Dr. Martin Luther King, leader of the African-American Civil Right Movement proposed a bus boycott. According to Dr. Batterson, the bus boycott was significant because it showed how…show more content…
Prior to the ruling of the Brown v. Board of Education schools were segregated by race. “Many white Southerners had grown up without ever questioning segregation. Brown forced them to either formulate a defense and rationale for segregation or consider changing generations-old habits” (Keene 770). The significance is that two different school, one school for the whites and one for blacks were considered separate but equal. It was noted that the schools for the whites tended to be nicer than the school for the blacks according to Batterson (The United States and Jim Crow). The final ruling on the case was that segregation of schools was unconstitutional. “The supreme court ruled in Brown v. Board of Education (1954) that segregated schools indeed violated the equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment”(Keene 766). This was another huge step in the Civil Rights movement for blacks. It was significant due to the fact that blacks could now get the same education as the whites. Prior to the ruling, white tended to have stronger educations than blacks. With a stronger education the blacks could stand up for themselves and fight for what they believed to be right. To combat the change in rules, the schools were desegregated with all deliberate speed. It is true that “with all deliberate speed”
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