The Sixties And The Civil Rights Movement

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The sixties was a turbulent time when the world was thrown into a whirlwind of movements, wars, and controversy. The sixties shaped a generation and sculpted a political landscape that can still be seen today. Changes in politics, pop culture, revolutions, and war and peace occurred throughout this time period. The story of the sixties is illuminated with images of freedom protests, atom bombs, flower power, and a nation divided by war. The ever changing movements that were established during this time morphed the world into what is today and what it will be in the future. The sixties was a time that was dominated by war. Even though the war was not global, it still could be felt throughout the world. With the arrival of the Vietnam…show more content…
The NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People) initiated the beginning of the civil rights movement. This civil rights group made the decision to fight against the segregation of education in the South. The Brown versus Board of Education with the decisions being released in 1954 and 1955. Although there was much controversy over the decision made in this case, “…The Brown decision provided southern blacks with an institutional ally in the federal government, with resulting legitimacy grounded in national values” (Morgan, p 42). After the decision the southern blacks gained more motivation to fight for the rights that were taken away from them. Their fight continued with acts of civil disobedience and nonviolent protests all the way into the late 1960s. With the passing of the Civil Rights Act and the Voting Rights Act the lives of the African American minority changed for the…show more content…
The hippie lifestyle was directly related to the youth of the 1960s. “…The counterculture youth of America broke profoundly with almost all values their parents held” (Ushistory.org). As this push away from the traditional way of life occurred, they began to look at the world in a whole different way. They didn’t believe in the mainstream culture and searched for a new way of life. They did not care what anyone else thought about them; they only cared about their own happiness. Although the hippie movement eventually died out, some of their beliefs squeezed their way into mainstream culture. With the emergence of hippies came the organization of the Woodstock Festival. Woodstock was a three day festival that consisted of a copious amount of sex, drugs, and rock and roll that took place in 1969. Woodstock’s impact on music was so great that its influence can still be felt today. “Had Woodstock focus turned from music to revolution, the world would be an entirely different place today” (Woodstock). The civil rights movement and anti-war movement are not the only times that brought accomplishments in the 1960s. The US also played a big part in the “space
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