UNIT 10 - THE 1960'S
“The thing the sixties did was to show us the possibilities and the responsibility that we all had. It wasn't the answer. It just gave us a glimpse of the possibility.”
― John Lennon
― John Lennon
UNIT BACKGROUND: The 1960's remains one of the most fascinating and influential eras in United States history. In fact, it can be argued that no other era in American history has done more to shape the present than the 1960's. During the 1960's, a "cold war" between the United States and the spread of Soviet communism turned hot. The nation found itself fully engulfed in war against the spread of Communism in a placed called Vietnam. Despite the fact that many Americans could not even pick out Vietnam on a a map, they were told the purpose of the war was to fight the specter of communism and preserve the ideals of freedom and democracy across the globe. For many, however, that justification was not enough. Progress in the war proved to be stagnant at best, and as an exuberant amount of money continued to be spent and the American death toll continued to rise popular opinion began to shift radically against the war. Young people began burning draft cards, artists and musicians began to rally against the war and protests home became the norm. All the while, the country was also beginning to transform socially. The Civil Rights movement began to take off after being propelled by leaders such as Martin Luther King, Jr., Rosa Parks and Robert F. Kennedy. As the saying goes, after the 1960's "things would never be the same."
ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS:
ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS: