Transcript The Civil rights Movement - Githens 8th Grade Language Arts

AMERICA in
the ’50s
And 60s
* There were four major changes in the US
during the 1950s and 60s
1.
2.
3.
4.
Social
Science/Technology
Music/Art
Political
*
*
Suburbs = The American Dream
 Affordable single-
 New highways,
family housing
affordable
automobiles, low
gasoline prices
 Good schools
 Friendly
 A safe, healthy
neighbors like
themselves
environment for
children
13 million
homes
built in the
1950s –
85% were
suburban
The Generation Gap
The generation gap was the cultural
separation between children and their
parents.
Many parents viewed rock ’n’ roll as loud
and dangerous.
The music was banned in some
communities.
The music united teens in their own world
and helped to create what became known as
the generation gap.
Juvenile Delinquency
From 1946-1960, the
number of teenagers in the
US rose from 5.6 million to
11.8 million Attributed to changes in pop
Another problem facing the
nation was juvenile delinquency,
which was antisocial or criminal
behavior by teenagers
Juvenile crime rose 45% between
1948 and 1953. Car thefts by
juveniles increased and more
teenagers joined street gangs
culture, such as Catcher in
the Rye and “Rebel Without
a Cause”
In the 60s, thousands of
teenagers became part
of the “counterculture.”
These “hippies” rebelled
against the traditional
American culture.
Hippies believed in
a world free of war
and hate and full of
peace and love
The hippie look
was long hair,
tie-dyed shirts,
and use of drugs
like marijuana,
LSD and heroin
Famous music groups of the
Hippie Movement
Music played
a large part
of the Hippie
Movement
The Beatles
Jefferson Airplane
Bob Dylan
Jimi Hendrix
Jim Morrison and the Doors
Family Life
Women in the 50s and 60s were seen as wives and
not much else; they usually stayed at home and
were expected to cook, clean, and serve the
husband and rest of the family
This is a popular show from the time, Leave it to
Beaver, which portrays the “nuclear” family
The Baby Boom
The American birthrate
exploded after World War II.
From 1945 -61 more than 65
million children were born
This period became known as
the Baby Boom
Contributing factors:
The end of wars led to
more young couples
getting married
Pop culture glorified
pregnancy, parenthood and
large families
*
Science/Technological
Breakthroughs
The Space Race started when Russia sent Sputnik and the first
man into space. The U.S. got the people thinking, “If Russia
can send satellites into space, then they can send nuclear
weapons from space to the U.S. and destroy the U.S."
It also showed that Russia had better educated students to
take Russia into space, and the U.S. was falling behind in
education.
*
Sputnik, the world’s first
artificial satellite,
launched by Russia in
1957
* One cause of the Space Race was the Cold War between the
United States and the Soviet Union, the most powerful countries
after WWII.
* Both these countries were competing to be the number one
world leader, so space was a critical area for battle.
*
Birth of television
By 1957, there were about 40
million television sets in use and
TV became an important source
of information
Shows like I
Love Lucy and
The
Honeymooners
were the most
popular TV
shows of the
’50s
The Automobile Culture
America became a more
homogeneous nation because of
the automobile.
First McDonald’s
(1955)
Drive-In Movies
Holiday Inn
*
* New music began hitting the scene, such as:
*
*
Bebop
*
*
*
*
Dizzy Gillespie, Charlie Parker
"Hot House”
The Supremes, The Temptations, The Jackson 5
"My Girl," by The Temptations
Rock-n-roll
*
*
*
*
Rolling Stones
Jimi Hendrix
The Beatles
"Twist and Shout," by The Beatles
*
Birth of Rock ’n Roll
In the 1950s, many teenagers
rebelled against the middle-class
suburban values, particularly
conformity and wanted to be unique.
 It was during this period that
many youths turned to new and
unconventional styles of music
 Soon white artists began
making music that was based
on African American rhythm
and blues
 This form of music became
known as rock ‘n’ roll and it
became wildly popular with the
Elvis Presley
The King of Rock ’n Roll
Presley’s extraordinary
popularity established rock
’n’ roll as an unprecedented
mass-market phenomenon
His reputation as a performer
endured up to his death in
1977 at the age of 42.
Graceland, his home
in Memphis, is now a
public museum
visited by upwards
of 600,000 people
annually.
Woodstock
Music festival held in upstate
New York in 1969 that exemplified
the counterculture of the 1960s
Thirty-two of the best-known musicians
of the day performed in front of nearly
half a million concert-goers
Woodstock is
regarded as one
of the greatest
moments in pop
music history
Pop Culture of the 50s
Top
TV
Shows
The Lone Ranger
The Honeymooners
Father Knows Best
*
* 1950:
* The Korean War began
* Senator Joseph McCarthy began Communist “witch-hunt”
* 1955:
* Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat
* 1957:
* Sputnik launched by Soviets
* 1958:
* NASA founded
* 1960:
* Lunch counter sit-in at Woolworth’s in Greensboro, NC
* 1961:
* Soviets launched the first man in space
* 1963:
* JFK assassinated
* 1965:
* First US troops sent to Vietnam
* 1968:
* MLK Jr and robert Kenedy assassinated
* 1969:
* Neil Armstrong was the first man on the moo
THE TURBULENT ’60s
Kennedy beats Nixon
In one of the closest presidential
elections in U.S. history,
Kennedy defeated Nixon
“Ask not what your country can do for you,
ask what you can do for your country.”
-- John F. Kennedy
Inauguration Speech, 1961
In his inauguration speech, Kennedy inspired people with his
optimism, his youthfulness and his ability to handle the media.
“Let the word go forth from this time and place, to friend and foe alike,
that the torch has been passed to a new generation of Americans.”
-- John F. Kennedy, Inauguration Speech, 1961
Camelot
JFK was a very popular president
with the American people.
People often refer to Kennedy’s
presidency as “Camelot” because of the
potential and promise for the future,
and the period was symbolic of hope
His youthful energy,
looks, glamorous wife
Jacqueline, and their
young children led to
constant coverage by the
media.
The Kennedy White House
JFK’s closest confidant
was his brother Bobby
RFK was appointed to
the important position
of Attorney General
The New Frontier
JFK’s domestic
programs
became known
as the New
Frontier.
Main goals of the New Frontier:
 Increase federal aid to education
 Provide health insurance to the elderly
 Create a Department of Urban Affairs
to deal with problems in the inner cities
 Create an organization of volunteers to
help fight poverty in other countries
Assassination in Dallas
On Nov. 22, 1963, Kennedy
and his wife traveled to
Dallas to make some
political appearances
As the motorcade rode
through downtown Dallas,
JFK was shot in the head
Lee Harvey
Oswald was the
man who was
accused of
shooting Kennedy
*1968: Turbulent Year
Tet Offensive
showed U.S.
was not
winning the
Vietnam War
Robert F.
Kennedy
shot in
June of
1968
Riots occurred
at the
Democratic
National
Convention in
August of 1968
Martin
Luther
King shot
in April of
1968
THE
VIETNAM
WAR
Vietnam in the ’50s
Following World War II, the
French controlled southeast
Asia (known as Indochina)
Ho Chi Minh led a revolt
against the French to gain
independence for Vietnam
By 1954, the French fell to the
Vietminh and they withdrew
from Indochina, leaving
Vietnam a divided country
Southeast Asia (aka: French Indochina)
Domino Theory
The Domino Theory was the belief that if
one country fell to communism, the other
Southeast Asian nations would eventually
fall to communism as well
This map from an American
magazine published 14th
November 1950 shows how
much they feared the
spread of Communism in
the Far East.
South Vietnam problems
The people of South Vietnam hated
South Vietnamese president Ngo Dinh
Diem. He was corrupt and did not
govern in the best interest of the citizens.
A Buddhist monk commits suicide in protest to the
harsh policies of the S. Vietnamese government
Diem was disliked because
he discriminated against the
Buddhist population
Some Buddhist monks
protested Diem’s rule by
setting themselves on fire
Vietcong
Guerrilla army based in
South Vietnam (also
known as the NLF) that
fought the U.S. and South
Vietnamese governments
during the Vietnam War
The Vietcong were South
Vietnamese communists
who fought for Vietnamese
unification on the side of the
North Vietnamese
Vietcong Advantages
 They were familiar with
the landscape (rivers,
lakes, etc.)
 They could find a safe
haven in Cambodia,
Laos or South Vietnam
 They could often count
on the support of the
local population
Tet Offensive
January 30 – June 8, 1968
In early 1968,
the Vietcong
and the North
Vietnamese
launched a
surprise attack
on the South
during the Tet,
which is the
Vietnamese
New Year
A Vietcong agent is shot during the Tet Offensive
Credibility Gap
Opposition to the
Vietnam War grew
in the United States
in the late 1960s
Robert McNamara
Many Americans
were suspicious of
the government’s
truthfulness about
the war
William Westmoreland
Many Americans believed a credibility gap had
developed (people lost trust in what the
government was telling them)
My Lai Massacre
March 16th, 1968
American platoon had massacred
more than 200 South Vietnamese
civilians who they thought were
members of the Vietcong in a
village called My Lai
A village set afire during the My Lai Massacre
Most of the victims were old
men, women and children
My Lai massacre increased
feelings among many
Americans that the war was
brutal and senseless
Unidentified Vietnamese man and child killed by US soldiers
Draft Lottery Begins
December 1st, 1969
Many Americans
who were against the
war believed the
United States had an
unfair draft system
Minorities made up
a large percentage
of soldiers in
Vietnam. As the war
continued, more
people were drafted
th
26 Amendment ratified
During the Vietnam
War, the average age
of U.S. soldier was 19
Most soldiers were old
enough to fight, but not
old enough to vote
Anger over the draft led to
numerous protests
The 26th Amendment lowered
the voting age from 21 to 18
The Draft
Minorities made up a large percentage of
soldiers in Vietnam. As the war continued,
more people were drafted
The Draft
Many men refused to go into the military. As a
sign of protest, many burned their draft cards
or dodged the draft by leaving the country
Kent State Massacre
In April of 1970,
President Nixon
announced that
American troops had
invaded Cambodia
Anti-war protestors
saw this as an
escalation of the war,
sparking violent
protests on college
campuses
May 4, 1970
At Kent State University in Ohio, protestors became violent. The
Ohio National Guard was called in and fired upon the student
demonstrators, killing four students
Ohio
Neil Young
Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=68g76j9VBvM
Four dead in Ohio.
Television impact on war
Television coverage from Vietnam brought
the war into many people’s living rooms
and helped to turn many people against the
Television impact on war
When CBS anchorman Walter Cronkite said
following the Tet Offensive that the war was
unwinnable, most Americans believed him
Anti-War Protests Escalate
As the Vietnam conflict dragged on into the
1970s, more and more Americans called for
the U.S. to get out of Vietnam
Vietnamization
Vietnamization called for a
gradual withdrawal of
American troops as South
Vietnamese took more control
Even though the U.S. had begun cutting back its
involvement in the Vietnam War, the American home
front remained divided and volatile as Nixon’s war
policies stirred up new waves of protest
U.S. pulls out of Vietnam
In January of 1973, North and South
Vietnamese reach a cease-fire agreement;
by 1975, the United States withdraws all of
its people from Vietnam