1960s US History

The 1960s

  • The 1960s was an important time with events like the Cold War, Vietnam, rising conservatism, and racism.
  • Key figures included the Kennedys, The Beatles, and Martin Luther King Jr.
  • The decade saw active movements for social and governmental change, including student, women's, and gay rights movements, as well as court-driven expansion of rights.
  • The anti-war movement gained prominence by the end of the decade.

Civil Rights Movement

  • The civil rights movement began in the 1950s, with key moments in the '60s.
  • Sit-ins: Black university students in Greensboro, North Carolina, protested at Woolworth's lunch counters, leading to the desegregation of the store after five months.
  • Freedom Rides (1961): Congress on Racial Equality (CORE) organized rides to integrate interstate buses. Riders faced violence in the South, but the ICC eventually desegregated interstate buses.
  • Demonstrations: Over 70,000 people participated in various forms of protest.
  • Albany, Georgia: Martin Luther King's protests failed to end discrimination in the city.
  • University of Mississippi: Federal troops were ordered by JFK to escort James Meredith to class.
  • Birmingham, Alabama (1963): Protests led by Martin Luther King, met with violent responses, were televised, influencing public opinion and leading Kennedy to endorse the movement's goals.

Key Events and Legislation

  • Letter from Birmingham Jail: Martin Luther King wrote a significant letter while imprisoned.
  • March on Washington (1963): The largest public demonstration in American history at the time, where King delivered his "I Have a Dream" speech, calling for a civil rights bill, help for the poor, public works, a higher minimum wage, and an end to employment discrimination.
  • Civil Rights Act: Resulted from the demands of the march.
  • John F. Kennedy's Position: Initially cool to civil rights due to Cold War concerns (Cuban missile crisis, Bay of Pigs), but later actively supported it due to the demonstrations of 1963.
  • Kennedy's Assassination: Kennedy was assassinated, leading to Lyndon Johnson becoming president.
  • Civil Rights Act of 1964: Prohibited discrimination in employment, schools, hospitals, and privately owned public places. It also banned discrimination based on sex.
  • Voting Rights: Civil rights leaders pushed for enfranchisement, leading to Freedom Summer in Mississippi.
  • Selma, Alabama (1965): King launched a march for voting rights, prompting federal intervention.
  • Voting Rights Act of 1965: Gave the federal government power to oversee voting in discriminatory areas.
  • Hart-Celler Act of 1965: Eliminated national origin quotas, allowing Asian immigrants but introducing quotas for the Western Hemisphere.
  • Great Society: Lyndon Johnson's domestic initiatives (1965-1967) expanded on New Deal promises, creating Medicare and Medicaid and initiating a war on poverty.
  • Poverty Initiatives: Focused on training rather than jobs or guaranteed income, not fully addressing economic shifts.

Shift in the Civil Rights Movement

  • Reasons for Shift: Persistent poverty and discrimination in various sectors led to a move towards black power.
  • Urban Riots: Riots occurred in city ghettos, such as Watts (1965), Newark, and Detroit (1967).
  • Kerner Report (1968): Attributed rioting to segregation, poverty, and white racism.
  • Malcolm X: Advocated for self-reliance, but was often seen as promoting violence. He was assassinated in 1965.
  • Black Power: Old civil rights movements like CORE shifted focus to black power after 1965.
  • Black Panther Party: Carried guns for self-defense and offered neighborhood services, but alienated some white people.
  • Impact: By the end of the 1960s, focus shifted to the anti-war movement.

Other Movements

  • Anti-War Movement: Galvanized students, even those with deferments.
  • Latino Activism: Similar to black power but linked to labor justice, especially led by Cesar Chavez and the United Farm Workers.
  • American Indian Movement (1968): Protests, such as the occupation of Alcatraz, aimed to reclaim land and win greater tribal control. Also filed suits for restitution.
  • Gay Liberation Movement (1969): Sparked by the Stonewall Inn raid, leading to demonstrations in New York City.

Environmental Movement

  • Silent Spring: Rachel Carson's book highlighted the dangers of pollutants, gaining bipartisan support and resulting in legislation like the Clear Air and Water Acts and the Endangered Species Act during the Nixon era.

Feminist Movement

  • The Feminine Mystique: Betty Friedan's book described the dissatisfactions of middle-class women, leading to the foundation of The National Organization of Women in 1966.
  • Systemic Discrimination: Women identified as a systematically discriminated group, with low representation in professions.
  • 5.8%5.8\% of doctors were women.
  • 3.7%3.7\% of lawyers were women.
  • Less than 10%10\% of doctoral degrees went to women.
  • Focus Areas: Equal pay, child care, and abortion.

Supreme Court and Expansion of Rights

  • Warren Court: Expanded civil rights, leading to a "rights revolution."
  • First Amendment: Expanded protections of free speech and assembly.
  • Freedom of the Press: Expanded in the New York Times v. Sullivan decision.
  • Loving v. Virginia: Struck down a law banning interracial marriage.
  • Rights of the Accused: Expanded protections.
  • Gideon v. Wainwright: Secured the right to an attorney.
  • Mapp v. Ohio: Established the exclusionary rule under the Fourth Amendment.
  • Miranda v. Arizona: Established that every perp has the "right to remain silent"
  • Right to Privacy: Established through decisions on contraception (Griswold v. Connecticut) and abortion (Roe v. Wade).

Year 1968

  • Key Events: Tet Offensive, assassination of Martin Luther King Jr, Democratic Convention in Chicago, Prague Spring uprising, student demonstrations in Mexico City and Paris.
  • Political Impact: Contributed to Richard Nixon's election.

Legacy of the 1960s

  • Summarized the decade's legacy: "The 1960s made possible the entrance of numerous members of racial minorities into the mainstream of American life, while leaving unsolved the problem of urban poverty. It set in motion a transformation of the status of women. It changed what Americans expected from government - from clean air and water to medical coverage in old age. And at the same time, it undermined confidence in national leaders. Relations between young and old, men and women, and white and non-white, along with every institution in society, changed as a result."
  • The changes were a result of a long process, ongoing for decades or even hundreds of years. The 1960s was not a radical revolution. It was only a continuation of the process.