to the 1960's
Introduction by Arielle & Elizabeth
June 24, 2005
to the 1960's
Introduction by Arielle
& Elizabeth
June 24, 2005
The sixties were a time of change, counter culture and political movements. Many young people involved themselves in trying to make America a better place for all people, no matter what gender or race they were. The sixties began with the election of America's youngest president, John F. Kennedy. During his period in office people stepped out and said how they felt. They thought that with Kennedy leading America, anything was possible.
By 1963 another great leader began to draw attention to another important issue, the treatment of African Americans. Martin Luther King, Jr. had such composure and such dignity that hearing him publicly speak was not only a privilege but an honor. King inspired people and made them believe that they could make a difference. King believed in nonviolent protest against segregation and racial discrimination. Many people, blacks and whites alike, joined his March on Washington in 1963, and others later helped change the way Americans treated one another. The assassination of President Kennedy in November 1963 shocked the country. Violence in the south was still in the headlines as a black church in Alabama was blown up with killing four children inside. In 1964 President Johnson declared "War on Poverty" and promised Americans a "Great Society." The Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Voting Rights Act of 1965 became law. Rioting in Watts in 1965 nearly destroyed Los Angeles.
Americans increasingly grew opposed to the war in Vietnam. The war had burst into the country's living rooms on the nightly news like an open floodgate and many in the country were horrified at what they saw. 1968 was a year of great tragedy, both Martin Luther King and Robert Kennedy were assassinated. The Democratic National Convention was the scene of horrible violence. There were some bright moments, man orbited the earth for the first time in Apollo 8 in 1968 and at the close of the decade America entered a new frontier as Neil Armstrong walked on the moon for the first time.
Editors note: The 8th grade graduating class of 2005 at Pocantico Hills School has researched the 1960s and pointed you to some highlights from this amazing decade. We did this work as part of a seven week computer course. The purpose of the work was to learn about different search engines, how they work, how to search effectively and to evaluate the information we found. After the students finished these web pages they used Power Point to create presentations to teach their classmates about the year they studied. We are not experts and we know that we only covered some of the important topics. If you feel we left out something "very important" please let us know. Meanwhile, enjoy your visit!
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