News Report

News Report about the 60’s

 The 1960s were like the teenage years for the United States. It was it’s time of rebelling, testing the limits, and learning. Many historical events took place during the 60s. Some more monumental than others, but all having an important place in history. Three significant things that stand out from the 60s, are the assassination of Robert Kennedy, the Civil Rights movements, and of course the free loving hippies. Each of these has helped make the United States what it is today.


 The assassination of Robert Kennedy was a huge wake up call to the people of America. It took many by surprise. It is very curious how Robert’s brother John F. Kennedy, who as former U.S. president was also assassinated. Robert was shot around midnight on June 5th, 1968, after just winning the primary elections for California, and South Dakota. He was an idol for the American people, he gave them the light to look for at the end of the tunnel. He brought the American people back up after his brothers death, he was what the U.S. needed to be back on top. Sirhan Sirhan, who was a 24 year old Palestinian immigrant, thought otherwise, and was the man that shot Robert. Hubert Humphrey was in the clear after Robert’s death giving him more of an advantage of becoming president. Ultimately though, Nixon won the elections. America learned from this, not always taking things for granted, and being ready for change at any given moment.


 The Civil Rights movements of the 60s, was an aftershock of the racism from the previous generations. Literacy tests, poll taxes, Jim Crow laws, discrimination, and racism helped contribute towards the problems America faced in the 60’s. Martin Luther  King Jr. led peaceful protests, such as Boycotts, sit ins, mass meetings, and marches, to help help create equal rights for blacks and whites. The most important things Luther did was leading the March on Washington, and giving the “I have a dream speech.” Malcom X and the Black Panthers both opposed the non violent resistance. Malcom X was part of a group called the Black Muslims, but he ended up leaving. The Black Panthers were Black separatists, who had a militaristic view and attitude the movement. Because of the civil rights movements, Brown vs Board of education overturned Plessey vs Ferguson. The 24th amendment got passed, which outlawed poll taxes, the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and the Voting Rights Act was also passed.


 Hippies were the definition of rebelling, there are no specific things they did that were significant to history, except maybe Woodstock, which was a concert that over 1/2 a million people attended to enjoy three days of music, love, and peace. The hippies led a “counterculture” life style. This group of people got real big around ’65, and started to go downhill around the 70s. The hippies were mostly white people, in there teens and early twenties. They rebelled against established organizations, criticized middle class values, opposed the Vietnam War, had free love, and created what seemed like small cities. In these “cities,” there was no plumbing, everything was natural.  The hippies wanted personal freedom, which included the free use of drugs. LSD, and marijuana were two big ones for the hippies, and even though birth control was not exactly a drug it was widely used by the female hippies, so “free love,” could be more “free.”


 All in all the 60’s are a very interesting, and stand out among other decades of American history. They show the U.S. growing as a whole, and realizing there mistakes and becoming a better country because of them.