The Sixties
The sixties were a revolutionary time for civil rights and the US as a whole. Johnson ordered the Vietnam war, with the American citizens later learning that the Johnson administration had lied about the attack in Vietnam. The Vietnam war was the first ever war to be televised and US citizens finally understood the brutality of war and it was not such an unrealistic idea anymore. Martin Luther King Jr. was the face of the African American civil rights movement with the Black Panther’s backing society to discuss issues openly for the first time in the United States.
During Johnson’s election he made many promises about peace and then took another path when he announced that we should go to war with Vietnam. Once in office he declared war on Vietnam but the people later found out that Johnson’s reason for war was false. He dominated the war and the direction it was going, starting with sending troops against their will. Once citizens started seeing the war on TV for the first time they became hesitant and started writing letters to Congress to end it. Johnson basically started the war, and then Kennedy took over but was shorty assonated.
The sixties were a time of hope and the people thought that anything was possible with such influential leaders like Kennedy and Martin Luther King. But after both of their deaths it turned into one of the most depressing times in history. People started to oppose the war and became voiced their opinions for the first time. The Black Panther’s encouraged the people to speak their minds and get it across to the administration. As a result of this, the first activists started to come about in history; people were now willing to fight for their beliefs.
People were finally using the expression, “I’m black and I’m proud” with meaning. The King influenced both the white and African American crowds with his charisma and integrity throughout the civil rights revolution. He was an example to the people that difficult issues could be handled without violence and they started to see no need for war. Peace came through the nation and with it came the hippies and drugs, lots of sex, music, and experiments.
Overall the sixties were a time were there was endless possibilities and people started to fight for their passions and beliefs. Although there was lots of violence in the way society treated the Vietnam veterans and the African American movement, the people also learned about peace.
