Turbulent Decade … But Exciting 1960s Turbulent Decade … But Exciting

General Characteristics The age of youth **All those kids from the 50’s are now teens and young adults Time of change (liberalism) Violence Chaos Achievements & Assassinations

Roots & Movements Started in the 50’s & Exploded in the 60’s Brown v. Board, Emmitt Till, Buss Boycot, SCLC, Little Rock 9, Rachel Carson, Betty Friedan, Simone de Beauvoir, anti-nuke movement (SANE), Beatniks, Marijuana, Rock n’Roll Success encourages more movements “Go Along to Get Along” is over Brown v. Board, Emmitt Till Rachel Carson (the sea around us) Betty Friedan “The Feminine Mystique”, Simone de Beauvoir “The Second Sex” deals with the treatment of women throughout history and is often regarded as a major work of feminist philosophy and the starting point of the second wave of feminism. Anti-nuke movement (SANE) “National Committee for a Sane Nuclear Policy” “Go Along to Get Along” To conform in order to have acceptance and security

Issues within the Movements **Radical Elements Violence vs. Non-Violence

Social Movements of the 1960s African American: Sit in Movement (SNCC), Freedom Riders, Birmingham Crusade, March on Washington, Civil Rights Act, Voting Rights act (1965), Black Power, Black Panther, MLK, Malcolm X, Stokley Carmichael Women’s Rights (NOW) Native American protest (AIM) Mexican Americans (Chavez) The Counterculture (Hippies) Gay Rights  

Counter Culture Reaction to the 1950s Reaction to the War As the Counterculture gathered momentum (Hippies, Flower Children, etc.), protests became widespread and began to polarize the nation

January -The Worst Year in US History 1968 Tet Offensive January 30, 1968 Massive VC attack on over 100 cities and 12 US Bases Occupied US Embassy Militarily-US won Politically-US lost, people began to question US policy

March - The My Lai Massacre A serious blow to U.S. credibility came with the exposure of the My Lai massacre (March 1968). Hushed up at the time and only discovered by a tenacious journalist, this involved the killing of 400 men, women and children by US troops. 

Spring – Walter Cronkite Cronkite had always been an impartial, balanced, unbiased presenter of the news mid-February 1968, Cronkite and his producer go to Vietnam to cover the aftermath of the Tet Offensive They eat dinner with General Abrams (current commander of all forces in Vietnam- Cronkite knew him) "we cannot win this Goddamned war, and we ought to find a dignified way out." LBJ - “If I’ve lost Cronkite, I’ve lost Middle America.” 

April – Assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, JR. Memphis, TN Lorraine Motel Dr. King was there to help striking sanitation workers receive better conditions Shot by James Earl Ray

June – Assassination of Robert F. Kennedy  Robert Francis "Bobby" Kennedy United States Senator  Brother of assassinated President John Fitzgerald "Jack" Kennedy, midnight on June 5, 1968, in Los Angeles, California, during the campaign season for the United States Presidential election, 1968. Sirhan Sirhan a 24-year-oldPalestinian/Jordanian immigrant  "I can explain it. I did it for my country.“ Sirhan believed that he was deliberately betrayed by Kennedy's support for Israel in the June 1967 Six-Day War Recorded on Audio, Aftermath on film

August – DNC (Democratic National Convention) Chicago (Illinois) LBJ chose not to run for the Presidency Police swept in and beat protestors on national TV 668 arrests, 111 sent to hospitals Nixon wins the Election in 1968 popular vote by a narrow margin of 0.7 percentage point easily in the Electoral College, 301-191.