Blog 15: Fences Fishbowl Blog Discussion: America in the 1960's

Haley Moses

Wilson

English IVB

13 January 2016

America in the 1960’s

Source 1: US News

Greensboro sit-in

Fact: "On February 1, four determined black men sat at a whites-only lunch counter at a Woolworth's in Greensboro, N.C., and were denied service. Their act of defiance triggered a wave of sit-ins for civil rights across the South and brought unrelenting national attention to America's original sin of racism. " (Walsh 1)

Led to the racism movements, equality movement, even sparked women’s rights

Fact: "the period was a desperately needed corrective that drew attention to America's injustices and started us down the road toward greater fairness and equality for all." (Walsh 1)

Environment movements started as well… Movements were against pollution and lethal chemicals.
Fact: "The environmental movement was born. A key factor was the 1962 publication of Rachel Carson's book Silent Spring, which warned that many forms of life on Earth would die because of pollution and lethal chemicals released by human beings and their industries." (Walsh 1)

Source 2: VOA News

Fact: "In addition to President Kennedy, two other influential Americans were murdered during the nineteen sixties. Civil rights leader Martin Luther King Junior was shot in Memphis, Tennessee, in nineteen sixty-eight. Several weeks later, Robert Kennedy -- John Kennedy's brother -- was shot in Los Angeles, California. He was campaigning to win his party's nomination for president." (Ember 1)

How do you think the revolutions also led to downfall? The fight was hard, and a lot of times it didn’t work. It took years and years to make a difference and when there was an obstacle this could be seen as an obstacle.

Another example of The Rebellion Age

Fact: "In the middle nineteen fifties, most of their parents had jobs that paid well. They expressed satisfaction with their lives. They taught their children what were called middle class values. These included a belief in God, hard work and service to their country.

Later, many young Americans began to question these beliefs. They felt that their parents' values were not enough to help them deal with the social and racial difficulties of the nineteen sixties. They rebelled by letting their hair grow long and by wearing unusual clothing. Their dissatisfaction was strongly expressed in music." (Ember 1)

Fact: "The nineteen sixty-four Civil Rights Act guaranteed equal treatment for all groups. This included women. After the law went into effect, however, many activists said it was not being enforced. The National Organization for Women -- NOW -- was started in an effort to correct the problem." (Ember 1)

Education was being segregated for the first time. This led to even more rebellions but was a pivotal point in American history. 

 If the people during this time period weren't so rebellious, how do you think the world wouldve been different today? Civil rights would've happened eventually, but they could be going on right now. We may have never gotten the information from women or African Americans if the civil rights movements and changes weren't made in the 1960's

Source 3: Psychology Today Family Information

Do the baby boomers and the feminist movements have any sort of relationship? Because the baby boomers had so many siblings, their moms grew up in the home, not working, but watching and caring for the children. Some baby boomers wanted a more fulfilling life than this, so when they became of age, the women’s movement began.

The baby boomers were reaching adult hood during the 1960's

Fact: In 1960, out of every 100 children, 65 lived in a family in which the parents were married, the dad worked, and the mom stayed home. (DePaulo 1)

Fact:In 1960, only 1 child in every 350 lived with a mother who had never been married! (DePaulo 1)

349/350 children had married mothers or ones that had been married. Not a lot of single pregnancies or pregnancies before marriage.

Fact: The average family size was 3.7 compared to 3.1 today

The families were almost a whole person bigger than they are today. People were much more traditional, where the mom stayed home with 2 kids and the dad went to work.

Other baby boomers “dropped out” of political life altogether. These “hippies” grew their hair long, experimented with drugs, and–thanks to the newly-accessible birth-control pill–practiced “free love.” Some even moved to communes, as far away from suburbs as they could get.

What is your opinion on the change in families from the 1960's? Do you prefer the more traditional style, or today's style where both spouses tend to work more often than not? Is one more beneficial for the society?

Works Cited:

Walsh, Kenneth T. "The 1960s: A Decade of Promise and Heartbreak." US News. U.S.News &         World Report, 9 Mar. 2010. Web. 12 Jan. 2016.

Ember, Steve. "American History: The 1960s, a Decade That Changed a Nation." VOA. VOA News, 17 Nov. 2011. Web. 12 Jan. 2016.

"7 Stunning Ways Life Was Different in the 1960s." Psychology Today. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Jan. 2016.