Essay About The 1960's Sixties

Words: 619
Pages: 3

Why did the sixties happened ? This question has many answers to it. The 1960's burst of social movement was led by many factors. After World War II (1939-1945), the United States emerged as a global power that competed with the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR); this competition was both a political and moral crusade to convince people around the world that Western democracy was superior to the Communist system adopted by the USSR. The 1950s and 1960s were periods of relative economic prosperity for most of the country, making economic disparity in the United States more obvious. A national culture was emerging that linked all Americans more closely than ever before; television became common and allowed people to witness events …show more content…
People began to pressure all branches of the federal government—the courts, Congress, and the president—to provide remedies to the injustices that plagued the nation.
The 1960's was the period where there was a rise of radical African American activism. The civil rights movement was one of it. It was the first of the 1960s-era social movements. This movement produced one of the most important American social activists of the 20th century, Martin Luther King, Jr. The civil rights movement, as a national force, took root in the 1950s but greatly expanded in power in the 1960s. It originated among African Americans in the South who faced racial discrimination and segregation, or the separation of whites and blacks, in almost every aspect of their lives.
During the 1960's African American's fought in the courts, lobbied elected officials, and began a sustained campaign of nonviolent direct action."Forms of protest and/or civil disobedience included boycotts such as the successful Montgomery Bus Boycott (1955–56) in Alabama; "sit-ins" such as the influentialGreensboro sit-ins (1960) in North Carolina; marches, such as the Selma to Montgomery marches (1965) in Alabama; and a wide range of other nonviolent