The Sixties Essay

PART 1 - ESSAY The sixties was a time of massive change and new ideas. Many new ideas were accepted while many were rejected. The events of the sixties began with the presidential election of 1960. John F. Kennedy won the election promising to use government power to stimulate the economy. Around the same time the Cuban government was overthrown by a man named Dwight Eisenhower. This is important because the people of Cuba did not like his rule and quickly started flooding into America seeking refuge. This new influx caused the U.S. and Cuba to fight resulting in the end of diplomatic relations between the two. The U.S. tried to use Cuba’s rebel citizens against them but it was a failed attempt. While this was going on the U.S. also started

Tensions were high between the U.S. and outside countries, but they weren't the only tensions America was experiencing. During the Sixties the Civil Rights movement was making big changes. Many people staged sit-ins and many strides were made to improve the environment and education of segregated students in school. The Freedom Rides took place to celebrate and embrace their new found freedom when riding on public buses. The Civil Rights Movement experienced a lot of pushback from Southerns and KKK members while traveling the country during the Freedom Rides. The Southerns let up a little when the idea was spread under christianity that segregation is a sin. Though all these actions made great progress towards equality for people of color, many were still fighting against their newly found civil rights. Martin Luther King Jr. wrote a letter describing how he would irradicate racial segregation peacefully and the letter became widely popularized. Soon after his letter sparked a March on Washington where Martin Luther King Jr. gave his famous I Have a Dream speech inspiring the current President Kennedy to create a civil rights bill. Kennedy did not follow through with his promise because the Southerner

Freedom Rides- Civil Rights advocates hosted a bold sit-in named the Freedom Rides. The Supreme Court had just ruled the outlawing of segregation on public means of transportation. In light of this new opportunity, anti-segregation activists rode on interstate buses across state lines. The rides were meant to see if the court's ruling was being taken seriously or just a silencing tool. The activists found that many southern states ignored the ruling and used aggressive and strong pushback. In spite of the pushback received, a group of the Freedom Riders traveled on buses into Washington D.C. and sat in pre-planned patterns as to annoy anyone who disagreed with their new rights. The riders obviously encountered heavy resistance from mobs filled with KKK and Southerner activists. The Freedom Riders' efforts eventually brought to light the hate in America and accumulated a decent amount of national attention. The Interstate Commerce Commission heard their plea and enforced integrated interstate transportation throughout the