Civil Rights Movement In The 60's

By the 1960’s the United States was on the brink of a major social change and President John F. Kennedy knew it. The 60’s to the 80’s were known as the decades of change. (JFK and the 1960's) The more autocratic change of power in the federal government allowed the president more control after the New Frontier and Great Society, which was caused by the shift in the Civil Rights Era and by civil tension in the counterculture from the Vietnam War and Watergate.
The shift in power which gave the president more control began with the Executive order 9981 signed by President Harry S. Truman in July of 1948. It allowed every person regardless of race, origin or religion to enlist in the United States military. Programs, such as the Peace Corps,
arose as an African American civil rights activist and Betty Friedan took initiative for the rights of women through the Feminist Movement. Rosa Parks refusal to give up her seat on the first of December in 1955 sparked the Montgomery Boycott led by Martin Luther King Jr. After the Bus Boycott MLK founded the Southern Christian Leadership Conference in order to support nonviolent protests for African American equality. In March of 1963 MLK achieved what would be considered his most significant accomplishment and his most well known speech (http://www.videtteonline.com/features/top-martin-luther-king-jr-achievements/article_2f242ca3-0e63-5da4-b6ed-ba62c50a12ab.html). The March on Washington involved over 200,000 people who marched to the Lincoln Memorial and listened to Martin Luther King Jr. give his “I Have A Dream” speech calling for an end to racism (Civil Rights Presentation). In July of 1964 President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the most significant civil rights act since Reconstruction. The Act abolish any discrimination based on race, color, religion, or national origin. The African Americans and Martin Luther King Jr. reached social, economic and political change through the events that led up to and the Civil Rights Act of 1964. This opened up access to unlimited employment opportunities, academic options and political positions. One example of this political
(Activity #8) The three most impactful events during the counterculture were the Vietnam war, anti-war protests/draft card burnings and Watergate. The new generation opposed the Vietnam War claiming that it was a “pointless” war and wanted to see change in action within the world and hoped to influence society through anti-war protests against America’s involvement in the Vietnam War. Many nonviolent anti-war protests broke out around the middle to late 60’s.
In a particular protest at Kent State University a massive student protest led to the burning of ROTC building on May 1, 1970. Three days later at the same university a group of about 2,000 protesters gathered in the Commons for an anti-war rally. Members from the Ohio National Guard fired live ammunition into the crowd and killed four Kent State students, one of which who was only walking to class and not a part of the demonstration, and injured nine more students. (Activity