Download Close Reading - The Cold War

Mr. Watson
American History
Overview of the 1960s
It was a decade of extremes, of transformational change and bizarre contrasts: flower children and
assassins, idealism and alienation, rebellion and backlash. For many in the massive post-World War II
baby boom generation, it was both the best of times and the worst of times.
1. Provide an example of two extremes during the 1960s. __________________________________
What happened in that remarkable era still impacts us. At the dawn of that decade of contrasts a half
century ago—on Jan. 2 ,1960—a charismatic young senator from Massachusetts named John F. Kennedy
announced that he was running for president, and he won the nation's highest office the following
November. He remains one of the iconic figures in U.S. history.
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.
On March 3, Elvis Presley returned to the United States from his Army stint in Germany, resuming his
career as a pioneer of rock-and-roll and an icon of the youth culture celebrating freedom and a growing
sense of rebellion.
2. Name 3 events at the start of the 1960s that showed changes that were happening.
a.
b.
c.
By the end of the decade, Kennedy had been assassinated, along with his brother Robert and the Rev.
Martin Luther King Jr. America's cities had become powder kegs as African-Americans, despite historic
gains toward legal equality, became more impatient than ever at being second-class citizens. Women
began demanding their rights in unprecedented numbers. Young people and their parents felt a
widening generation gap as seen in their differing perceptions of patriotism, drug use, sexuality, and the
work ethic.
3. Who had been assassinated by the end of the decade? _____________________________________
4. What were some of the concerns that produced a “generation gap”? _________________________
Politically, liberals and conservatives caused angry divisions over law and order, busing, racial
preferences, abortion, the Vietnam War, and America's use of military force abroad. Republican Sen.
Barry Goldwater of Arizona lost the 1964 presidential election to Democratic liberal Lyndon Johnson, but
his campaign sowed the seeds of a new conservatism that eventually brought Ronald Reagan to power
in 1980.
5. Who won and lost the presidential election in 1964? _______________________________________
Adding to the feelings of change were a host of technological breakthroughs. The United States and the
Soviet Union began exploring the solar system with rockets and satellites. The Soviets sent the first man
into space, in 1961, accelerating a "space race" between the superpowers that reached its apex when,
on July 20, 1969, Apollo 11 landed on the moon. U.S. astronaut Neil Armstrong stepped onto the lunar
surface and said, "That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind."
6. When did the Space Race start and with who? ______________________________________
7. What date did the first man landed on the moon? ____________________________________
By the end of the decade, television had gone from a novelty to the dominant medium of the age and
one of the most profound communications tools ever. In 1961, the laser was perfected. In 1965, the
Houston Astrodome, the world's first roofed stadium, was built. In 1967, the first heart transplant was
performed by Christiaan Barnard in Cape Town, South Africa, opening up remarkable new vistas in
medicine. Also in 1967, the first hand-held calculator was invented by Texas Instruments, at a cost of
$2,500 each.
8. What were some of the technological breakthroughs of the 1960s?
a.
b
c.
d.
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.
9. What movement did Rachel Carson start with her book, “Silent Spring” ? ______________________
As the decade wore on, government exploded under the Great Society of President Lyndon Johnson,
which bought about a social revolution of federal activism to help the poor far beyond the New Deal of
Franklin Roosevelt in the 1930s and 1940s.
10. What were the programs called that President Johnson started to help the poor? _____________
The Vietnam War led to widespread disillusionment and cynicism about the truthfulness and integrity of
the government and the military. The decade ended with conservative Richard Nixon in the White
House and a deeply polarized electorate, with anti-war demonstrations and the hippie movement,
celebrating “peace, love and understanding” and mind-altering drugs.
11. What was the anti-war movement? _______________________________________
12. What were hippies? ____________________________________________________
During the course of the Sixties, "everything changed," says Democratic pollster Geoff Garin, who was
born in 1953 and came of age in the Sixties. "It was much different in the Sixties compared to what it
meant to be growing up in the Fifties." He points to the movement for women's rights, civil rights for
blacks, an increase in tolerance for differences and diversity, and technological breakthroughs among
the most important trends of the decade. "The sky literally became the limit in terms of what was
possible technologically," he says. There was affluence on an unprecedented scale for most Americans
but also a rising sense of social conscience based on the idea that millions of people of color and other
disadvantaged groups were being left behind.
13. What changed in the 1960s? _________________________________________________