The 1960's Era Lesson

The 1960s was a decade that began on January 1, 1960 and ended on December 31, 1969. The 1960s term also refers to an era more often called The Sixties, denoting the complex of inter-related cultural and political trends across the globe. This "cultural decade" is more loosely defined than the actual decade, beginning around 1963 and ending around 1974.

In the United States of America, "the Sixties," as they are known in popular culture, is a term used by historians, journalists, and other objective academics; in some cases nostalgically to describe the counterculture and social revolution near the end of the decade; and to describe the era as one of irresponsible excess and flamboyance. The decade was also labeled the Swinging Sixties because of the fall or relaxation of some social taboos especially relating to racism and sexism that occurred during this time.

The 1960s have become synonymous with the new, radical, and subversive events and trends of the period, which continued to develop in the 1970s, 1980s, 1990s and beyond. In Africa the 1960s was a period of radical political change as 32 countries gained independence from their European colonial rulers.

Kennedy Image Some commentators have seen in this era a cycle, where a rigid culture, unable to contain the demands for greater individual freedom, broke free of the social constraints of the previous age through extreme deviation from the norm. Christopher Booker charts the rise, success, fall and explosion in the London scene of the 1960s. This does not alone however explain the mass nature of the phenomenon.

Several governments turned to the left in the early 1960s. In the United States, John F. Kennedy, a staunch anti-communist, pushed for social reforms such as civil rights for African Americans and healthcare for the elderly and the poor. He was elected to the Presidency, also pledging to land a man on the Moon by the end of the decade, a feat that was accomplished in 1969. He was assassinated in 1963 and succeeded by his vice-president Lyndon B. Johnson who would serve as U.S. president for the majority of the sixties and escalated the military presence in South Vietnam which would result in the Vietnam War that continued into the next decade.

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