FREE ESSAY ON AM WAKING FROM THE DREAMERICA IN THE 60'S

AM WAKING FROM THE DREAMERICA IN THE 60'S

The presidential election 1960 was between John F. Kennedy and Richard Nixon. The race was
close-so close that no one could give even an educated guess of who would win, that is
until the televised debated came out. After the debated Kennedy took the lead. This may
have been the 1st time America voted mostly on appearance. On January 20, 1961 John F.
Kennedy gave his Inaugural address-which was dedicated to the teens of the time. Kennedy
believed in the teens and the rest of America started doing the same. Advertisers
realized that teens were the ones they should be targeting. By making teens and children
believe they "needed" a product was the way to bring in the big bucks. Game shows and
many other TV programs (such as the Andy Griffith show) came out during this time.
On November 22, 1963, the nation came together and was united in sorrow and grief. This
was the day that president Kennedy was assassinated and the country started to fall
apart.
Vietnam was full of deception for the people of the United States. The people were led to
believe by the government that we were winning the war when in reality things were
falling apart. Kennedy believed that we should move slowly into Vietnam but after he was
murdered Lyndon Johnson took the Presidential role and our forces went into combat.
Vietnam split the country into two. There were those who supported the war and the ones
who were against it. The Anti-war movement began as early as 1964 when several draft men
refused to register with the draft and came up with the slogan "hell no we won't go."
October 15-16,1965, marked the 1st nationwide march in protest of the war. Meanwhile in
Vietnam things were getting pretty ugly. At times certain areas were labeled as "free
fire zones"-which meant that if you lived there no matter what your age, sex, of physical
condition you were assumed to be an enemy. And most of the people who lived in these
zones were willing to kill Americans to get foreigners out. Johnson also started the
"Great Society" program which only deepened out gap of credibility to the point of no
return-and helped set the U.S. up for the budget crisis of the 80's.
Life on the battle field was pretty much hell. Young men with little training and no
concept of war didn't know how to respond. Most were model soldiers who knew somebody had
to defend their country while others turned to drugs, alcohol, and sex. The worst
documented atrocity took place on March 16, 1968, when a group of American soldiers
rounded up the occupants of MyLai-infants to old-lined them up and shot them. 
In 1968 Richard Nixon became the next President of the U.S. He was elected by the silent
majority-those who wanted the peace and quiet of the good ol' days. In his first year of
office Nixon initiated a draft. Once a month the unlucky members were picked. In June
1968 Vietnam was categorized as the longest war in American History. Richard Nixon
claimed that he would bring the country together but at the end of the 60's our nation
was still very far apart. 
The 60's was also a time when the Blacks fought for equality. At the end of civil war
salves were told they were free-but after a hundred years of liberty they were still
facing discrimination. Southern governors and mayors had only one opinion-"Negroes" know
their place and they had better stay there." Blacks started protesting by staging sit-ins
and marches. The case of James Meredith showed that Civil Rights might be possible-but
only Federal intervention. One of the biggest acts included a sit-in that was to last
until the bill was passed by Congress. Martin Luther King delivered his famous "I have a
dream" speech here and dreamt for the day when his children "wouldn't be judged by the
color of their skins but by the content of their character." The Ghettos erupted in the
60's causing millions and millions of dollars in damage across the U.S. The causes of
this were said to be "White racism" and more specifically "persuasive discrimination and
segregation in employment, education, and housing." Despite all this King stayed with his
nonviolent acts and on April 3, 1968, Martin Luther King delivered his last speech before
he was assassinated. By the end of the decade blacks were beginning to make a place for
themselves among the American society. Though what they did may have been right or wrong
they made the government hear them.
The Hippie movement was at its height in the 60's. America's teens became two nations.
One was the kind that would go to work after school while the other ran away from home to
became a hippie. The government needed to know that young people's ideas and actions were
valid even if the older generation didn't agree. LSD and other drugs became the way of
life for a hippie. LSD was known as the psychedelic drug. The phrase of the era was "tune
in, turn on, and drop out". The government became worried about the popularity of drugs
and they started becoming illegal more and more but the use of them kept increasing. As
the Hippie movement grew their needs kept being fulfilled. Stores opened and sold
"hippie" clothes and drug paraphernalia. Police looked the other way and went for the
"big-time" dealers instead of those who sold paraphernalia and lava lamps to enhance drug
experiences. One of the most remembered events about the hippie movement was Woodstock.
Over 400,000 people (mostly hippies) gathered to enjoy peace, love and music. Woodstock
reversed many people view of the hippies. Police officers described the massive group as
"the most courteous, considerate, and well-behaved group of kids they had come in contact
with".
As well as the anti-war movement and the black movement students and women also wanted
America to change. Students realized that the government was not infallible and they
wanted more from life than a good job and a nice home. They wanted a better society "we
would replace power rooted in possession, privilege, or circumstance by power and
uniqueness rooted in love reflection, reason and creativity." Women also wanted a change.
When the men were at war the women took over their jobs and proved that they could do the
same hard work that the men did-but when the men returned the women were expected to give
up their jobs and go back to being a housewives. Women of all cultures wanted changes and
they banned together to get it done. When the men would refuse to include them in a
decision-making meeting the women would hold their own meetings. Women were not willing
to be considered as sex objects any more. At the end of the 60's women were endlessly
fighting to get the Equal Rights Amendment passed. This amendment would change their
lives completely. As well as women, Puerto Ricans and American Indians were also fighting
for equality.
The 60's was a growing time for America. Besides the movements many other things were
happening in America and in the rest of the world. Cuba was going through Castro's reign.
The U.S. tried to help but failed. The Soviet Union disagreed with our nation but we
didn't clash very much over it. They did however clash over the Berlin Wall. In 1961 the
wall went up-we didn't like it but it wasn't worth war. More than any of this there was a
"race for space" so to speak. The Soviets were in lead with the Sputnik and Yuri Gagarin.
The main focus then became the moon-it was America's dream. President Kennedy committed
himself to this dream, and on July 20, 1969, Neil Armstrong declared "The Eagle has
landed", and then he left the first human footprints on the moon. "That's one small step
for man one large step for mankind", and America's space dream came true.
I found this book to be interesting. It was one that I could actually sit down and read
and understand. I like the way it supports democracy. It really show that people do have
the power to get the changes that they want if they are willing to stick with it and
fight for it. Like the women and blacks and students etc., they made the government
listen to them . Whether what they did was right or wrong they made the government listen
to them and their ideas. They forced Congress to pass laws and acts which I think is
totally cool that a group of people can do that and I think that more people should do
that instead of just complain about how terrible things are. To me this book shows pretty
much every aspect of life in the 60's and our governments response to crisis and that
people.
Bibliography
1. Goldstein, Toby. Waking from the Dream-America in the Sixties, Simon & Schuster, Inc.,
New York, 1988.