John F. Kennedy, one of America’s most influential president during the 1960’s once said, “A man may die, nations may rise and fall, but an idea lives on.” The idea in which one has, and the ways they choose to reach their end result is important in determining the effect it has on society. The Cold War and Civil Rights Movement both addressed problems in society, creating conflict. The different actions used left different impacts on America. When attempting to create change in society, the tactics used in addressing conflict determine the overall outcome, causing the chosen strategies to effect America’s future. During the Civil Rights Movement, activists created conflict for the better, bringing awareness to the issue of equality with open …show more content…
This was the US verse the USSR, with the idea of democracy against communism. Because of the mutual assurance of destruction, there was no direct fighting between Soviet Union and America, but instead other tactics were used to prevent the spreading of communism (The Cold War). In effort to prevent this, America went to extreme measures, becoming secretive in the way in which they handled situations. In the Red Scare, a time in which American’s feared communists in the country, citizens were analyzed to determine if they were spies for Soviet, or against America’s government values. Innocent Americans were accused of these assumptions, sent to jail, shunned from society, creating a large amount of mistrust with the citizens and government. Other events during the Cold War included Coup d’états led by the American government. These consisted of actions intended to change another country’s government, in a forceful way. In 1954, the Guatemalan coup d’état was carried out by the United States CIA to change Guatemala’s government, as they feared they were taking communist actions. This took place during the Guatemalan revolution, where the reforms happening included minimum wage laws, and increase in education funding. This affected the United Fruit Company; an American company ran in Guatemala. The United Fruit Company owned 47% of Guatemalan land, most of which was unused. During the reform, Guatemala’s government redistributed that unused land to citizens, causing America to become upset (1954 Guatemalan Coup D’état). With the minimum wage laws, the UFC would also have to pay their workers more in order to stay, and they were against that. The hope was to end foreign companies leading Guatemala, but because of events around the world, the US took this as a communist threat. America teamed up with dictator Carlos Castillo Armas, to scare Guatemala into thinking he had a huge army of men coming to potentially
...e Great Society was moving forward, the race problem had ended, as far as the foreign countries could see. The impact of domestic problems in the transnational sphere was non-existent; there was no one to impress any longer, even though the Cold War did not officially end until the Berlin Wall came down in 1989. In the end, Vietnam was not a part of her dichotomy between Civil Rights and the Cold War, even though the War in Vietnam was definitely a portion of United States interaction in the Cold War. The great point of Cold War Civil Rights is the important of looking at domestic issues in a transnational perspective. Most books and scholarly journal articles cannot see the 1950s and 1960s America from a global standpoint, nor do they make an attempt. Mary Dudziak is one step ahead in this approach; it just makes sense, especially for this particular time period.
...actions on the part of Black activists empowered a generation to struggle for their most basic civil rights.
As a rule, the United States is associated with the American dream and the freedom that belongs to every human being regardless of gender, color, and even sexual orientation. However, the true face of the state built on democratic and liberal values is far from being perfect. The Movement for Civil Rights and civilian protests against the Vietnam War are the results of a discriminatory policy of the USA. Both movements had a common mechanism of beginning. Over time, people's discontent was growing gradually and finally exploded in a series of protests. Both movements have been successful using similar methods. In addition, a key role in achieving success were the highly motivated activists.
The Civil Rights Movement changed American Democracy today in its fight against racial segregation and discrimination. We still see racial discrimination today, but we don’t see much racial segregation. People like Martin Luther King Jr, Rosa Parks, and A Philip Randolph led the Civil Rights Movement with their abilities to coordinate and connect people. They fought for equality among men and women of all colors and religions.
During the second half of the twentieth century, when the Cold War was on its midst, the United States played an important role in world affairs. The increasing military power that the United States had during the Cold War, allowed it to influence the political decisions that many countries had during this time. The United States directly opposed the idea of communism, which the Soviet Union promoted. This conflict between this two great powers, lasted for five decades, and it tremendously affected the political ideologies of the world. Both countries tried to push their political and economic interest to as many nations as they could, especially those close to their borders. During this time, Guatemala was undergoing a social revolution with communist ideas. The revolution happened as a response to the social injustice committed by the United Fruit Company. The United Fruit Company started to lose land, due to a land reform passed b...
Guatemala held democratic elections in 1944 and 1951, they resulted in leftist government groups holding power and rule of the country. Intervention from the United States and the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) backed a more conservative military minded regime. A military coup took place in 1954 to over throw the elected government and install the rule of Carlos Castillo Armas. Carlos Armas was a military general before the coup and with the CIA orchestrated operation he was made President from July 8th 1954 until his assassination in 1957. Upon his assassination, similar militant minded presidents rose to power and continued to run the country. Due to the nature of military dictatorship, in 1960, social discontent began to give way to left wing militants made up of the Mayan indigenous people and rural peasantry. This is the match that lit Guatemala’s Civil War, street battles between the two groups tore the country and pressured the autocratic ruler General Miguel Ydigoras Fuentes to fight harder against the civilian insurrection. Similar to the government Abductions th...
As the focus shifted toward the Cold War and building up nuclear arms, less focus was dedicated to social reform, particularly in solving the problems created by inequality. According to Suri’s book, the civil rights movement had already become a powerful force before the 1960s due to the determination of the activists and the growing dissent in America (Suri 2005). Although the civil rights movement was a strong social movement with major support from young activist around the nation and several key political activists like Martin Luther King Jr., this movement did not achieve the social reform it would have achieved if the Cold War had not been the main focus of the United States government. As discussed before, McCarthyism and the threat of communism made protests even more difficult, limiting the effectiveness of them. Violence also began to erupt as activists felt they were not being heard, which resulted in the police force retaliating against the protestors attempts to change society. The fear that these individuals were a threat to society was escalated due to the possibility of communist thought influencing
In the 1960s, the nation was faced tumultuous times. There was racial tension between the white citizens and black citizens of America. Whites could not understand why the African Americans were so upset; they had their freedom from slavery and job opportunities. However, the African American was dissatisfied with the small crumbs of God given rights that all American citizens were entitled to. Two men propelled to the forefront of the Civil Rights Movement as leaders; Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Malcolm X. Their agenda was to seek equal rights for all Americans. But both men differ on the approaches needed to reach these goals; one believed using nonviolence was the answer while the other advocated violence Many people argue that the
Growing up in the post-Civil Rights movement of the 1960s, most US citizens have a broad and unspecific knowledge of this movement and its effects. Even fewer citizens know the causes and the driving factors of the movement. The Dredd Scott Decision, and Plessy v. Ferguson were two of the driving forces behind social change in the 1960s. There is a simple progression of American civil laws and the precedence they carry; likewise, the change in the American ideas of equality, and the interpretation of the 13th-15th amendments forged the way for these court cases to hold credence.
How would you feel if you were told you can’t sit in the front of the bus or you can’t dine in a certain restaurants because of the color of your skin? The civil rights movement was a movement that held massive numbers of nonviolent protest against racial segregation and discrimination in America especially the southern states during the 1950’s and 60’s. The struggle of African Americans to gain equal rights in America during this time was a major problem. The civil rights movement was not only about stopping racial segregation amongst African Americans but also to challenge the terrible economic, political, and cultural consequences of that time. But with the help of great leaders and organizations in the civil rights movement, help brake the pattern of African Americans being discriminated against and being segregated. Martin Luther King Jr. And Maya Angelou were great leaders who had a huge impact on the civil rights movement; even though Dr. King was in the field marching and protesting to fight against segregation and Angelou wrote poetry to inspire the movement and people aware of segregation, they both helped put an end to segregation here in America (American civil rights movement).
During the period of 20 years between 1950 and 1970, black Americans were able to improve their level of civil rights. Therefore, it is logical to say that they were at least partly successful in achieving their civil rights. This was accomplished through a variety of ways, two commonly used techniques being legal strategies and non-violent direct action. However, because they were unable to attain complete equality, there must have been factors that worked against the civil rights movement. One of these factors was the use of violence as a means of protest.
On April 4, 1968 America experienced the tragic loss of one of its greatest social leaders, Martin Luther King, Jr. He was a pivotal leader in the civil rights movement who permeated American history as a man who maintained the importance of nonviolent social change. He fought racism within the public domain by pursuing school integration and basic civil rights for the African-American community. Thirty-one years after his death, America is forced to evaluate the exact implications of his legacy on modern society's attitudes towards race and race relations. Did the civil rights movement really promote positive changes in race relations? How far has American society really come?
Whenever people discuss race relations today and the effect of the Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and 1960s, they remember the work of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. He was and continues to be one of the most i...
Massive protests against racial segregation and discrimination broke out in the southern United States that came to national attention during the middle of the 1950’s. This movement started in centuries-long attempts by African slaves to resist slavery. After the Civil War American slaves were given basic civil rights. However, even though these rights were guaranteed under the Fourteenth Amendment they were not federally enforced. The struggle these African-Americans faced to have their rights ...
The African American Civil Rights Movement was a series of protests in the United States South from approximately 1955 through 1968. The overall goal of the Civil Rights Movement was to achieve racial equality before the law. Protest tactics were, overall, acts of civil disobedience. Rarely were they ever intended to be violent. From sit-ins to boycotts to marches, the activists involved in the Civil Rights Movement were vigilant and dedicated to the cause without being aggressive. While African-American men seemed to be the leaders in this epic movement, African-American women played a huge role behind the scenes and in the protests.