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Category Archives: Political history
1954 Legal Ruling a Major Victory in U.S. Civil Rights Movement
In 1954, the U.S. Supreme Court declared that establishment of separate public schools for black and white students is inherently unequal and therefore unconstitutional.
Mrs. Pinkston enrolls 2nd and 3rd graders in the newly integrated classes at a school in Springer, Oklahoma, August 29, 1958. (© AP Images)
Brown v. Board of Education extended federal power to education, an area traditionally controlled by states and localities. The decision also signaled a new determination to interpret more broadly the U.S. Constitution’s promise of equality before the law and began an era of federal intervention to defend and guarantee the civil rights of all Americans.
The Supreme Court on May 17, 1954, issued a unanimous opinion written by Chief Justice Earl Warren. Where previous decisions narrowly interpreted the 14th Amendment to the Constitution, which forbade states from denying equal protection under law due to race, the Brown court looked instead to the impact of segregation. As Warren wrote:
“[T]o separate them [black schoolchildren] from others of similar age and qualifications solely because of their race generates a feeling of inferiority as to their status in the community that may affect their hearts and minds in a way unlikely ever to be undone. … Segregation with the sanction of law, therefore, has a tendency to retard the educational and mental development of Negro children and to deprive them of some of the benefits which they would receive in a racially integrated school system.”
The court concluded “that in the field of public education the doctrine of ‘separate but equal’ has no place. Separate educational facilities are inherently unequal. Therefore we hold that the plaintiffs … [have been] deprived of the equal protection of the laws guaranteed by the 14th Amendment.”
Source: America.gov
Massive Retaliation
Massive Retaliation was a term created by President Eisenhower’s Secretary of State John Foster Dulles on 12 January 1954. On that day , Dulles gave a speech to the Council on Foreign Relations in New York. Although Eisenhower was a military solider, he really hated war. In the contrast, his Secretary of State John Foster Dulles was really like to fight. He gave a speech and annuanced that “any Soviet attack on American ally would be countered by a nuclear assault on the Soviet Union” ( Eric Foner,891).
Massive retaliation was a powder-flag of any conflicts beteween Soviet and America. It could bring a nuclear war possiblely at any time and destory the Soviet Union and the Unite States. The impact of massive retaliation was very lasting and widerspread. Citizens were extremely scared by possible impending nuclear war. This affected American and Soviet Union’s daily lives. American government created many programs, such as building underground bomb shelters and school drills. The action of government made whole nation more scared. I personally think massive retaliation not only affect American economy, but also influence the politic stragety of America.
Posted in 1953-1960, June 15 assignment, Political history
Tagged massive retaliation, nuclear war, scared
1 Comment
Supreme Court orders school desegregation
From my point of view, the most significant change that took place between 1953 and1960 in United States of America was the decision to prohibit school segregation. It all began with Brown vs. Board of Education, a judicial case where the Supreme Court decided that laws separating children by race in different schools contravened the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution (1955).
This case was the apogee of a decades-long struggle by African Americans against segregation and other discriminatory laws. This was the beginning of a brand new American society where people were equal no matter what color their skin was.
Overall, I am confident to say that the Supreme Court made an excellent decision by banning segregation in public schools. There is no doubt in my mind that this important event changed United States of America forever and made it a better country to leave in where all the people have equal rights.
This picture was taken from: http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/brownvboard/brownnews.jpg
1960s: Freedom for all Americans.
The Thirteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution was officially passed on December 6, 1865 and it abolished slavery and declared the freedom for American citizens. But the freedom was not established until the 1960s, the time when Civil Rights Act passed to abolish the various discrimination in American society. The Civil Rights activists want to free themselves from “the chains of political and economic slavery.” I think that 1960s are playing a significant role in the American history because in this time the economic and political freedom are achieved, and the Civil Right Act of 1964 helped to establish these freedom.
The race and color based discrimination on the employment were exist before the 1960s. The protesters of Civil Rights movement wanted the equal opportunity to get the job, and their posters focused on the “Jobs and Freedom.” The Civil Rights Act of 1964 helped the blacks to get the same opportunities that the whites had. It is clear that 1960s was the time when all Americans especially Blacks start to enjoy their new economic and political freedom.
The Voting Rights Act of 1965
In June 11, 1963, during a national television address about civil rights, John F. Kennedy stated: “We preach freedom around the world…, but are we to say to the world, and much more importantly, to each other, that this is a land of the free except for Negroes?” (Foner 921) Kennedy was killed few months after this presentation without enacting his civil rights bill, in which, among other points, he proposes the right to vote to blacks. One hundred years before Kennedy’s speech about civil rights, Abraham Lincoln expressed in his last public address his support to black suffrage. Like Kennedy, Lincoln was assassinated few days later.
After many years of struggle and opposition to the idea of giving blacks the same rights that whites enjoyed, the Voting Rights Act of 1965 was a major conquest that black people needed in order to fortify their participation in political life. Therefore, from my point of view, the Voting Rights Act of 1965 was the most important legislation of that time. Not only presidents or politicians like Robert Kennedy were assassinated, but also popular African American civil rights activists like Malcolm X, Medgar Evers, and Martin Luther King Jr. were killed.
The Civil Rights Movement
Civil Right Movement in the 1960s has marked a turning point in American history. To many African Americans, they remembered the 60s as an unforgettable and a crucial time period. In the 1960s, African Americans were fighting non-violently for their freedom in American soil. Due to the unification among African Americans, the non-violent demonstrations had slowly drawn American attention on racial issue. During Kennedy’s presidency, he banned discrimination in general. Later during Lyndon Johnson’s presidency, he passed the Civil Rights Act that further emphasized on banning racial discrimination. (p. 922). Over all, the Civil Rights Movement was not just a milestone to African Americans, but to all other races in America, as well as to those non-white future generations’ children.
In my opinion, I think Americans are responsible for the change. During the 60s, majority of African Americans and some other races were participated to fight for equality and freedom in America. One of the significant demonstrations in 1963 at Birmingham pushed President Kennedy to do something for the Civil Rights movement. Due to many demonstrations, President Kennedy finally called a law banning discrimination. (p.921) After Kennedy’s assassination, President Lyndon Johnson followed President’s path further. He passed the Civil Rights Act in 1964. (p.922) In the 1960s, minorities continued to fight for their equality and freedom. Their persistence and unification brought the attention to America as a whole. If there was no demonstration, if there was no freedom fighter, the American minorities’ voices could never be heard.
Posted in 1960-1968, June 14 assignment, Political history, Social History
Tagged 1960s, Birmingham, Civil Rights Movement, racial discrimination
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Rosa Parks story.
On December 1, 1995, Rosa Parks had been arrested because she was a black woman and she refused to yield her seat on a city bus to a white passenger in Montgomery. Her arrest led to Montgomery bus boycott. Thus, African Americans’ inequality and racial justice had been issued internationally, and the civil right movement arose throughout the U.S as a whole.
Inequality and the gap of the wealth between whites and non-whites had been growing significantly even though America had turned to the golden age of its economy since the end of WWII. Ethnic discrimination of employment and housing was severe, and segregation and exclusion against blacks in pubic institutions enhanced their demand of equal rights movement. Parks’ event is a strong stimulation to enlighten people to desire their equal rights more seriously than before. This civil movement continued to 1960s. The congress finally passed the Civil Right Act in 1964 to prohibit racial discrimination by the law.
Parks’ event and the Montgomery bus boycott is definitely a huge turning point of America history so as to have people equal rights. Therefore, we can have real freedom now in America.
This image is from http://virlib.brinkster.net/aca/ACAIMAGES_DVD/DVD_Rosa_parks_story.jpg
Posted in 1953-1960, June 14 assignment, Political history, Social History, Uncategorized
Tagged civil rights, parks, rosa, segregation
3 Comments
The Feminine Mystique
Feminism is a movement that stands for equal rights for women and men. For example: right to greater access to education, same pay for female and male, a right to plan a family or to initiate a divorce. It first appeared in 1890s, but when USA entered 1960s there was a lot of places where sexual discrimination was visible. Most of political offices were held by man, universities still limited number of female students, or in few states woman’s earnings were controlled by their husbands.
Public debate over feminism started in 1963 with publication of Betty Friedan’s manifest The Feminine Mystique. It wasn’t her first attempt to raise a discussion about women’s rights though she wasn’t first to do so.
In 1960s legislative process accelerated a little and few laws were passed. Congress passed the Equal Pay Act in 1963, and The Civil Rights Act in 1964. Both were standing against sexual (and/or racial) discrimination. In 1966 the National Organization for Women (NOW) was created to help women fight against inequalities.
Sometimes I wonder if our great-grandmothers hadn’t been fighting for their rights were would women be now? Could we make our own decision or we would have to ask for men’ permission? There are still a lot of countries were women’ rights aren’t obeyed, but I believe it will change soon.
Posted in 1960-1968, June 14 assignment, Political history, Social History
Tagged Discrimination, feminism, human rights, Woman's rights
4 Comments
The Right to Privacy
Many constitutional scholars believe that a right to privacy is in the Bill of Rights. Such scholars also point to the Ninth Amendment as evidence that the framers believed in the existence of liberties not specifically mentioned in the Bill of Rights: “The enumeration in the Constitution of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.”
The Supreme Court agreed with this position in Griswold v. Conecticut (1965), in which it ruled that a constitutional right to privacy exists when it struck down law making birth control illegal.
Picture from http://cldg.org/9.html
Posted in 1960-1968, June 14 assignment, Political history, Social History, Uncategorized
Tagged bill of rights, griswold v. conecticut, ninth amendment, right to privacy
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Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s
The most important change in the 1960s must be the civil rights movement. The civil rights movement started in the early 1940s; however, its important milestone was established in the 1960s. Martin Luther King was one of the major civil rights leaders in the period of 1960s. On August 23, 1963, Martin Luther King addressed a famous speech called “I Have a Dream” which aroused all attentions from the public and the government toward civil rights. “I have a dream that one day [in]this nation… all men are created equal…I have a dream that my children will one day … not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character…”
Martin Luther King was getting closer to his dream after his speech. In July 2, 1964, President Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act into law, which prohibits discrimination of all kinds based on race, color, religion, or national origin in school, employment, institutions……etc. The Civil Rights Act was significant in the 1960s because it overruled the Jim Crow laws, which supported “separate but equal ” status for black Americans since 1876, and set up new equal standards that influence the life of Americans all along.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y4AItMg70kg
The pictures below show the difference before and after the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
