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Fall of Berlin Wall
The Berlin Wall fell on November 9 ,1989 and represented the beginning of the demise of communism in the the USSR and more generally the world. It was erected to divide between East Germany and West Germany, after WWII, which were the communist and democratic sides of Germany respectively. Hordes of people from the East flocked to the West celebrating Germany’s reunification.
Posted in June 21 assignment, Uncategorized
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March on Washington
March on Washington is a nonviolent civil rights movement happened in Washington D.C. on August 28, 1963. This march was led by a black unionist called A. Philip Randolph. The main purpose of this march was to call for the passage of a civil rights bill, on the other hand, this march was also aiming to draw attention on reducing unemployment, an increase in the minimum wage, and a law to prohibit discrimination in employment.
The March on Washington is an important event in American history. During this event, one of America’s greatest leaders; Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his speech “I Have a Dream” meanwhile, this event brought both white and black participants together to fight for racial and economic justice in United States.
Posted in 1960-1968, Midterm Exam Review, Uncategorized
Tagged 1963, Civil Rights Movement, March on Washington, racial issue
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Jiw Crow Law in the 1950’s
Souza
One of the most prominent pieces of American history is the racism that has divided their country and created many hard battles and controversy. In the 1900s, many segregation laws were created to separate black people from white people in every way possible and to ban rights for anyone to defend them; which went against their rights as Americans. During the Reconstruction after the Civil war, the thirteenth, fourteenth and fifteenth amendments were created to protect the rights of blacks and the civil rights act of 1875 freed many black people from slavery. However these laws eventually were disregarded and racial tensions mounted. The government then overturned the civil rights act by allowing laws of racial segregation. The laws of segregation which were created after the Reconstruction were known as ‘Jim Crow Laws’. Black people fought back in large protests, such as walking instead of taking the bus and sitting in at lunch counters, and challenged officials to remove these laws. Many black people were murdered throughout their protests for their rights.
In the Rosa Parks’ 1955 act of civil disobedience, in which she refused to give up her seat on a bus to a white man, was a catalyst in later years of the Civil Rights movement. Her action, and the demonstrations which it stimulated, led to a series of legislative and court decisions that contributed to undermining the Jim Crow system.
This fact led to the Bus Boycott led by Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr., which followed Rosa Parks’ action, was, however, not the first of its kind. Numerous boycotts and demonstrations against segregation had occurred throughout the 1930s and 1940s. These early demonstrations achieved positive results and helped spark political activism
Finally, The Civil Rights act of 1964 made it illegal for any states to have laws requiring segregation. However even though these laws had been banished, there would still be racism between blacks and whites for many years up until now even thought we have a black president.
People walking to support the bus boycott.
The Federal Highway Act 1956
The Federal Highway Act or National Interstate and Defense Highways was signed into law by President Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1956. It allocated $25 billion dollars for the construction of 41,000 miles of interstate highway over a 20 year time frame. President Eisenhower adamantly supported The Federal Highway Act mainly due to his experiences as an Army officer during the U.S. Army’s first Transcontinental Motor Convoy across the United States on the Lincoln Highway in 1919. The purpose of the convoy was to dramatize the need for better interstate highways for sake of national defense. Eisenhower argued that troops needed to be able to move cross country in a timely fashion if America was ever attacked. After the completion of the highways, the cross country travel time of the convoy in 1919 was cut down to 2 weeks from 2 months.
The highways also resulted in an increase in suburbanization of America. The expanded roadway infrastructure made commutes between urban cities to suburbs possible and much quicker. The highways also resulted in much economical benefits for America. It connected cities all across America, becoming the link for interstate commerce to this day. America’s economic strength wouldn’t be where it is if it weren’t for The Federal Highway Act.
Posted in Uncategorized
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supreme court ruling segregation on public transportation unconstitutional
The single most important change between 1953 and 1960 was when the supreme court ruled that segregation on public transportation unconstitutional.
In December 1955, Rosa Parks,a seamstress in Montgomery, Alabama,refused to give up her seat on a city bus to a white commuter got arrested. Her arrest spurred an unprecedented year long bus boycott; the Montgomery bus boycott emboldened the movement for racial justice led by a young pastor named Martin Luther King Jr. The movement aims was t0 denounce the injustice ,inequality and oppression that the colored people endured in the deep south.
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The Birth of Consumerism – Loss of economic freedom?
The 1950s marked the beginning of a cultural change called consumerism. The new culture convinced Americans the need to buy new homes, cars, appliances, credit-cards and even succeeded in redefining ‘freedom’. From the pre-world war meaning of freedom, which was to starting to focus on anti-segregation policies, the meaning of freedom shifted to consumption. Foner does not go into much detail but does make it a point to mention that this new idea of consumerism, being the goal of freedom, resulted in American’s being comfortable with living in never-ending debt.
I believe Foner is right in that redefining freedom; consumerism began an a culture Americans are still struggling to deal with. Consumers in American to this day live under the pretense that comfortable means ‘buying more than you can afford’. Although consumerism has succeeded in redefining freedom, it has failed to redefined what the realities of such life-styles are. The fact that debt became a part of life ‘comfortable to live with’ is shocking. As a result we live in a country that is experiencing an economic recession, loss of jobs, a growing national debt and increasing deficit in international trade. Foner even mentions that the goal of women obtaining jobs was not to help the family out of poverty rather to promote the ‘family’s middle-class-lifestyle’. A life-style that put more families in debt. Of course there are exceptions to all this and the middle-class ‘revolution’ did promote better living conditions in America. But it has come at a cost the US is still struggling to deal with – an ever expanding national debt. I fail to see the freedom or comfort of consumerism because reality says otherwise.
National and Individual Debt Clock
The Civil Right s Act of 1964
The Civil Rights Act of 1964 was one of the main events in the 1960’s because changed the life of many people, mainly to the African-American. As a minority person I guess I can understand how it feel to be discrimated, however I can’t compare with thoses humilitation that many African-American people faced in that era. Thanks to this act was prohibited the racial descrimination in the USA. I want to mention that behind a great event also there are a great leaders, in this case I would like to mention the former President John F. Kennedy who took the initiative of this new law, as well as Martin Luther King, who was the voice of this act and who represented the African-American people’s voice. How we can forget Lyndon Johnson, a white president who didn’t care that other white people was opnent to this law, he made this act a dream come true.
Now, we are in the year 2010 and unfortunately a lot people we still facing everyday a lot of racial discrimation. I hope the society we can learn that we don’t have to judge people for their skin color or just for their appareance, we gave to remember that thank God there are diversity in the society and we learn from that. We have to keep in mind that if we enjoy the present is because somebody suffered in the past.
The Civil Rights Act of 1964
In this photograph, President Johnson is signing the Civil Rights Act of 1964 with Dr. King one of its biggest supporters behind him. This act is one of the most important legislations during this time because it outlawed any unlawful treatment of minorities through voter registration and segregation in the workplace, school or in public.
It later became stronger in its enforcement which led to the election of minority officials in the Judiciary systems and in the US Government as a whole.
Posted in 1960-1968, June 14 assignment, June 16 assignment, Uncategorized
Tagged Civil Rights Act, End of Segregation
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The Death of Che Guevara
The revolutionist Che Guevara was executed, October 9, 1967 by the Bolivian government.
Through Guevara’s travels to study medicine he was captivated by the poverty, hunger and illness people faced in South America. He believed that in order to help “these people“ he had to fight for them politically. All of Guevara’s experiences in South America, particularly in Guatemala fostered a drive for him to concentrate in politics; he wanted to fight for the poor in order for them to have a better life.
His efforts lead him to team up with Fidel Castro as a member of the “26th of July Movement”. Guevara joined forces with Fidel because they shared an anti-imperialism ideology. Guevara was also known for perfecting Guerrilla Warfare during his training, later on teaching and writing a book about it.
Che Guevara remains to this day as an iconic symbol for the poor as well as the youth. He was an intelligent individual, constantly eager to educate the less fortunate. He stressed literacy and education in Cuba which resulted in a literacy reform. Guevara himself trained teachers and read to campesinos. His efforts helped Cuba dramatically increase the literacy rate.
Although Guevara is characterized by his brutal military demeanor and behavior, he contributed greatly to the Cuban government and was a voice for all the people exploited throughout the world. He served as the Cuban representative in the United Nations where he continually fought for aid and criticized America for the treatment of their people based on the color of their skin.
Guevara was admired by many leaders and people all over the world. Till this day, his revolutionary iconic red and black symbol is displayed and his legacy remembered.
I believe he is one of the most people that ever lived.
I obtained this photo from Sonya Rehman’s Archive: http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://sonyarehman.files.wordpress.com/2007/09/7003-che-guevara-red-80mm.jpg&imgrefurl=http://sonyarehman.wordpress.com/2007/09/19/making-sense-of-che-guevara-%25E2%2580%2593-how-clueless-is-generation-x/&usg=__JZ2TsWdQCEEjOXQJme_CWHRwp9I=&h=400&w=320&sz=40&hl=en&start=6&itbs=1&tbnid=NB4FyWxAg5XfAM:&tbnh=124&tbnw=99&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dche%2Bguevara%2Bred%2Band%2Bblack%26hl%3Den%26safe%3Dactive%26gbv%3D2%26tbs%3Disch:1
Posted in 1960-1968, Uncategorized
Tagged Che Guevara, Revolutionist
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Martin Luther King shot dead- 1968
Dr. Martin Luther King was assassinated. He was shot dead in southern US city of Memphis, Tennessee, where he was leading a march of sanitation workers, he was protesting for low wages and poor working conditions
James Earl Ray was convicted of his murder and was sentenced to 99 years of prison. The President Lyndon Johnson was also shocked by the death of civil rights leader. Dr. Martin Luther King was civil rights leader for black people in America in 1950’s. In 1964 he was awarded the Nobel peace prize. His assassination led to riots in most of the US cities. His assassination led to the major change in US.
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Posted in 1960-1968, June 14 assignment, Uncategorized
Tagged Assassinations, Civil Rights Leader, Martin Luther King Jr.
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