Let's hear it for the 60's!

Hey!

What comes to your mind when you hear the words 1960’s? Two things I immediately have to think of are revolution and voice. These two meaningful words indicate that in those 10 years several significant events occurred that changed the life of many people.

Imagine one day in the 1950’s. Women, dependent on their husbands, are in front of the stove waiting for their children to home. Men are at work to bring home the money. Life is led stiffly because of stringent rules you seemingly cannot change or escape. Blacks suffer racial discrimination on a daily basis (->Jim Crow). The Vietnam War starts. War again. It seems like the world got stuck in something that can’t be changed for many upcoming years. But then, the 60’s began and the world became completely different.

It seems like the calmer the 50’s were, the louder the generation of the 60’s became. It seems like people were tired of waking up every morning knowing that the world could be a much better one but no one was strong enough to alter the situation. Consequently, numerous movements emerged and finally started claiming for changes. No more war but more rights and equality for everyone. The movements appealed to people’s emotions and reason. Martin Luther King is most likely the most famous person that paid his contributions to the achievement of equal rights for Blacks. For years, he raised his voice and encouraged others to follow him. At the Woodstock Festival, Jimi Hendrix opted for something similar, namely peace and love on earth, supported by around half a million hippies. (Particularly young) people started to see that there is no point in war. And thankfully, vast parts of the population listened and used their common sense in order to improve the quality of life to many.

There was also a movement that required equal rights for women so family life was also about to be changed. First and foremost, people asked for equal rights at working places that were actually accepted by the government. Secondly, the pill was introduced. Consequently, there were less unwanted pregnancies that allowed women to be more independent. Besides, the birth rate plunged dramatically and marked the end of the baby boom- generation. The invention of the mini skirt, designed by Mary Quant, was both a sign of freedom as well as a trend that has lasted until today.

These are just a few aspects of what has changed in the 60’s but these changed were of great importance, if you ask me. What a feeling it must have been, realizing that finally civilians raised their voice and shouted out loud to end- or at least reduce- injustice and inequality.
Let’s hear it for the 60’s!

Assignment 4: A summary of the Civil War (1861-1865)

Good morning!

Today I’ll do a summary of one of the most important and bloodiest historical incident in American history- the The Civil War (1861-1865).
In the middle of the 19^th century the North and the South had a completely different way of life. People in the North lived mainly in the city. They had an organised system of education and the church, and their economy was based on industrial manufacturing and factories. The South, on the other hand, was dependent on crops such as cotton, sugar, and rice. Because of the hot climate they had not a lot of possibilities to become economically strong. They had few schools and churches which were rather unorganised. In other words, they were not as much developed as the North. Moreover, the Southerners had the feeling of paying unfairly more taxes. One very crucial aspect of the situation back then was the different opinion on slavery that distinguished the North and the South. While the former thought slavery was barbaric and inhuman, to the latter it was essentially because cotton harvest had to be done by hand and therefore took a long time. This is one of the reasons why the South needed slaves in order to maintain economy. Another important fact is that states in the South had the opinion that the State Laws were more important than the Confederate Wars which caused to the secession of several states (11 in total) from the US such as Arkansas, North Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia. They were now called the Confederate States of America of Confederacy. This new union consisted of 9 million citizens (4 million slaves). President Lincoln aimed to keep the nation united as he didn’t want states to leave the union just because they weren’t satisfied with the rules.

The North, which consisted of far more states than the South, underestimated the South’s determination to remain independent, so the Civil War lasted longer than expected. In the War itself, over 620,000 died. The end of war meant the end of slavery (-> Emancipation Proclamation), which meant financial ruin. Furthermore, it strengthened the role of the Federal Government. Infrastructure in the South was destroyed and had to be reorganised again. Men and Women were seeking for their place in the new society and they had to face consequences of the lost war. Some of them were seeking trust in religion (Bible Belt), the Ku-Klux-Klan against the Negroes was founded. Of course, there is a lot more to tell about the Civil War, but I wanted to keep my summary short.

I just want to point out what American citizens think about the Civil War today, as this incident hasn’t been forgotten yet and which still causes discussion.

Southerners claim that they were not fighting for slavery, but for independence. That President Lincoln fought in the name of freedom and abolition of slavery is considered as the “biggest lie in all of American history”. The War should be called the War of Northern Aggression and “if we had had anything like fair chance we should have won and established independency”. The Northerner’s point of view is likely to be against most of the Southerners arguments, but they especially claim that all names for the war, namely the War of Northern Aggression and War of Southern Independence are Southern names for the Civil War.