1960 Pop Culture

After we had fought the brutal, decimating Civil War, white supremacy in the caused our nation to take two steps further than we were even before the War. Obviously, hearing this, sounds like extreme conflict. Ironically enough though, this major step back in history was called, “The Compromise of 1877.” Unfortunately, this “compromise” did way more harm than good for African Americans. The Compromise of 1877 was a corrupt agreement between three powerful southern states and Rutherford B. Hayes that led to him being elected President and the stripping away from African American rights. After the Civil War, “Lives of black slaves had improved greatly and there was hope for emancipation of slaves in those states.

1950s a prominent decade in the US history is sandwiched between two decades of war-World War II in the 1940s and the Vietnam War in the 1960s. Though often hailed as “a decade of fun and frolic” (Lindop and Decapua 5) the period witnessed traumatic changes in all fields. Some historians viewed it as “the era’s pressure to conform and called it a bland decade. But it was neither a carefree nor a bland era but a decade of stark contrasts”(Lindop and Decapua 129). Works of the writers of 1950s reflected and critiqued society’s concern over communism in the American government and entertainment industries.

The Voting Rights Act was one of the most revolutionary bills ever passed by the congressional legislation in the United States. President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the bill into law on August 6th, 1965, not only as part of politics but also, a depiction of morals. Since 1965, it has protected minority voters at the polls, but it has been fifty years since the Voting Rights Act has been passed and it is still a controversial topic that is constantly debated on today. The voting rights of all minorities throughout the country are once again under attack which impacts one’s ability to exercise his or her constitutional right as a citizen. Preceding the Civil War, people of color, especially African Americans were practically disenfranchised everywhere throughout all fifty states of the United States.

The Fires of Jubilee Book Review In 1975, prize-winning biographer Stephen B. Oates, wrote the Fires of Jubilee; Nat Turner’s Fierce Rebellion along with many of his thirteen published books and more than seventy articles. Oates book, Fires of Jubilee, brings back the history of slave rebellion in the eyes of a smart, talented, and gifted African American, Nat Turner. As Oates writes this book, he tells the life and struggles that was brought upon Turner and many of the other African Americans on their whim to become free people. With the abilities Nat had as a child, many people including him self were convinced that he was “chosen” from the Lord. Initially, Nat Turner was established gifted growing up and was the talk of most Caucasian and African Americans communities.

During the early years of America, agricultural demands drove most of the economy allowing the South to demanded political protection. One of the protective measures was the Three-Fifths Compromise in 1787. The South wanted to count the slaves toward its population allowing for more representation. At the Constitutional Convention, the delegates decided to count a slave as three-fifths of a person for the purpose of determining the population for how many seats each State would have in the House. This solidified Southern control over Politics for several years to come.

This was also the decade the African-American launched the Civil Rights movement in Nineteen Fifty Four. In the midst of the U.S. working to maintain being the strongest country the african americans became to revolt from the inside, this lasted until Nineteen Sixty Eight. This event was followed by the Vietnam war starting the nineteen fifty five over who was going to take control over the vietnamese government. The Vietnam war last up until nineteen seventy five , ending with fifty eight thousand , two hundred and twenty deaths on record of american soldiers. Aside from the wars and riots going on in the nineteen fifties, life seemed to be easier for people back then to live the life most people would dream to live today.

After the I World War the crisis existed in each sphere of people’s lives, from economics to culture. Declination which came to the societies of all the countries, which took part in the war, had to be removed. People needed inspiration and comfort, they needed hope and positive emotions to be able to cope with all the destructions the war had brought. In USA the process of renewing began with great migration of African American from dilapidated South to industrial and developed North, “in cities such as Chicago; Washington, D.C.; and New York City, the recently migrated sought found (to some degree) new opportunities, both economic and artistic” (Poets 2004). In the world of literature, and poetry in particular, new personalities appeared.

How far do you agree that the key factor influencing Richard Nixon’s election as President in 1968 and 1972 was the popularity of his policies on the Vietnam War? 30 marks Richard Nixon’s election as President in 1968 and 1972 was influenced by many factors, all of which had an influence on who voted for Nixon and why. There were many people in America at the time who were sick and tired of both the civil rights campaign and the ongoing counter culture movement, along with numerous protests and riots that were sweeping the nation. Nixon appealed to these people, whom he deemed ‘Middle America’ or, ‘the silent majority’. Most of the factors that influenced Nixon’s election appealed to this section of society, while in contrast, alienating other groups, such as Afro-Americans and those involved with counter culture.

Public Enemy was one of the most important hip hop groups when it came to expressing the influence of Black Power-era nationalism in their music. In their iconic song, “Fight the Power,” they allude to Malcolm X with the lyrics,“Swinging while I’m singing/Giving whatcha getting” (lines 9-10). This refers to a speech Malcolm X made criticizing the moderate liberal elements of the Civil Rights Movement, saying, “This is part of what’s wrong with you. You do too much singing. Today it’s time to stop singing and start swinging” (Ellis and Smith).

The interwar period was the age of the Lost Generation. Exhibiting the decayed and frivolous lifestyle of the upper class, literary works in this period shared a common theme of the corruption of the American Dream. One of the most representative literary works that discusses this theme is F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, in which Gatsby’s love with Daisy Fay in his youth promoted him to be a pursuer of the upper-class lifestyle to marry her. Gatsby’s accidental encounter with Daisy in his past frames his character’s development and thus the overall development of the plot. Utilizing symbolism and motif, F. Scott Fitzgerald exhibits the degeneration of Gatsby’s dreams and values to denounce the emptiness of materialism and the death of the American Dream.