Chapter 29

during all these powerful movements in america. Youth began to realize they had more freedom and power to do what they wanted. This was known as the Counterculture revolution, a time where youth did everything in there will to break away from social restriction and normal middle class life. youths would live in communities together, experimenting in drugs and sexual partners. They called themselves "hippies" and wanted to be completely free from materialism. Music became a popular thing in the counterculture revolution and songs were often about what hippies and those living this lifestyle were experiencing. Sex became a much more open and recreational. around this time the pill was created in order to stop unplanned pregnancies. People lived together and most slept with multiple partners at a time. the counterculture did not last very long but it has forever effected american culture. i find this time a really interesting time in US history because it has impacted culture today in so many ways. Before most only knew what was normal and proper but now a whole new world was opened up that basically anything was okay and you could be just how you wanted to be, even if it was frowned upon. If the Counter culture revolution never happened, i dont think our culture, music and media would be the way it is now. it seems as though, ever since the 60s media and culture has become more and more corrupt. It scares me what the next generation will be like.

Chapter 28

African Americans continued to fight for their freedom and equal rights. Martin Luther king became a powerful non violent leader of the movement. MLK led non violent marches, sit ins and praying in Birmingham. Even though these movements were non violent and just made so that the would get into the consciences of the white man, yet police still unleashed attack dogs and men with electric prongs on the protesters. Kennedy realized how horrible this was and proposed the Civil Rights Act. Kennedy was killed shortly after. The law was passed shortly after that gave blacks equal rights as white but it did not entitle voting laws. shortly after another law, the Voting Rights Act was passed which protected the voting rights of blacks. blacks could now be in office. 

there was a qoute in this section that i really liked. 

"white folks would drive past your house with a pick up truck with guns hanging up in the back and give you a hate stares... those same people now call me Mrs. Hamer." (692) 

i really liked this because it shows how the tables turned. They once believed that blacks were useless and now they got respect from whites. 

International view on Americans

For this assignment i interviewed my parents and family in South Africa because they conveniently were visiting in South Africa with my family when this was assigned. 

We just became US citizens a few months ago and my mom still wont stop talking about how lucky we are to be here. South Africa has become so corrupt she says, there is absolutely no opportunity what so ever anymore. She said " i could never live behind a 10 ft electric fence again. Everyone we know in South Africa has been robbed, mugged or stolen from at least once. When my mom went to go visit 2 years ago they had a problem with "holdups" which was when men entered into shopping malls with machine guns and robbing every store and terrifying all the shoppers there. When my mom was there 2 years ago she had just left the mall 5 minutes before there was a "hold up". after that trip she decided that we all needed to become citizens. My family also was saying how lucky we are to have gotten out of there, they said they would do anything to find a job out of South Africa and move. also my family talked about their fear for nelson Mandela and what will happen once he passes away. they said what is happening now is that the children from the apartheid that have watched their parents be beat or killed are now starting to fight back and get i guess revenge. Many fear that everyone is just holding together for Mandela but have no idea what it will be like without him. its so sad that the beautiful country has become so corrupt it breaks my parents hearts. I also was able to talk to my friend in South Africa who still loves the country and would never leave but she does say these things happen. she says that almost every week girls are raped on their way walking to school. also she talked about how different it is there work wise. i have been working the day since i was 16 and could work but she just got her first job at 20 and is one of the few out of her friends that work. getting jobs in south africa as a white is also very difficult now, my cousin was saying that even if you do have better qualifications and education a black man will get the job over you. 

there are lotteries in South Africa where you can win a green card to the united states. 

I thank my parents all the time for giving my brother and i the opportunities we have here even though their hearts are still in south africa they refused to let my brother and i grow up there. 

Chapter 27

In the 1950's there was a lot of tension about the US being the top of technology around the world. When the Soviet Union launched their there first satellite sputnik. This challenged americans and now americans felt the need to improve american education. federal government for the first time felt the need to fund higher education, and enforcing schools to focus on science, math, and foreign languages. Many adults were not used to this concept of their kids staying in school and not working, which made many adults skeptical. This is so different from now because now if you don't stay in school that is questioned. BEcause of all these culture changed, young adults now became "rebellious" in parents eyes. Young adults were considered dangerous. Young adults started to listen to rock and roll music which were seen by many parents as horrible, suggestive and inappropriate. Some parents feared that this was a plot to mix races because it was a mixture of african american music and white music. The more adults talked about rock and roll being wrong the more teenagers would listen to it.

Chapter 18

The transformation from working in a workshop to a factory was really hard for some to adjust to. Before the time of factories products were created by artisans who spent all their time on just one shoe and it was a form of art to them. With the change to factories products were created by anyone and now jobs were separated between multiple workers who each made a different part of the product. As time progressed factories filled with more and more unskilled workers such as women and children because they were okay with being paid less than other skilled workers. Working conditions in factories were also horrible. In the railroad industry 2,000 were killed during this time and 20,000 were injured. In the coal mining industry, workers often became infected with the black lung disease. Immigrants did not mind to work in these conditions because they were more desperate for work than others.
In these factories management was very manipulative. Many factories supplied housing for workers so that if they stopped working they would be evicted and homeless, so they thought this was a way of keeping them from leaving. Your color of skin determined where in Europe you were from and how you should be treated.

Chapter 19

Urbanization in America caused social change amongst citizens. With the new prosperity citizens were now able to enjoy more luxuries. One of these luxuries included Department stores. Middle and working class would go to department stores to buy luxuries that showed their wealth and social class. Department stores also offered women entertainment and adventure that they before could not experience because they had to work long days. Another thing that progressed in this time was education. Very few before this time even had a high school education. Higher education became so popular during this time because it showed you had money and where your social standing was. As time progressed schools because more and more available to citizens. Women now could attend colleges and some colleges were even made for just women.

It is crazy to think that once there was a time that education was not important and was just luxury. Today if you say your not going to college or doing anything past high school you get frowned at.

primary source. the 60s

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mUc2eLe-ruI


I wanted to watch something about the sixties, because i think the sixties was the most culture changing time in American History. It was a time where many citizens who's opinions were once over ruled by authority now spoke up and fought for change. During the 60's there was a war going on in Vietnam, African Americans were fighting for equality, youth fought for peace and change, and students fought for changes as well. it was a time of empowerment and change. I find this time in America so interesting because before the 60's most just followed the social norm and how society always was. Now the norm was to go against the culture they grew up in. The Youth of the 60's have shaped society so much today. The 60s showed that youth could make a difference and could cause change. If the 60's never happened i think culture would be so different today. Youth would continue to be under authority and never argue for what they want, and i think that is an important part of today, being able to be who you want and how you want to be.