How The Events Of The 1960s Have Shaped America

“People blame the 1960s for just about everything these days, but it was the decade when all that post-war furtiveness and small-mindedness was finally blown open, and opportunity really came knocking,” (Boyd 1). Life would be completely different if it weren’t for some of the events of the 1960s. In one decade, there would be assassinations of the most important people, and there would also be a mission that changed the way we looked at the moon forever. Last but not least, we were given some new music to move along to. You may be wondering how all of this ties together. Well, you’ll just have to read and find out why the 1960s are so important. You’ll begin to think about how life would be now if none of this ever happened. It’s a very scary thought, and in the end, you may even question things you thought you already knew.

One of worst events that occured in the 1960s was the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. There is still tons of controversy that goes along with this incident to this day. Kennedy was shot to death. There is one thing about these incident that makes it strange. Sen. Robert F. Kennedy and Dr. Martin Luther King were killed the same way, and nobody knows the motives of the killer or if they even blamed the right people. It still has people wondering why or how it really happened. I was reading the article “Controversy still swirls over Three 1960s assassinations” and in it was this quote, “Was Lee Harvey Oswald the real killer of President Kennedy? If so, did he act alone? Was Sirhan Bishara Sirhan the real Killer of Sen. Kennedy? If so, did he act alone? Was James Earl Ray the real killer of Dr. King? If so, did he act alone?” (Carter 1). This quote will really make you sit back and wonder if everything we think we know is true.

As I was doing my research, I read an article saying that there are CIA files on the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King that were supposed to be released, but now are being held back to 2029. Why would the CIA want to hide such files? I guess we will find out in 10 years. Though the deaths of Sen. Robert Kennedy and Dr. Martin Luther King were tragic, the most impactful assassination was of the 35th President of the United States, John F. Kennedy. Kennedy was elected President in January of 1961 when he was 43 years old. He was the youngest man ever to be elected President of the United States. He was a very intelligent man. Americans loved John F. Kennedy because of his plans for America in the future, and they all looked up to him since he was a very kind man who cared for others. One day, a Friday in Dallas, Texas, the president and his wife were in a convertible. They had the top of the car put down, so everyone on the streets could see them. John F. Kennedy’s agents were extremely nervous because of them being out in the open, and they did not think it was very safe. Everyone was clapping and screaming as Kennedy rode by. Some people even took photos! At approximately 12:30 PM, the worst thing that could have possibly happened, happened.

There was a sound of a gunshot, which was followed by a few more. The driver of the car rushed to the hospital, but it was to late for Kennedy. In a few hours, the police arrested a man named Lee Harvey Oswald. Oswald was 24 years old and lived a very lonely life. When Oswald was in the 10th grade, he joined the Marines and became an expert shooter. That one day in November, he went to the 6th floor of the building with a rifle, and as Kennedy’s car drove by, he shot him three times. Many people witnessed Oswald shoot at John F. Kennedy with a 22. Caliber. It was in the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles. Even though this is true, conspiracy is still in the air. “The horrible news spread quickly. Within 30 minutes of the shooting, most of the country had heard. This was amazing in a time before Twitter, texting, and email. Businesses closed. Kids were sent home from school. Heartbroken Americans watched the news and wondered, ‘Who would do this?’” (O’Neill 11).

There is one more detail about John F. Kennedy that impacted the 1960s. He wanted someone to be able to land on the moon before 1970, so in 1961 he began a challenge. In the end, all went well and they got there right before 1970 in the year of 1969. The Apollo 11 mission started on July 16th and the spaceship landed on July 20th. There were three men who went on this many day adventure to the moon. These three men were Neil Armstrong, Edwin Aldrin, and Michael Collins. When people heard that a man finally made it on the moon, they were extremely happy, and they knew this was a huge next step for them. They also knew this meant more was to come.

Little did people know, much engineering was involved with the designing of creating the vessel, and it took six whole years just to build the spacecraft. All that work, and it took 3 whole days to finally end up reaching the moon. In the end, it was definitely all worth it, and Neill Armstrong would go down in history that day. All because he had faith in the Apollo 11 mission and wanted to fulfill John F. Kennedy’s dreams of landing before 1970. As I did my research on this mission, I found this quote to sum up my point of just how important and difficult this mission was. “Readers will gain an appreciation for how delicate this mission was” (Jenkins 1).

That wasn’t the only event to change the 60s though. There was a whole other group of men coming to fame and you may know them as The Beatles. In February, the Beatles arrived in America, and they made an appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show which started the Beatlemania. Huge crowds of girls would come out to their concerts and fangirl over them. Just after getting to America, they were all pushed into a room for a conference. The news corps had hard times understanding their music and long hair styles, because it wasn’t like any other bands they had seen before. There were many new sounds made by the Beatles as well, and as crazy as it sounds, they made most of them with with stringed instruments. The Beatles had a new and different style of music that many people liked.

The Beatles didn’t just make music, they also were involved in films. They starred in A Hard Day’s Night in 1964 and Help! in 1965. Since The Beatles starred in many shows and made music. This made many groups want to try and copy them. I found this quote to summarize that concept. “Most British groups, if not imitating the Beatles, at least tried to capitalize on their popularity” (Rielly 165). As The Beatles matured with music, they stopped having their live performances. “They have sold 2 1/2 million records. They lead the hit parade. They get the biggest fan mail on record. They have inspired the sheepdog hairdo. They are also credited with having saved the sagging British corduroy industry” (Spizer 51). All this, and they still eventually gave up on music.

The Beatles soon began to struggle to stay together. “By the end of the 1960s, the Beatles had begun to think of themselves more as individuals and less as a group” (Rielly 165). Plus, The Beatles had many personal and legal tensions. They also wanted to do their music in all different ways from each other. They seemed to no longer get along or agree on things. Since this was the case, they did end up splitting in 1970. Their fans were extremely upset and betrayed. The Beatles were their happy place, and now that was gone. Many fans did want the group to come back together for a reunion. This didn’t end up happening though, since John Lennon was murdered in 1980. Though this ended up happening, the Beatles still took the 1960s by storm and gave many people good vibes from their music.

In conclusion, the 1960s was full of excitement and many new ideas. Some were obviously way better than others. Now that you've read my essay, I want you to sit back and think. What if John F. Kennedy, Senator Robert F. Kennedy, and Dr. Martin Luther King weren’t all assassinated? What if the person who we think is guilty, isn’t? The controversy is still in the air. What if The Beatles never split up? What if John Lennon wasn’t murdered? The Beatles could have gotten back together and made new music. What if the Apollo 11 mission never made it to the moon? We’d eventually get there, but who knows how long it would have taken. The past is a hard thing to understand, but one thing we do know for sure, is that these events did shape America into how it is today.